Tatsuki Machida

[Crossover]

Watching his past competition performances further adds my heartache why he retires. Just when he finally hit the mark - athleticism (powerful jumps) + artisitry (ability to do broad expansive balletic moves with ease).

ITA :thumbsup:

I have been put into such a dilemma, I don't want to watch his skating cos' I kept thinking why he retires and then at the same time I love watching cos' of the beauty of his skating. This aching heart of mind can't be comforted.

Don't worry, you're not the only one. :hopelessness:

I appreciate all of the fans support here - I love the fanart of Mills and Tatsuki - so cute - it very much speaks about their relationship. Mills had a concept and Tatsuki is able to portray his heart and soul in it with all its demamding physical requirements.

I think Tatsuki had also taken the concepts of his last four programs since the music choices are Tatsuki's ideas while Mills was in charge of constructing movements for the competitions.

 

[ioanna]

Tatsuki went to Kansai University today and their official website shared a couple of pictures of him. He looks good.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8lYfVCCAAAu7nc.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8lT_mFCUAAMSbR.jpg:large

Kansai University will be closing his official website (as well as Dai's and Nobu's) on February 10. Dai will open a brand new website but there is no info on whether Tatsuki will do the same (probably not )

 

[Crossover]

Tatsuki went to Kansai University today and their official website shared a couple of pictures of him. He looks good.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8lYfVCCAAAu7nc.jpg:large
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B8lT_mFCUAAMSbR.jpg:large

Kansai University will be closing his official website (as well as Dai's and Nobu's) on February 10. Dai will open a brand new website but there is no info on whether Tatsuki will do the same (probably not )

Tatsuki looks good. The graduation ceremony will be held in the end of March around the Worlds, so closing the website seems premature. It is understandable to make a webside for Dakahashi since Dakahashi is a professional skater, he needs to provide his whereabouts and schedules to his fans. On the hand, Tatsuki becomes a grad student far from the show business (just doing as an occasional performer during his school vacation) and I don't think he is a type of guy to make his own website.

 

[ioanna]

Tatsuki looks good. The graduation ceremony will be held in the end of March around the Worlds, so closing the website seems premature. It is understandable to make a webside for Dakahashi since Dakahashi is a professional skater, he needs to provide his whereabouts and schedules to his fans. On the hand, Tatsuki becomes a grad student far from the show business (just doing as an occasional performer during his school vacation) and I don't think he is a type of guy to make his own website.

On the contrary, Daisuke will quit skating for at least a couple of years so I actually expect Tatsuki to be more of a "professional skater" in the near future.

 

[Crossover]

On the contrary, Daisuke will quit skating for at least a couple of years so I actually expect Tatsuki to be more of a "professional skater" in the near future.

Sorry, but I don't follow you. Is Dakahashi planning to quit skating? I don't know about his current status quo, so my above post would not reflect on his plan or intention.

 

[ioanna]

Sorry, but I don't follow you. Is Dakahashi planning to quit skating? I don't know about his current status quo, so my above post would not reflect on his plan or intention.

Yes, he is quitting skating and moving to the US for at least a couple of years. He doesn't know whether or when he will skate again.

 

[Crossover]

Yes, he is quitting skating and moving to the US for at least a couple of years. He doesn't know whether or when he will skate again.

I know this is not a fan fest of Takahashi but since you've mentioned him here, could you tell me why he is planning to move to the US and to quit skating for a while? I've heard he is currently one of the top-paid figure skaters in Japan, so I'm clueless. I went to his fan fest, but couldn't find the reason easily. It will be a great loss to the figure skating world even for a short period time since we, figure skating fans know who he is.

 

[ioanna]

I know this is not a fan fest of Takahashi but since you've mentioned him here, do you know why he is planning to move to the US and quit skating for a while? I've heard he is one of the top-paid figure skaters in Japan, so I'm clueless. I went to his fan fest, but couldn't find the reason easily.

He explains everything in his new book and this particular part may clarify things
http://ice-kingfisher.tumblr.com/post/109573249748/2000-days-part-1

To quote the most relevant parts:

If possible, I didn’t want to skate. Of course the moments that I was skating were fun, and I didn’t feel uncomfortable when I did. But I didn’t want to get involved as much as possible. …

I think I was originally [skating] because I felt joy in “being wanted and expected” rather than because “I liked to”. This is why when I questioned myself whether I actually like skating, it wasn’t always the case.

He also mentioned Tatsuki as a possible factor for his retirement:

Rather than getting more competitive, I became more and more objective. The feeling of “not being wanted” became stronger towards Sochi, and it was tough. This also decreased my motivation.

I started to feel like that since the 12-13 season, and in the Sochi season, not only Yuzuru, but Tatsuki also leapt forward and did performances that drew in the audience, and I continued to feel like that all the time.

My cool impassivity just kept growing and I couldn’t even get fired up.

 

[Crossover]

I guess he loses his motivation to proceed skating, so he needs a time to look back on himself and to think about his future. If I had attentively followed men's discipline, I would've probably fallen in love with his expressive skating along with Stephane Lambiel, both of which are Tatsuki's great role models and mentors. When I saw a video of Tatsuki's SP at Skate America 2013, it showed Takahashi in preparation for his turn to go, and I noticed his nervousness on his face and his fans' responses to Tatsuki's performance. However, he is a highly accomplished skater, so resting for a while would be good for him eventually.

 

[Interspectator]

An artist and television personality shares her feelings about being at Nagano when Tatsuki announced his retirement.
She loves Tatsuki very much and drew several pictures of him...and the rest of the guys of team Japan.
Very funny, very sweet.
When she first heard the news, it was snowing in Nagano, she and her friend went outside and drew 'Tatsuki Baka!' (stupid Tatsuki!) in the snow, in frustration. But she understands that she has his reasons, so before his last performance at the gala, she made a special sign board for him, with his face and 'Tatsuki Daisukiii' (I love you, Tatsuki!!) as can be seen in a video still of his performance.
http://fod.fujitv.co.jp/s/genre/variety/ser2223/2223810002/

She borrowed a Karaoke box to draw the sign-board, and in the toilet of the Karaoke 'let it go' from frozen was playing. It perfectly matched his retirement, so while listening to the music, please look at the comic sequence she drew.

Such good ART!!

She drew Yuzu in bed, with '6 weeks rest' written next to it.
Sota's picture says 'I love Hanyu' (Junior, still in middle school)
Uno Shoma says (I'm Dai-chan-esque)
Mura has 'sukoshimo' which means 'a little bit also' -probably just to fit him in to the song. heheheh.

 

[cruzceleste]

An artist and television personality shares her feelings about being at Nagano when Tatsuki announced his retirement.
She loves Tatsuki very much and drew several pictures of him...and the rest of the guys of team Japan.
Very funny, very sweet.
When she first heard the news, it was snowing in Nagano, she and her friend went outside and drew 'Tatsuki Baka!' (stupid Tatsuki!) in the snow, in frustration. But she understands that she has his reasons, so before his last performance at the gala, she made a special sign board for him, with his face and 'Tatsuki Daisukiii' (I love you, Tatsuki!!) as can be seen in a video still of his performance.
http://fod.fujitv.co.jp/s/genre/variety/ser2223/2223810002/

She borrowed a Karaoke box to draw the sign-board, and in the toilet of the Karaoke 'let it go' from frozen was playing. It perfectly matched his retirement, so while listening to the music, please look at the comic sequence she drew.

Such good ART!!

She and she drew Yuzu in bed, with '6 weeks rest' written next to it.
Sota's picture says 'I love Hanyu' (Junior, still in middle school)
Uno Shoma says (I'm Dai-chan-esque)
Mura has 'sukoshimo' which means 'a little bit also' -probably just to fit him in to the song. heheheh.

I saw the pictures of the drawings yesterday in tumblr. Thank you for describing the video. Sadly doesn´t work for me.

 

[Crossover]

An artist and television personality shares her feelings about being at Nagano when Tatsuki announced his retirement.
She loves Tatsuki very much and drew several pictures of him...and the rest of the guys of team Japan.
Very funny, very sweet.
When she first heard the news, it was snowing in Nagano, she and her friend went outside and drew 'Tatsuki Baka!' (stupid Tatsuki!) in the snow, in frustration. But she understands that she has his reasons, so before his last performance at the gala, she made a special sign board for him, with his face and 'Tatsuki Daisukiii' (I love you, Tatsuki!!) as can be seen in a video still of his performance.
http://fod.fujitv.co.jp/s/genre/variety/ser2223/2223810002/

She borrowed a Karaoke box to draw the sign-board, and in the toilet of the Karaoke 'let it go' from frozen was playing. It perfectly matched his retirement, so while listening to the music, please look at the comic sequence she drew.

Such good ART!!

Indeed, the show is really funny to watch and her fanarts looks very familiar to my eyes. I've seen her fanart at MOI and remember her holding that panel!!!
Tatsuki is a happy man to have such supportive and witty fans with many talents like them.
The cartoons borrowing from "Frozen" are real gems not to be missed. Thank you for sharing the video and translation!

 

[Crossover]

I saw the pictures of the drawings yesterday in tumblr. Thank you for describing the video. Sadly doesn´t work for me.

You have to see the video because the content was just AWESOME not to be missed. If you click the below grey button stating a video in a lower resolution, you can watch the video with an almost 10 minute length. I don't think hola is necessary for viewing it. Enjoy it.

 

[cruzceleste]

Haven´t seem this posted. Looks like a compilation of message after Tatsuki retirement form other skaters.

Sorry if it was already posteed.

 

[Crossover]

Haven´t seem this posted. Looks like a compilation of message after Tatsuki retirement form other skaters.

Sorry if it was already posteed.

That is a fresh new info. I believe the compilation is a very thoughtful present for not only Tatsuki but also his fans!. Thanks cruzceleste!

 

[ioanna]

I saw this tweet earlier today.
https://twitter.com/rainax0512/status/562263794483621888

Translation:

Shoma Uno: "I look up to Dai-chan"
Sota Yamamoto: "I love Hanyu-senshu"
Anna Pogorilaya: "I was inspired by Machida's Firebird"
Miyu Nakashio: "I want to be like Machida-san"
Yuka Nagai: "I will slide towards the East Of Eden"

Machida-san has an amazing influence over female skaters.

I personally had no idea Tatsuki was the inspiration behind Anna's Firebird but I looked around and it seems like this information has been circulating among Japanese fans since the beginning of the season. So basically now we have 2 ladies skating his 2013-2014 programs because he inspired them.

A lot of young Team Japan skaters look up to him though, girls and boys alike. Of the boys I would name Keiji Tanaka, he grew up training next to Tatsuki and they became close friends. After Tatsuki's retirement, Keiji tweeted that he had "a lot of respect and would work hard to become as good as Machida-senpai".

There's also the 13 year old Koshiro Shimada, who is the 2014 Novice National Silver Medalist. He's a big fan of Tatsuki and I think it shows in his style. After Koshiro won the silver medal at the Novice Nats, Tatsuki sent him a congratulatory text message and he was over the moon about it. You can watch him proudly showing off his phone to the reporters here:
http://youtu.be/kFXguygDfrU?t=6m2s

Koshiro was invited to Stephane Lambiel's Ice Legends show in Switzerland and skated to "Happy Feet", a program Tatsuki used as his EX back in 2010. You can watch Koshiro here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66StewVvJPg

Also, to (very roughly) translate a few of the messages posted by cruzceleste:

Sota Yamamoto said he loved his programs and encourages him to do his best in the future.

Daisuke Murakami said he was a very passionate athlete and gave a lot so that is why he can't help asking "Why? Tatsuki, you can still do this! But now that you have decided to retire, give your best with your studies and let's meet again!"

Kento Nakamura: "Tatsuki, thank you for your career. His skating has certainly become ideal and he was very strict on himself but he embodied the art in figure skating and I respect him from the bottom of my heart. I wish him great success in his second career but honestly, thank you for everything!"

Kazuki Tomono: "We practiced every day together and you've been a great source of inspiration and motivation to me. We lost the ace of our Rinkai skating club but I promise I will work hard to become one myself!"

And finally the lovely Haruka Imai (whose message contributed to the ongoing dating rumors): "Tatsuki, thank you for your long competitive career. I’ve always loved your heartfelt performances and I really miss you. Tatsuki, from now on I will also support you on your road to fulfill the next dreams you have chosen!"

 

[Interspectator]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gb45z_町田樹の独特すぎるインタビューベスト３_sport
The 3 top interesting/baffling sound bytes given by Machida during his skating career.

 

[Maria Victoria]

Thank you ionap for the translations of the messages of his fellow skaters for Tatsuki. It is lovely to know that Tatsuki is held in such high esteem by them. I especially like what Kento said about Tatsuki embodying the art of figure skating. I think Tatsuki himself will be pleased.

 

[ioanna]

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gb45z_町田樹の独特すぎるインタビューベスト３_sport
The 3 top interesting/baffling sound bytes given by Machida during his skating career.

Yeah I wish they'd give him a break for a moment and focus on the top 3 most beautiful skating moments of his career instead, now that he retired. But I can't say I expected anything different.

 

[Interspectator]

Yeah I wish they'd give him a break for a moment and focus on the top 3 most beautiful skating moments of his career instead, now that he retired. But I can't say I expected anything different.

I don't think it's disrespectful or anything. He was a very unique figure in figure skating and one of the reasons for that was the way he answered interviews.
He said that he was promoting himself through his interviews. People certainly had never heard anyone speak like that before so they took notice. The show is focusing on the 'hidden side' of figure skating. Like the embarrassment felt by girls doing a spiral sequence, and Mao and Mai's home videos etc.