So far, Yuma has competed in three events since making his comeback this season, and the score improvements are quite impressive:
Kinoshita Trophy (Aug. 11-12): 211.47
CS Lombardia Trophy (Sept. 9-10): 265.59
Tokyo Regionals (Sept. 21-24): 284.75
Yuma went to go see Ryujin Nippon (Japanese men's volleyball team) play versus Slovakia in Tokyo on Setember 7th! They were playing in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament, and winning this game guaranteed Japan an Olympic spot! Yuma is a fan of
Haikyu! (Japanese volleyball anime/manga) and I think that extended into an appreciation for volleyball. He got to to backstage and meet several of the athletes, including (pictured below, from left to right) Nishida Yuji (No. 1, whose jersey Yuma is wearing), Ishikawa Yuki (No. 14), Miyaura Kento (No. 4), and Takahashi Ran (No. 12), four of the biggest stars on the team! (Rough translation: "I went to watch volleyball for the first time! I was very moved to be able to witness such powerful play and the moment when the Olympic Games were decided. We also had a photo taken after the match. Thank you. I will do my best to become an athlete who can impress the people watching!") The height difference is very funny, especially because Ryujin Nippon is considered an extremely short volleyball team and they still tower over Yuma lol.
Article:
Hochi Sports
The next day, Yuma participated in TV Asahi's GP Series press conference alongside Shoma, Sota, Wakaba, Kaori, and RikuRyu. You can watch it
here (only available in Japan/with VPN). His goal for the season is "perfect performance and artistic skating". He evaluated his performance at Tokyo Block, where he scored a 284.75, as only at "30% (performance ability)". (Machida Tatsuki, who hosted the press conference alongside Arakawa Shizuka, said he though it was more at 70%). Yuma feels like he made some small mistakes at Tokyo Block and wants to better convey the expressiveness and themes of his programs.
Articles:
Tokyo Sports,
Yahoo! Japan