Created by Yuzu
In every arena of every Yuzuru Hanyu Ice Story, there is a universal language: the tiny gasp of joy. Whether you’re Japanese, Chinese, American, Italian, Canadian, Australian, Indian, French…it doesn’t matter. The moment the lights start to dim, everyone speaks the same language: the language of Yuzu. Or, more specifically, the language of “I am going to see Yuzu.” And that internationally translates into a tiny gasp of joy.
But Yuzu is not going to enter your world. You are going to enter his – the world he has created for you. There is an atmosphere of silence. The silence isn’t because no one is excited. It is because every single person is breathing in the most glorious moment they will ever experience: Seeing Yuzu. And the level of respect is directly proportional to the level of adoration. That’s why you can hear a pin drop – or a blade skate. You won’t hear screams at inappropriate times. You won’t strain to hear over noise from the person beside you. In fact, you won’t remember that anyone else was there at all.
It is about you…and Yuzu.
But when the pneumatic tube arrived at the start of Echoes, it didn’t deliver Yuzu. It delivered something new – someone new – created by Yuzu.
So let’s talk about that someone…
From the very first appearance of those silver-lined eyes in Saitama, we fell head over heels in love with Casa-Nova. (Yes, I said it.) Every flying page, every fingerless glove reach, every deteriorating stone step climbed…we became more attached. Because suddenly we not only had a world created by Yuzu, but an inhabitant of that world – also created by Yuzu. (And, lucky us, he looked a heck of a lot like Yuzu.)
It took no time at all for the Fanyu comments to start: “I love Nova!” – “Nova-kun!!!!” – “I miss Nova!” We bought his necklace. We analyzed his name. We bought his acrylic standee. (Mine is standing next to my white noise generating sound machine because, well, I can’t be the only Fanyu who finds the humor in that.)
But when Echoes ended, I discovered there was someone I missed even more than Nova: Yuzu. But we’ll get to that 後で [later].
There are so many things I could talk about from Echoes. How I knew (on top of the other obvious reasons) I absolutely-no doubt-life’s goal had to get to Echoes the moment I heard that first piano note of “Aqua’s Journey.” The “Goliath” hydroblade where Yuzu even masterfully controlled his wisp of bangs. The “truth” that now when I read the word “awake,” I always hear it said in Yuzu’s voice. How I found myself whispering to my TV, “That’s wicked bad…” when the lasers first screen printed Yuzu into thin air at the beginning of “MassDes.” All the times I said, “THAT FACE” – particularly in between “Eclipse/blue” and “Gate of Steiner” – you know the face I mean. And how “Danny Boy” heals my soul. Yes, I remember I once said I hate that song. But now? Heals. My. Soul. (As long as Yuzu is skating to it!) But trying to cover 2.5 hours of Yuzu in one blog post is like trying to taste every item in a Japanese bakery – and if you’ve ever been to a Japanese bakery, you understand what I mean. And I’m not even counting all the butter. It’s simply too hard to talk about it all…or eat that much butter.
But there is one thing I can endlessly talk about with unabashed adoration: Yuzu’s hands. The “handography” in “Utai” was everything we need and love: distinct movement, unique expression and particular down to the fingernail. It reminded me of “Gate of Living.”
Your brain is saying, “There are so many more things I should be watching here…” but your heart is screaming, “THE HANDS! THE HANDS! THE HAAAAAAAAAAANDS!”
So, Yuzu, I would like to take a moment to appreciate your fingers. We know you scrutinize them in the mirror. I just want to say that every single solitary single finger decision you made was the right one. And yes, we noticed them all. In fact, I could still see the “Utai” fingers all the way from Stand S in LaLa Arena. That’s some kind of Yuzu Voodoo. And don’t even get me started on the fingers during the hand reach through the door frame at the end of “Gate of Steiner.” It’s just a hand; right? Not when it’s Yuzu’s!
Honest Fanyu moment. I absolutely thought when Yuzu started drawing the red lines on the ice that we were getting the “Gate of Living” red triangle. And that, folks, is the textbook definition of WISHFUL THINKING. But “Connecting the Dots Yuzu” received more cheers than most figure skaters will ever receive in their entire careers. Personally, I’m looking forward to his next Ice Story when he does a crossword puzzle on the ice.
We barely made it to Saitama’s intermission before Fanyus started racking their brains over the meaning of the lines and the flag and every other tangible object in Echoes. Spoiler alert: I will not be telling you what I think VGH means or what the lines on the flag or the toy soldiers represent. My general opinion is that everyone has their own theory. And my general opinion is that all of our theories are wrong. (Though I’m CERTAIN the blue butterfly symbolizes…nah.) This is one of the reasons why Yuzu’s creations are brilliant and timeless. They are crafted so that the number of different things people take away are as limitless as the layers of Yuzu’s costumes…and the layers of Yuzu. (I know I’ve made a similar point before – I’m looking at you, Pretty Face Yuzu – but it was worth making it again.)
Speaking of the layers of Yuzu, it’s clear that Nova doesn’t shop at the same clothing stores as Yuzu.
And now it’s time for the part I kept telling myself not to write about…but here it is. I want Yuzu to take his clothes off. (Now there’s a sentence you never expected to hear from Yuzu-Layer-Loving FanyuFanme.) Not all of them, mind you. (Ahem, Earthyus.) But I have to say I would’ve been happier during Echoes if Yuzu had been wearing approximately 63% less clothing.
Don’t get me wrong. (Really, really, please, I’m begging you, don’t get me wrong.) Yuzu wears the costumes beautifully, and the things he does with their movement is truly inspired (and obviously thought out over countless arm flips of blue fabric), but so much of Yuzu’s artistry is in his lines and his dedication to nuancing every reach, every posture, every gesture.
Yuzu walks into a clothing store (that sounds like the beginning of a joke) and says, “I would like the fitted black shirt to go with the fitted black pants to go with the fitted black toe socks. And maybe an extra pair of slightly fitted black pants to go over it. お願いします [please].” Nova walks into a clothing store and says, “Take everything off the rack and put it all on me right now. ありがとう [thanks]!”
This isn’t about wanting to see Yuzu’s body. Don’t get me wrong (for other reasons this time). In my personal aesthetic opinion, Yuzu has the perfect body (even with those short arms and legs…). But this is different. If he’s going to look at the angle of his knee 111 times in the shoe rental window at Ice Rink Sendai in the middle of the night, I want to see which angle he decided was best for telling his story. His body is emoting the heck out of itself, but we can’t see it. I mean, there is some SERIOUS awesome Bestiness happening under all that “Utai” fabric. SERIOUS.
By the time we got to the Piano Collection, I exclaimed to my TV, “Sweet merciful Chopin costume. He has legs again!” (It’s a good thing I wasn’t there in person on the first night or that could’ve been embarrassing.) Of course, this is coming from someone who would be perfectly happy if Yuzu spent the rest of his life skating in the exacting white stripe UA.
But, ultimately, you could throw a sheet over Yuzu and say “That’s Yuzu under there!” and I’d be blissfully happy to be in the same room. And let’s be honest, sometimes that is pretty close to what we got.
I’m not the only Fanyu who was a little taken aback at the voluminosity (yeah, I made that word up) of some of the costumes. (I have the DMs from some of you. Don’t pretend you didn’t send them.) I will also admit that the costumes grew on me the more I watched beyond (Live) the initial stream. Because now when I see them, they instantly remind me what these new programs make me feel – which is A LOT. But we all have our Yuzu preferences – in programs, nicknames, hairstyles and costumes. And I’m still the most in love with UA Yuzu. And I probably always will be. (And Gate of Living Yuzu. And SEIMEI Yuzu. And R&J 1.0 Yuzu. And Haku Yuzu…) Ok, I’m going down an orange abyss with dry ice flowing out of it now…
Which leads me to my newest obsession: “Eclipse/blue.”
Why is “Eclipse/blue” so good? It is because Yuzu is skating to the best possible thing we could ever hope for him to skate to: YUZU.
“Eclipse/blue” is one of my favorite things Yuzu has ever done. Ever. Yes, EVER. In a semi-recent interview (it’s getting hard to use the word “recent” relative to Yuzu unless it was something in the last four seconds), Yuzu was asked his favorite three programs. And we all got to delight in watching his brain explode (and Nomura Mansai wasn’t even in the room this time). If I were asked that same question, “Eclipse/blue” would be up there – even if he was wearing an entire Nishikawa bedding set. I would pay $1000 right now to see Yuzu skate “Eclipse/blue” in his UA. And folks, I don’t have that kind of money. But I would FIND IT.
I didn’t think it was possible for me to love the Japanese language more, but, guess what? I do いま [now]! Especially when spoken by Yuzu. This program is a masterclass in musicality. He feels every sound – many of which you wouldn’t even notice if he wasn’t accentuating them. The way his head looks up. The way the arm snaps into the air. The way he sharply looks to the side as if someone just bumped him on the subway (or during “Let Me Entertain You” hand choreography). We have talked for years about how Yuzu embodies music, but now, he’s even embodying spoken word. The power of sound indeed, Nova – I mean – Yuzu – I mean…are we confused yet?
And as the show was ending and Nova was walking into the orange abyss (which I have promised myself to not publicly compare to the end screen from Looney Tunes – sorry, Yuzu…), all I could think was ‘I don’t want it to end,’ but also, ‘I hope that fog doesn’t bother Yuzu’s asthma.’ (What a very Fanyu thought to have; right?)
The only good thing about Nova walking away from us was that it meant very soon YUZU would be walking toward us. As much as I loved spending the past 2 hours with Nova, there’s no one I would rather see than Yuzu. I’m going to repeat that:
There is no one I would rather see than Yuzu.
So let’s talk about Yuzu…
When Yuzu shook hands with Nova and left him backstage so Yuzu could come play with us, he gave us a rare bonus: a dance class. Watching Yuzu explain the choreography for “Let Me Entertain You” grew funnier and funnier over the course of the tour. By the thirtieth time Yuzu said, “miginikai” I figured he started thinking he should’ve released this training as an Echoes prerequisite YouTube video and been done with it. Now that the tour has finished, I like to imagine him teaching that choreography to people at the コンビニ [convenience store].
“I’d like to buy these choco pies and this Dr. Pepper…but first, put your hands close to your face and don’t touch the employee standing next to you.”
When people come to Wine Studios to interview Yuzu, Staff-san greets them with, “You have 30 minutes with Yuzu…but the first five he will be teaching you choreography.” Yuzu? Did you just want more friends on the playground with you? And next time will we get to play dodgeball with you?
I love that Yuzu now feels comfortable enough to just tell us what he wants. At the premiere of Echoes in Saitama, he didn’t even bother with letting the Fanyus attempt to surprise him by singing “Happy Birthday.” I could not have loved this more. He basically said, “I want you to sing to me and I’m going to control it.” はい [yes], Yuzu. “Hold up the banners. I want to see them.” はい [yes], Yuzu. “Wave the flags.” はい [yes], Yuzu. He even went so far as to tell us, “I want to go home.” ごめん [sorry], Yuzu. We want you to be able to go home too…but maybe do that on a night when we aren’t here; ね [don’t you think]?
That is why we do everything we can to help carry you to the very last “ありがとうございました [thank you]!”
And that includes absolutely losing our minds when you start SEIMEI. Every time I see Yuzu skate any part of SEIMEI, no matter if it is in a black tour T Shirt or a white tour T Shirt, I see him in his SEIMEI costume at the PyeongChang Olympics. And I’m sitting on my couch…very, very far away from Japan…without the smallest inkling that one day I will be in Japan, watching, in person, something created by Yuzu. I hope we never become indifferent about seeing him do a single gesture from this program. It will always be special, Yuzu. Every time. Even when I’m back on my couch…very, very far away from Japan.
But what did I really take away from Echoes? Other than merch. (P.S. A folder for the clear file folders? Genius.) I think what I took away most was just how much I love Yuzu. And that isn’t as obvious of a statement as one might be led to believe from a hardcore (seriously) Fanyu.
The best way I can explain this is through “The As Factor.” In an early moment of Echoes, a very important line appears on the video screen: Yuzuru Hanyu as VGH-257 “Nova.” At first, I didn’t think much of it. But the more I watch Echoes, the more it makes me realize how much I love Yuzuru Hanyu AS Yuzuru Hanyu (or Hanyu Yuzuru or Yuzu…) Does this mean I don’t like Nova? No. Does this mean I hated Echoes? Heck to the no. Does this mean I’m no longer a (hardcore) Fanyu? Now you’re just being ridiculous. But it does mean that I don’t think Yuzuru Hanyu ever needs the word “as” to follow his name.
Nova was created by Yuzu.
Nova was portrayed by Yuzu.
But Nova is not superior to Yuzu.
I love everything Yuzu creates. With Echoes, that has extended to loving everyONE Yuzu creates. But don’t worry, Yuzu. We are loving Nova WITH you, not INSTEAD OF you. So thank you for creating Nova, but thank you even more for continuing to be Yuzu.
