Yuzuru Hanyu: 2014-15 Season

[firal]

I find myself agreeing with a lot of the above posts; thanks again to everyone who took the time to share your thought. I think if he wants to take risks, this is the year to do it.

Apparently a TV drama on onmyoji was already slated to be broadcast in Japan this summer; what great timing for fans who want to learn more and for the producers of the show.

I saw many twitter posts suggesting that since he is taking some risks in his LP, he might go conservative and choose a classic for the SP. Thoughts??

Oh, before the GP assignment that will be announced tomorrow(or today depending where you are), let me just say that I know for sure some fans would be happy and some will be a little disappointed, so prayer circle for all~

 

[Meoima]

And to be honest, right now Yuzuru could skate to Lion King and he would still receive about the same response plus 100 flying poohs hiting his head.
I'm actually more worried about how he will handle the 3 quads + How the program will look, the theme can be different but if they just change a couple of hand movements and keep all the elements the same just with a hydroblade this time, that's nothing new.

I think the first 1/3 of the program might look the same, which means 4S, 4T, 3F, combination spin.
It's understandable the layout must be that way for him, unless he want to ditch the 3F to the second half and do 4T2T there instead which I highly doubt. His goal is to jump quad in the second half after all.

He and Shae might be in discussions about the entry to the jumps, the hand movements...and I hope the opening might be different but in case they keep the same order of elements then there's not much chance actually except the interpretation. Anyway all top skaters jump their most difficult jumps first and execute combination spin.

The thing I am quite certain to be different is the step sequence and the choreo sequence. And the layout in the second half I hope there will be some adjustment. But overall I don't think he will change the layout too much because 3 quads is already a huge risk. From what I have seen the choreo sequence look amazing. I assume the part he didn't perform is more challenging, and it might be a bomb for all of us as it's fast tempo as he said.

And honestly, who cares if the judges think he play the role of a warrior, not a shaman. I didn't think of Romeo and Juliet when I watched his RJ1.0 at Nice. The music of RJ1.0 was rare and not common at all. And most people still love that program.

He is OGM after all, they will not give him like 70-80 PCS because of an unusual program. If he skates well or relatively well, his PCS will be from 85-92 I am certain. Of course there's possibility the judges find the program too bizarre and give other top men higher PCS than him, but I don't think that would happen once Yuzuru skate well. So he needs most is to stay healthy and well-trained. That's the key.

 

[cheerknithanson]

Skating to unconventional music is big artistic risk. You don't know how audience will respond to the music. Some people may love it and some may hate it. There is a reason why skaters choose warhorse music, because it has wide appeal. But he is the Olympic Champion, so he can afford to take this risk.

I think many of Yuzuru's fans like Japanese culture or are familiar with Japanese culture or oriental culture, so most of us love his music choice. But I do wonder for fans who are not familiar with Japanese culture or oriental culture, do they find the music very foreign and need some time to get used to?

It all depends on the overall performance. Like when Farris did his "Give Me Love" SP, it was so beautiful. It all depends on the overall performance.

 

[Lambari]

I think the first 1/3 of the program might look the same, which means 4S, 4T, 3F, combination spin.
It's understandable the layout must be that way for him, unless he want to ditch the 3F to the second half and do 4T2T there instead which I highly doubt. His goal is to jump quad in the second half after all.

He and Shae might be in discussions about the entry to the jumps, the hand movements...and I hope the opening might be different but in case they keep the same order of elements then there's not much chance actually except the interpretation. Anyway all top skaters jump their most difficult jumps first and execute combination spin. (...)

Yes, I think it's settled that the beginning will be same old-same old and since Shae Lynn's choreo tend to be quite transitionless, I'm counting on Yuzuru to not ditch the choreo midway, to not let the 3 quads get on his way to performing the program; next season will be the real deal to see if/by how much his stamina improved. Anyway, whatever the scenario may be I have a feeling that I personally will love the program either way

 

[gsyzf]

Yes, I think it's settled that the beginning will be same old-same old and since Shae Lynn's choreo tend to be quite transitionless, I'm counting on Yuzuru to not ditch the choreo midway, to not let the 3 quads get on his way to performing the program; next season will be the real deal to see if/by how much his stamina improved. Anyway, whatever the scenario may be I have a feeling that I personally will love the program either way

I think how many transitions are included depends on the skater rather than the choreographer. The choreographer cannot add many transitions if the skater doesn't have the skill or is not willing to take the risk to include that many transitions.

 

[Rissa]

It all depends on the overall performance. Like when Farris did his "Give Me Love" SP, it was so beautiful. It all depends on the overall performance.

[SUB]Personally I thought it was super boring... [/SUB] [SUB] [/SUB]But I'm hoping Yuzuru's music cut will be interesting and he'll give his all. :yes:

 

[Lambari]

I think how many transitions are included depends on the skater rather than the choreographer. The choreographer cannot add many transitions if the skater doesn't have the skill or is not willing to take the risk to include that many transitions.

Yes, and there won't be much transitions because of the 3rd quad anyway.

 

[gsyzf]

Yes, and there won't be much transitions because of the 3rd quad anyway.

It's understandable if there are fewer transitions. The 3rd quad in the second half is already very risky. Adding more transitions makes it even more challenging.

 

[Meoima]

Yes, I think it's settled that the beginning will be same old-same old and since Shae Lynn's choreo tend to be quite transitionless, I'm counting on Yuzuru to not ditch the choreo midway, to not let the 3 quads get on his way to performing the program; next season will be the real deal to see if/by how much his stamina improved. Anyway, whatever the scenario may be I have a feeling that I personally will love the program either way

I don't think there is much difference among top skaters LP opening since they all have to land the biggest jumps first then the spins. So except that Yuzuru wants to do the spin first I don't see he will go for that as well as other top men.

There's photo comparison of Yuzuru at 17 and Yuzuru at 20 and they show that his upper body indeed has gotten bigger with muscles. So he will train for more I am certain. Look at Javi in 2009 and Javi now is a huge difference. Men bodies work like that. As they mature they will get more muscles and they will be healthier as long as they practice the right way.

I don't think Shae programs as transitionless. You don't forget that Shae choreographed Jeremy best SP and Daisuke Mambo, W/P 4 seasons FD and Ashley LP, all of them are very successful and no one complained these programs have too little transitions. In fact Yuzuru POTO has enough transitions and thanked to that he didn't collapse like he did after RJ2.0. I find RJ2.0 was too packed with transitions thus some parts didn't make sense to the music at all. POTO at least had more dynamic movements that worked with the music.

Shae is a former ice dance (and World Champion) thus she has good sense of dance movements. Shae is actually good at integrating transitions into programs. Personally I don't think POTO as a success but I think it's a big improvement from NDP and RJ2.0. So even Yuzuru said he and Shae still hadn't understood each other to the point he can make her choreography his own, they're closer than whatever DW and Yuzuru had been.

 

[Lambari]

It's understandable if there are fewer transitions. The 3rd quad in the second half is already very risky. Adding more transitions makes it even more challenging.

That's exactly what I meant.

Personally I don't think POTO as a success but I think it's a big improvement from NDP and RJ2.0. So even Yuzuru said he and Shae still hadn't understood each other to the point he can make her choreography his own, they're closer than whatever DW and Yuzuru had been.

Absolutely :agree: I have high expectations for the Shae Lynn/Hanyu LP colaboration.

 

[Rissa]

^^

Isn't it odd...? Shae's simpler program worked for Yuzu better than David's busy ones. (I'm counting POTO as success because I'm such a sucker for all those on-the-note-jumps and twirls.) And given how many people complained about Javi's transitions this season, the amount of transitions isn't the key to success. I'm looking forward to see how SEIMEI will go.

 

[gsyzf]

^^

Isn't it odd...? Shae's simpler program worked for Yuzu better than David's busy ones. (I'm counting POTO as success because I'm such a sucker for all those on-the-note-jumps and twirls.) And given how many people complained about Javi's transitions this season, the amount of transitions isn't the key to success. I'm looking forward to see how SEIMEI will go.

It's not too odd, actually. Having more transitions does not necessarily result in higher score or better choreography/performance. The amount of transitions in a program depends on the skater's ability. I think the amount of transitions should not be too much that makes it impossible/too difficult for a skater to skate well. A program with fewer transitions but skated better is better than a program with many transitions but skated poorly, in terms of both performance and score.

ETA: I find Shae-Lynn's programs very well choreographed to the music.

 

[PatricksGaze]

Shae is a former ice dance (and World Champion) thus she has good sense of dance movements. Shae is actually good at integrating transitions into programs. Personally I don't think POTO as a success but I think it's a big improvement from NDP and RJ2.0. So even Yuzuru said he and Shae still hadn't understood each other to the point he can make her choreography his own, they're closer than whatever DW and Yuzuru had been.

I think you shouldn't downgrade Yuzuru's and David's relationships based on your attitude towards programs for Yuzu choreographed by him. Yuzu has stated many times how well they understand each other, how much he trusts David and feels like being in safe hands working with him. He still wanted to continue working with him but Brian chose Shae-Lynn instead.
Personal thoughts. I love Shae-Lynn very much, her work with Yuzu has brought only the best out of him. And she still keeps on proving herself as a worthy and remarkable choreographer for Yuzuru. But I also absolutely loved RJ2 and Yuzu seemed content with it too. I think now Yuzu is much more happy with his progs because he's given a full choice. He's basically free to choose whatever he wants now and that's great. That's one of the reasons why he grew so much after Olympics.

 

[hamaguri]

Thank you everyone for all the uploads and comments! It’s a pity I cannot fully write what I want to say since I’m a slow writer ..

Just some things I remember from DOI today.

Opening
eagle-3 turn-4T-eagle (I got the "3 turn" part from someone's twitter, not something I'm able to tell)
Led the group dance with Kozuka before the guest skaters joined, then it was Yuzuru and Plushy at the center front. He always does a perfect job with the opening/closing group dance. Learning a choreography must be a piece of cake for him.

Onmyoji
4S fall, 4T so (the same kind of step-out as the 4T in his SP/Shanghai Worlds), 3F, 3T2T tano, 3A3T so (from twitter, there were various versions of it, but this is close to what I can remember)
It could be because I'm not used to the music yet, but the Ina Bauer is not as dramatic as R&J2 or POTO, but I thought the hydroblade was perfect and beautiful.
I loved the costume on TV, but didn't think it stood out at the rink from a distance (I was in the 9th row) because it's mostly silver. Looking forward to what he might add, although I'm ok with how it is now too.
Jumps were not all there, but I think it's because he can't get enough room in a small sized rink to prepare for the quads.
I can't say that I love the program yet (I love the unique theme and what he's trying to convey), I'll have to watch it again on TV next week and also wait for the competition version, but I end up liking most of his programs anyway.

Finale
4T fall

Jump contest
Only the Japanese skaters minus Kozuka and Machida came out.
I was at the other end from where the skaters were standing so I couldn't see all that was going on, but I could kind of see Yuzuru telling Shoma to go, and talking the ladies (Yuna and Marin) into going as well.
He did a 4T3T, 1Lo x 2, then he joined Mura and attempted the 4A and dived into the first row. He went to apologize later. I'm glad noone was hurt.
Dice brought out a selfie stick so hopefully he'll upload the group pictures later.
At the end of it all, Yuzuru got Shoma to come out to the center, and I thought they were going for a SBS jump, but they just did a little bow. I don't know if they decided not to jump, or Yuzuru wanted to introduce him to the audience as a new senior skater but he didn't do it for Sato and Nagai who are also turning senior, so I don't know. It was a cute gesture though.
Before closing the curtain, he had the audience stop clapping and shouted "Arigatougozaimashita!"

There were so many skaters doing things simultaneously and it's a shame I only have a set of eyes. I didn't see any Fuji TV cameras there today so the broadcast will probably be one of yesterday's shows.

Thank you! mikaboo, great job!
You described the show in detail taking other information like twitter into consideration. It took you a considerable time, right? And you observed yuzu fully. I’m concerned if you could see Shoma or other skaters as much as you could have been satisfied. As you said, it is hard for you to pursue plural skaters with your eyes when they are in the group.

Especially, your mention about costume was interesting. The costume when you see at live show or competition tends to seem different from the one through TV screen or photo. You gave the impression at live show. Although I also love the current costume, but it might not be so bad it will change.

I can imagine him stopping the audience and shouting Arigatougozaimashita. He have the power to control the crowd. He must have wanted to say thank you in silence to get his message across more clearly. mikaboo, thank you again for reporting us about yuzu.arty:

 

[Meoima]

I think you shouldn't downgrade Yuzuru's and David's relationships based on your attitude towards programs for Yuzu choreographed by him. Yuzu has stated many times how well they understand each other, how much he trusts David and feels like being in safe hands working with him. He still wanted to continue working with him but Brian chose Shae-Lynn instead.
Personal thoughts. I love Shae-Lynn very much, her work with Yuzu has brought only the best out of him. And she still keeps on proving herself as a worthy and remarkable choreographer for Yuzuru. But I also absolutely loved RJ2 and Yuzu seemed content with it too. I think now Yuzu is much more happy with his progs because he's given a full choice. He's basically free to choose whatever he wants now and that's great. That's one of the reasons why he grew so much after Olympics.

When I said "closer" I meant it in the way of work/style relationship, not in the way personal relationship. I understand my close friend so well but it doesn't mean our work together has best result. I think (and many people have the same feelings) that DW's LPs for Yuzuru have some issue, it's not based on how much they understand each other, my mother understands me very well but she couldn't teach me a how to solve some math problem (she's a math teacher). Certainly there was something didn't click between Yuzuru and DW choreography in the sense of "style".

There's this thing, you like it doesn't mean it suits you. I like neon color but I look tedious in neon color. Assume that Gracie loves the princess style she is doing and she understands it so well but it doesn't mean she suits it as many people have pointed out. Assume that Yuzuru loves Johnny style of skating but doesn't mean copying Johnny from A to Z will do him good (I don't say that Yuzuru is copying Johnny from A-Z, just for example).

I don't know if it's Orser who initiated the switch, or actually Yuzuru himself wanted a change. What they said in the interview was very vague, yes Yuzuru likes DW, but he might also want to change his style (maybe he didn't want switch to another choreographer), and maybe he discussed his idea with Orser and Orser suggested him to Shae (some said DW suggested her). But personally I don't think of Yuzuru as someone who agrees to his coach 100% in everything just because his coach tells him so. He is very strong-willed and if he felt that he should stick to DW no matter what, there would be no way he agreed to switch to Shae in the first place.

 

[vadrouille]

Thank you very much all of you who have responded to my post about the music for Yuzuru' Free Program Seimei. Yes you are right if Yuzuru wants to skate to unconventional music/ or let's say less popular music, this is the year to do it, not in the year of the Olympics. And I can understand that Yuzuru is very proud of his Japanese heritage, he loves his country very much, so he wants to skate to the story of Seimei to introduce his fans to Japanese culture and music. After all, he is the Olympic Champion who comes from Japan, so it is natural to choose to skate to Japanese music at least once, and this is the year to do it. It is a risk, but he is a person who likes to take risks especially when he believes this is the right thing he wants to do. Thanks to you all, I am now less worried, more confident that he will succeed and he will give us a beautiful Free Program, unforgettable, even more beautiful than POTO. Just hope he will stay healthy to prepare for the season.

 

[msteach3]

I think many of Yuzuru's fans like Japanese culture or are familiar with Japanese culture or oriental culture, so most of us love his music choice. But I do wonder for fans who are not familiar with Japanese culture or oriental culture, do they find the music very foreign and need some time to get used to?

Well, we're not living in the dark ages!! Many people outside of Japan or Asia have heard Asian music, not that particular piece, but music from Japan/Asia that is similar in nature. I'm American and find this music very appealing, much more so than many of the overused warhorses. There was a very popular mini-series shown in the US many, many times called "Shogun." People here loved the story and the soundtrack that went with it. I think audiences everywhere will be open to his SEIMEI program.

 

[alia jackson]

Thank you Panda.


I found something heartwarming. A fan drew this scene of Yuzu saying hi to his Japanese team members...he hugged Machida. I think this is at the end while saying goodbye, Machida ruffled Yuzu's head. Must be the first time they met since Yuzu was hospitalised and Machida retired.

 

[firal]

Thank you Panda.


I found something heartwarming. A fan drew this scene of Yuzu saying hi to his Japanese team members...he hugged Machida. I think this is at the end while saying goodbye, Machida ruffled Yuzu's head. Must be the first time they met since Yuzu was hospitalised and Machida retired.

That truly is heartwarming, thank you for posting it and thanks to the fan who drew it so well that I feel like I am seeing it too!

 

[hamaguri]

Thank you Panda.


I found something heartwarming. A fan drew this scene of Yuzu saying hi to his Japanese team members...he hugged Machida. I think this is at the end while saying goodbye, Machida ruffled Yuzu's head. Must be the first time they met since Yuzu was hospitalised and Machida retired.

Really heart-warming!
I’ve just remembered reading a report which said that at DOI Machida had gazed at yuzu’s performance of SEIMEI with thoughtful and serious eyes from the backyard. Very impressive.