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dreamsburntdown · 2 years

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Like so many others after Sochi 2014, I sat down excitedly to watch Yuzuru's first competition in the new Olympic cycle, which was the Cup of China in 2014. He introduced a new short program for the season, Ballade no. 1. by Frederic Chopin, which was - similarly to Parisienne Walkways - choreographed by Jeff Buttle. The program was a completely different one that we've seen from him in the previous seasons and it definitely showed how he's matured in the past period. Even in its earliest stage it was a gorgeous and intricate program that suited Yuzuru's style a lot.

On the day of the free skate, on a lovely Saturday morning here in Europe I sat down to watch his new free skate, the Phantom of the Opera, which was the first competitive program Shae-Lynn Bourne choreographed for Yuzu. As the 6-minute warm-up started and I went back from the kitchen to the living room, I saw that Eurosport switched back from the ads to the broadcast and suddenly all I could see that there were two skaters lying on the ice and something bad happened...I immediately had the feeling one of the skaters lying on the ice was Yuzu. And it was the truth.

Yuzuru collided with Han Yan during the warm-up and it took long minutes for him to get help. He was bleeding, his head was bandaged and no one knew if he had a concussion or not. Despite all of this, he decided to fight and skate his free skate. He was the Olympic champion, and he needed this competition to qualify for the GP Final.

Since I wasn't active on forums or twitter at that time, it was tumblr on which I searched for every bit of news that was available about his condition. I can still remember the anxiousness so vividly.

Yuzuru got the 2nd place despite falling a lot of times. At that time, deductions for falls weren't that harsh as long as the jumps were rotated, so even with falls he could stay on the podium. His reaction in the kiss and cry was heartbreaking to look at. I just wanted him to be okay and get a long rest finally.

At his next event, the NHK Trophy, which was only two weeks after CoC, Yuzuru finished 4th. These two results qualified him for the Grand Prix Final which was held in Barcelona.

The Grand Prix Final was by far my favourite competition of the season. Yuzuru defended his title, one month after the accident at the Cup of China which was so great to see. He skated a really great free skate, in which he landed both his 4S and 4T, two triple Axels, amongst others, and he made a mistake only on his last jump, the 3Lz. The new FS looked really improved, and to me it looked like a lot more coherent program than, for example his Romeo and Juliet program from the Olympic season. So, GPF ended really well - finally, and so well deserved! Yuzuru was so happy during the medal ceremony which was great to see.

Unfortunately, more bad things happened after the Grand Prix Final. As soon as Yuzuru finished his free skate and won his third title at Nationals in December 2014, he was taken to hospital due to abdominal pain. He had a bladder-related surgery and had to rest for a longer time after it. Then, when he got back on the ice in early 2015, he sprained his ankle and he again needed time to rest.

Yuzuru competed at Worlds in March 2015, where he skated to a new season's best in the SP, and he got the silver medal overall - the result was tight (Javier got the gold medal) - in my opinion, with a bit of different scoring, Yuzuru could have won the gold here.

This was a season full with misfortunates, though. An Olympic cycle is long and most Olympic champions take a break after they win the the gold medal. Yuzuru was also advised to take a season off, but he refused and wanted to continue to compete as before (meaning, not taking off even a few months, like GP series or a full season). After all, judges 'forget' about skaters quickly and try pushing others if someone in the absence of others. Not to mention that without competing for a longer time, and then coming back at the same level or even higher level is incredibly difficult. Yuzuru wanted to defend his Olympic title in 2018 so he needed to compete as much as possible.

Even if this season was full of worries and unlucky things, I was hopeful that the 2015/16 season would be better and Yuzuru won't have injuries, or illnesses.

Next up is the 2015/16 season - to be continued soon.

[Part 1], [Part 2]

#yuzuru hanyu #yuzu #hanyu yuzuru #figure skating #羽生結弦

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icedanceupstarts · 5 years

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2019 US Nationals Preview

Wherein the battle for a slightly imaginary medal might be the most exciting part, and your mods have to resort to some mildly desperate measures to get video.

Christina Carreira/ Anthony Ponomarenko

Age: 18/18

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Igor Shpilband and Pasquale Carmerlengo

Season's Best: 180.22

Rhythm Dance: Where is Maria? Who is Maria?

Free Dance: Clair de Beat Drop

We joked earlier in the summer that this season Nationals was going to be half Team Gadbois, half Team Youthful Upstart, and Carreira/Ponomarenko are the youthiest upstarts of them all. They're not just the youngest in terms of individual age, but as a team. All the other medal contenders in this field had been competing internationally for at least two years by the time these two teamed up, and their inexperience and relatively short partnership by ice dance standards has them at a disadvantage. Even so, they've had a seamless transition into the senior ranks, showcasing a power and maturity beyond their years that earned them their first GP medal and their first senior international victory. They've really challenged themselves in the complexity of their programs, with an increase in transitions and hold, and a ridiculously challenging four sets of twizzles in the free dance. You can still see the traces of the junior ranks on them-- sometimes they get a little too amped and their skating ends up slightly sloppy and rushed in places, costing them valuable points in GOE, and they lack the confidence and maturity of the older teams. However, they've been steadily blossoming throughout the season, noticeably gaining experience from every competition, showing real promise at every outing and learning from their mistakes. They've been getting less nervous with every outing and been showing off their natural strengths more, like their musicality, chemistry, and huge ice coverage. They were one of the first teams to achieve a L4 on any section of the tango romantica or have either partner achieve L4 on the foot step sequence, and their performance quality at Rostelecom Cup was fantastic. We've mentioned that they lack the self-assuredness of the more experienced teams, but their free dance performance at Tallinn had them skating with a cool, almost stately confidence that took them to their deserved first senior international gold. Of the contenders, Carreira/Ponomarenko are the youngest, scrappiest underdogs with a lot to gain, and if they can put together the best aspects of all their performances thus far, they could very well challenge for the pewter.

Madison Chock/ Evan Bates

Age: 26/29

Started Skating Together: 2011

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer

Season's Best: No ISU Season’s Best, 197.32 at Torun

Rhythm Dance: Assassin's Tango

Free Dance: Fever/Burning Love

Our favorite recluses have been pretty quiet since her surgery and the announcement that they would be one of several teams making the move to Montreal, and when they withdrew from both GP events their future seemed increasingly uncertain. It was a great relief to see them not only back, but able to get their feet wet before Nationals, and not just so we didn't have to write “IDK MAN” for the program entries. You can see that they're a little rusty from their time off, and seemed especially tight for the rhythm dance, but it was an impressive first outing, and a slap in the face for anyone getting too gleeful about writing them off. We like their tango, which is a great balance between elegant and dramatic with palpable tension between them all the way through. Again, they were a little tentative in this performance, but the choreography and packaging is strong and natural on them, and they express the nuances of the music so well, down to their fingertips. They also got level 3s on both sections of the tango romantica, which is a stronger technical display than most of their competition have shown all season. We admit to being a little leery when we heard their music choices for the free dance, but it's a really great, fun, flirty program for them, and they got strong levels there as well, including a level 4 on the one foot step sequence from Madi. Do we wish that the music transition was a little smoother? Sure, but hey, pobody's nerfect. Trying to earn back their National title will be a big ask just off of her surgery, and in their second competition of the season, but it's not impossible. Levels can make a big difference when its close, and Chock/Bates seem to have retained the precision that helped them be such strong technical powerhouses in the past. They're also still the best lifters in the field, with flashy, eyecatching lifts that are as effortless as they are difficult. And their fun free dance is certainly a breath of fresh air with current ice dance trends. If they can let go of their nerves, keep that technical performance while cleaning up some minor bobbles and shining in the performance aspect as they always have, they very well could be back on top.

Kaitlin Hawayek/ Jean-Luc Baker

Age: 22/25

Started Skating Together: 2012

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer

Season's Best: 184.63

Rhythm Dance: 2 B or Not 2 B

Free Dance: To Build This Shirt

The 2014 Junior World Champions have been waiting four years for their big break and 2018 was a good year for them. Their return to the national podium after coming fifth two years in a row, winning the 2018 4CC title, their first trip to senior worlds where they made the top 10 all just started things off. After their much anticipated coaching change, despite a later start to the season, they earned their first GP gold and their first trip to GPF.

They will really want to get their levels in the rhythm dance together. They have a lower season's best in that segment than McNamara/Carpenter, and the trio of baby seniors breathing down their necks have put out stronger technical performances in every single rhythm dance outing this season than Hawayek/Baker have yet to accomplish. However, they did have a later start to the season and their levels have improved since their initial outings, and they do have a deserved PCS and GOE cushion. They have a great feel for the tango, and carry their mature and passionate performance through a really nice step sequence that gets faster and faster. Now that Jean-Luc has fully recovered from his concussion they've been able to put more focus into nailing their keypoints and we hope to see that come to fruition this week. It's their free dance that has been picking up the marks for them and overcoming their technical issues in the rhythm dance. While we still have questions about their remarkably chipper interpretation of a sad break up song, it's a well constructed program that uses the music to a very satisfying build, and their inexplicable joy is still fairly infectious. Given the scores that Hubbell/Donohue and Chock/Bates have put up so far, it's going to be hard for them to close the gap and rise above bronze, but it's not impossible. Even if they can't, they can at least put the pressure on if they skate their best, and make their mark for the future.

Madison Hubbell/ Zachary Donohue

Age: 27/27

Started Skating Together: 2011

Coach: Marie-France Dubreuil, Patrice Lauzon, Romain Haguenauer

Season's Best: 205.35

Rhythm Dance: We’ll do you one better: Why is Maria?

Free Dance: Why are these music cuts

The reigning national champions, world silver medalists, and newly crowned GPF champions are favored to continue their undefeated season here. They're great, powerful skaters, and get deservedly high GOE and PCS. Hubbell/Donohue have been skating with a lot of confidence this season, and mostly avoiding the silly mistakes that tripped them up in the past. Their rhythm dance is now a much more dramatic program with a more explosive finish than in its earlier incarnation, and it's a good fit for their skating. Their free dance, to put it mildly, has not really been a hit with fandom in either its original or revamped states, but they're still fabulous skaters who clearly are feeling their music choice and perform well. They're continuing to tweak their free dance, so perhaps it has settled into a stronger whole that better serves their talents. They've historically had several programs in the past that were met with poor reception but reworked over the season until they became fan favorites, and we may see a similar evolution happen here. Given that their main competition for the title has been out all season due to injury and are still getting their feet under them, Hubbell/Donohue should be able to defend their title if they skate with the power and confidence they have all season, along with the attention to levels they've been paying since GPF. It won't be a cakewalk, but if nothing else, their willingness to rehaul both programs in the month or so before GPF proves that they're more than willing to fight.

Karina Manta/Joseph Johnson

Age: 22/24

Started Skating Together: 2014

Coach: Patti Gottwein

Season's Best: 139.33

Rhythm Dance: Frida

Free Dance: Queer Dance Party

Barring some deeply unexpected, completely unforeseeable circumstance, Manta/Johnson are going to be seventh.

We do not normally make predictions that firm and pronounced, but in this case it's fairly clear. They're too good to place lower than that, they got that host pick for a reason, and they don't have the technical skills to place higher unless some massive disaster strikes. The other six teams featured in this recap all have at least one GP medal, one national title at either the junior or senior level, and half of them have qualified to GPF. Manta/Johnson can't compete with them, and that's okay! They're not here to win, they're here to make friends and influence people into realizing that this sport is not about romance between partners. They're the first dance team with two openly out partners, and their very presence here is meaningful.

Even if they weren't making history and paving the way for a less heteronormative dance world, they would still be winning the title for The Most Fun, or at least a heavy contender. Their lifts don't always cover as much ice as some of the top teams but are difficult and interesting, and their expression throughout their Frida rhythm dance(which, it should be noted, uses the music from a scene where two women dance together) is top notch. It's their free dance that's really a crowd pleaser, though. It's just a showy dance party from start to finish, and just when you think that it can't get more ridiculously entertaining, it somehow does, using one of the standout choreographic step sequences this season to build the program further and ending with an incredible choreographic lift to end the program with a bang. We hope they're able to perform at their best here and get encouragement to continue for many years to come. And hey, while they'll probably be seventh, Canadian and Russian Nationals have both proven that plucky underdogs with little pressure on them can rise higher than anyone would expect from them.

Lorraine McNamara/Quinn Carpenter

Age: 19/22

Started Skating Together: 2005

Coach: Elena Novak, Alexei Kiliakov, Greg Zuerlein

Season's Best: 180.57

Rhythm Dance: Wrist Flower Wango

Free Dance: Normie Cosplay

McNamara/Carpenter have always had the skills to contend at the very top, but have been criticized in the past for being too messy and having programs that are too over the top. This season they've cleaned up their lines, improved their stretch, and toned down the dramatics, leading their critics to just call them boring instead because sometimes there's just no winning with the fandom. They've made great pushes technically, with almost all new elements this season. McNamara/Carpenter are the longest lasting American dance team competing today, and that longevity shows in their eery mind meld and just how well they match each other.

Of the four former junior national champions skating lyrical free dances, theirs is the most sedate, relying on their performance quality to give it a build rather than being able to rely on the structuring and the music. It's a fantastic display of their skills when on, but gives them less to fall back on when they're off. With their biggest competitors also skating similar styles, they'll need to show that theirs is the loveliest lyrical free dance to rule them all. Their big chance here will be in the rhythm dance. They're coming into this event with a higher season's best in that segment than Hawayek/Baker, the first team to hit all their key points this season, and the only team in this field other than Carreira/Ponomarenko to get a level 4 on any section of their pattern period. If they can harness their technical prowess and give a strong, confident, expressive performance, they may very well be able to shoot not just for the pewter, but a spot on the world team.

Rachel Parsons/ Michael Parsons

Age: 21/23

Started Skating Together: 2010

Coach: Elena Novak, Alexei Kiliakov, Greg Zuerlein

Season's Best: 180.95

Rhythm Dance: The Lone Hair Flower

Free Dance: Home Construction Ad Opportunity

Alphabet makes them the last of our former Junior National Champions brawling for the podium, but they're in no way the least. The Parsons are not the splashiest performers of this field, but they have a mature, solid presence on the ice and incredible glide. Their twizzles are huge and fast, great step sequences, and they have a strong, warm connection between them. Some people think that their chemistry is weird and incestuous, and those people are entitled to their opinion even if it does personally make us google the statistics for only children(on the rise over the past twenty years, which may explain some things). We've always considered one of their greatest strengths to be their ability to project any sensuality outwards at the audience without seeming disconnected from each other. It's like wingmanning on ice, and it's an extraordinarily difficult balance to hit. They're great twizzlers, and often could stand to get a little more credit GOE wise there. The Parsons skate so close together and partner each other so well, and have great, matching knee bend that makes all their elements flow into each other. They weren't at their best in the free dance at IdF, but when they loosen up their free dance is beautiful and suits their style of skating. The Parsons have a higher Season's Best score than McNamara/Carpenter and Carreira/Ponomarenko by a hair, and aren't that far behind Hawayek/Baker. If they skate their best, they could put some real pressure on their teammates and walk away with their first senior national medal-- and not just the pewter.

#ice dance #2019 us nationals #preview #season: 2018 2019 #team usa

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cutesilyo · 7 years

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On Love: Anxiety (A Yuuri Katsuki Analysis)

The thing about Yuuri is that he's such a relatable character to me. Even more so now that he's in a relationship with Victor, so I can honestly say that YOI is the anime that I've always needed.

Because:

Yuuri has anxiety.

Yuuri is in a relationship.

Yuuri is in a relationship with someone he thinks is too good for him.

Yuuri has a low opinion of himself.

Yuuri is an unreliable narrator.

Yuuri hates losing.

...and etc.

These are all things that I can relate to! So, forgive me, but I absolutely hate how this anime ended. And although I loathed Episode 12 to death, the ending of Episode 11 was something I didn't expect and yet it was something I didn't know I needed — mainly because Yuuri’s anxiety reared its ugly head in a way that I am all too familiar with.

[Pictured: Yuuri Katsuki clenching his fists in an attempt to gather up the courage to ruin his own life for Victor's sake]

i.e. Cutting your own losses before you lose them.

So from the perspective of someone who also has low self-esteem and is in a relationship with someone who I think deserves much better, here's why I believe Episode 11 was necessary in a way that Episode 12 did not give justice to. Here we go!

You see, I have this tiny theory here about what Yuuri was thinking when he said those words that ultimately broke everybody's hearts. Everybody's been talking about it since the episode aired. But here I am, regardless, because I need to deposit these two cents of mine even though the account is already positively overflowing.

There's this belief I have, and I have no idea if this is just something that I have because I've been raised with an Oriental mindset or something specific to just me, but I'm afraid of being too happy. I believe I can only achieve a particular level of happiness; if I experience more happiness that I deserve, bad things happen. If I have too much, you bet your ass at least some of that will get taken away.

There needs to be balance in this world, or so I and many others believe — there is no shadow without light, and the moon has no meaning if she is not opposite the sun. Suffering and happiness? They go hand in hand. And in the same vein, there is no success without strife — and that's widely preached. But the opposite is also true; because there is no strife without success, and I'm willing to bet my non-existent balls that Yuuri and Victor are kind of the epitome of the latter.

[Pictured: Victor Nikiforov before he met Yuuri Katsuki, i.e. incredibly lonely and trusting only a dog for providing him constant companionship]

And while Victor's end of the spectrum — his gold medals were the fruits of labor that his loss to life and love bore — were given their high-key focus in Episode 10, Yuuri's end of the spectrum was a low-key theme throughout the entire series. Yuuri's talents were paid with leaving his hometown and family to pursue an incredibly unconventional career choice, having the press hound him for every anxiety attack that he can't control, and bearing that enormous pressure of representing his entire nation on his shoulders — and his poor anxiety-ridden heart can't deal with that most of the time.

[Pictured: Yuuri Katsuki's mouth giving an involuntary wobble before he forces himself to smile for his parents' sake, also known as a frame that deserves more attention]

There's a stereotype for Asian parents: that if their child gets less than an A, it's a failure. It's a joke most of the time; for Yuuri, he applies that to his entire career as a competitive figure skater. Add the fact that he's representing the whole of Japan for one of the highest titles a figure skater can get, and the anxiety he's developed over the years, and you get a bundle of nerves on the best days — complete breakdowns at the worst.

Plus his dog died just days before, or maybe even during, one of the most important competitions in his life.

Oh, and he is an unbelievably sore loser.

[Pictured: Yuuri Katsuki in that infamous shot of him breaking down in the bathroom; note that he only lets himself cry when he thinks that there is nobody around to see him]

And he's probably thinking i could have done better and he's probably thinking i guess i really should retire, but I propose that he's also thinking this is payment for all the other competitions i've won, isn't it? That he's thinking, this is payment for all the hardships i've put on everyone else. That he's thinking, oh well, i guess i deserve this after all.

It's like all the little bad things he's done over the years have finally come back to haunt him in one big smack of karmic retribution, right after the cruelties of fate have already given him a taste of what it felt like to be part of the winning team. Because don't tell me that Yuuri didn't feel this sense of pride, of fulfillment, of complete and utter joy when he was assigned to the GP Series and qualified for the Finals. That he didn't feel happy when he got the chance to train, abroad, with an actual coach and an actual rink despite just coming from small, seaside Hasetsu. That he didn't arrive at Detroit, wide-eyed and nervous but so young and hopeful, knowing that he was the JSF's certified top skater.

Then he lost at the GPF and he probably felt like all of that went moot. That all of a sudden, all his medals and trophies and successes didn't mean anything anymore. There's a reason why Minami was introduced, after all: to bring home the point that while Yuuri thinks he's an average skater, it doesn't mean that it's necessarily true.

It's further cemented by the fact that, when Minami says that his costume was inspired by one of Yuuri's older ones, he's mortified as he shrieks, "That's a costume from my dark past!"

Minami, bless him, talks back and says that Yuuri doesn't have a dark past to speak of. He's the actual cinnamon roll of YOI, guys. Imagine how happy he was when he cheered for Yuuri in the GPF in Yuuri's own house and saw, in person, all the trophies that Yuuri had been keeping in the background — and the fact that Yuuri even keeps them in the background speaks so much of his lack of self-worth that it deserves its own meta.

[Pictured: Kenjiro Minami, tears in his eyes as he screams out at his idol: You don't have a dark past! Don't make fun of me for looking up to you for so long and trying to catch up with you! — breaking our hearts in the process]

So, basically: if Yuuri had given all he had with skating, was rewarded with triumphs and successes only to feel like that had all been taken away when he was dead last at the GPF (and not to mention, he probably feels like all of this was justified); why wouldn't he feel that way about Victor?

Because Victor makes him happy. So happy, in fact, that his skating and confidence levels have reinvented themselves as a response to Victor's presence in Yuuri's personal life. Why wouldn't he think that Victor was too good to be true? Why wouldn't he be scared that the cruelties of fate would, once again, take away his source of happiness in a twisted form of giving balance to the world?

So he comes up with defense mechanisms. He blabbers in metaphor and dabbles in double-meanings (Episodes 1-3) and he feels so relieved that Victor seems to accept that it's just the way he prefers to express himself (Episode 4). But then he keeps falling and falling and he gathers up the courage to be more accepting of his past because of Victor (Episode 5), to be more bold for Victor (Episode 6), to be more couple-y with Victor. (Episode 8)

And ordinarily, that would be a good thing right? He's growing up! There's character development! He has more confidence now!

But YOI, god bless YOI, shows that anxiety doesn't just go away. It comes back to haunt you and when you're at your weakest, it strikes. This is best exemplified in Episodes 7 and 9, where it's glaringly obvious — but in Episode 11, it takes some understanding of the previous episodes to know that the entirety of the drama comes from Yuuri simply being an unreliable narrator again than from any actual basis.

[Pictured: Two similar shots of Yuuri Katsuki from Episode 4 and Episode 11 respectively — the former, a happy blush as he prays give me Victor's time, if only just for now; the latter, horror dawns as Yuuri comes to the conclusion that Victor wants to go back to the ice and that their time together is ending]

Because Yuuri is the epitome of unreliable narrator, and Episode 10 was the ultimate peak of the mountain that YOI has been building from the very first episode — in an anime that opens with the self-deprecating protagonist reading articles about his loss, which is intentionally and deliberately set up to overshadow the fact that despite his loss he's still competing in one of the biggest competitions in the figure skating world.

The other thing that YOI has chosen to keep from us until Episode 10 was that despite the entire world being clamorous for him to go back to the ice, Victor actually . . . doesn't want to do that at all. He literally calls it a shackle on his neck. He waxes poetic about the life and love that Yuuri has given him, that he has neglected for so long. He gets kicked in the back and declared as dead by Yurio, and the most he does is mockingly crouch down and ask, did you want to compete against me?

Having Episode 10 come right before the massive fuck-up in Episode 11 was both an explanation and a warning: yeah, yuuri did all that and victor fell in love with him first. now remember how different things looked back in episode 1. because we're gonna go back to that in the next episode and y'all need to know what's real and what's just what yuuri assumes.

And the thing about Episode 10 is that it triggers this impulse to rewatch the entire series from Victor's perspective and contrast that to how different we saw it when it was just Yuuri's perspective we knew about. Doing that brings more impact to Episode 11, I think — which also highlights that despite Yurio found a friend, he still has some humility to learn and his arc isn't finished yet just because he managed to perfect Agape. While I do think he was being too mean (to a point that I considered it OOC, after Episodes 9 and 10), that's a different post altogether.

[Pictured: Celestino Cialdini comforts a sullen Yuuri Katsuki during the Sochi GPF; comes with Yuuri's monologue of I could never openly say that I'd win gold, but I never skated with the thought in my mind that I'd lose anyway]

I think that the way that Yuuri reflects to himself during his FS in Episode 9 echoes how he feels toward Victor. That despite never really admitting out loud that he wanted a gold, he never actually believed he would ever lose either — Yuuri let himself stay stagnant while tiptoeing between having the potential to be a winner and actually being one. In the same vein, Yuuri found himself walking that same fine line between being Victor's future and being Victor's has-been; someone between everything and something, but never actually nothing.

Yuuri let his anxiety get the better of him and he decided that being Victor's past would be best outcome he could ever hope to get. The events of Episode 11 have led him to believe that he would never be Victor's future; or at least, he would never be the future that Victor actually wants. And in Yuuri's twisted justifications, it would be a good thing that they would end their relationship after the GPF; it gives Victor the freedom to do whatever he wants and it gives the Yuuri the relief of not having delved deeper into the idea of them being an actual concrete relationship.

[Pictured: Victor Nikiforov, part of a newly discovered evolved species of humans called homo superior]

Except Victor, unlike Yuuri, has already considered the prospects of having a relationship without a time stamp and jumped right into it. Victor has already established in Episode 10 that he wants Yuuri, and that he would definitely choose a life without competitive skating specifically because it meant getting the love of a lifetime. Screw the consequences, he's getting what he wants and he will put every fiber of his being into nurturing this relationship that gives him all of the happiness that he never thought he could have.

He just never verbalized it. So while Victor gets the concrete proof that Yuuri wants him in the form of giving him the rings (although he does so in a way that implies he doesn't want to admit it), Yuuri doesn't.

[Pictured: Yuuri Katsuki, in doubt of where Victor's happiness truly lies: in a life with skating or a life without it]

Yuuri gets soft and sweet and cuddly Victor and it's enough to make Yuuri hope but it's not enough to help Yuuri understand that Victor truly wants him — how much Yuuri changed him. He knows the Victor that is, as Minako says in Episode 1, free with his charms and winks at the cameras and is touchy-feely with a man he just met; a Victor who was bored and had an impulse decision to coach him and ended up liking him. But the viewers get more insight into who Victor really was before he met Yuuri, who was sad and lonely and hollow — a Victor that fell in love with the boy with the drunken flamenco dance and was looking for an excuse to meet him again.

Victor, like anyone, wants happiness. Winning doesn't give him that anymore, but Yuuri does . . . even though he doesn't even grasp the true gravitas of the love they share.

[Pictured: Yuuri Katsuki, in tears after an amazing Free Skate and the subsequent roar of triumph thereafter; a perfect representation of what we all felt in this scene]

Ultimately, what pissed me off about Episode 12 was that it seemed to betray its own protagonist. We had all the build-up to Yuuri winning gold and finally getting the concrete proof that Victor loves him back and that he is an incredible skater in his own right — because I wholeheartedly believe that the perfect ending to Yuri On Ice would be Yuuri getting gold and realizing that it doesn't matter. And for one moment he would look at all the people who have supported him endlessly and, instead of pushing them away in shame like he would have at the beginning of the show, he would thank them with a happy smile.

How Yuuri would learn not to equate his worth by his losses or wins was always a theme that I wanted the show to address in the Season 2 that I wanted to have, but for that to happen he had to win first in the S1 finale.

But he didn't, and the finale for one of the most popular animes of 2016 was done so cheap that it actually does render the entire anime into moot. So to say I'm disappointed? Yeah, well, that's kind of an understatement.

[Pictured: Yuuri Katsuki with the wrong medal]

#yoi #yuri on ice #meta #yoi meta #yuuri katsuki #i havent posted in tumblr for two years whoops #anyway have a meta about my precious boy because i love him dearly thank you #im having trouble uploading the screenshots hnggg what a shame #mine

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toraonice · 7 years

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Yuri on Ice BD booklet translation (with Eiji Abiko & Junpei Tatenaka interview) - Volume 3

Had a busy weekend, but finally here is the full translation of the BD/DVD vol.3 booklet. The format is the same as usual. I wonder if Yuuri was ever able to enjoy a banquet (and remember it), lol.

EDIT: I changed the translation of the street food eaten by Guang-Hong in episode 6 after being notified that it’s actually the Chinese “jianbing”, which is a kind of crepe, and not “rice cracker” which is what “senbei” means in Japanese. Thank you very much @dragonaeve for the input!! In Japanese it’s written 煎餅, with the same exact kanji of "senbei” (rice cracker), and though in the anime it totally didn’t look like a senbei to me I failed to notice that it was a false friend... (And to think I even researched all the other Chinese food listed in the topics section to be sure..)

The booklet has 3 parts: 1) Character introduction for Minami-kun, Georgi and Leo. 2) “Topics”, in other words random curiosities. It includes an explanation of how Japanese qualification matches work. 3) Interview with the figure skating animators Eiji Abiko and Junpei Tatenaka. Some of the things they say might be a little difficult to understand if you don’t know a lot about how animation works, but if you google “inbetween animations” you will find more detailed information. The parts in round brackets are exactly like they are in the original text, it’s not something I added.

Translations of the audio commentary and choreography parts coming in the next few days… (As usual I still haven’t even been able to put the BD in the player despite having it since the 23rd, sigh)

***If you wish to share this translation please do it by reblogging or posting a link to it***  ***Re-translating into other languages is ok but please mention that this post is the source***

The future protagonist of Japan’s figure skating world!

Kenjirou Minami voiced by Ayumu Murase

Profile Date of birth: August 18th, 17 years old Height: 155 cm Blood type: O From Hakata, Fukuoka prefecture

Introduction Last season, all eyes were on him when in the Japan National Championships, in which he participated from the junior section, he became the center of attention and obtained the bronze medal at the young age of 16. This season, which marks his senior debut, he first succeeded in a quadruple jump at the Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu Regional Tournament. Despite his small build, he brightens the hearts of the audience with his energetic skating and exhuberant dancing. The success rate of his quadruple jump and triple axel is still low, but he is the most promising young athlete that might become the future Japanese ace. He admires Yuuri Katsuki, who is from Kyushu like him, and for this reason he chose “Lohengrin” as his short program in the current season. His parents are doctors and his older brother is also a medical student. The late-blooming veteran becomes a witch.

Georgi Popovich voiced by Wataru Hatano

Profile Date of birth: December 26th, 27 years old Height: 178 cm Blood type: private Russian

He is a veteran who can perform high jumps worthy of one of Yakov’s students, but always tended to be overshadowed by fellow student Nikiforov. In this season where Nikiforov is absent he chose 2 programs based on the theme of “heartbreak” to fight to become Russia’s top athlete. With his peculiar artistic sense, in the short program he plays an evil witch that puts a curse on the princess, and in the free the prince that will save her. As also stated by Yakov, he practices hard and strictly follows his coach’s advices. He always entertains fans with his feminine costumes and in Japan is popularly called “pigeon”. Because music was always with me.

Leo de la Iglesia voiced by Shunichi Toki

Profile Date of birth: August 2nd, 19 years old Height: 167 cm Blood type: O American

Introduction A skater that knows how to show his charm and always performs programs brimming with originality, choreographed by himself. He doesn’t jump quadruples, but his Program Components are highly praised because of his performances that give importance to the music. This season he tried his hand at hip-hop in the short program and won the American tournament of the Grand Prix series, held in his country. He is riding on the wave. In his everyday life he is a cheerful American of Mexican origin and is very sociable. He has many friends among fellow figure skaters and his fans are always looking forward to the private shots he uploads on the SNS. He respects Nikiforov, who also choreographs his own programs. YURI!!!’s TOPIC

TOPIC 1: Greed to SNS** (Thirst for the SNS) There are many skaters who share information with fans all over the world via the internet. Now that SNS are popular, skaters will upload a variety of contents, from their practice footage to their daily meals and private pictures of their holidays, some even being as open as to post romantic shots with their lovers. Fans can’t take their eyes off the social networks. In this regard, one of the hottest accounts is Thailand’s Phichit Chulanont’s. From pictures of his fainted teacher to candid shots of other skaters, he uploads any “juicy moment” he witnesses, in a way being the terror of the ones close to him. However, fans absolutely don’t want him to change his habits. [**translator’s note: “Greed to SNS” is what is actually written in English in the booklet, the part in round brackets is a more exact translation of what the Japanese says. All titles of the topics are in both Japanese & English and I’m usually leaving the original English as it is unless it’s weird.]

*Yuuri’s “Hanarezu ni Soba ni Ite” was also spread to the world *The results of matches and other news are always at hand *Maybe Anya’s gaze was already turned to someone else here…? (Phichit’s collection) *Regular updates about his state *He will never miss the chance to get a good shot *Sometimes it’s important to have the courage to upload!

TOPIC 2: Personal Best Score In figure skating, which is a technical sport, an athlete’s highest score up to the present is called “personal best” and the highest score of the season “season best”. Not only his ranking, but whether he managed to surpass his personal best is very important for a skater’s motivation. The season best is also important, because some big tournaments like the World Championships have a required minimum score to participate. ISU (International Skating Union) openly displays all skaters’ personal bests, but only the results obtained in competitions officially recognized by ISU are a target, therefore even if a skater achieves good results in the Japan National Championships or the Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu Regional Tournament, unfortunately they will not be recognized.

*The score display for regional tournaments is simple *The electric scoreboard of the GP’s China tournament (showing the PB mark too) *The TV live broadcast shows the PB mark too

TOPIC 3: National Competitions For Japanese skaters to be able to represent the nation in the World Championships or the Olympics, they need to first win the regional block tournaments and then rank high in the Japan National Championships in December. There are 6 block tournaments, including the “Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu Regional Tournament” in which Yuuri participated, and if you rank high in these you qualify for the Eastern Japan or Western Japan Championships. And if you rank high in those you can proceed to the National Championships (the ones who ranked among the highest the previous year and the ones who have to attend overseas tournaments close to the date of the national competition will be exempted from the qualifiers). By the way, regarding the Grand Prix Series, participants are chosen based on the results obtained in international tournaments the previous year and other elements.

*4 senior athletes are participating in the Chu-Shikoku-Kyushu Regional Tournament *The skating order is chosen by drawing lots the day before *Official practice takes place 2 times, in the morning of the day of the SP and FS *It’s not rare for tournaments to be held in rinks without viewer stands *The skating order and raking are printed on paper *The award ceremony is often done outside of the rink and not on the ice

TOPIC 4: Chinese Gourmet This year’s China tournament of the Grand Prix was held in Beijing. While other athletes are preparing for the match, Victor and Yuuri went to enjoy the traditional Chinese “hotpot”. Various kinds of food, like mutton, are dipped in a pot that has two compartments, one with mild hot water soup and the other with spicy Mala soup. “Duck blood” is also a classic dish that goes with hotpot. The Chinese representant Guang-Hong Ji, who isn’t a fan of hotpot, likes the jianbing (crepes) sold at food stalls. Before the matches Yuuri was paying attention to what he ate not to compromise his physical condition, but at the banquet he had to look after a drunken Victor and it doesn’t seem that he could really have a taste of the Chinese delicacies.

*Winter is the season of Chinese mitten crab. The same as the skating season! *”Drunken shrimp” consists of live shrimps soaked in alcohol *”Duck blood” has a high nutritional value *People dip their favorite ingredients in the hotpot *Rice crackers are affordable snacks that can be purchased from food stalls Figure skating animation Eiji Abiko & Junpei Tatenaka interview

Tatenaka-san’s Victor is so elegant. (Abiko) Abiko-san’s spins are amazing! (Tatenaka)

Abiko: I also took part in the production of director Yamamoto’s previous work “ENDLESS NIGHT”, but I’ve always liked drawing looking at real life pictures, therefore when I was offered this job I thought that I had the necessary technical skills to do it. In the previous work there were some points I believed could have been done a different way, and I felt that in this new project we could try it out. Tatenaka: Before starting the job, I was suggested to try figure skating myself since the work was going to be about it, so I went to a skating class. Though it was just 4 days. The last time I skated was in elementary school, but (when I actually tried this time) I realized that I was going to draw something I knew nothing about. I could understand on which part of the blade you shift your weight when skating forward or backward, and that was really helpful later on. (When I watched the real life footage) after knowing that, I noticed that skaters really land on those points after a jump. They can land on the exact point even after spinning around at that speed! When I see videos where you can see them stress the landing to adjust the position so that they don’t miss the point I have goosebumps.

-Ideas to make performances look beautiful.-

T: What I realized when we started working is that scenes were very long, in the beginning. A: The director wanted to recreate a figure skating program and was determined to show the full sequence without shortening it. This means that all movements need to be connected, which takes a lot of work. T: Especially in the first part of the show, there were many sequences over 10 seconds long. You draw and draw and it never ends (LOL). A: To make skating performances look beautiful, I guess it was important to add a fair amount of inbetween animations (pictures added between key animations to supplement them). We gradually understood that using many key animations during slow movements wouldn’t make them look better unless they are very accurate. T: I had the idea to show the poses on screen for a longer time. (I was among the ones who went to Miyamoto-sensei’s choreography sessions, and) even poses that were really impressive when I saw them live only lasted an instant in the recorded footage, and it shifted to the next pose right away. If we recreated that in the anime, poses that were supposed to look impressive wouldn’t last, therefore I decided to use 2 extra key animations for some parts, so that the beautiful silhouette would stay in the viewers’ eyes. I like to draw “impressions”, and I always work thinking about what I want to show and communicate to the viewers. With figure skating I felt this all the more important. A: There are many things I found amazing about the scenes created by Tatenaka-san. Like Victor’s elegance in episode 1, isn’t that wonderful? When I watched it I was like “jeez, I need to get better too”, and he also has lots of ideas. Like JJ’s spin. I was determined to absolutely learn something from all that. T: Thank you. I like how Abiko-san draws all the characters properly. Yuuri always has an expression that fits his personality and the situation. And the spins are amazing! I couldn’t draw them satisfactorily and had to redraw them many times… I admit I was envious of Abiko-san’s soft touch that makes movements connect so smoothly. A: My favorite character is Otabek. I like how he is tough and cool. T: I like Giacometti. And JJ and Minami-kun. I think they are the ones I could figure out the best when drawing them. A: When the anime actually aired we had a huge response. Fans would write to me on Twitter, and every time I uploaded a picture I would get a lot of reactions. T: It was the first time that I had such a response, I was really surprised. I’m a fan of the baseball team Carp, and when I went to drink with my friends everyone knew “Yuri on Ice”. One person told me “a girl in my company watches it, she was praising it a lot”. It never happened to me so far!

-The biggest miracle is that all this staff could come together.-

A: Tatenaka-san also took part in the production of “ENDLESS NIGHT”, but this is the first time that we worked in the same space. I was really glad that he was there working in the same position as me. I can grumble about work (LOL), and he can understand me. T: It’s really like that. Watching Abiko-san I realized that Yuuri must be difficult to animate because he changes a lot, and when I was working on long sequences he would leave me alone. And he would talk to me when I finished. Things like that. A: I didn’t really do all that on purpose (LOL). But you really feel relieved (when there is someone else in your same position). There were also many other people around 40 years old, like the chief animation director Shishido-san, so we had things in common to talk about. T: It’s really a miracle that all this staff could come together. I think it was a difficult job for everyone, from the colors to the backgrounds to all the rest, not just us. But they were all people who would do whatever they could. Everyone would always find something to do. A: It would have been a problem if even one of them were missing. In difficult workplaces it happens that some people will get sick or leave, but this time it didn’t happen. T: The production staff, who probably had the hardest time, was outstanding and did their best. They were all young, but when they brought you things to fix saying “I want to make this better” you couldn’t refuse. A: Everyone got along well and even when they complained it was always jokingly. It was a really nice group.

#YOI #Yuri on ice #interview #translation #comment #Booklet #BD #Junpei Tatenaka #Eiji Abiko #minami kenjiro #georgi popovich #leo de la iglesia

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harocat · 7 years

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Okay brief YOI timeline for self-

Victor Nikiforov:

1987: Born December 25

2004: Wins junior worlds at sixteen. Also wins first Russian nationals at the senior level.

2005: First European championship at seventeen

2006: First Olympics (Torino) at eighteen (did he medal? undecided I’m putting him down as no or bronze because he’s not World Champion level until after Vancouver)

2006-2010: He’s near the top of the skating world but not at the very top. Lots of silvers and bronzes, but he’s not the world champion. Someone or a couple dominant skaters here. I’m guessing after Vancouver a couple skaters retire.

2010: Second Olympics (Vancouver) at 22 (silver medal).

2010-2014: Five consecutive GPF titles go here. This spans from ages 22-26.

2014: Third Olympics (Sochi) at twenty-six, Victor wins Olympic gold.

2011-2015: Five consecutive world titles go here. This spans from ages 23-27

2015: Leaves skating to coach Yuuri Katsuki for the 2015-2016 season at age 27

2016: Returns to skating, while still coaching Yuuri Katsuki, at age 28

2016: After skating a ‘full round of competitions’ (nationals- gold, Europeans- gold, Worlds- silver, Grand Prix Series, and Grand Prix Final- silver), retires from competitive skating to full time coach Yuuri Katsuki at 29. Does a lot of show skating still.

He retires with five grand prix golds, five world titles, an Olympic gold medal, and an Olympic silver medal. Maybe a bronze medal too! I’m guessing he also has a medal in the team event from Sochi. If it follows our reality, he has a gold. :)

Yuuri Katsuki

1991: Born November 29

2008: Wins Junior Grand Prix Final at seventeen

2009: Places second at junior worlds at seventeen

2010: After advancing to senior level, moves to Detroit to train with Celestino.

2011-2014: A few placements on the Grand Prix circuit, a couple of medals at Four Continents. All in all Yuuri is a top skater who never manages to break through to the very highest tier, as we know.

2011: At age 20 Yuuri wins Japanese nationals for the first time.

2014: At age 22 Yuuri represents Japan in the Sochi Olympics. He places a respectable eighth.

2014: Bronze at Skate America and silver at NHK Trophy net 22 year old Yuuri a spot in the Grand Prix final.

2014: Yuuri, having just turned 23, bombs the Grand Prix final, then subsequently Japanese Nationals.

2015: Yuuri leaves Detroit, comes home, the series happens.

2015: At 24, Yuuri takes silver at the Grand Prix final with Victor Nikiforov as his coach and promises to stay in skating for at least five more years.

2015: Yuuri takes his Japanese national title back. It is his fourth Japanese national championship. He moves to St. Petersburg to train with Victor Nikiforov.

2016: At 24, Yuuri Katsuki wins his first world title. Victor Nikiforov takes silver.

2016: At 25, Yuuri Katsuki wins his first Grand Prix Final. Victor Nikiforov takes silver and retires to be his coach full time.

2017: 25 year old Yuuri wins his second world title. Victor and Yuuri get married that summer. They’ve both never been happier. Now that Victor has retired, the pair move back to Hasetsu and buy a house together. They train at Ice Castle.

2017: Yuuri, along with a couple other skaters, take off the Grand Prix events to focus on preparing for the Olympics. Instead he participates in just Japanese nationals and another more lowkey test event.

2018: At 26 Yuuri wins Olympic gold in Pyeongchang. He follows that up with his third world title.

2019: An injury causes Yuuri to miss the 2018 GP series, and many wonder if he’s over. He is 27 now after all. But no one is more stubborn than him. He has to miss nationals due to the injury but is given a bye to worlds. He comes back and wins his fourth world title, and also Four Continents to put a cherry on top.

2019: Yuuri knows retirement is looming, but he’s not done a GP series for a couple of years, so he decides go for it. He takes the GP final, although it is a close one this year. He’s just turned 28 when he wins the GP final.

2020: Fifth world title at 28. He’s tied with Victor Nikiforov. He still loves skating, and no one can doubt he’s Japan’s living legend (though Yuuri has A LOT of trouble admitting that to himself), but he knows he’s winding down.

2021: This season will be his last, and he knows it. It’s his swan song. He’s 29. He’s old for this sport. He’s skipped the Grand Prix, electing to do just Japanese Nationals and World Championships. If he doesn’t win, that’s okay, but damn if he isn’t going to try. Yuuri wins his sixth world title. Victor cries for like 10 hours.

He retires with six world titles, an Olympic gold medal, eight national titles, and two Grand Prix final titles.

Not mentioned: European championships: Probably like, a ton (something like 10 lol), especially considering he won at seventeen. That means there’s a good chance those dominant skaters from 2005-2010 were from North America or Asia?? Grand Prix events. Probably ten or eleven Russian national titles, considering the longevity of his career!

Not mentioned for Yuuri: Four Continent titles. I’m not sure how many! Sometimes top skaters also don’t participate in this event. Grand Prix events.

WHY 2015?: Because during the Cup of China, the banner in the background specifically identifies it as the ‘2015 Cup of China’ which sets the series during the 2015-2016 Skating Season.

#yoi text #my 'yuuri wins all the gold medals' timeline #katsuki yuuri #victor nikiforov

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lazuliblade · 7 years

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Do you think the next season of YoI will focus on the next GP or on some other competition like the Worlds or the Four Continents (I know almost nothing about skating, so I have no idea how these works). In the series itself there have been some references to other events like Seung-Gil Lee's comments about the 4 continents being fun or JJ's promise to marry his girlfriend after he wins Godl at the World championship. Also Victor says he will be back for the Russian nationals.

I basically made an entire timeline post to answer this and then decided it would work separately… check out a more detailed timeline here.“I know almost nothing about skating, so I have no idea how these works”Here you go: Tiny calendar of eventsRegionals, Invitationals, Juniors, other stuff - August–mid-OctoberGPSeries - mid-October through early DecemberNationals - late December-January (dates are decided by the individual countries and not the International Skating Union)European/Four Continents Championships - Europeans is in late January, Four Continents is in mid-FebruaryWorld Championship - mid-MarchOff-season - April-July

There’s a couple ways they could go about it, and I can’t decide what I want to see more, so…. I’m just going to write the argument for both sides. I’m calling them “Route 2/2″ and “Route new year” (because Route A and Route B are so overused.)

Route 2/2: the second half of the current season

Animating the second-half of the skating season means they’ll be able to show Victor’s comeback to the field, and explore how he starts to manage his own training alongside coaching Yuuri. First, I think both Nationals will be skipped over if only because there are more important competitions to focus on - plus they take place so soon after the GPF that it would have to be in episode 1 and that would be a little too sudden and cramped. I think if they do show Japan or Russian Nationals, it might be in the same way that they showed the results of the GPF at the start of episode 1, or how they showed the tail-end of Worlds with a single program.

If they did this route, we would see the beginning of Yuuri settling into St. Petersburg, and have that same world-building feeling like in season 1 when we met Hasetsu.

Because Victor wouldn’t have much time to choreograph new programs, he would most likely use programs from a past season - which is totally OK. It doesn’t break any rules and skaters do it all the time. We might finally be able to see last year’s SP program, and there’s a good chance that Victor would be skating Aria (Stammi Vicino). But he’s Victor, so we may see something surprising after all.

Going into Europeans and Worlds, Yurio would have some expectations placed on him because he won the GPF, but because he’s still a challenger to these events he won’t have the same amount of pressure than if he was defending his title.

The downside of this route is that we would be seeing all the same programs again. Skaters don’t make new programs if the programs are working well. The only way to make the programs new again would be to change the layouts - and yes they could do that - but with the difficulty of the programs being as they are now, I feel like Yuuri&pals would be working to stabilize them. Most skaters give their best programs in this half of the skating year after the program has had time to simmer and mature. We’ve seen Yurio peak at the GPF, but he could peak again at Worlds if he and Yakov are careful in managing training&conditioning leading up to it. Yuuri could polish his SP, but his FS already achieved a World Record. There might be small tiny things to improve, but I doubt he would change the layout again when this is already pushing new limits.

Victor and Yuuri won’t be able to compete against each other until Worlds. That could be exciting - two rivals travelling their own route until they meet at the final battle - or disappointing if you want to see how they approach being competitors early-on and then grow throughout the season.

Route New Year: the next year of Yuuri, Victor, and Yurio’s skating careers This would be after a few months time-skip. I would assume there would be some explanations via Chibi-Yuuri ( “After the silver at the GPF, I won Nationals and then was assigned to Four Continents and Worlds~!”) and flashbacks as the series goes on (like the flashback of lonely Victor) to show parallels or connect moments “now” to moments “back then.”

Because they would have already settled into St. Petersburg, we would enter the world with a different dynamic. Instead of building up a world, we would see the domestic moments already in place. The nice thing about this is that we get to see the characters at ease and we could focus sooner on the issues that a new season would bring – because the GPSeries could be even crazier than Europeans/Four Continents/Worlds.

We get to see Yuuri on his next year of skating. This wouldn’t be wrapping up a season, this would be the next chapter of Yuuri’s career. And if Victor got back into the swing of things with the months before Worlds, then we get a season with Victor in top-shape. It won’t be Victor-after-months-not-competing, it would be Victor-warmed-and-ready-to-go. (That is, top-shape for how old his body is…)

Yurio also would be dealing with new pressure. Instead of being a challenger, he would be the reigning champion that needs to defend his title. There’s also carrying on what he mentioned in episode 4 – his body is likely going to start changing more.

Animating the new year of skating means… we’ll be in for something really next level. Victor would have started balancing his own training with coaching Yuuri, but the GPSeries means an even more hectic schedule especially in the super-likely scenario that Yuuri and Victor are assigned different events.

The reason the ISU splits the Worlds medal-winners is so that the skaters have a good chance to make it to the GPF without conflicting with each other points-wise. I’m really interested in how the in-series ISU and country federations would handle this. With Victor they could say “we have taken into consideration that due to his role as coach, we will allow them to be assigned to the same competitions” or “coaches normally have to accompany multiple students to their different assigned events. Accompanying his skater to his assigned event, and then competing in his own event the following weekend, would be no different. We will take into account scheduling, but if he wants to be both coach and skater, this is what he will have to do.”

The difficulty of coaching and competing would really be brought into focus this way, even if Yuuri and Victor don’t compete directly until the GPF.

____________

The biggest questions the creators are asking themselves are probably: “Should we go through the end of the season and continue showing these same programs for another 12 episodes? Or should we start a few months in the future and show a new year of skating and challenges?”

#yuri!!! on ice #yoi meta #anon ask #ask response #yoi

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figureskatingfanblog · 7 years

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US Nationals Preview - Men

With Europeans, Canadian Nationals and US Nationals taking place simultaneously and starting soon, I have a lot of previews and predictions to do! I’m going to start out with US Nationals and the men’s competition there. I will be organizing by categories – Gold Contenders, Medal Contenders, Dark Horses, Other Skaters to Watch, and of course, my predictions.

The competition here at nationals in the men’s field boils down between the reigning champ, two former national champs, and a reigning Grand Prix Final medalist.

Gold Contenders

Honestly, I really only see one here – reigning Grand Prix Final Silver medalist, Nathan Chen. He is the first US man to land on the Grand Prix final podium since 2009 when Evan Lysacek and Johnny Weir medaled. (Lysacek won gold and Weir the bronze.) He also has the fourth highest score so far this season (behind Yuzuru Hanyu, Javier Fernandez, and Shoma Uno.) He has the highest technical content in the event by a long shot. He lacks in program components to some of the other skaters (like Brown and Rippon), but honestly, it’s going to be hard for Chen to lose here unless he makes mistakes. If he’s clean or even mostly clean, I think he’ll come away with his first national title along with his first trip to Four Continents and Worlds.

Medal Contenders

As some know, there are actually four medals at the US Nationals, with Pewter for the fourth. Now, I think it’s relatively clear who the other three are going to be. The big question is – what order will they be in? I’m talking, of course, of Jason Brown, Adam Rippon, and Max Aaron. Brown and Rippon’s top scores are nearly tied, and none of the three have had the season that they wanted. Also, remember, that the US Men have only two spots to Worlds this year (despite having three skaters in the top ten, but that’s not up for discussion today.)

Let’s start with Rippon, the reigning champ. He qualified for his first Grand Prix Final, with him and Chen becoming the first US skaters to qualify since 2009 when Lysacek, Weir, and Jeremy Abbott qualified. However, his performance there was very off, and he admitted to not feeling secure. He showed previously that he is capable of putting good programs together, but if he wants to take the second place home, he needs not only his quad(s) but clean programs here. However, you have to know that he can’t be satisfied with how he skated there and will want to come in here doing his best to defend his national title.

Next up, Brown. He had a Grand Prix Final qualifying spot all but locked with up with a less than steller field at NHK Trophy. However, he was not himself there and finished seventh, handing his spot in the GPF to Nathan Chen. He can’t be happy with that, and you have to know that he probably wants to gain back his US title since he was forced to withdraw last year due to injury. He does have a quad, and good component scores, but if he wants to go back to Worlds, he will need to be perfect to stay above Adam Rippon. He is more than capable though.

And finally, Max Aaron. Also, a former national champ, he has the most work to do in my opinion. If he wants to have any shot at placing silver again and going back to Worlds, he needs to be absolutely perfect. Technically, when he’s on, he’s very good, but he lacks the component scores than Brown and Rippon have, and he doesn’t have anywhere near the technical content that Chen has. He is the fourth-ranked skater here and needs something to happen to get into the top two again.

Dark Horses

There are three skaters I would put in this list – Timothy Dolensky, Vincent Zhou and Grant Hochstein. Dolensky has not had great results this season – eighth at Skate America, and seventh and sixth in his two Challenger Series events. However, he has the fifth-highest score among the US men this season (behind the four previously mentioned) so this might be an opportunity for his highest placement yet, beating the seventh he was the last season. Next, up, there’s Vincent Zhou, coming off two medals on the JGP circuit. He was eighth last season at Nationals, and if he can put the programs together, can push into the top five.

Then there’s Grant Hochstein. He had a great season last year – two fourth-place finishes on the GP circuit, then fourth at Nationals. After Nathan Chen’s withdrawal from Worlds, he was sent there and placed tenth. However, this season has been… well, quite bad actually. Very bad. He did okay at Neblehorn trophy to place third but followed that up with a fifth-place finish at Lombardia Trophy, and two eleventh-place finishes on the GP circuit. He can still push into the top five/six, but he has to be clean and bring in some of the magic from last season, or that’s not going to happen.

As a note, I would put Alexei Kraznozhon in this category, but he’s not competing on the senior level.

Other Skaters to Watch

While not contenders or dark horses, here are some other skaters to watch at Nationals – former US medalist, Ross Miner, Kevin Shum, and Andrew Torgashev.

Predictions GOLD - Nathen Chen SILVER - Adam Rippon BRONZE - Jason Brown PEWTER - Max Aaron 5th - Vincent Zhou 6th - Timothy Dolensky 7th - Grant Hochstein 8th - Ross Miner 9th - Andrew Torgashev 10th - Kevin Shum

Please respond or send me messages with your thoughts. Thank you. :)

#figure skating #nationals #us nationals #men #adam rippon #nathan chen #jason brown #max aaron #previews #predictions

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