3.3.2017 Yuri on Ice - “Enjoy Figure Skate 100x More”
with Kubo-sensei, Toyonaga Toshiyuki (Yuuri’s VA), Shunichi Toki (Leo’s VA), Yuutarou Honjou (Guang Hong's VA), Miyamoto Kenji, & Suzuki Akiko
*My Japanese is not the greatest, so whatever I post here may be inaccurate or missing some parts because I didn’t understand everything. You have been warned!
The event started off with a short audio drama of Yuuri waking up and finding himself in a classroom, clearly confused. Leo and Guang Hong pop up and note that they had homework to do. Their assignment was to study about ice skating and there will be a final exam next week. Yuuri didn’t know about any of this and worries (me too Yuuri, me too).
Next, Toyonaga, Sunichi and Yuutarou came on stage wearing gakurans, while Kubo-sensei had a seifuku on and was carrying an ita bag! I was surprised to learn that Yuutarou is only 20 years old and a 2nd year college student! He remarked that the last time he wore a gakuran was 2 years ago (i.e. back in high school). Toyonaga tried to recall his last time wearing a gakuran, but gave up LOL. After, Miyamoto and Suzuki walked on dressed in regular clothing, but still stylish.
The lecture was divided into 4 parts:
1) I believe they talked about inspiration from real-life skaters. At first, they discussed foreign skaters like Denis Ten, Evgeni Plushenko, Stephane Lambiel, Johnny Weir, Patrick Chan, Nathan Chen, Brian Joubert, and Javier Fernandez. Japanese skaters were also brought in, like Takahashi Daisuke, Uno Shoma, and Yuzuru Hanyu.
2) In this section, the cast discussed figure skating choreography and expression. Miyamoto explained how he came up with his choreography for Yuuri’s Eros and Yurio’s Agape. For Eros, Miyamoto wanted to emphasize the body and its movement by having the hands be closer to the body, like sliding them down one’s sides. He noted that it gives a sexy feeling haha. On the other hand, Agape was choreographed oppositely by having the hands and arms more distanced from the body and paired with fluid, graceful movements. Suzuki demonstrated how even changing the fingers/hand’s position slightly can give off a different vibe. They also brought out a real-life version of Yuuri’s FS outfit and it was GORGEOUS. SO SPARKLY. I WANT. Here they wanted to demonstrate how even the costume design is important in emphasizing the overall feel of a skate program. Miyamoto receives inspiration for his choreography from animal shapes, such as a bird’s wing or a fish’s fin. (Can’t help but think of Seunggil’s parrot outfit now...) As for Suzuki, she gets inspired by her environment and natural scenery.
3) Here, I think it was about the relationship between the skater and their coach but I’m not too sure. Communication between these individuals is important, and as an example of coach-skater behavior, they showed a clip of Viktor backhugging Yuuri before his SP. It’s funny how almost everytime Yuuri/Viktor/Viktuuri moment appears on screen, they show Toyonaga’s face LOL. Anyway, Suzuki was asked about what things she says to her coach and vice versa before she skates. She said that she says ittekimasu and her coach replies with itterasshai (so cute!).
4) Lastly, we learned about jumps! Suzuki explained the difference between a loop, flip, lutz, and axel. Basically it boils down to which side you do the take-off and the skate’s inside/outside edge (not sure if this is 100% correct!). The VAs were so cute attempting to do the jumps >//< After they were quizzed by being shown a clip and having to guess what jump it was. Shunichi’s was probably the hardest because his question was a combination jump lol.
In the end, we took one final look at Yuuri’s FS and also watched Yuzuru’s SP. All the cast members gave their last words and thanks. The ending was so cute because the “lecture” Yuuri had was just a dream and he ends up late for practice with Viktor in real life. (So he woke up from a dream inside of a dream....inception, anyone?)
If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading and please stay tuned for any new posts I make about YOI events! (＝⌒▽⌒＝)
^ Goods sold at the event
^ The pamphlet/id cards they give you + stickers I bought
