My First Meeting with Hanyu Yuzuru in 2023 Faoi It's been a week since I saw the live ice show (FAOI 2023, Niigata), and I prefer to chew, reminisce and organize it slowly after fermenting and settling down than to rewrite it immediately. The trip to Niigata was half a year earlier than planned, and after some hasty preparations and a long journey, I finally arrived in this small town. I was too tired and busy to be excited until the opening music suddenly started while the audience bursting into cheers and screams, and then the figure that had always existed only on the screen suddenly jumped into my eyes. I didn't have time to take a closer look, the impact of this "real" Yuzu was so strong that in such a sea of joy , I suddenly fell into a quiet, linear space, only me and him, I was here, he was over there --- a blue air came over me, and his exclusive elements followed: soft, flowing hair; strong arms; silky, light steps ...... The music was so fast that I even panicked, trying to catch these moments, remembering every frame that came into my mind one after another. The tune ended and the lights refocused on his static posture, and I seemed to come back to my senses - yes, it was him. In the opening minutes, all the senses without exception conveyed the same image: an innocent big boy, a clean, serious skater without any distraction. There was such a power in him that I was moved just right, not in tears, but my eyes were wet all the time, a solid, steady touch. After more than two hours, I gradually soothed, and before he came out again, I could feel my orderly and sober nervousness. In the same screaming cheers and dimness appeared a shadow figure with beautiful warm-up jumps, until the lights brightened up the brilliant red cape, black leather pants and delicate hat. In fact, shortly before his appearance， Mika Nakajima's "The Glory of Snow"（雪の華） had put me into a sad mood in advance, and if he slid "Once I wanted to be done with it" （僕が死のうと思ったのは）next, I was bound to weep. Fortunately, he chose “Glamorous Sky”, a cool and fast music, and the dense jumps were the impression left after the enthusiasm. Although each jump, rotation, and landing are once familiar, but this flesh and blood body, the vibrating air and sound of skating across the ice , are brand new sensory experiences. Later, the elegant Ina Bauer and the perfect jumps pushed this boy into my mind and heart again and again. The first day was over, I felt a bit confused, the Hanyu that flashed before my eyes for 20 minutes was a bit different from the one I had imagined for more than a year. "Distance" was the key word of the day. This gave me a strong desire to get closer to him, and I was lucky enough to buy a SS ticket for the next day (the second row next to the east entrance) . In the opening dance that day, he went in and out from in front of me twice. Although the light was a little dark, his skating speed is fast, but his white face, delicate features and beautiful expressions can be seen truly, which is closer to the former impression of him. The third day, with the help of telescope, I see more familiar details of him. The first day of the "new" Yuzu, as if skating a hydroblading, turning a circle and coming back to overlap with the former "old" image. For the three days, all the images seem to hover in the opening scene when I was shocked at certain moments, Since then it has been staying in that time and space, waiting for a moment to find the right words to release themselves out. Until today when I watched the final show in Kobe (on TV), I was surprised to find that I had already subconsciously engraved the details of his first meeting with me: the direction of his hair, the angle of his eyes, the track of his rotation and bow, the speed of his jumping and sliding, the tension of his dancing body ...... were all fixed in my mind. And the very image caught in a fleeting glimpse but most impressive is his glide around the field as fast as he can, with his arms stretching outward and backward. That upward head, that windy hair, that look of enthusiasm…… such stunning a young man, as if travelling through times, being baptized by age. At that moment, it feels like this young man has his mountains and seas ahead, I just want to be the tree that discreetly blooms waiting for his arrival, and then give him everything and let him be free ...... In just one week, I blew the wind here, walked the road here, breathed the air here, experienced some of the things here, all these help me to draw a rough outline of his life in my heart; and most importantly, I have seen him who was born and grew up here. From now on, he is no longer just a skater on my screen, a little crybaby with a mushroom hairstyle in Sendai, Mr. Romeo or Mr. Asura, but a person who lives under the same sky as me, a person who grows up with a dream of skating and lives a fulfilling life, a person who has a child living in his heart, a person who is always on my mind and never forgotten. The person who makes my heart ripple, my eyes wet and my mouth turning up whenever I think of him. I'm grateful to see you, Yuzuru. And I’m already looking forward to seeing you next time.
My First Meeting with Hanyu Yuzuru in 2023 Faoi
It's been a week since I saw the live ice show (FAOI 2023, Niigata), and I prefer to chew, reminisce and organize it slowly after fermenting and settling down than to rewrite it immediately.
The trip to Niigata was half a year earlier than planned, and after some hasty preparations and a long journey, I finally arrived in this small town. I was too tired and busy to be excited until the opening music suddenly started while the audience bursting into cheers and screams, and then the figure that had always existed only on the screen suddenly jumped into my eyes.
I didn't have time to take a closer look, the impact of this "real" Yuzu was so strong that in such a sea of joy , I suddenly fell into a quiet, linear space, only me and him, I was here, he was over there --- a blue air came over me, and his exclusive elements followed: soft, flowing hair; strong arms; silky, light steps ...... The music was so fast that I even panicked, trying to catch these moments, remembering every frame that came into my mind one after another. The tune ended and the lights refocused on his static posture, and I seemed to come back to my senses - yes, it was him.
In the opening minutes, all the senses without exception conveyed the same image: an innocent big boy, a clean, serious skater without any distraction. There was such a power in him that I was moved just right, not in tears, but my eyes were wet all the time, a solid, steady touch.
After more than two hours, I gradually soothed, and before he came out again, I could feel my orderly and sober nervousness. In the same screaming cheers and dimness appeared a shadow figure with beautiful warm-up jumps, until the lights brightened up the brilliant red cape, black leather pants and delicate hat.
In fact, shortly before his appearance， Mika Nakajima's "The Glory of Snow"（雪の華） had put me into a sad mood in advance, and if he slid "Once I wanted to be done with it" （僕が死のうと思ったのは）next, I was bound to weep. Fortunately, he chose “Glamorous Sky”, a cool and fast music, and the dense jumps were the impression left after the enthusiasm. Although each jump, rotation, and landing are once familiar, but this flesh and blood body, the vibrating air and sound of skating across the ice , are brand new sensory experiences. Later, the elegant Ina Bauer and the perfect jumps pushed this boy into my mind and heart again and again.
The first day was over, I felt a bit confused, the Hanyu that flashed before my eyes for 20 minutes was a bit different from the one I had imagined for more than a year. "Distance" was the key word of the day. This gave me a strong desire to get closer to him, and I was lucky enough to buy a SS ticket for the next day (the second row next to the east entrance) . In the opening dance that day, he went in and out from in front of me twice. Although the light was a little dark, his skating speed is fast, but his white face, delicate features and beautiful expressions can be seen truly, which is closer to the former impression of him.
The third day, with the help of telescope, I see more familiar details of him. The first day of the "new" Yuzu, as if skating a hydroblading, turning a circle and coming back to overlap with the former "old" image.
For the three days, all the images seem to hover in the opening scene when I was shocked at certain moments, Since then it has been staying in that time and space, waiting for a moment to find the right words to release themselves out. Until today when I watched the final show in Kobe (on TV), I was surprised to find that I had already subconsciously engraved the details of his first meeting with me: the direction of his hair, the angle of his eyes, the track of his rotation and bow, the speed of his jumping and sliding, the tension of his dancing body ...... were all fixed in my mind.
And the very image caught in a fleeting glimpse but most impressive is his glide around the field as fast as he can, with his arms stretching outward and backward. That upward head, that windy hair, that look of enthusiasm…… such stunning a young man, as if travelling through times, being baptized by age. At that moment, it feels like this young man has his mountains and seas ahead, I just want to be the tree that discreetly blooms waiting for his arrival, and then give him everything and let him be free ......
In just one week, I blew the wind here, walked the road here, breathed the air here, experienced some of the things here, all these help me to draw a rough outline of his life in my heart; and most importantly, I have seen him who was born and grew up here. From now on, he is no longer just a skater on my screen, a little crybaby with a mushroom hairstyle in Sendai, Mr. Romeo or Mr. Asura, but a person who lives under the same sky as me, a person who grows up with a dream of skating and lives a fulfilling life, a person who has a child living in his heart, a person who is always on my mind and never forgotten. The person who makes my heart ripple, my eyes wet and my mouth turning up whenever I think of him.
I'm grateful to see you, Yuzuru. And I’m already looking forward to seeing you next time.