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lilfishiefigureskates · 1 month ago

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NHK Trophy Review

Men:

Yuma Kagiyama (Japan) Total Score 300.09 - 1st in the short, 1st in the free. Super solid performance, but that's what we've come to expect from Yuma at this point. Not vibing too much with his programs but I think I do like the short better than the free. We'll see him next week at Finlandia, and the competition will be super stacked! Also, he and Shoma held hands during the team medal ceremony and I cried.

Daniel Grassl (Italy) Total Score 264.85 - 5th in the short, 2nd in the free. I am not super happy to see him back tbh. He's made some very questionable decisions in the past and he doesn't seem to be sorry or to have learned from his actions based off of his recent social media post. Had a a random fall in the short lol, and I just think his jumps are very ugly in general. I did not like the Billy Elliot program and several of his opening jumps looked UR to me but IDK cause I'm not a judge. Also, why did his coach look like that???

Tatsuya Tsuboi (Japan) Total Score 251.52 - 3rd in the short, 3rd in the free. This was a very welcome surprise for me. Great performer and excellent costumes as well. Had excellent flow throughout his programs, and the jumps were woven into his choreography beautifully. Shame he doesn't have a second assignment, but I'm looking forward to seeing him at JNats.

Andrew Torgashev (USA) Total Score 256.58 - 4th in the short, 5th in the free. Who is this man and what has he done with the pizza king! I was super nervous for Andrew since he had the last-minute back-to-back assignment but he stayed consistent and even improved his score from France! If he keeps this up at US nationals we'll probably see him at Worlds!

Matteo Rizzo (Italy) Total Score 246.56 - 7th in the short, 4th in the free. So happy to see him back! Had trouble with the 4Lo in both the short and the free, so hopefully it'll work out better for him at the Cup of China. I know people are tired of Fix You but I really liked the second half of the program, especially the stsq into the final spins.

Kao Miura (Japan) Total Score 240.38 - 2nd in the short, 11th in the free. This was absolutely heartbreaking. His short program was excellent. He finally broke 100 and he was happy and I was happy but then disaster struck in the free. IDK if it was due to the injury but either way I'm glad that he'll be able to rest because we have a little over a month before JNats and he must do well there if he's gonna make the world team, and the competition between the Japanese men is insane. He did Beauty and the Beast at the gala and I cried.

Jason Brown (USA) Total Score 229.09 - 10th in the short, 6th in the free. Someone took sunshine and transformed it into a human and now we have Jason Brown. I'm trying not to panic because we usually don't see him this early in the season but now it's time for him to focus on US nationals. I like the Tarzan program and the free is way too one note. #Hedoesn'tneedtheaxlestheyneedhim.

Tomoki Hiwatashi (USA) Total Score 226.38 - 11th in the short, 7th in the free. I really liked his short! He performed really well during the beginning and end of the program, but he was concentrating hard during all the jumps. Loved the splits at the end. I thought his free was just a smidge boring and once again there was not a hint of emotion to be found until he finished the jumps. But he went clean and he was happy and I was happy.

Vladimir Litvintsev (Azerbaijan) Total Score 225.67 - 6th in the short, 8th in the free. I like the Game of Thrones program, but I do not like the free at all, and that's what he struggled with this week. Went down on the 4S and turned out on the 4T. The program is very boring because there is no choreography between the jumps.

Gabriele Frangipani (Italy) Total Score 223.82 - 8th in the short, 9th in the free. I like him so I'm sad that he's been struggling a bit this season. And now that we have both Matteo and Daniel back it's not looking great for him. Was struggling on the spins tho, and both of the programs are kinda meh to me.

Mark Gorodnitsky (Israel) Total Score 215.76 - 9th in the short, 10th in the free. I don't think I've ever seen him display a single emotion while skating. He does not get a lot of elevation on his jumps. Very boring, very meh.

Juheon Lim (South Korea) Total Score 196.05 - 12th in the short, 12th in the free. So much improvement since Lombardia Trophy especially in the short! He is one of the many doing an Interstellar program but I really liked his costume. Had a bit of a disaster skate in the free unfortunately.

Women:

Kaori Sakamoto (Japan) Total Score 231.88 - 1st in the short, 1st in the free. THE QUEEN! SO much improvement from Skate Canada!!! So much speed and so much power. The Chicago program worked a lot better here, and I think people are starting to get behind it. She almost fell over on the ending pose, but she is so cute and I love her so much.

Mone Chiba (Japan) Total Score 212.54 - 2nd in the short, 2nd in the free. Love both of the programs, especially the short! Jumps are great, spins are excellent, and she's a great performer. Not much more you could ask of her. Can't wait to see her at the Cup of China.

Yuna Aoki (Japan) Total Score 195.07 - 3rd in the short, 5th in the free. Her short program brought me to tears and her free program is in my top 3 favorite programs of the season. Ran out of steam a bit in the second half of the free, so just needs to work on her endurance a smidge. I've been hearing that she was going to retire after last season so I'm so happy that she is still competing!

Alysa Liu (USA) Total Score 190.75 - 4th in the short, 4th in the free. I am in love with her short program, but the free is starting to grow on me. Just needs a bit more speed and energy, but I'm glad that she improved her standings a bit from Skate Canada.

Bradie Tennell (USA) Total Score 190.25 - 5th in the short, 3rd in the free. I'm still not vibing with the short, and I'm once again going to say that she needs more speed and energy. Such a shame that she went down on the 2A in the free. I am OBSESSED with the second half of her free. It was gorgeous and I was crying.

Lara Naki Gutmann (Italy) Total Score 180.28 - 6th in the short, 6th in the free. She is my creepy/weird queen. In love with the Squid Game program, I think it suits her so well. She wasn't emoting/performing as well in the free and I don't love the cartwheel.

Seoyeong Wi (South Korea) Total Score 173.77 - 7th in the short, 9th in the free. SOOO much better than Skate Canada!! Does not show a single emotion during her programs. She was a bit slow, especially on the spins. She also held her ending pose for literally .2 seconds after the free, which is a pet peeve of mine. HOLD it for just a smidge longer pls :)

Olga Mikutina (Austria) Total Score 169.93 8th in the short, 10th in the free. I liked her short, the Latin suits her very well. I don't have a lot of notes for her free, and I don't really remember it, so sorry Olga, that's all I got.

Lindsay Thorngren (USA) Total Score 169.03 - 10th in the short, 7th in the free. There was something on the ice that totally messed with her and caused her to go down on her 3F which is sad. Free was okay, but there's def room for improvement. We'll see her next week at Finlandia!

Niina Petrokina (Estonia) Total Score 165.85 - 11th in the short, 8th in the free. I'm pretty sure she did two combos in the short, so I'm not quite sure what happened there. We've got another Dune program because she's doing it for her free. She fell during the stsq which was rough. She had good speed and spins tho.

Ekaterina Kurakova (Poland) Total Score 157.14 - 9th in the short, 12th in the free. I don't really vibe with either one of her programs, but she is a great performer. I don't like that she's wearing cat ears, it just screams junior to me but she is 22 years old lol. Also besides the cat ears, her costume doesn't really scream cats to me.

Yelim Kim (South Korea) 152.84 - 12th in the short, 11th in the free. She did better than she did at Skate Canada so I'll take it. Even though she is having trouble with her technical elements she is still a beautiful skater to watch.

Pairs:

Anastasiia Metelkina / Luka Berulava (Georgia) Total Score 213.05 - 2nd in the short, 1st in the free. Them winning was definitely not on my bingo card. Unfortunately, I missed their short program because I was peeing, but the free was okay. I was not really vibing with them tbh. I did really like their gala performance tho.

Riku Miura / Ryuichi Kihara (Japan) Total Score 209.45 - 1st in the short, 2nd in the free. I am obsessed with them. They are everything to me. Big sad on the pair spin, but they are so fast and so entertaining to watch.

Ellie Kam / Danny O’Shea (USA) Total Score 197.44 - 3rd in the short, 3rd in the free. IDK, they look off when I'm looking at them but they do perform well together. She went down on both of the throw jumps, but I'm glad that they were able to make it on the podium!

Ice Dance:

Madison Chock / Evan Bates (USA) Total Score 215.95 - 1st in the short, 1st in the free. I think they took some music cuts out of the short which is good because there were wayyyyy too many music cuts. They have so much chemistry and excellent charisma. Also, I'm obsessed with her dress for the free.

Christina Carreira / Anthony Ponomarenko (USA) Total Score 198.97 - 2nd in the short, 2nd in the free. Great acting, especially from her. I really liked their lift in the short. I liked their Carmen free and there was a KISS!

Allison Reed / Saulius Ambrulevicuius (Lithuania) Total Score 195.52 - 3rd in the short, 3rd in the free. Their short definitely grew on me since France, but they were so fast and had so much energy. Their free is very interesting and I like the puppet/puppet master theme that they have going on. Great acting from both of them, especially in the second half.

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