#utamasa

team japan held kaori a retirement party

Dreams on Ice (DOI) is a show that works with the JSF to showcase the top Japanese skaters. Most choose to debut their new programs for the first time at DOI. You can expect a lot of changes between the DOI version of a program and its final form but it's a nice sneak peak at what the skater is planning.

Ami Nakai - I think this was a great step for her artistically! It matures her up a little more while still keeping Ami’s charming youthfulness. That being said, program still needs some polish but I think it’s a good direction for her

Shun Sato - I really liked shun’s new program! I like that it’s upbeat and it’s the perfect vehicle for him to be more expressive with his body. I really struggled to connect to Shun’s programs before because they felt kinda emotionless but this is different! And good!!! Look at what you can do away from Cizeron Shun!!!

Mone Chiba - Love the concept for her and I think Mone can pull it off, but Mone;s main weakness in my opinion has been her nervousness.  Mone is an athlete whose emotions you can so clearly read on her face and during the Skyfall section you can tell she was nervous. I didn’t feel like I watching “Mone Chiba: Bond Girl”, I felt like I was watching an athlete trying desperately not to mess up her jumps. I hope she finds more confidence in herself because I know in my SOUL she can be a Bond girl. As a whole however, I don't like the musical choices here either. Skyfall is such as emotional & heavy song, it's a song you end on, not a song you start with. I also found the transition from Skyfall to the main theme a bit rough. Hopefully Mone, Buttle, and Hamada sand down the rough edges.

Kao Miura - Kao ate down hard. i think it’s a great program that showcases all of his strengths and charisma. Not a single dull moment. This is fantastic, I take back my clowning of his costume and I’m so jealous of the people who will see this live!! Imagine how much better this program is when you can feel the energy and see Kao skating at full speed!! Dare I say it, Kao’s might be my favorite out of all the DOI programs???

Yuna Aoki - I’m impressed by how polished Yuna is despite it being so early! It was interesting to see her 3 jumps combinations (I think it was a 2A+Eu+3F+2A). Honestly I was a bit of a hater of the 3 jump combo idea but Yuna made it so beautiful and musical. Yuna’s easily the most graceful skater alive, and I’m so glad she decided to not retire and instead continue on. Miss champagne bubbles indeed.

Kazuki Tomono - Seeing Kazuki skate to Freddie Mercury’s voice made me weirdly emotional??? I can’t describe it but Freddie’s voice fits Kazuki and his energy so perfectly. Anyways, the program is very joyful and it fits Kazuki like a glove. Kazuki’s an amazing performer and hopefully the free skate doesn’t keeping getting away from him

Sota Yamamoto - any man wearing dramatic makeup gets at least a 9/10 in my book. I SEE HIS VISION AND I LOVE IT. I’ve always seen Sota as more of a classical and clean cut skater, so seeing him take on an edgier program is very exciting. I love the music, the costume, the makeup, even the hair (it feels very lightly visual kei inspired?? Correct me if I’m wrong, I’m not in that subculture). Sota is so captivating to watch 

Mao Shimada - I love the music?? It’s a bit unconventional, dreamy, dramatic, and intense but also not too big for her. That 3A was scary but she had guts to go for it and I appreciate that. Lovely spins and performance from her, and while it isn’t juniorish at all, I also feel like it doesn’t really push Mao into a new direction in anyway. I feel like this is the type of program to grow on me over time.

Rio Nakata - Rio, I’m so sorry but you’re not getting the aux. The song is so generic and sounds like an imagine dragons reject but he’s skating is as good as ever. I think overall the program is decent but a disappointment to me considering how good his last short program was.

Utana Yoshida/Masaya Morita - I ADORE that Utana bejeweled the shit out of her face, it looks amazinggg. Unfortunately, I don’t love it as a program, the two sections are great individually but don’t go together imo. I saw speculation that they wanted to portray death and dance in various ways but I’m not feeling this at all. I do really like the Danse Macabre part and hope they just make it the full program.

Ikura Kushida/Koshiro Shimada - Kushida/Shimada are STUNNING. The costumes, music and their skating are all so elegant and classy. Shout out to Koshiro for being an active agent and performer and not a lamp that drags the woman around. I think it’s a great program, however… While I’m not the most educated on ice dance and especially patterns (I only started watching super consistently during the Milano-cortina quad), I rewatched some Golden Waltz programs to prepare for the new season and Kushida/Shimada’s pattern looks kinda off????? Hopefully they can clean it up before going to competition

Mayuko Oka - I LOVE THIS!!!! I started getting interested in her skating when I saw her amazing peacock program and this might convert me into an outright fan. I’m not a ballet girl at all, so forgive me if I’m wrong, but I love, love, love the balletic flourishes and I think she put in some of the ballet’s original choreography which is soo cool. I also ADORE her musicality. Mayuko Oka JWC 2027!!

Taiga Nishino & Mei Okada - Taiga and Mei are really lovely skaters and I like their costume, music, and programs overall. While I do like both of them, they’ve never had that “wow” moment for me to fall in love with either of their skating but that’s pretty natural considering they’re juniors. 

Daiya Ebihara - holy shit that first jump to the music was so good. The pseudo cartwheel at the end was very fun too. Overall, I really enjoyed program, he feels very well-packaged and his jumps look better than at JWC

Jingu Ice Messengers - WOW. I’ve never really watched Synchro before but these ladies really impressed me! They’re so in sync and create beautiful shapes on the ice while doing singles and pairs elements (I saw some spins, pseudo-death spirals (idk if they count as true death spirals or not), and group lifts). It was super cool and I might starting watching Synchro this year.

Kaori Sakamoto - Nice to her skating again! The program brings back bittersweet memories of the Olympics gala to me :,) Her 2A is still fucking giant and she still skates like she’s going 200mph. fun fact I watched the programs in the order of this list! So seeing Kaori’s brilliance after a group of a juniors still figuring themselves out really made me understand how captivating she is to watch.

Closing number - I always like seeing things we wouldn’t seeing otherwise during the closing number/galas. Skating is a very individual sport so it’s nice to see everyone interact. Kushida/Shimada & Yoshida/Morita twizzling together, Rio and Mao’s sbs lutz, and Kao and Shun being silly at the end were my highlights!

lmk your dreams on ice thoughts!! i would love to discuss.