Kaori Sakamoto cheer thread

She skated amazingly well! IMO undermarked, as much as I love Satoko I would have Kaori ahead for the much greater quality of her jumps alone. Although I think Kaori and Satoko were both undermarked, Satoko bigtime in PCS, Kaori in GOE especialy on the jumps, and a bit on PCS too. It is comically wrong she barely beat a bad Kostner, as much as I admire Kostner's historic best ever skating skills.
 
clairecloutier said:
Kaori was my highlight too in a lackluster evening of ladiezzz. I just love her skating skills soooooo much & also her jumps. Her interpretation is so undeveloped but I did think she caught the overall feeling & flow of the music last night. Usually I’m not one to like a skater so much just for jumps, but Kaori is really special in that way. She & Kaetlyn were easily the best all-around skaters last night IMO. (Kaetlyn was objectively better, but I just dislike that Piaf music so much it’s hard for me to enjoy it. :lol:)
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Yeah Kaetlyn's skating was fine and her jumps were great, but I didn't care for her program that much. I guess it was better than the Russians' who should be getting marked down in the components scores. Kaori's jumps were silky smooth though and she was performing during the jumps! I think it may be the first time I saw a skater 'perform' with that kind of style. It was kind of unique.
 
Kaori was my favorite skater of the entire competition. If you ask me who is the best skater out of all the girls, this girl wins hands down. People just talk about her jumps but watch her from the knees down and you will never see anyone better at her age. Then you have the jumps which outside of Kaetlyn are the highest quality of the competition. I was just really impressed with her.

She needs to develop her artistry but with the right packaging, I really hope she wins the OGM in 2022 in Beijing.
 
The Olympics were the first time I saw Kaori skate. Now that I went back and watched her at 4CCs, I'm officially declaring her the best skater of her generation. After Yuna/Mao/Akiko retired, this is the new star.

Not to be too effusive with praise and more critical now, but her musicality is just off. I don't think it's innate to her, but it doesn't look hopeless. Some skaters you see them and you see they will never be musical, but I think she can get close with a lot of hard work and practice. She is a performer at heart.

That long program most people hate is pretty good for her (for the most part) but I can't stand that mime portion in the middle where the thing just dies for a minute on the ice. I mean I guess I understand the choreographer was trying to give her a rest in the middle of the program, but it's just too static. They need a little more movement, something more interesting than that.
 
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Kaori will not be skating at Worlds. Japan will enter Miyahara and Higuchi. I'm disappointed to hear this, but apparently it was the plan all along for Kaori to skate Olympics and Waka to skate at Worlds. Maybe not too big of a deal for Sakamoto fans, because this isn't her year yet but the time is coming. I think she already peaked for the season at Four Continents where she skated even better than she did in Pyeongchang.

Something else I noticed were the choreography changes in her FS between Japanese Nationals in December and Four Continents in January. The latter part of the program was much more in sync with the music. It's really difficult to get right because the skater will be tired but the music calls for faster, faster, faster as the program is coming to an end. Kudos to Benoit Richaud as well as Kaori for being such a fast learner and good student!
 
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Spun Silver said:
I wouldn't be so bold as to proclaim her The One, but I have to say she is my favorite of the Japanese ladies right now. Her skating skills are gorgeous and her jumps and her charm remind me of Midori. Can't wait to see her next season.
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Her reactions are priceless. Legit authenticity. A lot of girls put on the costume and makeup and play nice when they act the part, but Kaori seems like she's just herself all the time. Really nice to see and I will also be looking forward to her winning the world championship in the next few years.
 
Ha. 😊 What I really meant, in a positive way, is that David knows how to choreograph for skaters who are really strong technically, but maybe aren't ballerina types or with the most perfect detail or line in their presentation. Think early Yuzuru or Yuna. He's probably not going to give Kaori too much fussy choreo or miming. I think he may be able to find ways to showcase her strengths, such as her skating skills.
 
Oooooo gawd, ouch, no! Please, Skating Gods :saint: NO miming for Kaori! Lordy, my heart and mind couldn't take that, let alone begin to seriously entertain it! :yikes: :wideeyes: :eek: :scream: :gallopin1 ...

I sincerely apologize for the emoticon overkill, but I've had enough miming and O-face to last a lifetime! :blocjudge
 
Weve3 said:
Oooooo gawd, ouch, no! Please, Skating Gods :saint: NO miming for Kaori! Lordy, my heart and mind couldn't take that, let alone begin to seriously entertain it! :yikes::wideeyes::eek::scream::gallopin1 ...

I sincerely apologize for the emoticon overkill, but I've had enough miming and O-face to last a lifetime! :blocjudge
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You must have missed her Amelie FS then....plenty of miming there.

I hope she can get better choreography this year. I really loved her skating and personality but the choreography left something to be desired.
 
oleada said:
You must have missed her Amelie FS then....plenty of miming there.

I hope she can get better choreography this year. I really loved her skating and personality but the choreography left something to be desired.
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Nope, I saw it. I'm just not looking forward to seeing too much more of it. However, I'm not going to be placing any bets on that anytime soon. Imo, Kaori doesn’t need to be doing any miming. I'm praying :saint: she won’t, but hey, who doesn't like to stumble across a good golden oldie silent movie now and again. Just not so much of it on the ice, or at least not significantly OTT... Keep on dreaming, right?! :inavoid:

To be fair, some miming is essential, ask Mirai, she gets hammered all day long for having zero miming -- and less than zero emoting. :slinkaway
 
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Weve3 said:
More from BFF, Kaori and Mai.

I'm beginning to think I should have titled this thread Kaori Sakamoto AND Mai Mihara cheer thread... ;)

Enjoy!
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I wish it'll be so re the thread title! Kaori and Mai are from Kobe. (Yes, it's Kobe of Kobe beef.) Maybe people forgot about the terrible disaster named Hanshin-Awaji Great Earthquakes that happened in 1995. That was so much shocking as the 3.11 East Japan Great Earthquakes where Hanyu and Hiroaki Sato and lots of nameless skaters got affected. Coach Nakano was teaching there when the disaster occured. She even visited the house of her every student to see everyone was alive (or not). :( Their town was destroyed. It took a lot of years to recover from the disaster. Coach Nakano's group haven't had enough ice time for training for years. They traveled around the prefectures to find rinks to skate in. Several years ago, finally, a new rink was built which made their circumstance much better. Kaori and Mai are the first generation on the international level who train in the rink. That said, their circumstance looks worse than other skaters' in other areas in Japan. Do you know Coach Nakano's group has their own way to do run-through? If you make a mistake, your run-through has to be closed at the point. There are some reasons for the rule of them. One would be that it encourages skaters to be focused. And it's one of the reasons that their ice time is limited. :( I sometimes see good effects and bad effects of the rule when I see their skates in competitions. Thus, they have something different from other skaters from other areas in Japan. That's one of the reasons I'm rooting for both of them. Of course, the biggest reason is Kaori's and Mai's skates have something special in them which draw me into their performances. As well as they are different from each other, such as Kaori is more dynamic and Mai has more smoothness than each other. While, both of them has the same good basics, such as great speed and edge works or good techniques in jumps. That must be influences from (Nobuo) Sato and Nagakubo who were coaches of Nakano in her competitive career.

Kaori and Mai are different skaters to each other. I fully understand if you are drawn into Kaori's skate and not into Mai's. So please don't feel that I'm giving you a pressure to change the thread title. Thanks for starting a thread of Kaori and keeping posting updates here. Much appreciated from me. :)

Video of Hanshin-Awaji Disaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3uauI4QbtM

Japanese fed updated their official site and here is a profile page of Kaori.
https://skatingjapan.or.jp/national/detail.php?athlete_id=448

Here is a instagram page which their sponsor company started recently for the two. The page is so cute.
https://www.instagram.com/sysmex_figureskatingteam/
 
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rosewood said:
I wish it'll be so re the thread title! Kaori and Mai are from Kobe. (Yes, it's Kobe of Kobe beef.) Maybe people forgot about the terrible disaster named Hanshin-Awaji Great Earthquakes that happened in 1995. That was so much shocking as the 3.11 East Japan Great Earthquakes where Hanyu and Hiroaki Sato and lots of nameless skaters got affected. Coach Nakano was teaching there when the disaster occured. She even visited the house of her every student to see everyone was alive (or not). :( Their town was destroyed. It took a lot of years to recover from the disaster. Coach Nakano's group haven't had enough ice time for training for years. They traveled around the prefectures to find rinks to skate in. Several years ago, finally, a new rink was built which made their circumstance much better. Kaori and Mai are the first generation on the international level who train in the rink. That said, their circumstance looks worse than other skaters' in other areas in Japan. Do you know Coach Nakano's group has their own way to do run-through? If you make a mistake, your run-through has to be closed at the point. There are some reasons for the rule of them. One would be that it encourages skaters to be focused. And it's one of the reasons that their ice time is limited. :( I sometimes see good effects and bad effects of the rule when I see their skates in competitions. Thus, they have something different from other skaters from other areas in Japan. That's one of the reasons I'm rooting for both of them. Of course, the biggest reason is Kaori's and Mai's skates have something special in them which draw me into their performances. As well as they are different from each other, such as Kaori is more dynamic and Mai has more smoothness than each other. While, both of them has the same good basics, such as great speed and edge works or good techniques in jumps. That must be influences from (Nobuo) Sato and Nagakubo who were coaches of Nakano in her competitive career.

Kaori and Mai are different skaters to each other. I fully understand if you are drawn into Kaori's skate and not into Mai's. So please don't feel that I'm giving you a pressure to change the thread title. Thanks for starting a thread of Kaori and keeping posting updates here. Much appreciated from me. :)

Video of Hanshin-Awaji Disaster
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y3uauI4QbtM

Japanese fed updated their official site and here is a profile page of Kaori.
https://skatingjapan.or.jp/national/detail.php?athlete_id=448

Here is a instagram page which their sponsor company started recently for the two. The page is so cute.
https://www.instagram.com/sysmex_figureskatingteam/
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What an excellent post @rosewood :)

I would be more than happy to change the thread title if it were possible to do so. However, I have not been able to locate any edit options that will allow me to do that, at least nothing that I can see at the moment. I assume the window of opportunity to edit anything re this thread passed a long time ago? Maybe someone knows another way? Perhaps I am missing how this can be done - if it can be done? Or, possibly a moderator could change the title? If so, I’m all for it.

I’m surprised there is not a separate Mai Mihara cheer thread, yet and I actually considered starting one a couple of days ago but would be more than happy to add Mai’s name to this one if it could be done.

I am a fan of both Kaori and Mai! Great attitudes! A sisterly-like friendship they have fun with and both seem to enjoy and embrace the sport thoroughly. So lovely to see such mutual respect and spirit between two competitors! They are fantastic role models!
 
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Weve3 said:
What an excellent post @rosewood :)

I would be more than happy to change the thread title if it were possible to do so. However, I have not been able to locate any edit options that will allow me to do that, at least nothing that I can see at the moment. I assume the window of opportunity to edit anything re this thread passed a long time ago? Maybe someone knows another way? Perhaps I am missing how this can be done - if it can be done? Or, possibly a moderator could change the title? If so, I’m all for it.

I’m surprised there is not a separate Mai Mihara cheer thread, yet and I actually considered starting one a couple of days ago but would be more than happy to add Mai’s name to this one if it could be done.

I am a fan of both Kaori and Mai! Great attitudes! A sisterly-like friendship they have fun with and both seem to enjoy and embrace the sport thoroughly. So lovely to see such mutual respect and spirit between two competitors! They are fantastic role models!
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Sorry for a belated reply. Thanks a lot for starting Mai's thread! (Just for a reference, 24 hours is the time limit for us to change the thread title, if we need to change it after 24 hours passed, we can use report function to ask admins to do our favor, or we can start a thread in Boardbusiness area for asking admins.) Having a separated thread was maybe a better choice, thanks!


Here are photos of Kaori's new FS. I wonder if this costume is a quick made one for Dreams on Ice held in this very early stage of the season, and she'll make another one for serious competitions.
https://twitter.com/sn_figure/status/1015216341979037696

According to someone on twitter who went to DoI on Friday, her layout of the program was 3F-3T 2A 3Lz FSSp StSq 3S 2A-3T-2T ChSq(including 3 spirals) 3Lo FCSp LSp, and she looked more elegant and having better postures than last season. And she skated as the final skater to perform of the show. WOW Hopefully we'll see a video of the new program today since it'll be aired live.
 
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I wonder if Kaori is serious about doing 3A this season by putting a 2A after the opening 3F-3T combo. Probably it's one of the choices which depends on how this off-season's training goes.

ETA: I just saw a video. The entrance into the 2A looked too short to change it to a 3A. So I'm ditching my expectation for 3A. Very soon. :p
 
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