I join those who consider Shoma's retirement a happy one, as he was able to choose the timing and has achieved everything one could wish for in his impressive career and most likely even more than he dreamed of many years ago when he started as an adorable five-year old inspired by Mao-chan. My fan focus had shifted more towards ice dancing in recent years thanks to Dai, but Shoma was one of the main reasons why I still continued to follow the men's discipline. Even though there are still a few active favourites, without him, the men's competitions will certainly be less interesting for me. I'm a little sad that I didn't get to see him live at the 2021 Warsaw Cup, but I'm sure we'll still be seeing and hearing a lot from Shoma in retirement.

In this respect, it is an advantage that Japan has such an overflowing ice show market and Shoma will not have to worry about job offers. Congratulations on a great career and all the best for the future!

Can’t wait to see what comes next!
I only have two career wishes – I would LOVE to see him have a role in Mao’s new rink, [...]
That would be really cool and, due to the change of agency, it is not at all that unlikely.

Maybe we'll hear something about it on the 14th?
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Of course Dai-chan, as one of Sho's idols, also commented on his retirement yesterday through USM and on tv

:
フィギュアスケート男子の2010年バンクーバー五輪銅メダルで、アイスダンスでも活躍した高橋大輔さんが9日、現役引退を表明した宇野昌磨(トヨタ自動車)にねぎらいの言葉を贈った。所属事務所を通じて、コメ
hochi.news
フィギュアスケートの元世界選手権王者で昨季限りで引退した高橋大輔さん(38)が9日、フジテレビ系「Live News イット!」(月~金曜後3・45)に出演…
www.sponichi.co.jp
フィギュアスケート男子の宇野昌磨(トヨタ自動車)が現役引退を表明したことを受け、9日、元世界王者の高橋大輔さんが所属を通じてコメントした。「本当にお疲れさまでした」とねぎらうど同時に「次のイタリア(
news.livedoor.com
Tv clip feat. the well-known footage of Shoma watching Dai on tv in 2006 and a part of Dai's comment on Shoma's retirement (from 1:00):
DeepL/Google translation (hochi article):
"I had heard about it before the announcement. I was surprised because I thought he would continue until the next Olympics in Italy (2026 Milan Olympics), but I think he retired because he has his own ideas. I'm looking forward to what's next. Thank you for your hard work during your long active career."
For Uno, Takahashi has been an idol since he was a child. He said, "When he was little, he was really cute," smiling, "As he grew up, I felt from watching from the sidelines that the strength of what he envisioned became stronger and stronger. He won medals at two consecutive Olympics and gold medals at the 2022 and 2023 World Championships."
Takahashi commented on Uno's skating: "I thought he skated without losing power from the beginning to the end, as if he could do another four minutes even after the four minutes were up. I couldn't do that kind of thing, and I always thought it was amazing that he could do it consistently."
Uno announced his retirement, but Takahashi said, "After making a full recovery, he could come back one more time." Based on his own experience of returning to competition in 2018 after retiring from active duty. He revealed that it was difficult for him to ask him out for dinner when they were both at the forefront of their respective careers, but added: "Just once, it doesn't have to be sashimi. I'd like to go out to dinner with Shoma, even if this is a bit pushy", he said, sending a "love call".
DeepL/Google translation (additional part from the news.livedoor article):
As for Uno's greatness, he said: "He has his own unique sensibility, his own way of thinking, his own way of skating, which is different from others, and he has been able to skate in his own way since he was young without compromise. That kind of strength led to the results. I always respected him." As someone who has inherited the strength of Japanese men's figure skating, `"From Yuzuru Hanyu to Shoma, I think there was a lot of pressure. In particular, I think the presence of ``Yuzuru Hanyu'' was huge, and I think there were a lot of different feelings. He didn't give in to that. It's amazing that he was able to steadily grow without being overwhelmed by the pressure that was expected of him from a young age."