Kanako Murakami: your honest opinion? | Golden Skate

Kanako Murakami: your honest opinion?

My honest opinion of Kanako Murakami as a skater is that she has much potential. She exuberates such passion and emotion when she takes the ice; furthermore, she has great presence on the ice with blistering speed into her jumps. I find her to be my second favorite on the Japanese Ladies' Team (right next to Mao) :)
This season, I think both of the programs suit her very well. Her short to Prayer for Taylor highlights her ability to draw emotion from lyrical pieces. Absolutely stunning. Additionally, I absolutely adore her step sequence at the beginning, I didn't even realize that it was a step sequence until half-way through. Her Tango free isn't quite there yet, but I think it is an improvement over her prgram last year. I think there is room for growth, but she still seems to fall apart at the half-way point.
Can she achieve a world medal this season? I believe her chances are higher than last years. What is holding her back is the HUGE edge call on her Lutz and her UR problems, particularly after the half-way point. If she can clean up those flaws, she'll be in prime contention for her first world medal.
I hope that she realizes her potential though, as I believe her inconsistency comes from her lack of confidence. :/
 
I think she could challenge the inconsistent Mao even. She has nice flo but there are so many good Japanese lady skaters. Look what happened to one of their top skaters - she just sort of fell off the face of the earth - Fumie Suguri.
 
Her programs are good, but she needs to clean up her technique: in the SP, all of her three triples were <!! I like the energy and the passion of her FS, especially the second half, she really looked more relaxed and confident than last season; but I don't think that she's going to have a World medal chance: the field is really a difficult one but, at least, with Miki not competing, she's sure of getting the spot...
 
Yes Kanako's programs are really nice this year, especially the SP, I agree the FS needs working on, I feel this needs a bit more polish which will come with competition, but Kanako needs to do more off-ice training, her endurance lets her down after the midway point in the FS like a previous poster said above. Now her medal chances (I have to say not yet!) It might come after Sochi - maybe Worlds 2014 when some skaters will not take part there. I think Kanako will develop as years to come, but Yes I agree the technique may have to change if she is to challenge for a medal and like Mao that might take a year or 2 to adjust to a different coach! - But all in all a great improvement this year and I am sure that SP could get her some valuable points - which she will need - It is a beauty and her nuances are very good to that piece of music - and the layout of her jumps - will get her some bonus points.

Ps Kanako is not in the same league as Akiko, Mao or Miki* yet (*thats if Miki comes back to compete) but it will come
 
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I love her SP but am not sure about FP. IMO Kanako has really nice musicality, better than any other Japanese ladies, even. The problem is, when she misses a jump or messes up a competition, it really gets to her and she looks so apparent of it, hence, leading to worse performances and bad impressions. All she needs is confidence, then her time will come, no doubt.
 
Kanako reminds me of Shizuka and could develop really well in years to come
but she needs to clean up her nerves, she suffers from mental issues thus she usually has a bad FS
 
I really like Kanako's programs and think she has a lot of potential, but her technique is really disturbing, i really hope she will somehow change it before it's too late.
 
My honest opinion :think:

I love this girl - and think she is a rare breath of fresh air in a frumpy excuse of a sport - that is desperate for skaters with big personalities.

She won Skate America in her Sr debut season and I remember as they announced her Gala skate they said:

"She won Skate America and she won our hearts.....Please welcome your Skate America champion....Kanako Murakami!!!"
And the crowd cheered very loudly!

Poor Rachael was second - and as far as I recall only RD was beside his/her self over the results.

Although let me make it clear....RD does not "cheerlead" :cool:

On the other hand, bitching about results is an altogehter different story......which should never, ever to be confused with cheerleading ;)

Anyway - when Kanako smiles....my heart melts. :yes:

So I am the last person to ask for a serious and unbiased opinion about her skating
 
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mary01 said:
I really like Kanako's programs and think she has a lot of potential, but her technique is really disturbing, i really hope she will somehow change it before it's too late.
Click to expand...

yeah, I think the high kick is really bad technique
especially how she kicks her flutz, its almost like a mule kick ala Caroline Zhang
 
So many of the younger Japanese ladies (e.g. Murakami and Imai) who were stars in the JGP and moved up to seniors have major problems with URs, especially in the FS.
 
sky_fly20 said:
yeah, I think the high kick is really bad technique
especially how she kicks her flutz, its almost like a mule kick ala Caroline Zhang
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Yet you don't notice how Julia is little more than a "zombie" on skates......zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

In fact I bet if people suffering from insomnia were forced to watch Julia skate they would soon be contentedly counting lambs......:laugh:

Let's be atleast half fair here, OK.....

Nobody who ignores music the way Julia does will ever win the OGM....and if they did - it would be the absolute end of figure skating as something artistic and special.

Except perhaps in Russia - which continues to produce non-stop the most awful and unartistic lady skaters in the world.

Only Adelina is excused - but otherwise I am talking about FOREVER.
 
I love how her SP starts with a step sequence :love: I also thought that her 3-3 was great in SP, were both jumps really UR? I didn't think so, both looked super-clean to me.
 
Love this girl! I think she has an exuberance about her that just draws you in. Her SP is lovely; hope she does well this season!!
 
I had seen Kanako when she won junior worlds and she had won me over with her spark,last season was hard but she looks better this year, also she is one of the skaters I always like her exhibition programs.
 
janetfan said:
Nobody who ignores music the way Julia does will ever win the OGM....and if they did - it would be the absolute end of figure skating as something artistic and special.

.
Click to expand...

If figure skating survived Hughe's musicallity and perfect jumping technique against Michelle's, I m not worried.:)
 
FSGMT said:
babayaga said:
I love how her SP starts with a step sequence :love: I also thought that her 3-3 was great in SP, were both jumps really UR? I didn't think so, both looked super-clean to me.
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They actually were...
Click to expand...

They weren't. If a call was made as such, it was a terrible one. That was a legit 3-3 combination. Murakami has been receiving < calls on this combo ever since 2011 Worlds and it really bugs me because she's never deserved to get the downgrade call.

I feel Murakami has been a bit underrated. I would have put her 6th at 2011 Worlds and 4th at 2012 Worlds (I'd have Ashley Wagner 3rd there and Alena Leonova down in 5th, btw). She is a really solid and enjoyable all-around skater, just with technique issues on the Lutz and Flip.

As for her programs this year, the layout of the SP is extremely smart. It gives her nice bonus points with the jumps spread out like that and I'm so glad we are finally seeing Short Programs with this kind of setup. I really wish she wouldn't do the illusion turn in the step sequence. I hate how that movement has been put into almost every step sequence these days, to get those CoP qualifications filled in; it's almost always ineffective choreography and especially interpretively. The only other problem with the program is the huge gap she takes in the steps before her solo 3Flip jump - that requires a large deduction. It doesn't seem Murakami is capable of doing a 3Flip directly out of steps with her technique, so she should probably change it to a 3Loop. In her Long Program she did a 3Loop-2Loop with preceding turns that didn't have too much of a delay between the turns and the jump, plus an edge jump would feel better with the music in this section of her Short Program anyway.

The Long Program is a big departure for her artistically and it remains to be seen if she can pull it off. She is required to be serious, seductive, and a bit deadly with this program, when she naturally has a less severe attitude and a rather innocent aura.
 
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janetfan said:
Let's be atleast half fair here, OK.....

Nobody who ignores music the way Julia does will ever win the OGM....and if they did - it would be the absolute end of figure skating as something artistic and special.

.
Click to expand...

I was talking about technique and her nerve issues :confused: , I said this before Kanako just needs more confidence buts he is already very artistic

I won't be the end if Hughes won who was a so so skater
Julia may not be that artistic yet nor like Sasha Cohen, but she is still 14
but she has something that is nerves of steel
 
sky_fly20 said:
I was talking about technique and her nerve issues :confused: , I said this before Kanako just needs more confidence buts he is already very artistic

I won't be the end if Hughes won who was a so so skater
Julia may not be that artistic yet nor like Sasha Cohen, but she is still 14
but she has something that is nerves of steel
Click to expand...

A competitor needs this to be successful in competitions. Coach Yamada did a great job with Mao about this in her junior career and it helped her further on. Only this time, there seems to be more than we see from Kanako that's keeping her from having nerves sorted out. I hope she finds her zone, pronto.
 
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