Hi everyone, I'm new to the forum although I've followed figure skating for a quite a while (Yuzu draw me in

) then Shoma entered the stage!
I've spent a couple of days reading threads on this forum and watching Shoma's youtube videos I'm a bit surprised by how much hate Shoma is getting in nearly every threads/youtube videos of past events and especially about his OG silver medal.
I know his technique is not perfect but so does other skaters. Does anyone know why?
I mean I keep telling myself they're just hating on him because they favour other skaters but It is so bad that it actually make me kind of sad for Shoma.
I hope he's being treated differently in Japan as I also thought most of his supporters are Japanese and doesn't really go to english speaking forum as much as other skater's supporters.
Welcome to this fanfest -- the warmest and fluffiest place in the world!
I have a lot of experience in dealing with haters, running a blog dedicated to Shoma as I am, so I learned one thing about haters -- 99% of them simply do not know the rules, they're following the 'leading hater', so to speak, who bestows his/her wisdom upon them. Some of them like to seem 'objective' and count things (like, how many transitions Shoma has, how many crossovers he does, how many rotations in the air he makes, etc.), some of them just shout nonsense at your face, bashing Shoma and cheering for their favorite skaters. But the thing is, what all haters are trying to achieve is to focus entirely on Shoma's weaknesses -- which he obviously has, as any athlete in this sad imperfect world.
The only thing you can do with all this negativity (apart from completely ignoring haters) is, first, staying calm and being precise (haters like to call URs when there is no UR, bash Shoma's pre-rotations when they are within the limit, to say nothing of the fact that no pre-rotation has ever been penalized in the history of FS, as far as I know, etc.), and, second, saying something positive about Shoma, underlining his strengths, which he, alas for haters, has in plenitude: his musicality, his commitment to music (remember Kurt Browning: [Shoma is] one of the most artistic, edgy, committed to his music skaters I've ever seen', and Kurt is not a huge fan of Shoma's jumping technique, mind you), his expressiveness, his programs (which are one of the best in the men's FS right now), his stamina, his working ethic, etc etc. And, yes, even his jumps -- he's the first ever to land 4F, and he's one of the very few who jumps both 4F and 4Lo. Shoma has a lot of strengths which haters do not like to talk about.
So, my advice is: don't be confused with all this critique, it is just an indication that Shoma is a strong competitor and that he made his way to the top and is now viewed as a threat to other skaters. And, second, if you want to argue with haters: try to understand FS better, learn the rules, and eventually you will see that 95% of what haters say is just pathetic and laughable trash.