Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi

[synesthesia]

Good competition for Kanadai! Their SD was fabulous and their FD Phantom had a couple of problems where they lost levels
but overall I thought they both conveyed the theme of the Phantom program beautifully.

Yes, they were on FIRE in the RD! In my opinion this was one of their best performances so far, along with their skates at NHK 2021 and their FD at Warsaw Cup and they absolutely earned that score. I’m in love with their surprised/happy faces in the K&C – am not opposed to seeing more of those this season.

PotO needs more polishing, but they fixed the major issues and know what to work on until Nationals. Dai said again he was exhausted in the second half, so maybe Marina will have him jog around the Hertz arena (which they returned to shortly before SkAm) a lot over the next few weeks.


More happy faces at the banquet (saved from Dai’s ig stories):



https://imgur.com/a/iw8Q2KW

https://imgur.com/a/J9wJB2T


KanaDai and the CanaDanes (agree with Dai’s remark – Laurence and Nik were so, so good at NHK ):

 

[demarinis5]

So nice to see the skaters enjoying the Banquet after the Covid hiatus!

 

[ostile17]

Yes, they were on FIRE in the RD! In my opinion this was one of their best performances so far, along with their skates at NHK 2021 and their FD at Warsaw Cup and they absolutely earned that score. I’m in love with their surprised/happy faces in the K&C – am not opposed to seeing more of those this season.

PotO needs more polishing, but they fixed the major issues and know what to work on until Nationals. Dai said again he was exhausted in the second half, so maybe Marina will have him jog around the Hertz arena (which they returned to shortly before SkAm) a lot over the next few weeks.


More happy faces at the banquet (saved from Dai’s ig stories):



https://imgur.com/a/iw8Q2KW

https://imgur.com/a/J9wJB2T


KanaDai and the CanaDanes (agree with Dai’s remark – Laurence and Nik were so, so good at NHK ):

And Nik replied "What an honor!"

https://www.instagram.com/stories/nik_soerensen/2975954488420428614/

 

[mikeko666]

The POTO FD has both OFT and DiSt in the second half, which makes the program very physically demanding. They said they made lots of changes in the program and couldn't do many run-thru's. Kana also said there is no more change necessary, so I hope they will do many run thru's by Nationals.

This page has 108 photos of them at NHK Trophy.

 

[mikeko666]

This side-by-side video of POTO at Denis Ten MC and NHK Trophy show how they changed the second half of the program.

 

[mikeko666]

An interview of Marina Zueva by RT. Looks like they wanted to start this season with Denis Ten MC and have two competitions in the second half of GPS, possibly NHK Trophy and Espoo. Skate America was never in their plan, but USFS picked them.

 

[KiraraChin]

Thought I should share this cute reel of KanaDai and Kazuki Tomono promoting the Ice Explosion show, that's gonna take place in January

アイスエクスプロージョン2023 オフィシャルアカウント on Instagram: "かなだいが今日紹介してくれるのは、エンターテイナーなこの人です✨ #iceexplosion2023 #ie2023 #氷爆 #かなだい #kanadai #k7d1 #村元哉中 #kanamuramoto #高橋大輔 #daisuketakahashi #友野一希 #kazukitomono #figureskating #フィギュアスケート"

2,288 likes, 42 comments - ice_explosion_official_account on December 11, 2022: "かなだいが今日紹介してくれるのは、エンターテイナーなこの人です✨ #iceexplosion2023 #ie2023 #氷爆 #かなだい #kanadai #k7d1 #村元哉中 #kanamuramoto #高橋大輔 #daisuketakahashi #友野一希 #kazukitomono #figureskating #フィギュアスケート".

www.instagram.com

 

[synesthesia]

Thought I should share this cute reel of KanaDai and Kazuki Tomono promoting the Ice Explosion show, that's gonna take place in January

アイスエクスプロージョン2023 オフィシャルアカウント on Instagram: "かなだいが今日紹介してくれるのは、エンターテイナーなこの人です✨ #iceexplosion2023 #ie2023 #氷爆 #かなだい #kanadai #k7d1 #村元哉中 #kanamuramoto #高橋大輔 #daisuketakahashi #友野一希 #kazukitomono #figureskating #フィギュアスケート"

2,288 likes, 42 comments - ice_explosion_official_account on December 11, 2022: "かなだいが今日紹介してくれるのは、エンターテイナーなこの人です✨ #iceexplosion2023 #ie2023 #氷爆 #かなだい #kanadai #k7d1 #村元哉中 #kanamuramoto #高橋大輔 #daisuketakahashi #友野一希 #kazukitomono #figureskating #フィギュアスケート".

www.instagram.com

KanaDai are introducing the performers at Ice Explosion one by one. This is them introducing Yuka & Juho:

アイスエクスプロージョン2023 オフィシャルアカウント on Instagram: "かなだいがアイスエクスプロージョン初出演の2人を紹介してくれました✨ #iceexplosion2023 #ie2023 #氷爆 #かなだい #kanadai #k7d1 #村元哉中 #kanamuramoto #高橋大輔 #daisuketakahashi #折原裕香 #yukaorihara #juhopirinen #figureskating #フィギュアスケート"

2,097 likes, 34 comments - ice_explosion_official_account on December 9, 2022: "かなだいがアイスエクスプロージョン初出演の2人を紹介してくれました✨ #iceexplosion2023 #ie2023 #氷爆 #かなだい #kanadai #k7d1 #村元哉中 #kanamuramoto #高橋大輔 #daisuketakahashi #折原裕香 #yukaorihara #juhopirinen #figureskating #フィギュアスケート".

www.instagram.com

And in the very first video they revealed that not only they are going to perform as ice dancers, but that Dai will also skate solo and that they are thinking of creating some cool group numbers:

Instagram

Create an account or log in to Instagram - Share what you're into with the people who get you.

www.instagram.com

Since the initial announcement these skaters have been added to the cast:

- Kao Miura
- Adrienne Carhart / Oleksandr Kolosovskyi (KanaDai's training mates)
- Nao Kida & Masaya Morita


+ the following PIW skaters, three of which have performed in Dai's shows before (Ice Explosion 2020 + Hyoen 2021):

- Hirokazu Kobayashi (Dai's longterm good friend, who also has his own thing going with "Rebel Blade")
- Kohei Yoshino
- Marie Ogawa
- Kiki Nakanishi


_____________________________________________________

• Great news! After the JNats RD wasn't initially scheduled to be broadcast live on Japanese tv at all (it was only going to be available via FOD stream), it's now going to be shown on Fuji TV Two :
  
  
  

  汎用エラー画面

  J:COMテレビ番組表は、「地上波」「BS」「BS4K」「CATV（CS専門チャンネル）」全チャンネルを網羅したテレビ番組表サイトです。テレビ番組検索やリモート録画予約など便利な機能も充実！PC、スマホ、タブレットより無料でご利用いただけます。

  tvguide.myjcom.jp
  
  
  
  
• A fan kindly posted a transcript of KanaDai's segment on Fuji's "figure skating tv" from Sunday:
  
  
  

  『「いいものを残したい」NHK杯総集編インタビュー＆全日本への道・かなだいの夏（FSTV）』

  今日の午後にNHK総合で放送された「2022NHK杯フィギュア総集編」、日本の選手たちの戦いぶりや舞台裏での様子を伝える中で演技のダイジェスト映像や試合後のイ…

  ameblo.jp
  
  
  
  
• Did everyone order their K7D1 wallcalendar yet? It's the very first time we're getting both a Dai and a KanaDai calender (unfortuantely no desktop version like there was of Dai this year though):
  
  
  
  
  フィギュアスケート商品一覧 ｜ エンスカイショップ

  人気のフィギュアスケート商品が多数！エンスカイ公式通販サイトではフィギュアスケートなどのキャラクター・タレント商品を販売しています。

  www.enskyshop.com
  
  
  
  
• Puma is collaborating with Kana and Dai to celebrate the companie's 75 year anniversary. The products went on sale on December 9th - there are two lines: "Kiss&Cry" (tracksuits in Puma's signature green / already sold out) and the "casual line", which is based on last year's Daisuke Takahashi collection "Evolve" (which Kana and Dai could be seen wearing a lot during last season):
  
  

  【PUMA公式】Select 商品一覧

  jp.puma.com
  
  
  
  
• Stunning PotO fanart :
  
  https://twitter.com/l0urrieya/status/1590015271145996290
  
  
  
  
• Finally a transcript of the Dai x Shae Lynn Bourne talk, which was broadcast on NHK BS1 the Friday before NHK Trophy (Dai still thinks he doesn't make a good choreographer, while Shae-Lynn asks him to give it another try one day):
  
  https://ameblo.jp/chocolove37/entry-12774078527.html
  
  Clips of the talk:
  
  https://twitter.com/wElcOmeD8376/status/1591104649142374401
  https://twitter.com/wElcOmeD8376/status/1591104896266567683
  https://twitter.com/wElcOmeD8376/status/1591105333241720832

 

[synesthesia]

Yesterday ice-dance.com published an article, based on an interview with Kana and Dai at SkAm (there's no new information, but it's a nice summary of their partnership's formation and evolution):

Muramoto & Takahashi: Their Story Together – Ice-dance.com

www.ice-dance.com

KanaDai were among today's skater reveals on Fuji tv's skating twitter account (Nationals ice dance entry #6) :






All the best to Kana and Dai at Nationals - I wish them to achieve the goal they have set for themselves!

 

[deedee1]

Yes, yes Good luck, Kana and Daisuke at the Nationals this weekend!

 

[demarinis5]

Wishing Kana and Dai the Best of Luck at their Nationals .

SP is tomorrow and my fingers and toes will be crossed that Dai leaves his nerves on the practice ice.

GO KANADAI!!!!!

 

[ostile17]

And they did!

Their first RD win at Nationals! They lead by almost 8 points!!

Muramoto/Takahashi 77.70
Komatsubara/Komatsubara 69.96

 

[demarinis5]

Fabulous RD. Not sure how long this video will be up.

村元哉中 / 高橋大輔 Kana Muramoto / Daisuke Takahashi - 2022 JPN RD

www.youtube.com

 

[deedee1]

 

[deedee1]

Good luck again in the free dance tomorrow!

 

[deedee1]

 

[demarinis5]

CONGRATS Kana and Dai! So happy and proud of them, well done!

 

[synesthesia]

Well, that fall right at the end was unfortunate (a bit reminiscent of Dai at Finlandia in 2009), but didn’t affect the result.

The FD event seemed kinda cursed with 4 falls. I hope Saiko/Yoshimitsu and Haruno/Tsutomu are ok. I’m especially heartbroken for Haruno – she seemed unconsolable in the Kiss & Cry.

_____________________________________________

That said, Kana and Dai are national champions!!! Couldn’t have asked for a better Christmas present!

Congrats to Kana on her fourth and to Dai on his sixth national title!

Edit: I stand corrected about Dai being the first Japanese champion in two different disciplines: According to this article and figureskatingmisc on twitter Shin Amano, Masami Kobayashi and Yamato Tamura* have singles + pairs titles and Toshimitsu Doke has pairs + dance titles. *Not listed in the article






Merry Christmas to everyone reading here! Have a lovely time with your loved ones!



(Thank you to starfishshoma for cutting and posting the clip.)

 

[gsk8]

 

[gsk8]