Arrived back home yesterday and haven't counted how many times I rewatched KanaDai’s programs since.
I’m thrilled they skated well in Kazakhstan and finally earned the gold (first international gold for a Japanese ice dance team!) to join their silver collection.
Seeing Dai-chan looking genuinely moved on the podium made me emotional too.
It must have been special to achieve this at the competition that was created to commemorate Denis, especially for Dai as he had a very friendly relationship with him and visited his memorial in Almaty together with Mao and Takahito in 2018.
This time he went again with Kana. They both spoke fondly of Denis in their post-competition interviews.
Transcript of two of their interviews in Japanese (the interviews were held in English though):
https://abmikan.wixsite.com/yurt/post/deniscup2022_interview1
Machine translation:
Q: How do you feel now that the competition is over?
Kana: I feel really good. We made mistakes in both rhythm dance and free dance, and there are parts that need to be corrected. Still, we are very happy to have participated in the Denis Ten Memorial Challenge here in Kazakhstan. Especially for Daisuke, as Denis Ten was a special friend.
Daisuke: Yes.
Kana: So we feel very honoured to be able to participate in this competition and to skate for Denis.
Q: Is there anything you would like to tell the Denis Ten Foundation or Denis himself?
Daisuke: First of all, I would like to thank you for inviting us to Kazakhstan. I really miss Dennis. I know that he has passed away, but I feel like he is still here. So I really enjoyed competing here in Kazakhstan and I am sure that Denis was watching our performance today.
Kana: Yeah, yeah.
Daisuke: Was it alright? (whispering) (addressing Kana in Japanese)
Kana: Mm-hm.
Q: Would you say today's performance was a gift to Denis?
Daisuke: To be honest, I think we could have done a bit more, ...... but, yes, I think we did well today. I'm sure Denis would be...
Oh, how do you say pleased? (in Japanese)
Kana: I think Denis is enjoying seeing Daisuke back on the ice as an ice dancer.
Daisuke: The two of us, right?
Kana: I really think so. I think he is happy to see Daisuke skating and performing.
Q: How do you feel about Denis, not as a friend, but as a skater?
Daisuke: He was a very talented skater. Denis' performances were always entertaining. He had a lot of fans in Japan too.
Kana: Denis always felt the music well when he skated, and you could tell how much he enjoyed skating by watching him. I think he was a really good skater.
Interviewer: Thank you very much.
Kana, Daisuke: Thank you very much.
https://abmikan.wixsite.com/yurt/post/deniscup2022_interview2
Machine translation:
Q: Weren't you surprised at the small number of spectators at this competition?
Daisuke: Well, no, I wasn't.
Kana: Yes, I am not surprised. We don't always have a lot of spectators at every competition. I was more surprised that Japanese fans came here, even learning Russian.
Q: Takahashi, you have achieved many things in your singles career, what do you hope to achieve in your career as an ice dancer?
Daisuke: Hmmm, right now I just want to give a good performance. I don't know how to say it in English...
(In Japanese) The works are children, our own children. I want to make a lot of works, those wonderful children. I want to do many things.
Q: Since it's the Denis Ten Memorial, can you tell us anything you know about Denis?
Daisuke: He was a really good person. He was kind and funny. He was also a talented skater and really enjoyed performing. Also, he used to take a lot of photos, didn't he? He had many talents outside of skating.
Interviewer: Thank you very much. And congratulations on your victory. We wish you success in the new season.
Kana, Daisuke: Thank you very much.
Dai with Denis’ parents:
Saved from Kana's ig stories:
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A few thoughts re. their performances at SkAm and DTM:
Yay, the RD RoLi got level 4 this time
(instead they lost two levels on the RoLi in the FD…grrrr
)! Imo it was a smart move to leave out the one foot feature (which they didn’t get credit for at SkAm as Dai didn’t complete a full rotation) and focus on getting 6 rotations in. With the way the lift is constructed they are still flirting with an extended lift deduction though. I know they’re going for a difficult entry feature, but it just takes a bit too long until Dai starts rotating (as demarinis said, Kana’s injury might have played its part in it). I hope Johnny Johns reviews the lift and finds a way to adjust it before NHK.
Although the other level calls seemed fair, I cannot for the life of me understand why Kana's twizzles were reduced to level 2 in the RD at SkAm?
The FD twizzles, OFT and DSp were better at DTM, although not yet at the level they are capable of. It’s visible that Dai’s legs get tired past the halfway point and his edges get a bit shaky and shallow on the OFT (he said after SkAm that the FD felt like a tour de force). I feel that the program construction is at fault here as this wasn’t an issue last season when they got the OfSt out of the way before the second lift. Imo last season’s version of La Bayadere was a better match for their current skillset. In their defense, of course, it must be mentioned that their FD was choreographed extremeyl late and it shows they’re not completely comfortable with the execution of some of the elements yet. I trust they will sort out the kinks as the season progresses.
That said I think their FD combination lift works for them and I’m impressed how well it was executed at SkAm. Clever start to their FD with the beautifully arranged ChSt; lovely ChLi and ChSp to close the program.
I’m glad Marina addressed the fall deduction issue and had Kana drop to only one knee instead of both at the end of the ChSp at DTM.
All in all, there is still room to grow, but also a lot to commend already! Thoroughly enjoyed watching them at both SkAm and DTM. Their RD is well constructed from start to finish (love the MiSt and the hold changes in the PSt especially) and super fun and their performance was intense in both programs – I still think they are undermarked on that component.
Huge kudos to the passionate audience at SkAm that welcomed them so warmly. They said they appreciated the reception and it gave them confidence.
I hope Kana gets to rest for a bit now to heal her injury (do we know how she sustained it?) I read she didn’t take any painkillers, because they make her feel numb, poor thing.
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On Thursday the cast for Ice Explosion 2023 was revealed. Since the show is chaired by Dai, of course him and Kana are headlining. The rest of the line-up fits in wonderfully:
Shizuka Arakawa
Kanako Murakami
Rika Hongo
Satoko Miyahara
Kazuki Tomono
Sena Miyake (Sena and Nagamitsu-sensei watched the FD at SkAm in the arena btw.)
Kaitlin Weaver & Andrew Poje
Massimo Scali
Jason Brown
Yura Min (it seems she’ll be performing on her own?)
Yuka Orihara and Juho Pirinen (I think this is their first invite to a Japanese ice show? I absolutely love this choice – they have my favourite FD this season and I hope they’ll perform it here.)
Official website:
https://www.ice-explosion.com
www.instagram.com
and Phantom FD so beautiful and emotional. 
Both are truly a performer, such a joy to watch. I am so glad they decided to continue. 
I know it's supposed to be judged as a fall with negative GOE per ISU regulation, but it's really harsh considering it was such a brief moment and very clearly a controlled movement. The tech calls at SkAm certainly weren't lenient...
)
