2015-16 season: Breaking World Records

After a treacherous 2014-15 season, including a hurt back, a hard crash and its resulting injuries (including stitches and a sprained ankle), a surgery and its resulting recovery, and another sprained ankle, Yuzuru and his fans hoped for a much better season going into this competitive year.

Yuzuru once again skated to Chopin's "Ballade No. 1" for this season, a decision which nobody complained about, as it's his (subjectively but come on) best short program so far. He re-debuted this program at the 2015 Autumn Classic International. To open the program, he did the most relaxed and effortlessly beautiful triple Axel I've ever seen, but he flipped out of his 4S and landed too forward on the 3Lz in his 3Lz+3T combination. The rest of his program, especially his spins and his step sequence, were clearly even more polished than they had been the previous year. So, even with these two mistakes, he earned 93.14 points in the short program, going into the free skate with a 6.61-point lead.

Triple Axel in ACI Short Program

For this season, Yuzuru skated to an arrangement of songs from the soundtrack of Onmyōji and Onmyōji 2, and titled his program "Seimei," after the main character of the films. While this isn't a confirmed statement, Johnny Weir said that Yuzu told him he wanted to show the "strength and sensitivity" of Japan with this free program. It starts off with a slow intensity, the beats intermittent but strong, and then slows down into something softer and more delicate. It builds back up again slowly until his last choreography sequence, which bursts with life and energy. It's an absolutely amazing program, and it easily gearing up to be one of his best of all time.

ACI 2019 - Yuzuru Hanyu Free Skate

During the 2015 Autumn Classic International, he landed his 4S but leaned a little on the landing. He put a hand down on his 4T, but had a clean 3F directly after. His first spin, the combination spin, was nice, the doughnut variation forever one of my favorites. His step sequence was captivating and deeply in character, but it only got a level 2. Between elements and during his choreography, not a single note or beat in the music goes unnoticed. He falls on his next jump, the 4T, and thus can't put in a combination and breaks the repetition rule, receiving less points for the jump. He completes a clean 3A+2T combination, but turns out of his next 3A, thus putting his 3Lo in a 3Lo+Eu+3S sequence after missing the sequence on that 3A. His last jump, a 3Lz, is clean. His choreo sequence at the end is energized, intricate, and includes for the first time a hydroblade.

This was his first time, as well, putting three quads into his free program (for many seasons previously it had only been two). This free skate earned him 184.05 points for a total of 277.19 points, putting him in first place and winning him the gold medal, 36.09 points above first place.

His next event was his first Grand Prix event, the 2015 Skate Canada. To open his program, he did yet another flawless 3A with a spread eagle both in and out of it which received a +3 GOE from every single judge in the panel. However, he popped his 4T into a 2T and received 0 points for that element, as the single non-Axel jump has to be at least a triple. He then landed his 3Lz too far forward and could only complete a 2T after it, which broke the repetition rule; he received 0 points for this jumping pass as well. He got 73.25 points, but his PCS was the highest out of every program there.

I hardly ever include low moments in gif format, so here are a couple from this short program.

4T popped into a 2T

Combination becomes invalid after Yuzu only does a 2T after the 3Lz.

There was a time, we have to remember, when 73 points was an okay program for Yuzu. Now, he scores 73 points without even receiving any points for TWO of his jumping passes. This is one of the clearest indications of how much he's grown technically and artistically over the years.

During his free skate at Skate Canada, Yuzu landed a solid 4S and 4T, and a clean 3F. He put a hand down on his next 4T, but was still able to put it in combination with a 2T. He completed a 3A+1T combination instead of a 3A+2T, but then did a beautiful 3A+Eu+3S even after a slight wobble on the take-off for the jump. He did a clean 3Lo after that, but unfortunately fell on his last jump, the 3Lz. Despite these mistakes, he scored 186.29 points for his free skate and clawed his way back up to place 2nd overall at this competition, putting him in a good position to qualify for the Grand Prix Final (pending his next competition).

NHK Trophy 2015 - Yuzuru Hanyu Short Program

At the 2015 NHK Trophy, history was made, and in no small manner. During his short program, Yuzu added another a second quad for the first time in his own competitive history. He opened with a 4S that was a bit forward on the landing, but with a spread-eagle both in and out of it. He completed a perfect 4T+3T combination, and then yet another flawless 3A. He was unquestionably on his game, elegant and confident and powerful. Going into this short program, his world record of 101.45 points from the 2014 Sochi Olympics had still been holding up. Yuzu scored 106.33 points for this short program at NHK, breaking his own world record by nearly five points (even with the forward landing on the Sal).

2015 NHK Trophy - Yuzuru Hanyu Free Skate

The free skate was just as excellent, if not more so. His opening 4S was flawless, as was the next 4T and 3F. The first step sequence was intense, slower, and built the program well. His 4T+3T was a little forward on the 4T, but the 3A+2T and the 3A+Eu+3S were clean and powerful. His last two jumps, the 3Lo and 3Lz, were just as clean. His sit spin had excellent arm variation; his choreo sequence is one of the best I've ever seen, just so much drama. Yes last spin was gorgeous, and his face at the end was happier than I've ever seen him after a program--he was triumphant.

Yuzu After NHK 2015 Free Skate

He went to receive the scores after taking in his (very loud, very enthusiastic) applause, and he had once again made history: he was the first skater to surpass 200 points in the free skating, and his score was 216.07. Yuzuru barreled straight over the 200-mark by sixteen whole points. As a result of scoring world records by a wide margin in both programs, Yuzuru was also the very first skater to surpass the 300-point barrier in the combined total score--that score was 322.40 points, beating Patrick Chan's previous WR total score by 27.13 points.

Yuzu Receiving his Scores after 2015 NHK

Yuzu Still Being Shocked 

I've watched many different videos of this free skate from different broadcasters, and one thing was very common throughout most of the commentary: "It will be a long time before we see something like this again." The irony, now, is comical; he did even better just a few weeks later at the Grand Prix Final that NHK Trophy qualified him for.

GPF 2015 - Yuzuru Hanyu Short Program

His spins were just that much more centered, his step sequence was just that much more beautiful, and that one mistake he made before on the combination--being forward on the 4T--was absent. He was flawless in every sense of the word. He didn't get a SINGLE GOE score under 2 for any element (a feat which is very heard, especially considering judge bias). He beat the record he had just set weeks prior to score 110.95 points in the short program.

GPF 2015 - Yuzuru Hanyu Free Skate

During the free skating, nearly all of his jumps were absolutely perfect, and saying "nearly" is me being a little picky. Only the 4T in the 4T+3T had a break at the waist, but there was absolutely no hesitation between the jumps so it barely affected his grade of execution on that element. His 3A+Eu+3S was straight out of a spread-eagle and twizzles and a back-counter. He did his jumps like they were easy for him, like they didn't take years of hard work to master. His spins were beautiful, his first step sequence captivating, his choreo sequence absolutely ecstatic. Everything was so good, it was almost hard to believe it really happened. Did the entire skating community and the world really witness these two perfect performances in a row?

His once again set a new world record, beating his own previous free skate score by just a little over two points when he earned 219.48 for this program. And then, again, he broke another world record with the combined total score, which was an incredible 330.43 points.

Receiving the Scores - GPF 2015

"Why am I crying?" - GPF 2015

At his next competition just a couple weeks later, Yuzu fell on his opening quad Salchow, but everything else was flawless, from his skating skills to his best-in-field triple Axel. His master of the PCS and the perfection on the other technical elements allowed him to still get over 102 points in the short program despite the fall. I strangely could not find footage of Yuzuru's free skate from this national championships, but from what I can see off of the score sheet, his last four jumping passes were quite shaky, with (probably) two falls, one on a 4T and one on a 3A. He still got first place in the free skating portion with a score of 183.73, earning him his fourth consecutive national title.

Worlds 2016 - Yuzuru Hanyu Short Program

At the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships in Boston, Yuzuru had his third practically flawless short program of the season. With two clean quads, a beautiful 3A, and another flawless triple in combination, he earned himself a score of 110.56 and went into the free skating portion of the competition with a 12-point lead over second place, his training mate Javier Fernandez.

In the free skate, however, he faltered. His opening 4S had a hand down and a bit of a turnout, but his next to jumps, the 4T and 3F, were solid. He fell on a 4S that was supposed to be in combination, and then bounced back to do a perfect 3A+2T. However, he had a turnout on his next 3A, but continued his jump sequence with only a 1S on the end instead of a 3S. His 3Lo was good, but the 3Lz was off-axis and he almost put a hand down after it. While the rest of his skating was as stellar as ever, when he's going up against Javier, he can't afford quite this many mistakes. He earned 184.61 points for the free skating and 295.17 overall, and ended up in second place behind Javier Fernandez.

It was later revealed by the JSF that Yuzu had been hiding an injury to the ligaments in his left foot at the time, which was why he suddenly decided to attempt a 4S+3T instead of a 4T+3T (the use of the toepick in the 4T would have put much more strain on his left foot than the 4S, which is an edge jump). However, I know that Yuzuru wouldn't want anyone to discount his mistakes because of his injuries, nor discount his friend Javier's gold medal. A silver medal at Worlds on an injury isn't a bad way to close out the season, especially when you remember the sheer magnitude of what Yuzu accomplished over the course of its entirety.