Yuzuru Hanyu: 2017-2018

[DiamondDust]

Yuzuru said here he had not changed the music cut at all from previous SEIMEI.

http://sp.kahoku.co.jp/tohokunews/201708/20170810_74026.html

I've just been looking at Japanese Twitter since I was curious how the public think about Yuzuru's music choice for FS, and what I found was that this program is sooo loved and popular! Most of people are so excited to see Yuzuru's SEIMEI again and they say they can't wait. I know they are casual viewers but it's nice to know SEIMEI is well known

SEIMEI is uniquely Yuzuru's so it's great if he didn't have to tweak with the music cut. It's a gorgeous piece. And I'm glad to know some positive reception and support from the Japanese fans. :agree:

 

[yude]

Sorry, I can't. I feel like I got it wrong because of the volume of news cuts and different translations. If the music is the same- then it's the same. New choreo parts- obviously, new rules, new content, etc. I wish his step sequence remains same sexy, I really loved those turns and moves he made

I understand, I also get confused reading many articles sometimes

 

[giulia95]

But the amount of unhappy comments he is getting since the news came up is just... hard to overlook. I hope he knew what he was getting himself into.

I think Yuzuru knows very well what he's getting into, even too well sadly. In my mind he is like an exceptionally strong chess player whose mathematical and analytical brain takes decisions after a deep and long analysis of every possible combination, movement and strategy on the chessboard.

Yuzu's final decision is that “The most important thing is to skate cleanly. If I can do that then the results will follow naturally" so that Chopin and Seimei will follow naturally too, because of his limited repertoire under Orser, which is really a pity, but I' m greatly relieved it's not Wilson's FS even if DW wanted it really, really badly .

This decision is the most realistic ,dispassionate and disenchanted possible , but this is how the system works unfortunately and Yuzuru has to play the game at his best, expecially after his H&L FS score in Helsinki .

On the other side FaOI Chopin 3 impressed me greately with its perfect jump timing and the new stunning step sequence Yuzu rearranged in Japan , while I'm curiously waiting to see Shae and Yuzu's efforts in Seimei 2, which can be his Boston revenge, no doubt about it.

Both programs are masterpieces which already gave me goosebumps in Barcellona 2015 where I saw them live, plus they are complete opposites, being Chopin lighter than the air with its mystic and ethereal aura , while Seimei is pure fire on the taiko sound casting a magic spell on the audience.

No doubt Yuzu will compete against himself and his own world records from the very beginning of the season , which is not safe at all .
He needs to be perfectly healthy and trained in order to advance like a tank in a military strategy from the very beginning of the season , he has to skate as clean as possible to built his reputation steady, otherwise he's aware he'll be hurshly punished and it doesn't really seem his federation will support him that much.

I have faith in Yuzu and in his choices, I'll support him no matter what , hoping with all my heart and soul his dream will come (deservedly) true.

 

[Yatagarasu]

https://twitter.com/anipooh1/status/895448890429718530
4T3T Rippon, looks great

Excuse me while I laugh myself sick. I love him so much. And I can already hear the salt being unloaded and give it to us, give it all to us

May I ask you the source of the previous info (if you know)? I've heard that the program has some new choreography but I haven't heard about the music. There are a lot of articles so I might be missing something. But in this article, he said "I have not arranged the music at all".

Max Ambesi. When he told us the first time about Seimei, which was ages ago, he mentioned that the music cut might be partially changed. It was probably an option at the time, but they changed their minds subsequently. Thanks so much for clearing up this matter!

 

[Henni147]

@Ender I think he wants you to believe he's practicing his 4lz to stabilize his 3Lz, thus praciticing 3Lz right now is unnecessary

In all seriousness though, in my perception Yuzu is smart and knows CoP. He knows doing 5 quads with 3 different ones barely gives him additional BV, potentially less GOE given he has to take out one 3A (which is his money jump), but it's a lot riskier. More work & risk for basically no reward? Yeeeeeeaaaahhh..... no. Without 4Lz, it would stay at 4 quads. I admire his straight face through talking about that 1x 3A layout though. Respect

Well if he really practices the 4Lz, there is only one logical reason apart from including it into is programme immediately: he needs a back-up jump to increase his BV during the season, if someone dares to scratch his world records.
Let's say Shoma Uno (just as an example) earns 221 points in his free skate at the GPF, Yuzuru won't rely on his 4-quad-layout at the Olympics. He will add the 4Lz to devastate everyone's hope for victory. (Well that's what I would do in his stead )

 

[yude]

Max Ambesi. When he told us the first time about Seimei, which was ages ago, he mentioned that the music cut might be partially changed. It was probably an option at the time, but they changed their minds subsequently. Thanks so much for clearing up this matter!

Thank you for telling me this, I'm following his twitter but I think I missed that part. I know he is doing Italian commentary (which I love), but I don't know exactly who he is : Is he a sport journalist? Does he have acquaintances in TCC?

 

[HanDomi]

I don't think he had any inside info. Talks about Seimei 2.0 started here on forum and I guess he just thrown this on twitter.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

I don't think he had any inside info. Talks about Seimei 2.0 started here on forum and I guess he just thrown this on twitter.

I really doubt Max Ambesi is reading around GS. And Seimei 2.0 was far from the only thing that people here speculated about, so he would have just had his lucky pick? Nah, doubt it.

He was also the one who reported a fully rotated, landed 4A.

 

[Yatagarasu]

I don't think he had any inside info. Talks about Seimei 2.0 started here on forum and I guess he just thrown this on twitter.

Not even remotely true. Max has and has always had inside information, and he was the one who said way back in May about it being Seimei, which then sparked off the talk everywhere. A well respected, well connected, knowledgeable journalist is not going to throw up random nonsense from a fanforum up on his twitter. It's kind of rude to imply that.

Thank you for telling me this, I'm following his twitter but I think I missed that part. I know he is doing Italian commentary (which I love), but I don't know exactly who he is : Is he a sport journalist? Does he have acquaintances in TCC?

That was a long time ago, he tweeted about Seimei way back on May 26th

About #YuzuruHanyu's Olympic Season free skate, rumors speak about a "Seimei 2.0". A new revised and corrected version for music as well

x

But since that was late May, they probably changed their minds, didn't like what they got, or whatever.
He's a sports journalist, very respected sport journalist that handles winter sports, not just figure skating and he's really knowledgable about things. How he gets his information on Yuzuru though is anyone's guess, he's unlikely to spill about his sources, for good reason. As a journalist, a long time journalist, I am sure he knows a great many people. I am just happy he has them so we can hear a thing or two on occasion!

 

[Ender]

Ambesi was the first one to broke the news about Seimei 2.0. In the Facebook group it seems he knows some Italian coaches and skaters who do go to Cricket Club for a period of time for training. I wouldn't be surprised if he heard from them.

 

[beki]

Feeling a little numb to this honestly. Two repeated programs. I'm not shocked but I am meh.

 

[Yuii Murasaki]

OMG, this is so beautiful. I seriously think Evgenia has a positive effect on him. As much as I love the wild Yuzuru that can turn the tables at any moment I understand the consistent/unbeatable Yuzuru is what he needs now. He broke all those world records and pushed the sport to its limits but he has never given this aura that "the KING is here, just sit back, relax and enjoy". Now, it's the time to make the image of unbeatable king (like unbeatable queen). Mark my word, he is going to repeat his OGM regardless of what happens in between.

I agree. This season is the time to create the image of an unbeatable king.
With these two wonderful programs, I believe he will achieve his goals. :agree:

 

[Yatagarasu]

NTV Sukkiri (Seimei Shrine special, 4T3T rippon, comments from Aya Kawai, FS commentator + Nagano ID representative)

8/10 8:00 (cr. yuzu_pino@twi)

04:21 -
4T3T rippon \o/ (yuzu_pino@twi also clipped it out here)

04:29 -
Hanyu visited Seimei Shrine on 6/04 and left an ema: “May I bring performances as I’d envisioned, and, may happiness come to everyone, through my performances. 2017.6.4. Hanyu Yuzuru” (04:29 in video)

04:30 -
The production team visited Seimei Shrine on 8/09. According to Chief Priest Yamaguchi, Hanyu visited to give thanks as he had used Abe no Seimei as theme in his performances the season before the last, to express gratitude that he was able to do it. Thinking back, Yamaguchi thought he might already have held the thoughts of using the music of Seimei in his chest, and had come before the altar to report these thoughts to the gods. (04:30)

05:53 -
When Hanyu visited two years ago in July, he had gone to see the portrait of Abe no Seimei (usually made open to the public once a year in September). Yamaguchi recounted that for around ten minutes, Hanyu was silently looking at the portrait, in seiza (kneeling with tops of feet flat on floor and sitting on the soles) with his back very straight, tauter than the usual. Seemed to have many thoughts. Yamaguchi thought perhaps Hanyu had at that point been practicing with the image of “Hanyu” and wondered if, seeing the portrait, that image had become something new. (05:53)

07:21 -
Many fans came to wish for his health and a gold medal in Pyeongchang Olympics. The production team interviewed a (male) fan: “He is really amazing, isn’t he? I hadn’t watched much figure skating, but when I saw his performance, I began to find figure skating interesting. So I hope he’ll be in perfect condition in face of the Pyeongchang Olympics.”

10:32 -
Aya Kawai (Nagano Olympics Ice Dance representative, FS commentator): Because the sense of novelty is lost when music is reused, it makes it hard to impress the viewer. He got many 10s in his components two years ago, but there’s the possibility that 10s won’t come so easily. So in order to get 10s, he must put out an amazing performance, clearly superior to the last time.

11:07 - (Narrator/caption: About bringing 5 quads into the program this season)
Isn’t it exactly Hanyu’s figure skating that always evolves and goes beyond the current limits?

11:21 - (Narrator/caption: The evolution seen in the practice footage is…)
The opening Loop gives off such an increased sense of stability. It’s the newest quad to him and the most difficult. But for a second, I thought it was a triple––it looked that secure. It was such a good jump that, if I were a judge, I would want to give him all the GOEs.

12:10

Reporter at media day: What’s your goal at the Olympics?
Hanyu: First… first… I have to be chosen as Olympic representative…*laughs* I think *laughs more*

Reporter prompting: And beyond that?
Hanyu: Well. If I’m chosen as representative, the gold medal… of course I want to aim for it. *giggles* I [made the quote] difficult [for you] to use >”<

source

 

[padme21]

Feeling a little numb to this honestly. Two repeated programs. I'm not shocked but I am meh.

I feel you.
He's doing Chopin for a 3rd time, and he's repeating Seimei so he's not really bring anything new to the table other than perhaps jumps and a different layout. He's staying in his comfort zone by playing it safe. You don't win Olympic gold medals by playing it safe. Hanyu's taking a huge risk with these program choices. I pray for his sake it pays off. But I fear this decision might come back to haunt him.

 

[Li'Kitsu]

I feel you.
He's doing Chopin for a 3rd time, and he's repeating Seimei so he's not really bring anything new to the table other than perhaps jumps and a different layout. He's staying in his comfort zone by playing it safe. You don't win Olympic gold medals by playing it safe. Hanyu's taking a huge risk with these program choices. I pray for his sake it pays off. But I fear this decision might come back to haunt him.

Tell that Evan Lysacek.

 

[nimi]

Tell that Evan Lysacek.

Touché.

 

[matmuh]

I feel you.
He's doing Chopin for a 3rd time, and he's repeating Seimei so he's not really bring anything new to the table other than perhaps jumps and a different layout. He's staying in his comfort zone by playing it safe. You don't win Olympic gold medals by playing it safe. Hanyu's taking a huge risk with these program choices. I pray for his sake it pays off. But I fear this decision might come back to haunt him.

which one is it? is he playing it safe or taking a risk? cause you cant do both at the same time :think:

 

[Danibellerika]

I personally was not a fan at all of how Evan won (without a single quad) and I don't think Yuzu is "playing it safe" remotely compared to that. He is still upgrading his layout from 4 to now 5 quads, and he is at least bringing his best work to the table (in Sochi PW was great but RJ2 was meh). I mean, even by this year's Worlds the Olympics was UNDER one year out. Not a lot of prep time. I do want a new short, but it can't be helped. And that's not where you win it anyway. He'll at least have something that keeps him in the running. No matter what, he is showing up to PC a much better skater than he was when he won the whole darn thing the last time.

Initially I was not happy with the announcement but then I saw those jumps and I forgot what I was even mad about . Like when your boyfriend knows exactly what to say to make you forgive him.

 

[yude]

He was also the one who reported a fully rotated, landed 4A.

I have to remember that

But since that was late May, they probably changed their minds, didn't like what they got, or whatever.
He's a sports journalist, very respected sport journalist that handles winter sports, not just figure skating and he's really knowledgable about things. How he gets his information on Yuzuru though is anyone's guess, he's unlikely to spill about his sources, for good reason. As a journalist, a long time journalist, I am sure he knows a great many people. I am just happy he has them so we can hear a thing or two on occasion!

Thank you for your explanation I wish we could see Max's interview with Yuzuru someday!

 

[msteach3]

Yuzu and team Orser are very smart and calculating. They must have come together and made the decision to go with these programs for good reasons. Yuzu wants to repeat as gold medalist and he feels this is the best way to achieve that goal. As a fan, I'm fine with Seimei as I adore that program and was in Boston when it didn't go well. It deserves another chance. I am disappointed though, on a third season with Chopin as something new and fresh would have been exciting, but if this is what he wants then I respect that.