Greetings from New Zealand. I am no Doctor (shoutout to Dr H) but I am fairly certain a pandemic ought to be declared. My experience seems to follow the familiar pattern of exposure to a loved one's favorite, Yuzuru Hanyu (more power to him - awesome skater!), only to be immediately ensnared by the curious skating magic of his compatriot Shoma Uno. This occurred during Olympics 2018 and I have since been waiting for symptoms to subside. I recollect watching World Champs being a particularly painful time. Having read here of others' experiences, I see now that I may as well give up any hope of recovery. It seems that I am Shoomed. Alternatively, well and truly sucked into Shoma's swamp.
I stumbled across this fanfest months ago, and it has become my almost daily pleasure to come and share in the positive & supportive atmosphere y'all have created here for Shomajesty's loyal subjects. Thank you all for helping me survive my first off-season. Reading about Arriba's recent Sho-watching adventures at Glacier (thanks for sharing!) was a particular treat. And it was jerrymouse's question about folks' favourite programs, a good few pages back now, that convinced this shy kiwi bird to venture out from the undergrowth and create an account (props here to the adminfolk for sorting out my bumblings).
That said, I was compelled to spend much time reviewing, trying to establish a definite favourite (no easy task) from the list of usual suspects. Absolutely LOVE Blessed Spirits and Legends - so much energy, so masterfully channeled. Also a big fan of La Vie en Rose and This Town - such fluidity, appearing almost effortless. But I have to admit, it is Loco that must claim my numero Uno spot. When I first saw this program I was VERY unsure about the music. I have since found that Piazolla's challenging music, Mihoko's fitting choreography, Satomi's delightful costume and Shoma's powerful skating combined beautifully to create this program so sublime it now stirs my heart every time. Also, Cantilever Heaven!
I just wanted to introduce myself, and now I have blathered too much. This is all Shoma's fault.
Welcome, MaeSu from New Zealand! Don't worry, you're not the only one who waxes poetic about Shoma. Ask anyone of us, or even just read Dr. H's essays. I propose we rename this condition as "Shomaholism" (alcoholic, workaholic, what have you-holic)... I just realized Shomatitis sounds like an allergy, which is completely the opposite of addiction. [emoji28] It's quite the pandemic. We are officially now from 6 out of 8 continents! (Yes, 8 continents! Zealandia is a newly discovered one. Look it up, non-nerds. [emoji6]) Asia, Europe, North and South America, Australia, now Zealandia. We only need Africa and Antarctica in the list. Or do we have Shomaholism in Africa? I think it may have landed there as well! We're all truly shoomed! By the guy with mushroom hair.
So much Shoma content! Loved the collab- I make a 2nd proposal, this one to the ISU, to add a collab event! No lifts or throws, just single skaters doing what they do but with other single skaters. The scoring? Purely whimsical and mostly subjective (sound like ice dance yet? [emoji23] I don't understand ice dance scoring, so...) based on flow, musicality, and synchronicity! Or at least, they should really have more collaborations in exhibitions, rather than just group numbers. Should be more fun that way.
Thank you for all the pictures, video links, and translations (special shout out to gacchan)!! Just wanted to point out in the Spoken interview- Itsuki looked really smug when he was nodding after the host stopped Shoma from defending himself and told Shoma that Itsuki was there to talk about Shoma, not for Shoma to talk about Itsuki. The look on his face was like, "Yeah, that's right! I'm here to reveal the truth about you! Can't tease me right now!" [emoji57]
Another one- when Itsuki was complimenting Shoma's skating (I heard him say sugoi), Shoma closed his eyes for a really long moment before stopping the host and saying that Itsuki barely watches his competitions. It seemed to me that he was really happy to hear his brother say that his skating was amazing, so he closed his eyes and basked in the compliment, then had to tease his brother because he probably felt too affected by the compliment and needed to go back to their teasing interactions. I was touched to see that. He's surrounded by so much love and support. It's wonderful to see.
Lombardia in a few DAYS! With all the content, I sometimes forget that we actually haven't really had a live update on Shoma since FOI (except maybe that picture Itsuki posted). Hang on to your hats/headwear! His season is about to start! Good luck to Shoma!
) so that I won’t fall asleep while watching livesteam at midnight. ^^ Go Shoma! Dead banana club always cheer for you!
