2018-19 Japanese Ladies' figure skating

[rikaquegira]

It is such a deep field... Only perfect performances will save Rika Kihira! :hopelessness:
She needs to get her act together this season. I'm rooting for her!

 

[irriya]

Yuna's free program is not bad maybe she needs better choreography but I like it, IMO I don't think the original piece fits figure skating and I liked her performance more than others japanese ladies's free programs from last year for example Rika Hongo's. Also, What's the problem with her costume and make-up? seriously :disapp:

Don't you feel her costume and makeups in FS made her look really old?! It's such a shock for me because I like the look in SP so so so much better. You might want to check the version from the Piano Guy on youtube. It's about 4 min long and personally I felt it works great for FS.

 

[mermaidfestavol3]

Wishing best of luck to Yuna and Mako today for the short program! Get those world ranking points!

 

[Kara]

https://twitter.com/albina_fs/status/1025572426908753921?s=21

Costumes for their short programs I assume? The design for Mako's is similar to last year's, but the color is way better. Still hoping she'll be like Shoma and have multiple costumes.

 

[ioanna]

Videos from THE ICE (thank you BossT!)

Satoko new SP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJDUcn_HpEw

Marin new SP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qkkzbhnWoBI

Kaori new SP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CfNR77je1U

Mai new SP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tV7bY7BWEe0

 

[skatenewbie]

Marin: think i like Marin SP the most, but putting 3-3 in 2nd half is risky if she fall/have stepout and it would bring down her scores a lot with that COMBO thing.

Satoko: the program is lovely but her last season is better imo. I feel she skate lighter and faster though and her jumps look more secure, is it just me? Also she's back with 3F as solo jump?

Kaori: its not bad but i like her FS and last season SP better, im kind of surprised she didnt put 3-3 in 2nd half since she have done it for 2 season already.

Mai: we have seen her SP before and its a safe choice but not that bad, im kind of worried for her 3F though, she often messed it up lately. i remember her mess with her 3F at shows early last season but landing it cleanly in competition so i hope its not something to worry about.

 

[charlotte14]

Anyone has Mako Yamashita’s SP? I have been looking for it.

 

[chopinskate]

Anyone has Mako Yamashita’s SP? I have been looking for it.

Here ya go!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0wVv5rNmorE

 

[cohkaix]

Anyone has Mako Yamashita’s SP? I have been looking for it.

I suppose the question is about Mako's competition at AO FS Trophy (CS event) today. There's no video and here's part of Mako's SP from twitter (just find the same poster and you'll be able to look up for another part):
https://twitter.com/tomao_jomz/status/1025657689920040960

 

[chopinskate]

I suppose the question is about Mako's competition at AO FS Trophy (CS event) today.

Oh lol

 

[leoleo]

Rika's Clair de Lune! https://rika-kihira.tumblr.com/post/176620117795/rika-kihira-clair-de-lune-doi-2018-rikas-new

not the best quality tho

 

[leoleo]

I don't know how to feel about Marin's SP yet, i don't dislike it but i'm not sold yet. Satoko's program is lovely, i'm sure she'll develop it well throughout the season.

 

[Danny T]

I find Clair de Lune utterly boring, so I can't really like Rika's SP. But it does showcase her flow and speed nicely, which I appreciate. Same for Satoko and Kaori's music actually.

I do like Marin's music, but I'm not sold yet on whether this is a good vehicle for her skating. Not that it matters a lot, she has time to experiment a bit.

 

[tosca]

Marin this by far is my favorite SP. It is very dynamic, the step sequence is so fun... it kind of is of the vain of Wakaba’s Bond. I will say I am still concerned about her jumps and edgework. Also nervous that it looks like her combo is the last pass. She hasn’t been a clutch skater since moving to seniors.

Kaori I hate the dress. I think this is an intriguing choice. The beginning to me was a little bit of a yawn but once it got to the step sequence I felt like the program became more captivating. Definitely needs to be refined more and I do like her long better. That being said, I do think of the 4 girls here that it is he 2nd program that I am most interested to see develop over the season. Musicality as always is great, I kept coming back to see the smaller details. (But I am also biased...)

Satoko this is a very nice program. I agree with @skatenewbie that her program was better last year. If this was any other skater, I’d probably be more interested in this program and think it was spectacular but I feel like it is pretty “satoko” which is good and bad. Definitely hold her to a much higher expectation. I’m not really surprised by the choreo, the music is nice, the step sequence of course is beautiful. I will say I do not think her jumps are looking better.... they actually all look kind of tight and if it isn’t shin Amano calling it like worlds then she will definitely be getting some carrots.

Mai so the second time we are seeing it and I feel the same. It is nice but uninspiring. I will say from the last show to now I can see subtle nuances in the choreo that I really enjoy.

 

[rikaquegira]

Satoko had such a masterpiece of a short program last season that now it's so difficult to top that...
I think her new SP is lovely, but that's it. It wasn't such a "wow" as last season's. But then again, I think my expectations were too high. There's nothing wrong with the program, it is well choreographed, the music is good, her skating is as light as ever, step sequence, as always, is a highlight. I also think she's "skating bigger" compared to last season. Maybe that's something they were focusing on, gotta get that PE marks!
Curious to see her FS. We can always count on Satoko to bring us the good programs!

 

[leoleo]

It seems we all aren't ready to let Sayuri go yet

 

[ks777]

I love Marin' new SP. You can already see the improvement she made with Artunian in a short time. Can't wait to see her LP.

 

[rikaquegira]

Rika's Clair de Lune! https://rika-kihira.tumblr.com/post/176620117795/rika-kihira-clair-de-lune-doi-2018-rikas-new

not the best quality tho

Don't know what to think... It looked a little bit generic to me. I love David Wilson's work but sometimes it is just uninspiring or plain boring. I think what happens sometimes with programs is the lack of "moments". You know? Like, a program needs to have at least one "moment", a choreographic move or some big jump right with the most important moment of the music, something! That's why Yuzuru's Seimei, for instance, is a masterpiece. It is filled with moments, that whole program is a moment!
While watching this program, something came to my mind: "sometimes Rika seems to be in the middle, in a spectrum that goes from Satoko to Kaori". I don't mean it in a bad way.
Anyways, I'll wait for a better video and maybe a new dress? I think it can make a difference. When I see her skate new programs with old dresses it seems automatically off.
Also, I don't really like this music and I think it was a poor choice for her Senior debut.
But as always, my opinion might change throughout the season.
And last, but not least, that was a beautiful rippon 3Lz!!!

 

[rikaquegira]

It seems we all aren't ready to let Sayuri go yet

She could've kept Sayuri until they gave her the PCS that program deserved, you know, as a form of protest...

 

[gossipcow]

After looking at some of SP videos from the ice shows:

Satoko: I like the program, but like others mentioned, it's not quite as "wow" or "must rewatch" as Sayuri was for me. I love her hair and dress though, wonder if those are final?

Marin: I don't particularly like this cover of Seven Nation Army and something about her presentation doesn't click with the music for me. I am curious to see how this develops, so I hope she continues to improve and gets those jumps stable too.

Kaori: My favorite Japanese lady... with an unfortunate SP song choice. When I listened to the song alone, I thought it was really, really boring. However, the cut used in the actual program itself is tolerable - it sounds like it's mixed in with guitar and violin? I think this will grow on me eventually, but I like her Piano FS far more.

Mai: Nice, but not very engaging, can't say I like the song choice. I enjoyed her Libertango SP a lot more (granted this is a song I love in general, so it's always a plus in my book).

Rika: I like Claire de Lune enough as a song, but think its on the boring side. I ended up enjoying the program more than I expected to, so I am cautiously optimistic about how Rika will improve it over the season. Definitely love her FS though.

Haven't seen Wakaba's SP yet so I will have to hunt that down. But all in all, I look forward to watching all the Japanese ladies this upcoming season.

--

Edited to add: Yuna Shiraiwa's SP choice is interesting to say the least. I am not sure I understand the music, but I don't dislike it either. It's memorable that's for sure.