Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi | Page 9 | Golden Skate

Kana Muramoto & Daisuke Takahashi

synesthesia

Final Flight
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Mar 1, 2014
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Germany
"Super cool X-mas card by Mika Matsuda (can you spot Kana and Dai?)":
https://twitter.com/nigaoe877/status/1342088429618700289


That is a wonderful Christmas Card and shows a tremendous amount of work. I don't really have a good memory for faces but many look familiar. Is Dai almost alone in front of the tree with Kana to his left (our right as we look at the picture). I can recognize Piper and Paul down in the lower right hand corner. Thanks for link, synesthesia.

You're spot on! (y)

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Ig update from Dai- and Kana-chan working out in Florida under palm trees sporting the new model of Puma running shoes.

Dai's ig-account (hit the right hand arrow to see them do a variation of their SlLi on land!):

Kana's ig-account:


In January they shot this promotional clip for the same shoe model:


_____________________________________________

This lucky lady met Kana and Dai at the Hertz Arena again (the second to last photo is from last year):



Translation (it's slightly confusing with the personal pronouns here - I'm not quite sure who said or did what re. the last part - maybe mikeko can help? I'm guessing Dai inquired what day it was, because that's what he tends to do when he's asked for an autograph. 😅):

Recently, Dai-chan and Kana-chan came back from Japan to Florida. I got to watch them practice! I've been waiting for them to come back to Florida. I met them for the first time exactly 1 year ago. I said hello today! And they waved at me! They remembered me. Dai-chan said please come and see us again anytime! And Kana-chan said I can't believe it's been a year already! I was able to watch them for a few hours. They were practicing new moves again! It was so beautiful I can't wait for the announcement! I was able to talk to them during the break. They were eating lunch outside and I asked them for their autograph. He said, "What day is it?" I told him it was the 15th. I wrote "December" by mistake when it was February. Wow, I wrote 12. Sorry! I'm sorry. No problem at all. I love you so much! Thank you so much for your time and help!
 
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mikeko666

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
"Super cool X-mas card by Mika Matsuda (can you spot Kana and Dai?)":
https://twitter.com/nigaoe877/status/1342088429618700289


That is a wonderful Christmas Card and shows a tremendous amount of work. I don't really have a good memory for faces but many look familiar. Is Dai almost alone in front of the tree with Kana to his left (our right as we look at the picture). I can recognize Piper and Paul down in the lower right hand corner. Thanks for link, synesthesia.

That is supercool indeed! I see Kana and Dai and so many familiar faces, and spotted JLB in the black swan costume! :laugh2:
 

PaulE

On the Ice
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Jan 5, 2008
Country
United-States
Can anyone identify the lady in the green coat with the Akita dog? She is next to the tree below the Tutberidze group on the upper right.
 

synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
That is supercool indeed! I see Kana and Dai and so many familiar faces, and spotted JLB in the black swan costume! :laugh2:

The portrayal of JLB is one of my fave parts, along with Nobu hanging out with team Champery. Yamada exchanging the latest gossip with Tat is even better! 😂

I can't for the life of me identify who's to Yuto Kishina's left (in front of Yuma and Shun) and who is pushing the sleigh?

The guy to Kanako's right (our left)?

Who is between Taichiro Yamakuma and Koshin Yamada? And between Shu Nakamura and Kosuke Nakano?

I think Shizuka is missing...
 

PaulE

On the Ice
Joined
Jan 5, 2008
Country
United-States
Is team Champery the group in the sleigh in the lower left? Or where?
 

synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
Is team Champery the group in the sleigh in the lower left? Or where?

Bottom right corner. (Champery is the idyllic place in Switzerland where Stephane resides and teaches his students. 🙂 ) There's Steph holding up a cake, which was baked by Deniss (the latter is holding a bowl with leftover dough), Koshiro to Steph's right doing a jumping jack, above him is Rika, above her Shoma cooking some meat over a campfire and Nobu is on the right with a plate and a fork, ready to be the first to try the cake. 😁

Inside the sleigh on the left side there are Keiji, Ryuju, Narumi and possibly Mervin Tran (or is that Ryo Shibata?)

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Meowmix uploaded a steps and turns breakdown of "La Bayadere" at NHK. Tysm! 😃(Unfortunately it's blocked in some regions):



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Dai is featured on one side of the double-cover of "Figure Skaters Plus' " March issue (Shoma is on the other side):


There are going to be articles on (or mainly photos of) KanaDai's debut at the NHK Trophy and on Nationals. They are a bit late with this, but of course there isn't much figure skating to report on right now.

I think Kana should have been on the cover with Dai. March is both of their birth month too!

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The official KanaDai (K7D1) banner can now be ordered from "FSkating.net":


From abroad you'll need to order via proxy.
 
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synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
Thank you, KiraraChin! 🙂 Such a nice gesture by Marin and great to see so many skaters – Taichi's friends and former training mates – contributing.

On a side note: I'm surprised to see how many of them seem to have relocated to the new Kanku Ice Arena, including Utako Nagamitsu's group. (Which makes sense since she said she saw Kana and Dai practice when they came back to Japan temporarily last year. I think at the time they practiced at Kanku Ice Arena.) I wonder if it's a temporary arrangement for the non Kinoshita Academy skaters due to the pandemic, because other rinks are closed or too crowded?


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Kana and Dai didn't submit their programs for video evaluation and declined their stand-in Worlds spot, apparently due to Kana's knee injury. :frown:



Translation:

Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi withdraw from World Championships due to poor condition

The Japan Skating Federation (JSF) held a meeting of its Board of Directors in Tokyo on February 24, and approved the withdrawal of ice dance pair Kana Muramoto and Daisuke Takahashi (both KFSC, Kansai University) as alternates for the Figure Skating World Championships in Stockholm in March. Rikako Fukase (University of Tokyo) and Oliver Zhang (Canada) were selected as alternates.  

Muramoto and Takahashi commented as follows:
"The ISU (International Skating Union) offered us the opportunity to earn points to compete online, but we were not able to do it in the best condition at the time of submission, so we decided not to do it. We will be working hard to complete our tasks one by one for the next season and will do our best for the upcoming games. Thank you for your continued support."

According to Yosuke Takeuchi, Director of the Japan Skating Federation, the poor condition refers to the left knee injury that Muramoto suffered at the All-Japan Championships last December.  

Misato Komatsubara and Takeru Komatsubara (both from Kurashiki FSC) have been selected for the World Championships.


ETA

Article in English on olympicchannel.com:

 
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mikeko666

Final Flight
Joined
Apr 27, 2011
Kana and Dai didn't submit their programs for video evaluation and declined their stand-in Worlds spot, apparently due to Kana's knee injury. :frown:



Translation:




ETA

Article in English on olympicchannel.com:


The deadline to enter the video evaluation was February 16, and that was about the same time the Japanese lady at Hertz Arena posted Kana and Dai's pics telling us they were doing well. Let's hope she has been recovering and they simply did not have time to prepare.
 

synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
Happy birthday, Kana-chan!!! 🥳 💜

I second mikeko's well wishes and want to add wishes for a speedy recovery with regards to your knee in case it isn't fully healed yet. :pray:


Here are Kana's retweets of more well made fan-art plus birthday wishes from Satomi Ito:






This one is very nice too:

 
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synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
Dai will make a Hyoen-related announcement from Florida tomorrow morning on NTV's news shows OHA!4 and ZIP! Of course we don't know what it is yet - could be a Blu-ray/DVD release or a tour of the 2019 production, an entirely new production slated for next year or sth. completely different. In any case, I'm already excited! :party2:

Sources: https://twitter.com/hyoen2019/status/1368472087657025541 / https://d1sk.com/


Don't know, if it's related, but I recall that one of Hyoen 2019's cast members, Sarry, posted two pictures from a 3-day dance camp that Kana, Dai, her and another lady attended together in January (she tagged #Hyoen):




____________________________________________________________________

Shoma fan, RutrumusM, conducted a great interview with Romain Haguenauer. Among the many covered topics, he briefly talked about his work with Daisuke back in 2011 in Lyon, praising him as one of the best singles skater he's ever worked with.

"I hold dear memories of our collaboration. He is a very inspiring skater even when you just watch him, but to work with him — it was really impressive. He has no limits. You could ask anything you want and he would go and do it. He’s one of the best single skaters I have ever worked with. And now he is an ice dancer! It is not easy for him and he still has to learn a lot, but I think he did very well on his first attempt!"

Source: https://skating-to-music.blog/2021/...ith-a-frame-interview-with-romain-haguenauer/


Dai truly is not just a skater's skater, but also a coach's, choreographer's, producer's etc. skater - among the many people, who had the pleasure to work with him in any capacity, I can't think of anyone, who didn't praise him. :giggle:



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Finally, I uploaded KanaDai's appearance on Kenji's Room. Now we have a more complete picture of how their partnership came about! (I found some of the details quite surprising.)

Part 1 (23 February 2021): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rWYK7mrAk7W5Hi-T5TuZFQfIyE_KGcvO/view
Part 2 (2 March 2021): https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ZHe8w5sP7N8p__jdsrC-3XD0mAY-Ti3m/view

(Partial) Transcript of the first part: https://news.jsports.co.jp/skate/article/20190310219913/
(Couldn't find a transcript of the second part so far.)


DeepL translation of part 1 (worked well for the most part; for the bits that were a little unclear, I put the original Japanese text in brackets):


Figure Skaters' Oasis♪ [KENJI's Room] KANA MURAMOTO & DAISUKE TAKAHASHI Part 1

Figure Skating Talk by J SPORTS Editorial Team


Kenji Miyamoto is a former ice dancer and world-renowned choreographer. He is well-liked by the top skaters and his humorous character has made him the big brother of Japanese figure skaters. Kenji welcomes Japan's top skaters to his 30-minute talk show!

This time, his guests are Daisuke Takahashi, who surprised the world by switching to ice dance, and his partner, Kana Muramoto. They talked about how they spend their time during the Corona pandemic and how they formed the couple/team.




About your second appearance

Takahashi:
I haven't been on the show for a very long time, I think it was 2014. Since then, I retired, came back, became an ice dancer, and many things happened. I have a lot of things to talk about, so I'm going to talk a lot (laughs).

Muramoto: 5 years after his (Dai’s) last appearance, we formed a team and Dai-chan made a new start as an ice dancer. So I'd like to talk about many things with Kenji-sensei, who is also my senior ice dancer.



Memories of the last time on the show

Takahashi:
I remember that Mr. Yamato (Tamura) intervened in the middle of the show (laughs). We were having fun.



My relationship with KENJI

Muramoto:
I hadn't had a chance to communicate with Kenji since I switched to ice dance, but this year we had a lot of practice in Japan because of Corona, so I/we asked him to make our ice dance program for the first time. [アイスダンスに変わってからは賢二先生と交流する機会がなかったんですけど、今年はコロナの関係もあって日本で練習することも多かったので、初めてアイスダンスのプログラムを賢二先生に作ってもらったりしました。]

Takahashi: Between NHK Trophy and All-Japan, when we needed to fix something, it was hard to come up with ideas by ourselves, but Kenji gave us some ideas. He really helped us a lot, thank you very much.



The show starts!

KENJI:
This is the second time for each of you to appear on KENJI's Room, but I'm a little surprised that you've come back like this. Oh, Dai-chan, are you tired?

Takahashi: I am a bit tired (laughs). But it’s going up from here!

KENJI: Kana-chan is looking killer, but Dai-chan is looking down, are you OK? [カナちゃんはキラーンとしてるけどさ、大ちゃんボヨーンとしてるけど、大丈夫?]

Takahashi: I think I'm a bit nervous.

Muramoto: I'll keep my head down too.

Takahashi: No, no, I think I'll keep it together. [いやいや、キュッとしとこうかな。]

KENJI: It must have been a different season because of the new Corona virus, but how did you spend your time?

Takahashi: First of all, the rink in America was closed. At first I thought it would be better not to go back.

Muramoto: Yes, we were very confused.

Takahashi: Because we might not be able to come back.

Muramoto: I didn't know what would happen. We were both pretty dark/down for about a week, weren't we?

Takahashi: We wondered what's going to happen... It was like that. But at that time, I don't know if it's right to say that Japan was more relaxed, but we heard from our friends that it was still less tense than in America, so we decided to go back home. If we were a couple/team, who had been together for a long time, we could train without skating for a month or so, but we thought it was important now to skate together, with or without a coach. We made that choice and decided to go back, and then the rink was closed for two months in America. We took the proper steps and were allowed to skate (in Japan), so it was the right choice there, wasn't it?

KENJI: How long were you able to skate a day?

Takahashi: We were able to skate for about 3 hours.

KENJI: So you were able to skate a lot?

Muramoto: Sometimes we would make time to practice remotely with coach Marina.



What you got into during the self-restraint period?

Takahashi:
Kana-chan was watching "Crash Landing on You" a lot.

Muramoto: "Demon Slayer" too. It was the first time I got into anime.

Takahashi: I like anime.

Muramoto: He recommended it to me. Anyway, it was all about movies and dramas. Also, I don't know if this is a thing in Japan, but I cut down (pictures/reproductions of) paintings of famous painters, and they were like stickers, and if you put/piece them together, you could complete one famous painting. I used to do that all the time.

KENJI: The work is simple, but it sounds fun.



How the couple/team was formed

Takahashi:
At first, Kana-chan was looking for a partner. At that time, Mr. Yamato (Tamura) pushed me a lot like "Aren't you interested in dancing?” But I was like "No, no, no, I can't do that" for about a season. To be honest, I wanted to do ice dancing too, so I was like, "Well, maybe not.” [正直アイスダンスをやりたい気持ちもあったんで「無くもないかな」みたいな。] That was the season when I came back. But in the end, nothing happened. But then in January [2019], Kana contacted me.

Muramoto: It was a combination of timing, but I had heard from others that Dai-chan was interested in ice dancing, but not from him, so I wanted to ask him how he really felt about it. I was also looking for a partner when he came back, so I was not sure if it was right to ask him right after he came back. But then I happened to go to see a play/performance, and he was there too.

Takahashi: In the middle of the play, there was a part where they invited the audience to come and do something, and I was chosen to do it, so I was sent up on stage.

Muramoto: (watching it) “What? Dai-chan?” Like that. I was like, "What?” But I didn't have Dai-chan's contact information at that time, so I asked my sister Sacchan (Satsuki Muramoto) to give me Dai-chan's contact information and I contacted him right away. At that time, he had already left, but we decided to arrange an appointment and talk, and that was in January.

KENJI: Were you two close to begin with?

Muramoto: We used to practice together at Kansai University, but we just said hello to each other.

Takahashi: I talked with her sister, but I never talked much with Kana.

KENJI: How did you feel when Dai-chan said yes?

Muramoto: I was so nervous when I first met him (laughs).

Takahashi: I was nervous too.

Muramoto: The decision was made in July, and I was nervous all the time for about half a year. The decision was made during the rehearsals for Hyoen. I hadn't talked to Dai-chan after he skated in the tryouts, he was too busy. I was wondering what happened, but I didn't say anything. But during the rehearsal, Dai-chan called me to the seaside/beach and said, "Would you like to talk?” I thought, "Oh my God! He's here!

KENJI: This is not a story about a high school student's first love, is it?

Muramoto: "What should I do! What should I do?” And then he was like, "I'd like to try it, Kana-chan, what did/do you think?” When I heard that, I was really excited, and I was like "Oh no!” But it didn't come out, did it? (I didn’t say it aloud, did I?) 「どうしよ!どうしよ!」と思ってたら「僕はやってみたいと思ってる、カナちゃんはどうだった?」みたいな話になって「是非、私もやりたいです」みたいな感じで。それを聞いたときは、自分の中ではすごいテンションが上がっていて「ヤバイ!ヤバイ!」ってなったんですけど、表には出てなかったんだよね?

Takahashi: Not at all. You just said "Oh right, let’s do our best!" But I was still in singles, so I felt like I was going to do singles that year too, so I think that was part of it/the case too. [全然出てなかった。普通に「あ!そっか、頑張ろう」みたいな。でも僕はまだシングルだったので、その年もシングルでやる感じだったので、それもあったと思うんですけど。]

KENJI: What made you decide to try ice dancing?

Takahashi: You're so wonderful in ice dance, aren't you, Kana? I thought that if she teamed up with a taller and better dancer from abroad, she could be more successful in the world, so to be honest, I wasn't sure about that. I told her everything honestly, and she said that she still wanted to do it, and I also felt that I needed to work/team up with other people to perform for the rest of my life. I wasn't thinking about going to the Olympics at all. To be honest, I was a bit bewildered by the idea of doing it as an active athlete, but I thought it would open up a whole new world for me if I went that far. If it didn't work out, I'd apologise in the end and say "Sorry!



Difficulties after switching to ice dance

KENJI:
Singles and ice dance are two totally different disciplines, did you have difficulties at first?

Takahashi: It was very difficult. (Usually) I'm pretty quick at learning choreography, aren't I?

KENJI: Fast, fast.

Takahashi: But I couldn't remember it at all. And I was in such a hurry. Kana-chan taught me too, but that made me even more impatient. To be honest, I didn't remember anything in the second half of the practice.

KENJI: Which element is the hardest?

Takahashi: Spins. There are still many parts I can't feel, such as the degree of strength of the other party/my partner. Maybe I'm thinking too much and putting too much effort into it, and it seems that (Muramoto) is losing power and that feeling is still difficult. [相手の力加減とか、まだ感じきれない部分が多いです。たぶん僕が考え過ぎて力が入り過ぎて、なんか(村元選手が)力負けするみたいになってるようで、その感じも今だに難しいです。]

KENJI: In lifting, strength is important and balance is also important. Did you change your diet?

Takahashi: Kana-chan said "Eat! Eat!” from the beginning, and I thought I was eating well, but I wasn't/it wasn’t enough. I didn’t get injured, but it was a bit of a problem, and our coach told me that I should change my diet.

KENJI: I asked you if I could eat the boiled egg on the rink side. You were really angry, weren’t you?

Takahashi: It's my food. (laughs) It was like I was eating, sleeping or skating. My trainer makes a menu for me, and I usually have 4 meals, and then protein. I never drank protein before. I have like a protein midnight meal/snack. I make pancakes with 1.5 cups of cottage cheese, 3 eggs and oat, and I have a hard time eating them....

KENJI: What about twizzles?

Takahashi: Twizzles are fine. I couldn't do them in competition though.

Muramoto: I tend to think too much in a competition. I think I keep my eyes open when I dance, but when I heard that in singles I kept my eyes closed when I spun, I thought "Wow!” But in ice dance, you have to look at each other and feel each other (even) while you are twizzling.

Takahashi: That's why I was dizzy at first. Since I was closing my eyes (when I was a singles skater), I couldn't see the scenery around me. But in ice dance, you have to open your eyes, so at first I was dizzy.

Muramoto: But your twizzles are still fast. They're fast and it's amazing.



Question for KENJI

Muramoto:
I wanted to know what Kenji-sensei thought when he heard that Kana and Dai-chan were going to form a couple/team.

KENJI: I really didn't know anything, and suddenly I got a phone call from Dai-chan and he said "I'm going to do ice dance. I'm going to do my best." At first I was like "What?", but then he said "I'll do my best", so I said "Good luck, I'll support you", that's all. When I heard it in words, I was really surprised that it was true. I was worried about a lot of things, but at that time I was just cheering without thinking about anything. When I heard that his partner was Kana, I was so happy. I asked her what she was going to do.

Muramoto: Yes, he was asking me so much.

KENJI: I was talking to Sacchan [Kana’s sister] and she said, "This is a top secret, Kana-chan said she would tell you herself.” “But I've been waiting for it for a long time, but I haven't heard it (from her) yet. Will the secret weapon remain a secret?” I wondered.

Muramoto: Anyway, the coach asked me, "What are you going to do? What are you going to do?” I'll tell you again... Like that. [とにかく先生から「どうするの?どうするの?」って聞かれていて「また言います...」みたいな。]

KENJI: Like Dai-chan, I’ve been choreographing for Kana-chan since she was a little girl, so I was worried about her, and I wanted to support her.

Muramoto: That's why I'm teaming up with Dai-chan for ice dance!
 
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synesthesia

Final Flight
Joined
Mar 1, 2014
Country
Germany
Dai will make a Hyoen-related announcement from Florida tomorrow morning on NTV's news shows OHA!4 and ZIP! Of course we don't know what it is yet - could be a Blu-ray/DVD release or a tour of the 2019 production, an entirely new production slated for next year or sth. completely different. In any case, I'm already excited! :party2:

Sources: https://twitter.com/hyoen2019/status/1368472087657025541 / https://d1sk.com/


Don't know, if it's related, but I recall that one of Hyoen 2019's cast members, Sarry, posted two pictures from a 3-day dance camp that Kana, Dai, her and another lady attended together in January (she tagged #Hyoen):


The Hyoen ig account has just been updated:


Welcome to a world of ice, so beautiful you can't help but get lost in it!

LUXE
🗓🗓️15 May (Sat) to 17 May (Mon), 2021
🚩Yokohama Arena

Performance:Daisuke Takahashi
Supervision & Direction: Kikunojo Onoe
Composition/Screenplay/Direction: Ryo Harada (Takarazuka Revue)
Theme Song: Ayaka Hirahara

The gorgeous members of "#Hyoyan 2019" reunite! Daisuke Takahashi and other gorgeous members will create a brilliant review on ice.

#Daisuke Takahashi #Shizuka Arakawa #Reon Yuzuki #Ayaka Hirahara #Seiji Fukushi #Kazuki Namioka #Akiko Suzuki #Nobunari Oda #Kanako Murakami #Kana Muramoto #Tokuma Nishioka

For more information, please visit the official website


It's going to be a brand new production with the Hyoen 2019 cast members that will be performed at the Yokohama Arena 15th-17th May! :eek: The post links to a website, specifically designed for "LUXE":


LUXE - In French, it means elegance, luxury or extravagance, not only because it is expensive, but also because it is the essence of luxury, based on one's own values.

Travel, like entertainment, is a luxury that can bring many emotions to our hearts. But now, as the world suffers from unprecedented events, we have drifted far away from enjoying travel. In this context, we are reminded once again of the landscapes we once loved. It's a chance to reflect on the landscapes we once loved and the places we long to visit one day. It is with this in mind that we have chosen the theme of "A tour of the world" for this production, in the hope that the audience will enjoy such a LUXE time through live entertainment.

The cast and production team have been reunited with the splendid members of "Hyoen 2019". The production will be directed by Ryo Harada, a member of the Takarazuka Revue, and the interactive space will be created using TeamLab's state-of-the-art video technology to create a spectacular review-like world on ice.

Let's go on a dream journey!


It sure sounds and looks intriguing. But this is extremely surprising and very short notice. It was probably planned for a while, but put on hold due to the pandemic? Hopefully they can run the shows safely (on the bottom of the website it says that masks are mandatory and that there will be temperature checks; additionally I hope they won't sell the max. capacity of seats to allow for enough distance between audience members).


ETA:

Dai on OHA!4 🥰:



 
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