Daisuke Takahashi

Daisuke is on the cover of FS magazine devoted to Team Japan Men (in sale from December) in that red jacket that deedee dislikes http://book.dai-x.com/shop/25/3464.html The J-guys who will be featured there are Dai, Hanyu, Kozuka, Oda, Machida, Mura, Tanaka.

let`s talk said:

http://book.dai-x.com/shop/25/3464.html

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To buy it, or not to buy it, that is the question...

But look at his 45-degree leaning posture! It's always a wonder and forever a mystery to me ('cause I don't skate myself) that how top-skaters can lean so deep and never lose their balance/control on the ice.
And whatever he wears, there is no denying that Dai is drop-dead gorgeous on the ice. For us fans, of course!

ETA: In English, can the word 'drop-dead gorgeous' be also used for a man to describe? Or, is it preferably used for a woman, I mean, in general? Or, does it have, say, a tone of harassement today, so that should be better not to be used?

Thanks for the link. Dai looks fabulous (wish he wore the white jacket though ).
I will definitely be buying this issue. Nice that the magazine has included articles
on the very talented Japanese men.

let`s talk said:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yx9gFEA-Bk4

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Twind put English subtitles on this video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOxgphTT7n8

demarinis5 said:

Nice that the magazine has included articles
on the very talented Japanese men.

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TV is following this route too! Here they presented Tatsuki as a new competitor at GPF. The vid has some precious pics of younger Tatsuki (with Dai (!), they are from the same high school/uni), rare vids including in Tatsuki home www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPazuNQnsnk
And of course TV is following Dai himself :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh9q1oz48K8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRy_GLe6iTo (mandatory to watch at 4:58-5:07 !)

ETA: In English, can the word 'drop-dead gorgeous' be also used for a man to describe? Or, is it preferably used for a woman, I mean, in general? Or, does it have, say, a tone of harassement today, so that should be better not to be used?

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The phrase can be used for either sex. No subtext/connotation of harassment either. Of course with all languages the tone of the voice is everything and a compliment can be seen as an insult if a certain tone is used!

let`s talk said:

Twind put English subtitles on this video:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOxgphTT7n8
TV is following this route too! Here they presented Tatsuki as a new competitor at GPF. The vid has some precious pics of younger Tatsuki (with Dai (!), they are from the same high school/uni), rare vids including in Tatsuki home www.youtube.com/watch?v=fPazuNQnsnk
And of course TV is following Dai himself :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh9q1oz48K8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aRy_GLe6iTo (mandatory to watch at 4:58-5:07 !)

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thank you so much!! Dai & Team Japan are fantastic!

emdee said:

The phrase can be used for either sex. No subtext/connotation of harassment either. Of course with all languages the tone of the voice is everything and a compliment can be seen as an insult if a certain tone is used!

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Thank you so much, emdee!
Yes I agree: a tone of voice when voicing and tone between lines when written are things we should always have in mind to communicate with other people, regardless we are good at one language or not. :yes: Thanks again!

Thanks for all the video links let's talk!

deedee1 said:

Thank you so much, emdee!
Yes I agree: a tone of voice when voicing and tone between lines when written are things we should always have in mind to communicate with other people, regardless we are good at one language or not. :yes: Thanks again!

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Yes, there are ways to be playful with this term, and I think this thread is the perfect venue for it!

Actually, drop-dead gorgeous can be used in two senses. I could say that Charlie White or Daisuke (or Orlando Bloom!) is drop-dead gorgeous and imply attraction on my part, and then I can say that Meryl is drop-dead gorgeous and just mean it as an acknowledgment of her beauty.

Olympia said:

Yes, there are ways to be playful with this term, and I think this thread is the perfect venue for it!

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Yes, indeed!

Meryl is drop-dead gorgeous.

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Both you and Dai do have excellent taste in terms of definition of 'beauty'! :agree:

Dai's FS is leading now among J-TV audience as the program that they do want to watch in GPF (no surprise here ), followed by 2.Mao's SP, 3.Yuzu's SP, 4.Akiko's FS, 5.Kozuka's FS, 6.Machida's FS:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=QovPIe-n5NM

Someone downloaded together his SP from FOI and NHK, and FS from JO and NHK, for the comparison:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=GW3p6TvOgHA

The followings are Mrs. Nagamitsu's comments right after NHK Trophy.
reminder: not 'fully-trustworthy' translation by deedee...as usual.

---------------------------
-How do you see/evaluate this competition? Your thoughts?
"Still lots of issues we have to cope with. However, considering Takahashi's bad appearance at CoC due to his losing jumps, it was good for him to be able to adjust it to a certain degree in two weeks and had that result, it was a good competition overall to help us review for further developments/improvements, I think."
"As for his Free skate tonight...well, <laugh>...a long way to get through, I would say, but he got better a bit by bit at each official practices during NHK. So we would rather see it as a meaningful/fruitful process going into the Final."

-His condition is upswinging, isn't it?
"Yes. His physical condition's improving as the season deepens. The next step is to practice more quads, I mean, putting the 2nd quad into his program and he needs to get used to it by trying over and over again."

-About the changes made in his programs:
"We decided to go back to the original(ly-choreographed) ones, then put minor changes as needed. As for the order of jumps in his Free at NHK, especially in the second half, it was the same as the original. As I watched him skate this time, I personally felt relieved and trusting him more, so I think this jump layout will be better than the one at CoC."

-Been a while for us (= the media) to see both you and Mr. Morozov work as a team to instruct Takahashi.
"How many years was it since the last time? <everyone laughs > I can not tell you exactly how many years, but it was when Daisuke skated to the Swan Lake, right? That season coincidentally he also competed at NHK Trophy in Sendai, and that was the last season we worked together...well, now Nikolai stands by my side at the board while Dai skating, and he gets into Dai's performance so much, <with jestures> by responding/reacting to every moves of Dai, you know. It is encouraging not for Daisuke but also for myself, because it makes me sort of feel half-worried and a bit more relaxed watching him skates, thanks to the presence of Nikolai."

-Both you and Mr. Morozov looked very pleased after Takahashi's Free, didn't you?
"Yes. Takahashi was in a very bad condition in jump-wise during CoC, actually. We were not so sure whether he could advance to the Final back then, so it was a big assignment for our team to 'qualify' to the Final as we went into NHK. He had a good enough showing here and made it to the Final. One achievement. Not the best result we had hoped for, but one good achievement."

-How do you see Takahashi this season so far?
"Going into the new season, he was in a very good condition; unlike his usual-self early in the past seasons, you know, so we all had a good feeling. However, his skating boots did not fit well just before COC and the result indicated he did poorly there, on the contrary.
We are in a very important pre-Olympic season. We had to admit something proper/necessary must have been missing somewhere. One more lesson for all of us to have to learn from this, in order for our team to prepare for this season's Worlds and for the Olympic season next year."
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(end)

Hope his skating boots problem has been fixed by now. Best of luck to Daisuke at the Final! :yay:

Thank you do much for the translation, deedee1. I hope Dai's skate at the GPF will be another improvement for him. I very much want him to win, but if he can't, I will be happy as long as he has a great skate that he is happy with. Good luck to Dai!

Dai arrived in Moscow first to train with Morozov and adjust to time-zone, then he wnt to Sochi. Here is a vid of his practice (check that quad!): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDct1No5RJE

Thanks for the translation! I'm so happy they went back to (somewhat) original choreo, does this mean they know morozov's changes are not working?

Wow, that quad was amazing! Dai just gets better every time!

Thanks deedee for the translation. From the looks of the quad that let's talk posted I would say that his boot problems
are behind him.

GO DAI and get that Gold Medal!!! Of course I want him to win but my wish is that Dai is satisfied with his skating in this
competition, no matter where he places. What more can a fan ask for.

Welcome to the forum, starryxskies. Thanks for joining us. :yes:

Congratulations to Dai, well deserved first place for that fabulously skated Short Program!

demarinis5 said:

Congratulations to Dai, well deserved first place for that fabulously skated Short Program!

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdQlLYAC4Jc
to Nikolai's reaction at 4:58! Priceless.