I think his free programme could be a masterpiece. Can’t wait to see the whole thing. He clearly enjoys skating the programme. Why is it not ACI already?!
Really curious about his short, though. I wasn’t a fan of Ballade at first, but his performance at the Olympics is equal to his R&J1 at Worlds for me in terms of “skate of his life.” And Ballade definitely became a masterpiece — the delayed head roll didn’t work for me initially, but as the programme became even more textured, it felt earned and deliberate. While I’m glad he won’t be doing something like LGC (it wasn’t a bad short but it wasn’t my thing, and nobody can bring out each note in an instrumental piece like Hanyu), I have no idea “what” Otonal will be like without knowing more about the music edit. I’m sensing a Ballade Pt. 2-esque short, though I doubt it’ll be so similar as to draw comparisons along the line of “good, but not Ballade.”
That free, though. The waiting is killing me.