Kazuki Tomono

[bouncy]

A friend made a compilation of Kazuki's 3As, from 2014 till 2020: https://twitter.com/annepanwaplan/status/1348968989620367360
It's striking for me that over the years, his 3A set up has become rather short - I'd say he has the shortest 3A set up among the top Japanese men after Yuzuru.

On a different note, former skater and commentator Narumi Takahashi analysed some performances from Kazuki's FS group at Nats.

- YouTube

Enjoy the videos and music you love, upload original content, and share it all with friends, family, and the world on YouTube.

youtu.be

The bit about Kazuki starts at 9:54, unfortunately they only have subtitles in Japanese, but sharing here since some of you can understand it

He made it look so easy

 

[KiraraChin]

Kazuki's jumps are so underrated. Yes, he has that leg wrap issue, but look at this 4S2T: https://twitter.com/beth_gifs/status/1348155505374601217
Lovely flow in and out of it, good distance, good landing posture. He gets 0 and +1 GOE for jumps that could easily get +2 and +3 *sigh*

In other news, unfortunately due to a rise in covid infections, the Japanese govt declared state of emergency in several Japanese major cities, including Osaka, where Kazuki lives and trains. It seems skating rinks are still allowed to open, but with reduced hours.

The National Athletics Meet (Kokutai) is still scheduled to happen later this month with no spectators

 

[surimi]

Japan is being strict about their anti-covid measures, but so far it seems to be working. I hope no skaters get infected. Too bad though that Kokutai skaters won't be able to get cheering from the crowd...

Heretic thought in this thread, but after seeing Nats, I'd say while Kazuki is criminaly underscored on PCS, his spins are way overscored for what he puts out. At least in comparison with some better spinners that are not podium contenders. No opinion on the jumps. But his performance should be second to Hanyu only just for his musicality and expression alone.

I keep my fingers crossed for high tier skaters like Kazuki; I hope they'll get priority at rinks re. practice time.

 

[KiraraChin]

Heretic thought in this thread, but after seeing Nats, I'd say while Kazuki is criminaly underscored on PCS, his spins are way overscored for what he puts out. At least in comparison with some better spinners that are not podium contenders. No opinion on the jumps. But his performance should be second to Hanyu only just for his musicality and expression alone.

That's OK, paraphrasing Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that Kazuki's spins aren't great

The scoring really varies, though. At Nats 2019 he lost a lot of points on spins, even in the FS which was a great skate. Some spins were given level 4 at first, and then downgraded a lot on review. Whereas at Nats 2020, I agree, maybe they were a bit too generous with his spins at times (while being absolutely stingy in PCS and jump GOE )

My personal theory is that spins are tricky to judge anyway - sometimes an ugly-looking spin can have all the features of a level 4, while a pleasant-looking spin can have level 3 or lower features. In Kazuki's case, his spin positions are so messy that it makes the judges more prone to errors - it's more difficult to distinguish the features, such as the number of rotations in a certain position I think that's why you have this variation in judging depending on the competition, sometimes the judges give him the benefit of the doubt, sometimes they don't.

In any case, he never gets great GOE on spins anyway, and whatever 'extra' he might get is nowhere near enough to offset the scores he should be receiving in PCS and sometimes jumps. So, despite this spin issue, he's still a very underscored skater overall

 

[bouncy]

Japan is being strict about their anti-covid measures, but so far it seems to be working. I hope no skaters get infected. Too bad though that Kokutai skaters won't be able to get cheering from the crowd...

Heretic thought in this thread, but after seeing Nats, I'd say while Kazuki is criminaly underscored on PCS, his spins are way overscored for what he puts out. At least in comparison with some better spinners that are not podium contenders. No opinion on the jumps. But his performance should be second to Hanyu only just for his musicality and expression alone.

I keep my fingers crossed for high tier skaters like Kazuki; I hope they'll get priority at rinks re. practice time.

That's OK, paraphrasing Jane Austen, it is a truth universally acknowledged that Kazuki's spins aren't great

The scoring really varies, though. At Nats 2019 he lost a lot of points on spins, even in the FS which was a great skate. Some spins were given level 4 at first, and then downgraded a lot on review. Whereas at Nats 2020, I agree, maybe they were a bit too generous with his spins at times (while being absolutely stingy in PCS and jump GOE )

My personal theory is that spins are tricky to judge anyway - sometimes an ugly-looking spin can have all the features of a level 4, while a pleasant-looking spin can have level 3 or lower features. In Kazuki's case, his spin positions are so messy that it makes the judges more prone to errors - it's more difficult to distinguish the features, such as the number of rotations in a certain position I think that's why you have this variation in judging depending on the competition, sometimes the judges give him the benefit of the doubt, sometimes they don't.

In any case, he never gets great GOE on spins anyway, and whatever 'extra' he might get is nowhere near enough to offset the scores he should be receiving in PCS and sometimes jumps. So, despite this spin issue, he's still a very underscored skater overall

I'm bored so here are some of my personal takes on scoring:
1. Kazuki's spins are consistently overscored.
2. Hanyu has been obnoxiously overscored in the PCS departments for what he puts out since Pyeongchang.
3. Skaters in general benefit from the PCS inflation but the more well-received ones get more inflation than the rest.
4. Federations promote their star skaters because the shares from their contracts, sponsorships and ads keep the business running.

To put it another way, I don't think the marks these days truly reflect what skaters deliver. At the same time I can't really blame too much the current system considering a sport is essentially a business. I'm really sorry to see less-favored skaters like Kazuki being written off, as it appears to me so.

 

[KiraraChin]

1. Kazuki's spins are consistently overscored.

Do you really think so? IMO they are sometimes overscored, but not always. Really depends on the competition.

About the fed and contracts, I actually think the fed is losing money by not backing Kazuki. He's a crowd fave, charismatic and marketable, and despite his scores he is actually the third man in Japan in terms of sponsorships: He has three big contracts (Central Sports, SEV and Koubundou). Whereas other guys who get better scores such as Yuma and Keiji have no sponsors so far.

IMO the reasons why the fed doesn't back him are:
1- Inconsistency, from a young age.
2- Politics. Let's face it, Hiraike-sensei is lovely, but in the grand scheme of things he doesn't seem to be a powerful figure like Yamada, Hamada or Hayashi. Nor he is a former champion 'celeb' coach like Lambiel or Yuma's dad. Sadly political connections are still very important in FS (and not only in the Japanese fed)

ETA: I had listed Onishi as a powerful coach, but actually meant Hayashi.

 

[bouncy]

Do you really think so? IMO they are sometimes overscored, but not always. Really depends on the competition.

About the fed and contracts, I actually think the fed is losing money by not backing Kazuki. He's a crowd fave, charismatic and marketable, and despite his scores he is actually the third man in Japan in terms of sponsorships: He has three big contracts (Central Sports, SEV and Koubundou). Whereas other guys who get better scores such as Yuma and Keiji have no sponsors so far.

IMO the reasons why the fed doesn't back him are:
1- Inconsistency, from a young age.
2- Politics. Let's face it, Hiraike-sensei is lovely, but in the grand scheme of things he doesn't seem to be a powerful figure like Yamada, Hamada or Onishi. Nor he is a former champion 'celeb' coach like Lambiel or Yuma's dad. Sadly political connections are still very important in FS (and not only in the Japanese fed)

I see your points. That's ok if you think differently; I'd love to hear different opinions. I think there was some miscommunication - my last post was meant to discuss the judging and I went a bit harsh on that. My point is about judging and scoring, and I'm not very cool with the current COP system that, in effect, "encourages" favortism. It's not just japanese men, a lot of skaters, including my favorite ladies, in my mind have been overscored in different departments as the marks show on the sheets. But as I mentioned in the beginning, it's my personal opinion and I'm totally ok with different viewpoints.
I guess fan threads are not for serious topics. Let's end it here.

 

[surimi]

Do you really think so? IMO they are sometimes overscored, but not always. Really depends on the competition.

About the fed and contracts, I actually think the fed is losing money by not backing Kazuki. He's a crowd fave, charismatic and marketable, and despite his scores he is actually the third man in Japan in terms of sponsorships: He has three big contracts (Central Sports, SEV and Koubundou). Whereas other guys who get better scores such as Yuma and Keiji have no sponsors so far.

IMO the reasons why the fed doesn't back him are:
1- Inconsistency, from a young age.
2- Politics. Let's face it, Hiraike-sensei is lovely, but in the grand scheme of things he doesn't seem to be a powerful figure like Yamada, Hamada or Onishi. Nor he is a former champion 'celeb' coach like Lambiel or Yuma's dad. Sadly political connections are still very important in FS (and not only in the Japanese fed)

Sorry, but do you have any evidence that Onishi is powerful? His charges' GOEs and PCS don't suggest that. He hasn't had a Nats podium contender since Machida. He's in no way the big name caliber of the first two you mentioned.

What I can agree with is that what gets you fed support, is either consistency, or big names behind you, be it major sponsors or star coaches. Kazuki and the other unfavored skaters have no choice but build up their onsistency as well as possible.

 

[KiraraChin]

I see your points. That's ok if you think differently; I'd love to hear different opinions. I think there was some miscommunication - my last post was meant to discuss the judging and I went a bit harsh on that. My point is about judging and scoring, and I'm not very cool with the current COP system that, in effect, "encourages" favortism. It's not just japanese men, a lot of skaters, including my favorite ladies, in my mind have been overscored in different departments as the marks show on the sheets. But as I mentioned in the beginning, it's my personal opinion and I'm totally ok with different viewpoints.
I guess fan threads are not for serious topics. Let's end it here.

That's OK, bouncy! I think it's fine to discuss scoring here if it's related to Kazuki. Like I said before, spins are super tricky! I must say, I'm not a specialist so what I said is just my opinion. I agree with you that the scoring system as a whole is broken

Sorry, but do you have any evidence that Onishi is powerful? His charges' GOEs and PCS don't suggest that. He hasn't had a Nats podium contender since Machida. He's in no way the big name caliber of the first two you mentioned.

I'm so sorry, that was a mistake! I meant to say Hayashi (Keiji's coach) - we all know Keiji is one of the few who doesn't get lowballed nationally, and I've heard his other skaters sometimes are favoured when it comes to getting assignments. Apparently he is friends with someone powerful in the fed. I will make a correction in my previous post.

On a lighter note, Winter National Athletic Meet assignments are out - Kazuki will be representing Osaka with Taichi Honda! Considering this is Taichi's last season, I have no doubt it'll be emotional - the last time Kazuki and Taichi will be in a team together, and maybe Taichi's last competition ever

 

[KiraraChin]

Mitsuki posted some lovely words of encouragement to Kazuki and Taichi on IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/CKJTc-DpfM6/

If you remember, Mitsuki and Kazuki represented Team Osaka at last year's Kokutai, but this year Taichi will have the opportunity. It's nice that Mitsuki is being so supportive - their friendship is really heartwarming

 

[surimi]

Ah, that's alright Kirara, now I get it! Yeah, I agree that Hayashi probably knows better how to pull strings than Onishi. Anyhow, back to Kazuki - I have to say that he's easily the shortest of the onsen club now, as Mitsuki seems to have grown a bit? He had a lot to say, too. It appears they have trained together since Mitsuki was a kid? I think he also tells them to aim for the gold? (too lazy to run it through google translate)

 

[KiraraChin]

I think you are right, Mitsuki grew so Kazuki is now the Onsen's gang oldest and also the shortest

Here's the Google Translation of what Mitsuki wrote:

It was the last reinforcement practice with the people who took great care of me from the time I went up to Novice. At first, I couldn't get out of my hands and legs, and I chased after him all the time. I was happy to be able to do it, and whenever I practiced with them, I think I was able to have a good practice by having fun and competing with each other while working hard! !! I'm glad that I've been indebted to Taichi more than ever since I entered university, and I was able to win the group championship last year and make good memories! From my point of view, the combination of Osaka is Taichi and Kazuki! Aim to win as team Osaka! !! I think Taichi will be the last kokutai, so please enjoy it to your heart's content! (Kazuki, thank you for your hard work.) It's a joke lol * The mask is removed only when shooting.

 

[KiraraChin]

Just wanted to share a couple of fan gifts that made me very jealous
A photobook with Kazuki's pics from the NHK Trophy: https://twitter.com/nagi_chi/status/1351839469029085186
An autographed Kazuki pic, as a gift from the Nagoya festival: https://twitter.com/NANA21034063/status/1351837472720777216

Both are super cool!

 

[KiraraChin]

Baby Kazuki alert! From 0:30, just a few seconds, but still worth it: https://youtu.be/RWz2oCN04UE

Also, Winter National Athletics Meet this week! Link to the stream (hopefully not geoblocked) and results page here: https://twitter.com/KazukiGIFs/status/1353560812112244736 (also some cute pics from previous tournaments).

It'll be a tough one for Osaka this year, but hopefully Kazuki will deliver a good skate!

 

[KiraraChin]

Hi everyone, Kazuki is going to be the fourth to skate (out of 26) tomorrow at the Winter National Athletics Meet tomorrow. He will skate at 6:37pm local time.

The good news is that there is a stream, and it doesn't seem to be geoblocked: https://japangamestv.japan-sports.or.jp/winter2021/Channel?ch=120192

The bad news is that the stream is having a lot of issues today (junior ladies and junior men), hope they will fix that by tomorrow

 

[surimi]

ooh, finally a stream I might watch? What a stroke of luck if so! Thanks a bunch. I totally need to watch men and ladies. What time CET is that, if it starts at 6 PM (I haven't checked), I'd say 10 AM... I'm still gonna be working at that time so I might catch Kazuki, Ryuju, Keiji and Sota...

 

[KiraraChin]

ooh, finally a stream I might watch? What a stroke of luck if so! Thanks a bunch. I totally need to watch men and ladies. What time CET is that, if it starts at 6 PM (I haven't checked), I'd say 10 AM... I'm still gonna be working at that time so I might catch Kazuki, Ryuju, Keiji and Sota...

It seems it will be available on archive! It might actually be better to watch later, because there were a lot of issues with the live stream today.

 

[surimi]

I tried the archive to watch the juniors, but got the following message - The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported. Siiigh, do you get the same mesage too, or is it my PC? If the latter, than I am roast, because the pinnacle of my computer skills is uploading videos into GS Media -_-

 

[KiraraChin]

I tried the archive to watch the juniors, but got the following message - The media could not be loaded, either because the server or network failed or because the format is not supported. Siiigh, do you get the same mesage too, or is it my PC? If the latter, than I am roast, because the pinnacle of my computer skills is uploading videos into GS Media -_-

Don't worry, I got the same message too I really hope they resolve these issues by tomorrow...

 

[rRainbow]

I can watch the archive. I'm hoping the technical issue was only temporary and it is now resolved.