Mao Asada | Page 158 | Golden Skate

Mao Asada

ioanna said:
I'll try to translate the rest of it but it won't be 100% accurate so Japanese speakers feel free to correct.

When they get to the restaurant:

Nobu: Mao-chan look! Meat! Meat meat meat!
Everyone at the table: It looks delicious!

Nobu: Where did you stay in America?
Dai: New York
Mao: Welcome back!! I was so happy when you came back!!
Dai says something in the lines of "Where I am now (Japan, in their company) I enjoy it better than my time in America"

1 year ago when the four of them had a meal together and were discussing Mao's future perspectives
Mao: Enough Olympics for me
Then they show Mao from an event last month when she said she would like to make the Olympics her goal. At the table Mao says she thinks that in a way she always had the desire to compete at the Olympics again and she had been thinking about it.

Quiz time
Nobu: Who is the goofiest among the four of us?
Mao: Nobu
Everyone else: Mao
Mao, looking around: As expected huh (...) Everyone laughs a lot (at her antics) but I get the feeling like they have a worried expression like they're thinking "is she stupid". In my EX program when I'm putting lipstick on I forget about the mirror.

Nobu: Who gets scared the easiest among the four of us?
Akiko: Nobu
Everyone else (including Dai himself): Dai
Nobu: Eh? Why did you choose yourself?
Dai: Because I'm scared of a lot of things (then he gives examples of what he's scared of)
Nobu: Then Mao why did you choose him?
Mao: Well in general he looks really cool and gutsy and manly (then she says something about his face that I don't quite understand, the idea is probably that his face is giving him away even though he has a "cool" and "manly" appearance).
Click to expand...

As for Mao as the goofiest thing, I didn’t know that 天然 ”Tennen” is called "goofy" in English. :laugh: as I think it’s kinda difficult to describe in English.
By the way, It is not that "she is tennen" means she is stupid or something, again, It's quite difficult describing hmm. I hope other Japanese speakers would clarify it for us.

and about Dai’s part, Basically Mao is guessing that Dai is not so manly as his “very manly” appearance.


Anyway, Thanks solar for the link and ioanna for your effort that was pretty fun to watch. :)
 
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More about Mao as goofy thing (in a good way)

This video gives a glimpse of that piece, it seems like Yuzuru had told her beforehand that we needed to have Photo session for our media and fans after the show.
At marks 0:22 Yuzuru made a beckoning gesture to her but she didn’t even notice and apparently totally forgot that :laugh:
then Satoko had to catch her hastily and Mao said that “Aa souda” (Oh my...) I found it’s quite fun and as always, she is charming. ;)
 
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yhmafan said:
As for Mao as the goofiest thing, I didn’t know that 天然 ”Tennen” is called "goofy" in English. :laugh: as I think it’s kinda difficult to describe in English.
By the way, It is not that "she is tennen" means she is stupid or something, again, It's quite difficult describing hmm. I hope other Japanese speakers would clarify it for us.
Click to expand...

Hmmm maybe something like an "airhead"? I don't know, I had a hard time searching for a correct translation in English.
 
Thanks for the translations! I think spacey is a good word to use :laugh:
 
Mao was on a recorded radio show this morning.
Thanks to the uploader.

My translation attempt. I'm kind of all over the place, but I hope you can understand most of it.
-----------

The male DJ has met Mao before when she was 18 or 19. He asked her back then if she prefers skating freely without restrictions or competing and getting scored. He thought she'd say "skating freely" but her reply was that she loves competing and winning. He asks her the same question again here and Mao says that this season was frustrating because her results weren't good and as long as she's competing as an athlete, she wants good results and thinks that placements are important. So she hasn't really changed much in that sense.

Re: PyeongChang Olympics
She wasn't thinking/talking about PC this season, but she thought that if she didn't say it out loud, her wishes wouldn't come true. She changed her way of thinking after she was done competing for the season and her mind was set for the future.

Re: Her comeback season. Did it go as she planned, was it better or worse?
She had imagined different scenarios for her comeback so she was prepared for anything. Her first competition went well. She thinks that the disappointing skates after that were due mostly to her mentality. She always tries to be at peak form in mind, technique and physical strength for competitions and she thinks that the mind is the most important for her.
How does she control or get rid of negative feelings before competitions?
She just concentrates on herself and does her normal routine (has breakfast, takes a nap, does makeup/hair, goes to the rink by bus, etc.)
Does she do anything considered as "jinx"?
She eats rice, banana with soy bean powder, puts her boots on from the left foot and gets off the ice rink from the left foot.
During her season off, she was always thinking about skating, it didn't leave her mind at all. She actually didn't think she would return to competition and asked her manager to submit her retirement message on her website. This happened twice but each time she asked her manager to stop.
She was amazed at how much time she had to spare when she wasn't skating. She went for walks, cleaned her house, went out to eat with friends but gradually, she got sick of doing these things. She didn't like not having a goal like she did when she was skating.

Question from listeners.
It's been more than 10 years since everyone, including complete strangers, have started to refer to you as "Mao-chan". How are you able to stay the same charming and elegant person under this extreme situation? Do you have a role model?
Mao says that people tell her "ganbatte" wherever she goes and she really appreciates that. It feels like she has relatives everywhere and that makes her happy. She has never felt stressed by this but have only felt energized by the support.
What kind of a person would she like to be in her 40s?
She thinks she'll be a mother in her 40s. She says she's giving her everything to skating right now but when she becomes a mother, she wants to give her everything to her child/ren just like her mother did. Even as a child, she was amazed at how dedicated her mother was to her children.
 
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solar said:
Has anyone posted this yet? Anyways, there's an adorable behind the scenes video of Mao, Daisuke, Nobunari, and Akiko during the Stars On Ice Japan tour where they chat in a car before eating beef and talking together. It's kind of nostalgic because they all competed in Vancouver together. They also discuss Mao being the oldest one competing at 2016 Worlds (which I still can't believe!) It's funny, Nobunari asks Mao whether she talks to younger skaters and she answers something along the lines of "Yeah... But you know, it's okay if I don't" in a playful way :laugh:
Click to expand...

Actually, she said that she talks to them, but they don't talk to her :laugh: Then Akiko says that it's because they admire her (so she makes them nervous).

------
I don't know if this info has been posted but according to NHK, Mao will be skating to Madame Butterfly (and Dai to Mambo) at Ice Legends.
 
mikaboo said:
Actually, she said that she talks to them, but they don't talk to her :laugh: Then Akiko says that it's because they admire her (so she makes them nervous).

------
I don't know if this info has been posted but according to NHK, Mao will be skating to Madame Butterfly (and Dai to Mambo) at Ice Legends.
Click to expand...

Haha that translation makes more sense. And it's cuter too :laugh:
 
randomfan said:
Also, this is a very random off-topic question. Do you guys think JSF will send Mao to NHK next season? Satoko is #1 in the world right now, so they'd most likely be sending her there. Mao is one of the most popular athletes in Japan, which would be why there was never a year when she did not go to NHK (from what I remember anyway). But Satoko has been showing very good results lately, and she beat Mao 3 out of 4 times this season. Would it be better to not send Mao to NHK so she'd have better chances of making the GPF (like all the talk about Evgenia and Elena not being in the same GPs)? This is something that crossed my mind while I was thinking of the GP selection.
Click to expand...

I think they will both be there again because there's still some distance between Satoko and Mao in the world standings. I can't imagine NHK not assigning Mao so it will either be both Mao and Satoko or they will send Satoko somewhere else.
 
REPOST and EDIT ISSUE:
I don't understand why my posts keep getting deleted...:slink: So I'll repost this for the fourth time...
Also I fixed the error about 3 out of 4 times to 4 out of 5 times.


As the veteran of the ladies field this season, Mao was the most artistic skater out there. I'm so happy that she decided to return to skating and also that she had two beautiful programs this season. Though Mao will probably not be reading this, I'd just like to say a big "Thank You" to her for coming back, as watching skating has been more enjoyable with her in the mix.

Also, this is a very random off-topic question. Do you guys think JSF will send Mao to NHK next season? Satoko is #1 in the world right now, so they'd most likely be sending her there. Mao is one of the most popular athletes in Japan, which would be why there was never a year when she did not go to NHK (from what I remember anyway). But Satoko has been showing very good results lately, and she beat Mao 4 out of 5 times this season. Would it be better to not send Mao to NHK so she'd have better chances of making the GPF (like all the talk about Evgenia and Elena not being in the same GPs)? This is something that crossed my mind while I was thinking of the GP selection.
 
ioanna said:
I think they will both be there again because there's still some distance between Satoko and Mao in the world standings. I can't imagine NHK not assigning Mao so it will either be both Mao and Satoko or they will send Satoko somewhere else.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I think what would most likely happen is them both being at NHK. Thanks for the response!
 
randomfan said:
Also, this is a very random off-topic question. Do you guys think JSF will send Mao to NHK next season? Satoko is #1 in the world right now, so they'd most likely be sending her there. Mao is one of the most popular athletes in Japan, which would be why there was never a year when she did not go to NHK (from what I remember anyway). But Satoko has been showing very good results lately, and she beat Mao 4 out of 5 times this season. Would it be better to not send Mao to NHK so she'd have better chances of making the GPF (like all the talk about Evgenia and Elena not being in the same GPs)? This is something that crossed my mind while I was thinking of the GP selection.
Click to expand...

Personally, I'd like Mao to avoid NHK.
Otherwise, she's going to have to compete every two weeks until Nationals , and which will be a tight schedule for her again like this season.

I'd like to see her at TEB for the first time in years. US + France or Canada + China?　
I don't know very much about the system of the selection, but doesn't Mao herself have a right to choose?
 
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Strategically, JSF might just send either Mao or Satoko to NHK to increase their chances at the GPF. But getting Mao to compete there is a large attraction for fans (not that Japan is lacking in skating audiences). However I can also see them putting both of them at NHK. If I remember correctly, Mao said she likes competing in Japan because of the warm fan response she receives.
 
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