It's not about Hanyu specifically. The sport used to have many competitors who captivated audiences. Now it has none, as the skaters are not focusing on the art of the programs and necessity of selling a performance to an audience. It's been stamped out by a system that has killed real footwork sequences and turned the concept of choreography into an AI-like question of how many turns you can fit inbetween elements. The ISU can be blamed for the program requirements and scoring mediocre artistry so high.
Hanyu developed as a skater idolizing the skaters of the 2002-2010 era. People who were performing while competing and had distinct personalities on the ice - Lambiel, Takahashi, Buttle, Yagudin, Plushenko, Weir, Preaubert, Abbott, Contesti, Ponsero, Kozuka, Verner. Even someone who was allegedly "all about the jumps" like Joubert had an absolutely magnetic presence and good showmanship, or someone like Kevin van der Perren who managed to have a couple memorable programs. Hanyu's biggest influences can clearly be seen with Weir and Plushenko, bringing some of Weir's introspectiveness (and costumes) and some of Plushenko's brashness.
Fernandez is another person who had enough of that "performance is paramount" foundation to keep some artistry alive in his programs. Or someone like Florent Amodio, who briefly was able to, before being overwhelmed by the ever increasing AI-ification of how things needed to be done in order to be competitive. Jason Brown was able to manage some wonderful programs too, but all of his best programs were created in the 2010-2016 period (thanks to Rohene Ward).
The situation after 2018 has become dire with 30 seconds being chopped out of the Men's Long Programs, while they are expected to do as many quads as possible and include a disgustingly clunky and laborious "footwork sequence" in their program, wherein everyone has to do all of the same turns, in both directions. It's not interesting and it kills the potential of every program. Not to mention the spin requirements. All the while, nobody is truly caring about the GLIDE of what ice skating is supposed be, of maintaining an attractive or interesting body position at all times, of creating a vision on ice, a character, an emotion, an audience connection. Hanyu himself never reached his potential as a competitive performer, because already since 2011 the rules for footwork sequences had started becoming worse.
I have heard many conversations between my favorites about how their favorite era is that era. And how the current scoring system is not allowing them to even think about improving themselves to be who they want to be when they watched those skaters, because all their time and effort are spent working and maintaining elements the need the most to score high, while any show of personality doesn't translate to enough points that matter, unless the difficult jumps are landed, the levels of spins and steps are reached.
