she's really good, but IMHO does not come close to surpassing a skater like Kostornaia in her junior years. i had never seen (and still have never seen) a junior level skater with such posture, maturity, blade control and efficiency, edgework and skating skills like her. i still see a good amount of "junior" in this skater that i did not see in Aliona at the same level.
You are absolutely correct, and shame on me for not recognizing that Kostornaia skated "Departure" or "November" as a junior. Her "Stella's Theme" has also always been one of my favourite junior skates. Alena was definitely more sophisticated in her temperament, and from a technical standpoint her skating was better. Spins especially, in which Vasileva lacks. I can not say you are wrong in the opinion that Kostornaia is the most complete junior we have seen.
With Vasileva I maintain that her body control seems historically unparalleled at the junior level. I am analyzing the raw affinity for body movement, control and choreographic execution & stability - NOT the general artistic quality of the program; by the latter standard, there is no reason to name Vasileva next to the usual suspects.
However, Alena's dancing and proprioception was not beyond other juniors, though again in temperament and artistic cohesion she does win. Coming from THE classical juggernaut camp Khrustalnyi, Kostornaia was operating daily in a world of significantly higher sophistication, so the program and subject matter quality is a given. I do not see a comparison in the exactity of movement between the two. Vasileva's absolute bodily precision, choreographic density and rhythmic perfection is not normal. Her SP opening sequence alone has a subtlety and total loss of tension you see from elite dancers only, almost never a figure skater. She is absolutely born to be a dancer.
The size of Vasileva's jumps are also not brining to memory any counterpart at the junior level. Kostornaia only gained her massive 3A in her prime senior season as well. Until then her jumping was absolutely splendid but followed the standard quick and light technique; Vasileva demonstrates a power and height in combination with soft landing and fluid exits that Kostornaia did not, nor did any junior for that matter, save for possibly Morozova, who's landing and exits I think pale in comparison still to Vasileva's. I dont see much junior in Vasileva's skating outside of spins, though her bladework is below Kostornaia's for sure, that is the highest bar you can set. In general Vasileva is not identifiable as a junior skater. Let me know what mistakes specifically you find with Vasileva's skating.
I do, however, on further consideration retract my overly high praise of Vasileva's artistic versatility. Even for a junior, she is not unparalleled at all. Akateva and Petrosian to date are without challenge, in regards to flooring versatility and sophistication in greatly varying subject matters, unbeaten in juniors. Kostornaia was extremely sophisticated and beautiful, she is not objectively measurable as below the former two in pure artistry, but she specialized exclusively as a lyricist like the typical talented junior girl, similar to Valieva. Vasileva is impressive, but follows an opposite trend, in that I can find no convincing classical performances from her anywhere. Meanwhile Petrosian had already mastered traditional Artsakh, French Chanson, experimental contemporary, lyricism, tango, and pop all as a junior. Akateva in one season demonstrated all the way from exciting traditional Chinese dance music to gentle neoclassical.
I am by no means implying that Vasileva is a better skater than Kostornaia, neither that she should surpass her. I made a post earlier analyzing the season averages of different skaters, Kostornaia I believe was 3rd or 4th of all time. Pairing this with her superior SS to other girls and non-inferior artistry I would fault nobody for considering her peak season as the absolute peak of ladies skating. Though, at this moment, for me Petrosian will always be closest to heart. My observation here is that Vasileva's proprioception and tamed jumping power is in another realm from any junior I am aware of, and the potential cannot be reasonably capped by any extrapolation or future prediction, which is extremely interesting.
As a side note, I will take every opportunity to mention that my favourite ever junior skate is the following:
