title: Unforgiven

text: Like other Revisionist Westerns, "Unforgiven" is primarily concerned with deconstructing the morally black-and-white vision of the American West that was established by traditional works in the genre, as David Webb Peoples’ script is saturated with unnerving reminders of Munny's own horrific past as a murderer and gunfighter haunted by the lives he's taken, while the film as a whole "reflects a reverse image of classical Western tropes": the protagonists, rather than avenging a God-fearing innocent, are hired to collect a bounty for a group of prostitutes. Men who claim to be fearless killers are either exposed as cowards and weaklings or self-promoting liars, while others find that they no longer have it in them to take another life. A writer with no conception of the harshness and cruelty of frontier life publishes stories that glorify common criminals as infallible men of honor. The law is represented by a pitiless and cynical former gunslinger whose idea of justice is often swift and without mercy, and while the main protagonist initially tries to resist his violent impulses, the murder of his friend drives him to become the same cold-blooded killer he once was, suggesting that a Western hero is not necessarily "the good guy", but rather "just the one who survived".


title: Unforgiven

text: "Unforgiven" does not offer a singular set of moral guidelines that the protagonists follow and the antagonists disobey. Instead, each character acts on what they think is right for them, and they often act in both morally right and wrong ways. Munny gets justice for Delilah and avenges Ned, but despite his noble actions, Munny's character is haunted by his violent past, where he was notorious for killing any man, woman or child. Allen Redmon's "Mechanisms of Violence in Clint Eastwood's "Unforgiven" and "Mystic River"" describes Munny's role as an antihero by stating he is "a virtuous or an injured hero [that] overcomes all obstacles to see that evil is eradicated using whatever means necessary". Munny's repeated acts of killing, to accomplish what he sees as just, eventually cause him to fall into his old ways of being a man corrupted by violence. Other characters in the film such as Ned and the Schofield Kid disagree with Munny's methods of justice after they decide they can no longer live a life where they kill others. Munny is motivated to kill in order to earn the bounty for Quick Mike and Davey Bunting. Though he realizes killing is difficult, he ultimately decides to return to the life of a gunslinger in order to provide for his children, which he thinks is the morally responsible thing to do for him and his family.


title: Unforgiven

text: Duality: Nonduality asks us to view good and evil as two parts of an undivided whole with good possessing evil and evil possessing good. This non-dualistic view is represented very well by the Chinese Dao symbol. In the movie, Will Munny views the world through a dualistic lens. Will sees every person that he comes across in a polarized way. And so when he aims to kill someone, he considers if they are good or bad, guilty or innocent, and there is no gray area through which to judge an entire person’s life. Little Bill killed Ned and so he must die. Quick Mike and Davey Bunting cut up Delilah and so they must die. Will’s worldview is as Durkheim describes when he writes, “at all times, man himself has had a keen sense of this duality. Everywhere, indeed, he has conceived of himself as formed of two radically heterogeneous beings: the body, on the one hand, the soul on the other” (Durkheim, 2005). For Will the world is black and white and he is the judge and executioner.


title: Unforgiven

text: "Unforgiven" shares many parallels with Homer’s “Iliad”, in characters and themes. “In both works, the protagonists-Achilles and William Munny are self-questioning warriors who temporarily reject the culture of violence only to return to it after the death of their closest male friend, in which they are implicated” (534). Munny and Achilles have the same dilemma between fate and counter-fate. They know that their fate is being a warrior and likely dying that way, however they both try to reject it for at least some time. Munny continually claims he has changed and “ain’t like that no more” referring to his warrior-like hitman past, whereas Achilles continually refuses to be a soldier in the Greek army since he condemns Agamemnon for not stopping the war when he could have.


title: Unforgiven

text: Neither wants to kill for causes from their past (Munny being an outlaw, Achilles being a warrior-king) since they find them unjust. Both are committed to a “higher” cause—Munny to his children and his wife’s wishes, and Achilles to the injustice of women-stealing and to Briseis, who at one point he would’ve had to sacrifice to Agamemnon to stop the war.


title: Unforgiven

text: However, when their best friends are killed—Achilles’ Patroklos and Munny’s Ned—they allow their rage and desire for vengeance to make them return to their warrior-prescribed fate. Achilles rages against the Trojans and kills many. He gets vengeance by killing Hector and desecrating his corpse, dragging it around the town. Munny rages against Little Bill and his crew. He gets vengeance by killing them and Little Bill, threatening to kill anyone who opposes him.


title: Unforgiven

text: There are however relevant differences in Homer’s epic and Eastwood’s film, namely that Achilles is fated to die in battle, whereas Munny moves to California at the end of the film to become a businessman to provide for his kids. Whether Munny has successfully countered his warrior-fate is unclear, as is whether a life in dry goods redeems him as his love for his wife had done.


title: Unforgiven

text: The film debuted at the top position in its opening weekend. Its earnings of $15 million ($7,252 average from 2,071 theaters) in its opening weekend was the best-ever opening for an Eastwood film at that time. It spent a total of three weeks as the No. 1 film in North America. In its 35th weekend (April 2–4, 1993), capitalizing on its Oscar wins, the film returned to the Top 10 (spending another three weeks total there), ranking at No. 8 with a gross of $2.5 million ($2,969 average from 855 theaters), an improvement of 197 percent over the weekend before where it made $855,188 ($1,767 average from 484 theaters). The film closed on July 15, 1993, having spent nearly a full year in theaters (343 days / 49 weeks), having earned $101.2 million in North America, and another $58 internationally for a total of $159.2 million worldwide.


title: Unforgiven

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 96% based on 108 reviews, and an average rating of 8.80/10. The website's critical consensus states: "As both director and star, Clint Eastwood strips away decades of Hollywood varnish applied to the Wild West, and emerges with a series of harshly eloquent statements about the nature of violence." Metacritic gave the film a score of 85 out of 100 based on 34 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: Unforgiven

text: Jack Methews of the "Los Angeles Times" described "Unforgiven" as "the finest classical western to come along since perhaps John Ford's 1956 "The Searchers"." Richard Corliss in "Time" wrote that the film was "Eastwood's meditation on age, repute, courage, heroism—on all those burdens he has been carrying with such grace for decades." Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert criticized the work, though the latter gave it a positive vote, for being too long and having too many superfluous characters (such as Harris' English Bob, who enters and leaves without meeting the protagonists). Despite his initial reservations, Ebert eventually included the film in his "The Great Movies" list.


title: Unforgiven

text: "Unforgiven" was named one of the ten best films of the year on 76 critics' lists, according to a poll of the nation's top 106 film critics.


title: Unforgiven

text: In June 2008, "Unforgiven" was listed as the fourth best American film in the Western genre (behind "The Searchers", "High Noon", and "Shane") in the American Film Institute's "AFI's 10 Top 10" list.


title: Unforgiven

text: The music for the "Unforgiven" film trailer, which appeared in theatres and on some of the DVDs, was composed by Randy J. Shams and Tim Stithem in 1992. The main theme song, "Claudia's Theme," was composed by Clint Eastwood.


title: Unforgiven

text: The film was planned to be used as the theme for Six Flags Great Adventure's then-upcoming roller coaster, but market research showed that people found it to be too dark of a theme, so the ride’s name was changed to Viper.


title: Unforgiven

text: In 2004, "Unforgiven" was deemed "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant" by the Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry.


title: Unforgiven

text: In 2013, the Writers Guild of America ranked Peoples' script for "Unforgiven" as the 30th greatest ever written.


title: Unforgiven

text: Several story elements of the film are paralleled in "The Noblest of Men, and a Woman", a side-quest in the 2018 video game "Red Dead Redemption 2", including an English Bob-like former gunfighter having his biography written by a naive journalist, the player having to visit an aging outlaw who runs a pig farm, the gunfighter revealing himself to be a complete fraud, a final shootout where the player kills him, and the journalist deciding to write a fictional account of the gunfighter's death that completely ignores the truth of what really happened.


title: Unforgiven

text: "Unforgiven" was released as premium home video, on DVD and VHS, on September 24, 2002. It was released on Blu-ray Book (a Blu-ray Disc with book packaging) on February 21, 2012. Special features include an audio commentary by Clint Eastwood biographer Richard Schickel; four documentaries including "All on Accounta Pullin' a Trigger", "Eastwood & Co.: Making "Unforgiven"", "Eastwood...A Star", and "Eastwood on Eastwood", and more. "Unforgiven" was released on 4K UHD Blu-ray on May 16, 2017.


title: Unforgiven

text: A Japanese adaptation of "Unforgiven", directed by Lee Sang-il and starring Ken Watanabe, was released in 2013. The plot of the 2013 version is very similar to the original, but it takes place in Japan during the Meiji period, with the main character being a samurai instead of a bandit.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Terminator Genisys is a 2015 American science fiction action film directed by Alan Taylor and written by Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier. Produced by Skydance Productions and distributed by Paramount Pictures, the film is a reboot of the "Terminator" franchise, taking the premise of the original film in another direction and ignoring the events depicted in sequels and the TV series. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, who reprises his role as the Terminator (following his absence in 2009's "Terminator Salvation"), alongside Jason Clarke, Emilia Clarke (no relation), Jai Courtney, J. K. Simmons, Dayo Okeniyi, Matt Smith, Courtney B. Vance, Michael Gladis, Sandrine Holt and Lee Byung-hun. It follows Kyle Reese, a soldier in a post-apocalyptic war against Skynet, who is sent from 2029 to 1984 to prevent Sarah Connor's death. When Kyle arrives in the past, he discovers that the timeline has been altered by Skynet and that Sarah has been raised by a reprogrammed Terminator sent to protect her.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Sequels for "Terminator Salvation" were cancelled after The Halcyon Company faced legal issues and filed for bankruptcy. Megan Ellison and her production company, Annapurna Pictures, acquired the franchise rights in May 2011. Skydance Productions, owned by Ellison's brother David, collaborated the following year on a production of another installment in the series. The Ellisons consulted "Terminator" creator James Cameron and drew inspiration from "The Terminator" (1984) and its sequel "" (1991). Principal photography took place primarily in New Orleans, but also in San Francisco. Six companies handled the film's visual effects, with its prosthetic make-up and animatronics created by Legacy Effects.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: The film premiered at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood on June 28, 2015 and was released in the United States on July 1, 2015. It was not well received by critics, who criticized the plot and acting, although Schwarzenegger's return and performance were praised. "Terminator Genisys" grossed over $440 million worldwide, making it the second-highest-grossing film of both the series and Schwarzenegger's career, behind "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". However, its commercial performance was lower than anticipated, resulting in the cancellation of two planned sequels and a spin-off television series. The franchise moved forward with "", a 2019 sequel to "Terminator 2" that was produced by Cameron.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: In 2029, Human Resistance leader John Connor launches a final offensive against Skynet, an artificial general intelligence system seeking to eliminate the human race. Before the Resistance can triumph, Skynet activates a time machine and sends a T-800/Model 101 Terminator back to 1984, to kill John's mother Sarah. John's right-hand man, Kyle Reese, volunteers to travel back in time to protect her. As Kyle floats in the machine's magnetic field, he sees John being attacked by another Resistance soldier. This creates a temporal paradox that alters the timeline and causes Kyle to experience childhood memories from a parallel version of himself.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: When it arrives in Los Angeles 1984, Skynet's T-800 is disabled by Sarah and "Pops", a reprogrammed T-800. An unknown party had sent Pops to 1973 to protect Sarah when she was nine years old after her parents were killed by a T-1000 sent by Skynet. When Kyle arrives in 1984, he is intercepted by the T-1000, which Sarah and Pops destroy with acid. Sarah and Pops have constructed a makeshift time machine like Skynet's and Sarah plans to stop Skynet by traveling to 1997, the year it becomes self-aware. However, realizing that the timeline has been altered, Kyle is convinced that the future has also changed. He recalls a warning he received in his childhood vision, convincing Sarah that they instead must travel to 2017 to stop Skynet. After fighting the T-1000, Pops has sustained exterior damages that prevent him from time-traveling. He stays in 1984 and plans to meet up with Kyle and Sarah in the future, preparing for their arrival in the meantime.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: In 2017, Kyle and Sarah materialize in the middle of a busy San Francisco highway and are apprehended by city police. While they are treated for injuries, Sarah and Kyle learn that Skynet is called "Genisys"—a soon-to-be-unveiled global operating system which is embraced by the public. John suddenly appears and rescues Sarah and Kyle. Pops arrives and unexpectedly shoots John, revealing that John is now an advanced Terminator. The resistance soldier who attacked John is revealed to have been Skynet in physical disguise as a Terminator. While Kyle was traveling back in time, Skynet attacked John and infected him with machine phase matter. John, tasked with ensuring Skynet's creation, traveled back in time to assist Cyberdyne Systems with the development of Genisys, hence securing Skynet and its machines' rise. Pops fights John before trapping him long enough for them to escape.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: A day before Skynet's worldwide attack, Sarah, Kyle, and Pops retreat to a safe house and make final preparations to destroy Cyberdyne's Genisys mainframe. They head toward Cyberdyne's headquarters with John in close pursuit. During an airborne chase, Pops dive-bombs into John's helicopter and causes it to crash. John survives the crash and enters the Cyberdyne complex, where it advances the countdown from 13 hours to 15 minutes. Kyle, Sarah, and Pops plant bombs at key points in the facility while holding off John.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: In a final battle, Pops traps John in the magnetic field of a prototype time machine. Both are destroyed, but just before the explosion the remains of Pops are flung out of the apparatus into a nearby experimental vat of mimetic polyalloy. Kyle and Sarah reach a bunker beneath the facility and the explosion sets off the bombs, preventing Genisys from coming online. Pops appears, upgraded with mimetic polyalloy components like that of the T-1000, and helps them escape from the debris.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: The trio travels to Kyle's childhood home, where Kyle tells his younger self about Genisys and instructs him to repeat the warning to himself, securing the trio's arrival from 1984. Sarah, Kyle, and Pops drive off into the countryside. A mid-credits scene reveals that the system core of Genisys, located in a protected subterranean chamber, has survived the explosion.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Although "Terminator Salvation" was intended to begin a new trilogy, the production of a fifth film was put on hold because of legal issues with franchise owner the Halcyon Company (which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 2009). To avoid bankruptcy, Halcyon later decided to sell the rights to the franchise and valued the property at $70 million. On February 8, 2010, the franchise was auctioned for $29.5 million to Pacificor, a hedge fund which was the largest creditor in Halcyon's bankruptcy proceedings. The deal erased Halcyon's debts to Pacificor and guaranteed Halcyon $5 million for each additional Terminator sequel produced, to pay other outstanding debts. Pacificor sold the franchise again in May 2010.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: In August of that year, Hannover House announced plans to develop a 3D animated film titled "Terminator 3000". Pacificor responded with a cease and desist letter, declining a $20–30 million offer from Hannover for the rights to produce the film. In February 2011, Universal Studios considered investing in a fifth "Terminator" film with Arnold Schwarzenegger returning to the title role, "Fast & Furious" director Justin Lin at the helm and Chris Morgan as the screenwriter. In late April 2011, a proposed "Terminator" package, dropping Morgan and adding producer Robert W. Cort, was presented to Universal Studios, Sony, Lionsgate and CBS Films. Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer had a 30-day right of first refusal to finance and distribute "Terminator 5" since 2006.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: It was eventually picked up by Megan Ellison and her production company, Annapurna Pictures, in May 2011 after they purchased at auction the rights to make at least two more "Terminator" films. The deal was finalized on December 4, 2012; the final price was reportedly less than the auction pledge because new copyright laws had raised concerns that the rights would revert to "Terminator" creator James Cameron in 2019. Ellison's brother David and others from his Skydance Productions agreed to co-produce the film. After acquiring the rights to the franchise, Megan Ellison asked Cameron for input on the new film. Cameron met several times with David Ellison, where they discussed Schwarzenegger's role and how to remain true to the T-800 character. Director Justin Lin had to leave the project because of his involvement in "Fast & Furious 6". Two screenwriters, Laeta Kalogridis of "Shutter Island" and Patrick Lussier of "Drive Angry", were commissioned to write the screenplay in January 2013. Kalogridis and Lussier turned down the project three times, but Cameron persuaded them to accept it.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Paramount Pictures (which has a financing and distribution deal with Skydance) was confirmed as the distributor in June 2013, when they and the producers announced a release date of June 26, 2015. Rian Johnson, Denis Villeneuve and Ang Lee were approached to take over direction from Lin, but "" director Alan Taylor was selected in September 2013. Storyboard artist Jane Wu, Taylor's girlfriend, urged him to turn down the offer after reading the script, insisting him that he should direct something more personal and that he loved, but Taylor was persuaded and tempted with the prospect of working with Schwarzenegger, who impressed him during their meetings and the chance to build on the legacy of Cameron's franchise respectively. Taylor felt that he should direct the film due to his love for the first two "Terminator" films, believing that he could "fix" the script and make the film work. In January 2014, Megan Ellison announced that Annapurna was no longer credited on the film; Skydance and Paramount would provide funding and Ellison would be credited as an executive producer.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: On June 13, 2013, Schwarzenegger said that he would return for his fourth film as the Terminator. By early November, Garrett Hedlund was under consideration for the role of Kyle Reese and Taylor wanted Tom Hardy to portray John Connor. That month the choice for Sarah Connor was narrowed to Emilia Clarke, Tatiana Maslany and Brie Larson, and Clarke was selected in December. Paramount had wanted Larson for the role, but Taylor preferred Emilia Clarke. In December 2013, Jason Clarke, who is not related to Emilia, was in negotiations to play John Connor. Jason Clarke was David Ellison's first choice for the role. He was impressed by Clarke's performance in Megan Ellison's film "Zero Dark Thirty" (2012). In February 2014, the studio considered Jai Courtney and Boyd Holbrook as Reese, and later that month Courtney was confirmed for the role. J. K. Simmons began talks for the role of Detective O'Brien in March. According to late-March announcements, Dayo Okeniyi would play Danny Dyson and Lee Byung-hun, Michael Gladis and Sandrine Holt joined the cast (Lee in a key role). Matt Smith was confirmed as a cast member in May, followed by Douglas Smith in June.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: The film's producers, David Ellison and Dana Goldberg, worked with writers Laeta Kalogridis and Patrick Lussier to devise the story. Kalogridis and Lussier were invited to write the script while they worked on another project with Ellison and Goldberg. They agreed to write a "Terminator" film when Cameron, a friend of Kalogridis who worked with her in "Avatar", gave it his blessing.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: The starting point of the script was to retain Schwarzenegger as a central character, unlike the "Star Trek" reboot with Leonard Nimoy as an older Spock in a minor role. They had to write in the actor (now 67 years old) and followed a suggestion by Cameron that the Terminator's living-tissue exterior was vulnerable to aging and their idea of Skynet sending a Terminator after an infant Sarah Connor. Kalogridis and Lussier extended this to the core characters of Kyle, Sarah and John Connor, despite each being from a different time period.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Although the writers reportedly enjoyed "", they opted to escape its suggestion that Judgment Day is inevitable because of a causal loop in favor of all "Terminator" timelines existing simultaneously in a multiverse. To map out the timelines and plot, Kalogridis and Lussier had five whiteboards "covering every wall in the office". They eventually reached a central plot thread in which the Skynet of one universe, defeated in several timelines, sent the T-5000 to the "Genisys" timeline hoping to defeat the humans by "having the best weapon that humans have": John Connor. The first draft of the screenplay, to attract a director, was delivered in July 2013. Few changes were made to the script from that point onward. One expansive scene that was removed from the final script would have explained what Sarah Connor's life was like with Pops.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: The film is inspired by the first two "Terminator" films from Cameron – "The Terminator" and "" – while largely ignoring the two subsequent films that came before "Genisys". Concepts from the second movie, such as the T-1000, are featured, but its events are disregarded; the 2029 that is depicted in "Genisys" is one in which the attack on the Cyberdyne building either had no effect on Skynet's development or did not happen at all, as August 29, 1997 is still the date of Judgment Day in that timeline. David Ellison described the film and its intended film trilogy as standalone projects based on Cameron's original "Terminator" films. Ellison said the film is neither a sequel or a prequel to previous "Terminator" films, saying "For us this is Terminator 1, this is not Terminator 5". A Skydance executive said, "It's not a traditional remake, nor is it a continuation or a sequel, nor is it exactly a reboot. In a sense, it's a reimagining".


title: Terminator Genisys

text: The film features seven different time periods, with 1984 and 2017 being the primary setting for the story. Taylor said the film's storyline would be more complex in comparison to the original two films because of its time-travel aspect. He also described the original "Terminator" film as a love story and the second as a father/son story and said that "Genisys" would be a combination of the two ideas, including a focus on the aspect of a dysfunctional family. David Ellison said the film was inspired by the idea of technological singularity, stating that in reality, humans are addicted to technology "to the point where it's easy to imagine a world where Skynet has infiltrated every single aspect of your life, and you didn't fight it - you invited it in."


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Principal photography began on April 21, 2014, in New Orleans. The film shot under the code name "Vista", a possible reference to the Terminator's "hasta la vista" line in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". The first unit shot the film over a total of 90 days, in high definition. An early sequence from "The Terminator" is recreated in "Terminator Genisys", in which Kyle Reese and a T-800 arrive in 1984 from the future. Because the original film was owned by a different company, the filmmakers did not have the rights to use its opening sequence in "Terminator Genisys" and instead had to recreate the scenes. In addition, Taylor explained that the original footage would not look right with the rest of the film due to its grain quality. The sequence was shot within the first two weeks of filming. The T-800's arrival in 1984 takes place at Griffith Park in Los Angeles, a location that was recreated as a set in New Orleans.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: To authentically recreate one of the scenes, costume designer Susan Matheson had Nike produce new pairs of discontinued Nike Vandal sneakers for Courtney to wear. Matheson had initially searched for a pair of the sneakers, but the ones that she came across did not look new enough for the scene. Matheson eventually spoke to Paramount, which convinced Nike to produce 25 pairs of Vandal sneakers for the film. For certain scenes, the production tried to match the cinematography of the first two "Terminator" films. Scenes set in 1984 favored blue, green and black tones to match the look of "The Terminator" and those set during the future war against the machines were modeled after similar scenes in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". For the future soldiers, arm and shoulder pieces were made of rubber car mats which had been cut up and aged to simulate makeshift armor that the soldiers had salvaged. Legacy Effects, successor to Stan Winston Studio, created the Terminator robotic and make-up effects, led by John Rosengrant (who worked on the previous four "Terminator" films). Jeff Dawn, lead make-up artist for the first three installments, did not return.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: To prepare for his role, Jason Clarke observed Edward Furlong's performance as John Connor in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". For a scene in which John Connor delivers a motivational speech to his troops, Jason Clarke referred to passages from "Hamlet", "Henry V" and a Steve Jobs speech. Courtney watched the previous "Terminator" films for context and inspiration, but did not seek to replicate the performances of actors who portrayed Kyle Reese in those films. Courtney and Emilia Clarke underwent physical training to prepare for their roles. Courtney had to slim down his physique to appear less imposing. Clarke also went through training for scenes involving weapons and stunts and had to change her hair color for the role. Clarke, who is from the UK, adopted an American accent. One scene is shot as a flashback to the 1970s, during which young Sarah Connor is played by Taylor's 11-year-old daughter, Willa Taylor.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Filming in New Orleans included NASA'S Michoud Assembly Facility, where a set was constructed to portray part of the Cyberdyne facility's interior, as well as its time machine. Michoud was the only location in Louisiana tall enough to contain the set. Filming took place there during July 2014. The Oracle Corporation headquarters in Redwood City served as the exterior of Cyberdyne; Oracle was founded by the Ellisons' father, Larry. Filming at the Oracle headquarters, including interior scenes, took place at the end of July 2014.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: In early August 2014, filming took place at the Bay Bridge and Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. Scenes involving cable cars and stunt automobiles were shot on San Francisco's California Street from the night of August 4 to the early hours of August 5, 2014. Because of the late-night filming, the production team had to receive approval from residents and business owners in the area; nearly 99 percent of them approved the shoot. Filming would also take place on Mission Street, in which extras flee from a threat which would be added in later through computer-generated technology. The scenes would depict chaotic city scenes. Subtle action scenes were also scheduled to continue at the Golden Gate Bridge. One scene features a school bus that is flipped through the air while driving on the Golden Gate Bridge. A 500-foot-long replica of the bridge was built in New Orleans for the shot involving the bus flip, something that was done without visual effects. Scroggins Aviation Mockup & Effects was called in to fabricate and build the Police AS350 and Coast Guard A109 helicopter mock-ups for the production.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: On August 6, 2014, it was announced that filming had concluded and that the official title would be "Terminator Genisys" rather than "Terminator Genesis". Ellison later said about the film's "Genisys" title, "It didn't work. The actual thought process behind it was, we were kind of playing on words a la Google. And it's in reference to genesis, which is in reference to the singularity and the man-machine hybrid that John Connor ends up beginning. Also, if you pronounce it a different way it signals a new beginning. So it was kind of a play on words and it did not come across that way." At one point during post-production, the mid-credits scene was included at the end of the film, before the credits. Taylor decided to make it a mid-credits scene after getting reactions from test audiences.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Visual-effects supervisor Janek Sirrs oversaw approximately 1,200 visual-effects shots generated at Double Negative, Moving Picture Company (MPC), Industrial Light & Magic (ILM), Lola VFX, One of Us and Method Studios. Double Negative was the lead company, with 900 shots which included the T-1000, T-5000 and T-3000 Terminators, the helicopter and bus-chase scenes and the Cyberdyne explosion. The complexity of the T-3000, which had to be shown as a living mass of nanomites with the ability to transform in successive layers, required as much as 20 hours to render a single frame. The mechanical cells aimed to resemble the material on stealth aircraft, with a result described as "more matte than metal" and resembling a slightly-iridescent ceramic carbon. Since the T-3000 was a man transformed into a robot, the design aimed for a human shape streamlined for better combat efficiency. The T-1000 was built from fluid simulations, their environments filmed with high-resolution cameras to ensure proper reflection. Its acid destruction was realistically depicted after studies of acids burning aluminum ingots and other metal. Double Negative's artists shot many reference plates of San Francisco, including scans of the Golden Gate Bridge, to ensure that the city was recreated properly in the bus and helicopter chases.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: MPC's most elaborate effect was the digital recreation of the original Terminator, which required 12 months for 35 shots (completed 30 minutes before the final print was submitted to the studio). Performance capture was used only for facial animation, since Schwarzenegger was scanned reading his lines. The studio's artists studied archive footage of the actor, focusing mainly on "The Terminator" and "Pumping Iron" and were given a 1984 plaster cast of him. On set, the fight between both Terminators had Schwarzenegger and Brett Azar (a bodybuilder chosen for his resemblance to the actor in 1984) and, in more dangerous scenes, Azar and a stunt double—requiring effects artists to replace the face of Pops. MPC also handled the future battle, with set extensions and Skynet robots and vehicles based on models by Legacy Effects. ILM did the opening scene – in which San Francisco is wiped out on Judgment Day, inspired by the Los Angeles nuclear destruction in "Terminator 2: Judgment Day" – and the Terminator vision. For the IMAX 3D release, the film was remastered with IMAX DMR technology to create 3D effects and a high-resolution film print.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Christophe Beck was initially hired to score the film, but was replaced by Lorne Balfe. Hans Zimmer joined in as an executive music producer. Balfe aimed to create a soundtrack which stood in its own, since "Terminator Genisys" is "not a prequel and not a sequel", incorporating Brad Fiedel's iconic theme in "The Terminator", as it had "a nod to the past but also bring it into the future." The soundtrack was released by Paramount Music and Skydance Media on June 17, 2015. Chinese pop singer Jane Zhang (in her first English-language recording) and hip hop artist Big Sean (in his musical feature film debut) contributed "Fighting Shadows", released by Def Jam Recordings on June 30, 2015, as a soundtrack bonus track.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Photos of the cast were shot by "Entertainment Weekly" and published in October 2014, providing a first look at the film's characters. The photos received various criticism. On December 2, 2014, Paramount released the film's first motion poster, showing a T-800 disintegrating into dust before the logo appeared. A preview trailer was released the following day, with brief clips from the film accompanied by "I'd Love to Change the World" by Jetta. Differing from past "Terminator" releases, the preview had forced-looking camera motion in aerial-effect scenes and a first look at the color grading used to evoke the look of past films. The full trailer debuted on December 4. A second trailer (released in April 2015) was noted for spoiling the scene in which John Connor becomes a Terminator, a decision criticized by Alan Taylor and the writers.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: At the WWE pay-per-view event "WrestleMania 31", the film was promoted with an elaborate entrance stage for wrestler Triple H. On the stage, Triple H donning a Terminator outfit and a video played of Schwarzenegger saying: "Judgment Day is here. It's time to play the game." Several brands were promotional partners.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: On June 14, Schwarzenegger visited Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton for an advance screening of "Terminator Genisys". Two days later, Waze added Schwarzenegger's Terminator voice as a voice-navigation option. Schwarzenegger released a video that day of himself walking around Hollywood dressed as the Terminator and posing as a wax model at Madame Tussauds Hollywood. The video promoted a fundraising contest to benefit the After-School All-Stars which would bring selected donors to the "Terminator Genisys" premiere.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Several YouTubers appeared with Schwarzenegger in a YouTube miniseries, "Terminator Genisys: The YouTube Chronicles", produced by Heresy and released on June 22. Consisting of videos uploaded by Machinima, Lilly Singh and Toby Turner (who also plays the T-360, a similar model of the T-1000), the series also included Eliot Dewberry, Ricky Hayberg, Olga Kay, Sean Klitzner, Lloyd Ahlquist and Matthew Santoro. The series was directed by Charles Paek and written by Jay Bushman. On June 24, Schwarzenegger spoke to attendees of an early fan screening of the movie in New York City (announced on Reddit), which was followed by an interview and selfie session.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: "Terminator Genisys" saw its European premiere in Berlin, on June 21, 2015, and had its North American premiere at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood one week later, on June 28. The film was first released in ten markets on June 25; the following week, it was released in 35 countries (including the United States) in regular, RealD 3D and IMAX 3D formats. On July 26 the film was playing in 64 countries outside North America, and was released in China on August 23, 2015.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: The film was released for digital download on October 20, 2015 and was released by Paramount Home Entertainment on DVD, Blu-ray and Blu-ray 3D on November 10. "Terminator Genisys" debuted as the bestselling Blu-ray and the most-rented film of the week and was second in overall home-video sales to "Inside Out". It has grossed over $25.1 million in total domestic video sales, bringing the film's gross to $465.3 million. A 4K UHD Blu-ray release occurred on June 12, 2018.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: "Terminator Genisys" grossed $89.7 million in North America and $350.8 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $440.6 million. Of the "Terminator" franchise, only "" earned more at the box office. Because of its $155 million production budget and an estimated $50–100 million spent on marketing, "Bloomberg Business" reported that the film would have needed to earn at least $450 million in its theatrical run to break even. In August 2015 "Forbes" cited "Terminator Genisys" as the first American film to earn $400 million worldwide without grossing $100 million in North America, earnings comparable to the French film "The Intouchables". It was the first Hollywood release to earn $100 million in China and less than that in North America; both were duplicated the following summer by "Warcraft".


title: Terminator Genisys

text: The film opened on July 1, 2015, in the United States and Canada (the same day as the comedy-drama "Magic Mike XXL") in 3,700 theaters and previewed the previous evening in 2,527 theaters. The two films and the holdovers "Jurassic World" and "Inside Out" were each projected to earn $45–55 million during the Independence Day holiday period and $27–30 million over the three-day weekend.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Box-office analysts noted that "Terminator Genisys" would have to compete with "Jurassic World" and, to some extent, "Ted 2" for male moviegoers. They expected the film to have the upper hand, replacing "Jurassic World" in IMAX theaters, but good earnings were needed internationally to make up any deficits. It made $2.3 million from the Tuesday-night preview—a record for Paramount Pictures, surpassing the $2.1 million earned by "Hercules" (2014)—and $8.9 million on its Wednesday opening day. The film earned $42.4 million over the five-day opening stretch, including $27 million from 3,758 theaters over the weekend, placing it third at the box office behind "Jurassic World" and "Inside Out". Scott Mendelson of "Forbes" suggested several possible explanations for its box-office performance: poor marketing, negative reviews, competition from the family-friendly "Jurassic World" and "Inside Out", the decline of Schwarzenegger's star power and American indifference to another "Terminator" film.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: During the weekend of August 2, 2015, "Terminator Genisys" was playing in 65 countries (including the US and Canada); the film was released in China on August 23. Comparisons of overseas box-office performance were made with Paramount's "" (2011), "Pacific Rim", "Lucy" and "World War Z" rather than the preceding "Terminator Salvation" (2009) and the other "Terminator" films. The film was released in ten countries before its North American debut beginning on June 25, earning $8.4 million over its opening weekend. During its second weekend it expanded to 46 countries, earning $73.3 million and topping the international box office before being passed by "Minions" the following weekend. The film led in box-office receipts outside North America for four non-consecutive weekends.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: "Terminator Genisys" had the franchise's biggest opening and Schwarzenegger's best in Singapore ($1.4 million) and Colombia ($1.3 million); both exceeded the opening of "Terminator Salvation" and that of 28 other countries, including Russia, Korea and Mexico. The film topped the box office in Peru, Vietnam, Turkey and 28 other countries, was Paramount's biggest Argentine opening ($2.3 million), and was the biggest July opening and the fifth-biggest of all time in Russia and the CIS ($12.5 million). In the U.K. and Brazil it opened behind "Minions", earning $5.8 million and $3.9 million, respectively and was second in France to "Les Profs 2" with $3.8 million. Other notable openings were in South Korea ($11.2 million), Mexico ($6.1 million), Japan ($5.4 million), Australia ($4.4 million), Germany ($3.1 million) and India ($3 million). Its largest markets outside the US and Canada were South Korea ($23.5 million), Russia ($21.8 million), Japan ($19 million) the UK ($16.1 million) and Brazil ($11.1 million). "Terminator Genisys" earned $2.2 million from Chinese midnight showings (the fourth-largest of all time) and $27.4 million on its opening day, the fourth-biggest opening day of all time for a Hollywood film (behind "Furious 7", "" and ""). It topped the international box office with a one-day gross from China. The film earned $82.8 million in its eight-day opening week (Sunday to Sunday), $58 million from Monday to Sunday and $23.4 million in its three-day opening weekend (Friday to Sunday). As of September 12, 2015, "Terminator Genisys" had grossed $112.8 million in China.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes reports an approval rating of 27% based on 274 reviews, with an average rating of 4.70/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Mired in its muddled mythology, "Terminator: Genisys" is a lurching retread that lacks the thematic depth, conceptual intelligence, or visual thrills that launched this once-mighty franchise." On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average to critic reviews, the film has a score of 38 out of 100, based on 41 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale. The "Los Angeles Times" said critics found the film to be a "messy sequel" that was a "convoluted retread" of past films. According to "TheWrap", critics found the time travel storyline to be "convoluted" and that the performances were "unremarkable" aside from Schwarzenegger reprising his role.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Joe Morgenstern of "The Wall Street Journal" criticized the film, saying that it "plays like the worst of all outcomes". James Rocchi of "TheWrap" compared it negatively to "The Terminator", writing that "Genisys" "comes back from the past to water down a whole season of summer moviegoing". Michael Phillips of the "Chicago Tribune" criticized the film's lack of originality, calling it "simply business and dull business at that". Mark Kermode of "The Observer" described it as "marginally better than "Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines" or "Terminator Salvation" but still light years short of either "The Terminator" or "Terminator 2: Judgment Day"", considering it "utterly unnecessary (if occasionally entertaining)". He added, "Cameron's original 80s production wrung rip-roaring rewards from a smart script and a small budget, but this bloated, smashy-crashy behemoth lacks the role-reversal wit that turned the action of 1991's "T2" into something more than mere spectacle." Alan Jones of "Radio Times" awarded the film two stars out of five, writing "Confusing time travel, lacklustre spectacle and bland casting earmark this unexceptional reboot of James Cameron's classic cyborg v man franchise for the smartphone generation." He also regarded the "CG action" as "unimaginative".


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Michael O'Sullivan of "The Washington Post" enjoyed the film: ""Genisys" goes back to what made the franchise work in the first place: not the machine inside the man, but vice versa." Richard Lawson of "Vanity Fair" also gave a positive review, writing that the film "makes a surprisingly compelling case" for itself.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: After seeing a pre-release screening of the film, Cameron voiced his support for "Terminator Genisys". Describing it as respectful to the first two films, Cameron said he felt like "the franchise has been reinvigorated". However, in 2017, following the film's performance, Cameron recanted his statement and said that he had only supported the film because of his friendship with Schwarzenegger.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Actress Emilia Clarke expressed relief to discover there would not be any sequels following the film's underwhelming box office performance. In reference to the film's director Alan Taylor, with whom she had worked on "Game of Thrones", Clarke said, "He was eaten and chewed up on "Terminator". He was not the director I remembered. He didn't have a good time. No one had a good time." In a 2021 interview with "The Hollywood Reporter" while promoting "The Many Saints of Newark", Taylor admitted as having "lost the will to make movies and to live as a director" after his experience directing "Genisys" and "Thor: The Dark World", causing him to enter into a depression. He credited his work on a television pilot based on the novel "Roadside Picnic" and in the Amazon Video series "Electric Dreams" for helping him to come out of his depression upon rediscovering the joy of filmmaking by making "a couple really tiny things" slowly, smaller and personal like the films he did as a film student.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: At the 2015 Teen Choice Awards, "Terminator Genisys" earned two nominations for Choice Summer Movie and Choice Summer Movie Star: Female (Emilia Clarke). It was also nominated at the Golden Trailer Awards for Best Summer 2015 Blockbuster. At the 42nd Saturn Awards, the film received a nomination for Best Science Fiction Film.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: In December 2013, "The Hollywood Reporter" reported that a television series was in the works, which would tie into a new "Terminator" film trilogy. Sequels to "Terminator Genisys" were scheduled for release on May 19, 2017 and June 29, 2018, under the tentative titles of "Terminator 2" and "Terminator 3", but they were ultimately cancelled. The two sequels were to be filmed back to back during nine months of continuous shooting. The storylines for the two sequels were devised by Kalogridis and Lussier. The new trilogy would have explained who sent Pops back to protect Sarah Connor. J. K. Simmons would have had further involvement in the new trilogy, and Dayo Okeniyi would have a significant role reprising Danny Dyson in the second film, which would have focused on John Connor's life after becoming part machine. Jason Clarke said about the cancelled "Genisys" sequel:


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Development stalled in 2015 after "Terminator Genisys" under-performed at the box office. On October 1, 2015, "The Hollywood Reporter" confirmed that the sequels and television spin-off were on hold indefinitely, following the film's overall box office performance. According to Skydance COO Dana Goldberg, the company was pressing forward with development, but would further analyze market research before starting production. In January 2016, the planned "Terminator 2" was removed from Paramount's release schedule. In April 2016, Emilia Clarke said that she would not return for any sequels.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: Ultimately, the film rights to the "Terminator" franchise reverted to co-creator James Cameron, who along with David Ellison, produced a new film, "", a direct sequel to "Terminator 2: Judgment Day". It was intended to be the first in a new trilogy of planned "Terminator" films, though they were later cancelled due to the film's poor box office returns.


title: Terminator Genisys

text: "Terminator: Dark Fate" was directed by Tim Miller, and featured the return of Schwarzenegger and Hamilton. It was released on November 1, 2019 to better critical reception than previous entries, though it was nevertheless a commercial failure.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Having been called one of the greatest figure skaters in history by many sport writers, commentators, and skaters for his well-rounded skills, achievements, popularity, and impact on the sport, Hanyu is the first men's singles skater to achieve a Super Slam, having won all major competitions in both his senior and junior careers. He has broken world records nineteen times—the most times among single skaters since the introduction of the ISU Judging System in 2004. He is the first man to have received over 100 points in the men's short program, over 200 points in the men's free skate, and over 300 total points in competition. Upon winning his first Olympic title, Hanyu became the first Asian men's singles skater to win the Olympic gold. At nineteen years old, he was the youngest male skater to win the Olympic title since Dick Button in 1948. In 2018, he became the first man to win two consecutive Olympic gold medals since Button's back-to-back titles in 1948 and 1952. At the 2016 CS Autumn Classic International, Hanyu became the first skater in history to successfully land a quadruple loop in a competition. He is the first men's singles skater from Asia to win multiple World Championships.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In recognition of his achievements, Hanyu became the youngest recipient of the People's Honour Award, bestowed by the Prime Minister of Japan for "giving dreams and thrills to the people and hope and courage to society". He is the first figure skater to be nominated for the Laureus World Sports Award and was named the Most Valuable Skater by the inaugural ISU Skating Awards in 2020. Hanyu also has been featured in prestigious lists, such as "Forbes"' 30 Under 30 Asia as well as ESPN's World Fame 100 and The Dominant 20. In 2022, Hanyu was ranked sixth in the list of most-searched athletes on Google Search worldwide. The same year, on July 19, Hanyu announced his decision to turn professional and "step away" from competitive figure skating after a 12-year senior career, which according to "Nikkei Asia", "marks the end of an era".


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu was born on December 7, 1994, in Izumi-ku, Sendai, Japan, the second and younger child to his father, Hidetoshi Hanyu, who is a junior high school teacher, and Yumi Hanyu, a former clerk at a department store. Hanyu's father was also an adviser to the baseball school club and recommended the sport to him before he eventually chose figure skating. His mother used to make all of Hanyu's costumes in his early career, including costumes for his 2010–2011 season free skate which was designed by American figure skater Johnny Weir. She accompanied him during his training in Toronto, Canada, while his father and older sister, Saya, stayed in Japan. Hanyu's given name came from the desire of his father so he would "live a dignified way like a tightly drawn bowstring", and also symbolizes confidence, strength, and straightness.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the age of two, Hanyu was diagnosed with asthma, a condition that slowly improved with time. The condition remained an issue for Hanyu well into his career in junior competition, and Canadian choreographer David Wilson has stated that it was not until Hanyu's transition into adult competition that he succeeded in learning to cope with his endurance issues caused by his asthma and experienced in the later parts of his performed programs as a junior.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu began skating at the age of four after his sister's coach Mami Yamada had suggested he try the sport instead of being a nuisance during his sister's training. Yamada noted Hanyu's impatience when he first got onto the ice. He came running and jumped on the ice, then fell hard, hitting his helmet onto the ice, quickly got up and running again. However, Yamada praised Hanyu for his ability to express his sincerity. After coaching him until the end of his 2nd grade in elementary school, Yamada had to move to another prefecture and asked , former coach of Japan's first World Figure Skating Championships medalist Minoru Sano, to coach Hanyu and "not put his talent to waste".


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu first competed nationally as a novice skater in the 2004–05 season. He skated and won gold at the 2004 Japan Novice Championships in the Novice B category, the lower of the two novice level categories. His home rink then closed due to financial problems, reducing his training time. His coach at that time, Shōichirō Tsuzuki, eventually had to move to another rink and was replaced by Nanami Abe who guided Hanyu until he switched to Brian Orser years later in 2012. In the 2006–07 season, Hanyu won the bronze medal at the 2006 Japan Novice Championships in the Novice A category. Hanyu winning a bronze medal at the 2006 Japan Novice championships earned him an invitation to compete at the 2006–07 Japan Junior Championships where he placed 7th. Hanyu's home rink reopened in 2007 after being closed for two years. He then placed first at the 2007 Japan Novice Championships in the Novice A category and won the bronze medal at the 2007–08 Japan Junior Championships.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In 2008, Hanyu moved up to the junior level and debuted at the ISU Junior Grand Prix. He placed 6th in the short program and 4th in the free skate, finishing 5th overall at the event in Merano, Italy. Following his Junior Grand Prix event, Hanyu won the gold medal at the 2008–09 Japan Junior Championships. At 13, he was the youngest male skater to win the Japan Junior Championship. This result also qualified him for the 2009 World Junior Championships. His high standing in the ranking of performances won him a medal and also earned him an invitation to compete on the senior level at the 2008–09 Japan Championships where he placed 8th. At the 2009 World Junior Championships in February, Hanyu placed 11th in the short program and 13th in his free skate, giving him a total of 161.77 points to finish 12th overall.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In the 2009–10 season, Hanyu won both of his Junior Grand Prix events, in Croatia and Poland, and finished as the top qualifier for the Junior Grand Prix Final where he achieved a new personal best score of 206.77 points and won the event. In the same season Hanyu also won the 2009–10 Japan Junior Championships and earned an invitation to compete on the senior level at the 2009–10 Japan Championships. He then placed first on the junior level and sixth on the senior level in the event. Based on his results, Hanyu was chosen to compete at the 2010 World Junior Championships. He won the competition after placing third in the short program and first in the free skate to earn a new personal best of 216.10 points. He became the fourth and the youngest Japanese man to win the junior world title.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: For the 2010–11 season, Hanyu moved up to the senior level at the age of 15. His assignments for the 2010–11 Grand Prix series were the 2010 NHK Trophy and the 2010 Cup of Russia. In his senior debut at the 2010 NHK Trophy, Hanyu placed 5th in the short program with 69.31 points. In his free skate, he landed his first quadruple toe loop jump in an ISU competition and came in 4th with 138.41 points, giving him a total of 207.72 points to finish 4th overall. Hanyu finished in seventh place at the Cup of Russia. At the 2010–11 Japan Championships, Hanyu was in second place after the short program, but faltered in the free skate and finished fourth overall. As the result, he was selected to compete at the 2011 Four Continents Championships, where he won the silver medal with a new personal best score.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu was skating at his home rink in Sendai when the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami struck his hometown and the region. The water pipes at his rink burst as a result of the April 2011 Miyagi earthquake. He trained in Yokohama and Hachinohe, Aomori until his home rink reopened on July 24, 2011. He also skated in 60 ice shows, using them as an opportunity to train. In April, he participated in an ice show to raise money for the victims.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu began the 2011–12 season with a win at the Nebelhorn Trophy. He placed first in both the short program and the free skate, for a combined total score of 226.26 points. For the 2011–12 Grand Prix series, he was assigned to the 2011 Cup of China and the 2011 Rostelecom Cup. He finished 4th at the Cup of China, then won the Rostelecom Cup with a new personal best score to qualify for his first senior Grand Prix Final, where he placed fourth.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu then won the bronze medal at the 2011–12 Japan Championships, earning a spot on the Japanese team for the 2012 World Championships. In his senior Worlds debut, Hanyu was seventh in the short program but placed second in the free skate. He won the bronze medal overall with a total score of 251.06 points, behind gold medalist Patrick Chan of Canada and silver medalist, his teammate, Daisuke Takahashi of Japan.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In April 2012, Hanyu switched coaches to Brian Orser in Toronto, Canada. It was reported he would make frequent trips to Toronto and continue to attend high school in Sendai. After moving to Canada, Hanyu increased his on-ice training to 3–4 hours a day, up from 1–2 hours, which had been due to a combination of limited ice time in Sendai, schooling, and asthma.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu began his season at the 2012 Finlandia Trophy, where he won the gold medal. He landed two quadruple jumps, a quad toe loop, and a quad salchow, in his free skate. It was the first time he had landed the latter jump in competition. Hanyu won the silver medal at his first Grand Prix event of the season, the 2012 Skate America. His short program score at the Skate America, 95.07 points, was a new world record. At his second event, the 2012 NHK Trophy, he scored 95.32 in the short program, beating his world record, and went on to win the gold medal in his hometown. Hanyu qualified for the 2012–13 Grand Prix Final in Sochi, where he finished second.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In December 2012, Hanyu claimed his first national title at the 2012–13 Japan Championships after placing first in the short program and second in the free skate. He took silver at the 2013 Four Continents Championships, having placed first in the short program and third in the free skate. At the 2013 World Championships, he was ninth in the short program and third in the free skate, finishing fourth overall.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu began his season with a win at the 2013 Finlandia Trophy. He won silver in both of his 2013–14 Grand Prix events, the 2013 Skate Canada International and the 2013 Trophée Éric Bompard, qualifying him for the 2013–14 Grand Prix Final. At the competition, Hanyu set a new world record in the short program with 99.84 points and won the title. He subsequently competed at the 2013–14 Japan Championships where he went on to win a second Japanese national title and named to Japan's teams to the Olympics and World Championships.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: at the Figure Skating Team Event for Team Japan. He won that segment, giving Team Japan 10 points. Hanyu later broke his world record and became the first skater to score over 100 points in the short program in the men's short program individual event with 101.45 points. Hanyu won the overall event and earned the first Olympic gold medal for Japan in the men's figure skating event, and only the second for the nation, following Shizuka Arakawa's gold medal in the women's event in 2006 in Turin.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu completed the season with a victory at the 2014 World Championships in Saitama, Japan. Hanyu became the first skater since Alexei Yagudin (in 2002) to win the Olympics, World Championships, and Grand Prix Final in the same season.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu withdrew from the 2014 Finlandia Trophy due to a back injury. For the 2014–15 Grand Prix season, he was selected to compete at the 2014 Cup of China and 2014 NHK Trophy.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the Cup of China, Hanyu was second in the short program. The next day, during the free skate warm-up, Hanyu collided with China's Yan Han. Hanyu was visibly injured but decided to compete. He fell five times in the free skate but scored enough to win the silver medal. After the competition, he received stitches on his head and chin due to the collision and the multiple falls. He flew to Japan for further treatment. He had bruising to his chin and head, hurt his midriff and left thigh, and sprained his right ankle.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: A few days before the NHK Trophy, Hanyu announced that he would compete but stated that he wasn't in top form. He struggled in the short program, placing fifth. The next day, he continued to have difficulties but placed third in the free skate, fourth overall. The score just barely, by a 0.15 point margin, earned him a spot to the Grand Prix Final. At the Final, he was first in both the short program (94.08 points) and free skate (194.08 points, a new personal best score, and the overall highest free skate score of the season), earning the gold medal. His total score was 34.26 points higher than silver medalist Javier Fernández's score.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In December 2014, Hanyu competed in the 2014–15 Japan Championships. He placed first in both the short program and free skate with a total score of 286.86 points, earning him his third consecutive Japan National Championships title and the first spot for Japan at the 2015 World Championships. He withdrew from the gala following the competition due to abdominal pain. Hanyu was diagnosed with a bladder problem related to the urachus and had surgery. He was hospitalized for two weeks and expected to resume training a month afterward. However, on February 9, he sprained his right ankle and was once again suspended from on-ice training, this time for two weeks. In March, he resumed training in Japan without his coach Brian Orser.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu competed at the 2015 World Championships, where he scored a season's best in the short program. He entered as first into the free skate, and scored 175.88, for a total of 271.08. He finished second behind Spain's Javier Fernández by less than 3 points.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu competed for the first time at the 2015 World Team Trophy, in Tokyo, Japan. He scored first in both the short program (with a new season's best) and the free skate, receiving 24 points to help Team Japan win the bronze medal, behind Team USA and Team Russia. He was the only skater to win both segments in the competition.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: For the 2015–16 season, Hanyu skated to the soundtrack from the films "Onmyōji" and "Onmyōji 2" in his free program, portraying natural philosopher and astrologer Abe no Seimei. He also met with Mansai Nomura, the actor who portrayed Seimei in the film, to get advice on how to portray the character. Hanyu started his season by winning gold at the 2015 Skate Canada Autumn Classic, finishing 36 points ahead of the silver medalist, Nam Nguyen. For the 2015–16 Grand Prix series, Hanyu was selected to compete at the Skate Canada and the NHK Trophy.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the 2015 Skate Canada International, Hanyu placed sixth in the short program with a score of 73.25 points after missing his quadruple toe loop and doing a double instead. In the free skate, he pulled up to second with a score of 186.29 after executing three quadruple jumps including the quad Salchow and quad toe loop in the first half followed by a quadruple toe loop-double toe loop in the second. He finished second overall behind Patrick Chan with a total score of 259.54. At the 2015 NHK Trophy, Hanyu placed first in the short program with a world record score of 106.33. He cleanly executed a quadruple Salchow, a quadruple toe loop-triple toe loop combination, and a triple Axel. In the free skate, he landed four clean quadruple jumps to receive 216.07 and a combined total of 322.40, breaking the world records for the free skate and the combined total. With this result, he qualified for the Grand Prix Final in second place with 28 ranking season Grand Prix points which were accumulated over the several international events which are part of the Grand Prix.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final in Barcelona, Hanyu broke the short program record which he had just set two weeks prior, totaling a score of 110.95 points, putting him in the lead. In the free skate, he broke another new world record, scoring 219.48 points, giving him a combined total of 330.43 and his third Grand Prix Final title in a row. Hanyu is the first man to have won Grand Prix Final for three consecutive seasons. He won with a total margin of 37.48 points ahead of Javier Fernández, breaking the previous victory margin record held by Evgeni Plushenko in 2004 (35.1 points).


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: On December 26, 2015, Hanyu won his fourth consecutive title at the 2015–16 Japan Championships, leading in both the short program and the free skate. Following that event, Hanyu announced that he would not compete at the 2016 Four Continents Championships because he planned to focus on training for the 2016 World Championships.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu skated another clean short program at the 2016 World Championships, scoring 110.56 points. He won that segment of the competition and had a 12.04-point lead over Javier Fernández, who came in second. In the free skate, Hanyu put a hand down on a quadruple Salchow, fell on the second attempt without putting it into a combination, stepped out of a triple Axel, decided to do a double rather than a triple Salchow, and had another hand down on the triple Lutz. Following these errors, he finished the competition in 2nd place, behind Javier Fernandez.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: On April 26, the Japan Skating Federation announced that Hanyu would take two months off the ice to heal from injury. He had been dealing with pain in his left foot since the beginning of the season, which worsened in January. The pain was the reason why Hanyu elected to do a Salchow instead of a toe loop as his third quadruple jump in his free skate at Worlds. Hanyu was diagnosed with Lisfranc ligament damage in his left foot.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: For the 2016–17 Grand Prix, Hanyu's assignments were the Skate Canada International and the NHK Trophy. His short program music was "Let's Go Crazy" by Prince and the free skate music consisted of "Asian Dream Song" and "View of Silence" by Joe Hisaishi, while Hanyu titled the program "Hope and Legacy". Hanyu competed at the Autumn Classic International, where he won the gold medal and became the first skater in history to successfully land a quadruple loop in a competition.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the 2016 Skate Canada International, Hanyu placed fourth in the short program, after landing his first jump on one knee, nearly putting his hand on the ice on the second, and electing not to perform a planned jump combination. In the free skate, he pulled up to first with a score of 183.41. Overall he finished second behind Patrick Chan, and ahead of Kevin Reynolds. At the NHK Trophy, Hanyu scored 103.89 in the short program and led this segment of the competition by almost 16 points over Nathan Chen. In his free skate, Hanyu landed three quadruple jumps: a loop, a Salchow, and a toe loop, but made mistakes on two other jumping passes. He received a total score of 301.47 and won the gold medal.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the 2016–17 Grand Prix Final in Marseille, Hanyu placed first in the short program with 106.53 points after a solid showing. During the free skate, Hanyu had a strong start with clean jumps in the first half of the program but made mistakes on three jumping passes in the latter half. He came in third in that segment but was helped by his score advantage from the short program finished first overall. He became the first men's singles skater to win four consecutive Grand Prix Finals.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: After contracting the flu, Hanyu withdrew from the Japanese National Championships. Despite this, he was selected to compete at the 2017 Four Continents Championships and 2017 World Championships. At the 2017 Four Continents Championships, Hanyu placed third in the short program with a score of 97.04 points, due to a mistake in his combination. During the free skate despite a strong start, he again made an error in what was supposed to be a quadruple-triple combination. Hanyu then improvised his layout for the second half of the program, successfully changing three of his jumping passes into more difficult elements to maximize his score after the mistake. He placed first in the free skate with a score of 206.67 but overall finished second behind Nathan Chen by about four points.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the 2017 World Championships, Hanyu was fifth after the short program after invalidating the second part of his combination and receiving a time deduction. In the free skate, Hanyu landed all of his jumps cleanly with high grades of execution, including four quadruple jumps and two triple Axels, as well as executing level four footwork and spins. He scored 223.20 in the free skate which set both a new world record and a personal best, finishing the competition with 321.59 points and winning his second World title.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the 2017 World Team Trophy, Hanyu came in seventh place after a mistake-laden short program which left out a planned combination. In the free skate, Hanyu placed first after receiving 200.49 points for a program that featured four quadruple jumps, three of which with positive grades of execution, while also becoming the first skater to complete three quadruple jumps in the second half of a free skate program. However, he turned two other jumps into a single. Overall he added 18 points to the team score and took gold with Team Japan.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: For the 2017–18 season, Hanyu returned to Ballade No. 1 (Chopin) for his short program, the same music he used two seasons ago for his world record-breaking short program. He also decided to repeat his free skating to the soundtrack from the film "Onmyōji," with an upgraded layout compared to the one he performed in the 2015–16 season. At his first competition of the season, Skate Canada Autumn Classic International, Hanyu broke the world record he set previously at the 2015–16 Grand Prix Final with 112.72 points. However, his performance placed 5th in the free skate and won the silver medal overall behind Javier Fernández.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the 2017 Rostelecom Cup, Hanyu was second after the short program. In the free skate, he landed his first quadruple Lutz in competition and received +1.14 Grade of Execution (GOE) for the jump. He finished second overall behind Nathan Chen by about three points. Hanyu injured a lateral ligament in his right ankle while practicing the quadruple Lutz on November 9, 2017, and withdrew from the 2017 NHK Trophy, which automatically prevented him from competing for his fifth consecutive Grand Prix Final title. Due to his recovery taking longer than expected, Hanyu also withdrew from the 2017 Japanese Championships. Despite missing the event serving as an Olympic qualifier for Japanese skaters, Hanyu was assigned to represent Japan at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, and the 2018 World Figure Skating Championships in Milan, Italy, given his top world standing as well as his position as the reigning world champion and the defending Olympic champion.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu did not participate in the team event at the Olympics to buy more practice time at his training base in Toronto in preparation for the individual event. At a press conference held by Hanyu after one of his official practices on February 13, he revealed he was off the ice until January and started executing triple jumps just three weeks, and quadruple jumps just two weeks before the competition, and that he still had not decided which technical elements he would use for the event.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: On February 16, Hanyu performed a flawless short program, for which he scored 111.68 points, putting him first in that segment of the competition. In the free skate, he scored 206.17 points with a solid program. He earned 317.85 points overall, winning his second consecutive Olympic gold medal, a feat that had not been achieved since Dick Button's back-to-back titles in 1948 and 1952. On March 7, 2018, the Japan Skating Federation announced that Hanyu had decided to withdraw from the upcoming World Championships in Milan, Italy, to allow his injured foot to recover. After a medical examination following his Olympic win, it was revealed that the damaged ligaments in his right ankle and other unspecified injuries required at least two weeks of rest and three months of rehabilitation to heal.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In April, Hanyu performed a medley of his various old programs in his first self-produced show "Continues with Wings" at the Musashino Forest Sports Plaza in Tokyo, Japan, skipping jumps due to his injury. On June 1, 2018, it was announced that Hanyu would receive the People's Honour Award, a prestigious government commendation bestowed by the Prime Minister of Japan. Hanyu is the youngest among the 27 recipients since the award's creation in 1977 and the first figure skater to be given the honor.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In August 2018, Hanyu announced that his upcoming short program would be set to "Otoñal" by Raúl di Blasio and choreographed by Jeffrey Buttle. His free skate, titled "Origin" by Hanyu, would be performed to "Art on Ice" and "Magic Stradivarius" by Edvin Marton and choreographed by Shae-Lynn Bourne. The former paid tribute to Johnny Weir's 2004–05 free skate program and the latter is a homage to Evgeni Plushenko's "Tribute to Nijinsky" program, which was his free skate in the 2003–04 season. On choosing music used previously by his skating idols, Hanyu remarked "I am satisfied that as a result (of my Olympic success) I have been released from the pressure that I have to produce results. I think and feel, that I can skate for myself from now on. I want to go back to my skating origins".


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: For the 2018–19 Grand Prix series, Hanyu was assigned to the Grand Prix of Helsinki and Rostelecom Cup.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu started the season by competing at Skate Canada Autumn Classic International. He received 97.74 points for his short program after one of his spins was invalidated. In the free skate, Hanyu received 165.91 points due to several mistakes on his jumps, which placed him second behind training mate Junhwan Cha. He finished first overall with a score of 263.65 thanks to his lead after the short program.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At his first Grand Prix event, the Grand Prix of Helsinki, Hanyu placed first in the short program with 106.69 points, a world record score under the newly introduced +5/-5 GOE system. In the free skate, he performed four quadruple jumps, including the never-before-attempted quadruple toe loop-triple Axel sequence. Despite underrotating two of his jumps, Hanyu scored 190.43 points for a total of 297.12 points, setting two more world records in the process and winning the gold medal by a margin of nearly 40 points.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the 2018 Rostelecom Cup, Hanyu placed first in the short program with 110.53 points, a new world record. On the following day, he re-injured his right ankle in practice after falling on a quad loop jump. He considered withdrawing from the event but opted to compete, aided by painkillers, and changed his program layout to not exacerbate the injury. He placed first in the free skate and overall with a score of 278.42. This marked the first time Hanyu won gold at both of his Grand Prix assignments. Subsequently, he stated: "I thought about withdrawing because of the injury, but it is my choice. I really wanted to skate this program in Russia." He received his medal at the victory ceremony while using crutches. Japan Skating Association head of development Yoshiko Kobayashi reported recommending three weeks of rest for Hanyu's ankle to recover.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: On November 29, 2018, the Japanese Skating Federation announced that Hanyu would withdraw from the Grand Prix Final due to injuries to ligaments and tendons in his right leg, for which he required around one month of rehabilitation. His withdrawal from the Japan Figure Skating Championships was announced two weeks later.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Despite missing nationals, Hanyu was assigned to represent Japan at the 2019 World Figure Skating Championships in Saitama, Japan, based on his record from previous seasons. Ahead of the competition, he stated that his injured ankle hadn't yet fully recovered, but insisted that he was "100% ready" for the competition. He came in third after the short program with a score of 94.87 due to invalidating one of his elements. He placed second in the free skate with a score of 206.10 after delivering a nearly clean program, which placed him second overall. Both his free skate score and his total score of 300.97 were world records but were quickly surpassed by Nathan Chen, who ended up taking gold in the event. After the event, he stated he was "regretful" about his performance, but assured the result motivated him to continue skating and improve in the next season. Similar to his preparations for the Olympics, he relied on painkillers before and during the event to make jumping possible. The expected timing of his recovery was uncertain. Subsequently, the Japanese federation announced he would not be participating in the season's final event, the World Team Trophy, due to his injury.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu opted to retain both of his programs for the new season. Competing at the 2019 CS Autumn Classic International, Hanyu placed first in both programs to claim the gold medal, despite a fall on his quad Salchow in the short program and a few turnouts on landings in the free skate. Coach Orser praised Hanyu, saying "I have never seen him at this time of the year to be so focused."


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Commencing the Grand Prix, Hanyu went to his fourth Skate Canada International, having won the silver medal there on his three previous outings. Hanyu placed first in the short program with a clean skate, twenty points ahead of American Camden Pulkinen. Assessing his performance, Hanyu said it "was not so great, but I felt I did my best today." In the free skate, Hanyu turned out of his opening quad loop, but otherwise landed all jumps cleanly, setting a new personal best and winning the event by almost sixty points. His 59.82-point margin over silver medalist Nam Nguyen was the widest in the history of the ISU Grand Prix series. He won his second Grand Prix, the 2019 NHK Trophy, by a similar margin.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu went into the Grand Prix Final in Torino as co-favorite for the title alongside Nathan Chen. Hanyu's coach Ghislain Briand was delayed in traveling to the event, resulting in him having no coach present for the competition's first segment. In the short program, Hanyu stepped out of his quad toe loop without executing a combination, and as a result, placed almost thirteen points behind Chen. In the free skate, Hanyu landed five quad jumps in one program for the first time in his career, including his first quad Lutz since his Olympic season injury, but popped an intended triple Axel-triple Axel sequence. He finished second behind Chen in that segment as well, taking the silver medal overall.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Competing at his first Japanese championships since the 2016–17 season, Hanyu placed first in the short program, 5.01 points ahead of Shoma Uno. Several jump errors in the free skate saw him place third in that segment, behind Uno and Yuma Kagiyama, and win the silver medal overall. It was Hanyu's first loss to Uno.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Heading into the Four Continents Championships in Seoul, Hanyu opted to return to his Ballade No. 1 (Chopin) program and his "Seimei" program from prior seasons. Referencing the 2018 Winter Olympics which were held in Pyeongchang, Hanyu noted that while he wanted to win a gold medal once again in South Korea, he wanted to showcase and focus on his own style of figure skating even more. In the short program, Hanyu broke his previous world record with 111.82 points. Hanyu called it "the most perfect performance I've ever done." Despite errors on two of his quad attempts in the free skate, he won that segment as well, taking the gold medal overall with 299.42 points. Hanyu's victory on February 9, made him the first and only male singles skater to win all of the major ISU championship events at the junior and senior levels, a feat known as the Super Slam, previously only achieved by five other competitors in the other three skating disciplines. He was assigned to compete at the World Championships in Montreal, but these were canceled as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the ISU Skating Awards in 2020, Hanyu was nominated for Best Costume and Most Valuable Skater for the 2019–2020 season, and proceeded to win the latter.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: On August 28, Hanyu announced that he would skip the Grand Prix series, citing the risk of COVID-19 for himself, the competition staff, and for his fans who would gather to support him. Despite feeling "conflicted" over whether he should have competed or not as COVID-19 continued and practicing without his coaching team, Hanyu decided to compete in Japanese championships, which doubled as the final qualifier for the upcoming World Championships in Stockholm. He placed first in the short program (103.53 points) and the free skate (215.83 points) with all positive grades of execution on jumping passes and won his fifth national figure skating title with a total score of 319.36 points.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: The 2021 World Championships were to be the first direct competition between Hanyu and Nathan Chen since the 2019–20 Grand Prix Final. Hanyu placed first in the short program with a solid performance, 6.02 points ahead of compatriot Yuma Kagiyama. In the free skate, Hanyu opened his program with two quadruple jumps and a triple Axel but received negative grades of execution for all three of them. Scoring 182.20 points, he placed fourth in the free skate and third overall, behind Chen and Kagiyama. It was the first competition Hanyu had placed below second since 2014. On the following day, Hanyu confirmed the report of his asthma attack by overseas media. He stated that he felt a little painful after finishing the free skate, and explained: "There were few small troubles that kept stacking up ... However, if asked whether that was what led to the huge mistake (in the free skate), I don't think it was as big of a miss as it was in terms of the miss in the score." Hanyu's placement combined with Kagiyama's qualified three berths for Japanese men at the 2022 Winter Olympics. Hanyu competed as part of Team Japan for the 2021 World Team Trophy. He placed second in both the short program and the free skate, only behind Nathan Chen. He achieved a personal season's best score in both the short program and the free skate with 107.12 and 193.76 points respectively and earned a total of 22 points to help his team take home the bronze medal.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu confirmed his plans to compete in the 2021–22 Olympic season, and was scheduled to compete at the 2021 NHK Trophy and 2021 Rostelecom Cup in November for the 2021–22 Grand Prix series. On November 4, 2021, the Japan Skating Federation announced Hanyu's withdrawal from the NHK Trophy due to an injury in his right ankle ligament during a fall in practice. The JSF subsequently announced his withdrawal from the Rostelecom Cup prior to the event, but said that he would remain in consideration for the Olympic team.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu made his season debut at the 2021–22 Japan Figure Skating Championships, placing first in both the short program and free skate, winning his sixth Japanese National title, tying Takeshi Honda's record of most national titles in the last 50 years. He also attempted a quadruple Axel for the first time during the free skate, although it was downgraded to a triple Axel with a two-footed landing. Hanyu was assigned to represent Japan at the 2022 Winter Olympics and the 2022 World Championships.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At the 2022 Winter Olympics, Hanyu missed his opening quadruple Salchow jump in the short program due to a hole in the ice and placed eighth with 95.15 points, qualifying him for the free skate. The score was his lowest in the segment since the 2019 World Championships. In the free skate, he fell twice in his first two opening jumps, a quadruple Axel and a quad Salchow. His quad Axel attempt is the first that was not downgraded to triple Axel. Other than these two mistakes, he delivered a clean skate, placing third in the free skate and fourth place overall with a total score of 283.21 points, behind fellow Japanese compatriot and bronze medalist Shoma Uno. Following his free skate, Hanyu confirmed in a press conference that he had re-injured his right ankle in practice the day before the free skate, but since it was the Olympics and not a normal competition, he chose to compete on painkillers instead of withdrawing. On March 1, 2022, the Japan Skating Federation announced Hanyu's withdrawal from the 2022 World Championships due to the unhealed injury.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: At a press conference on July 19, 2022, Hanyu announced his decision to "step away" from competitive figure skating and turn professional, stating that "he had achieved everything he could achieve, and stopped wanting to be evaluated". He also stated his intention to continue pursuing his "ideal skating" and dream of completing the quadruple Axel as a professional athlete. "Nikkei Asia" noted that Hanyu's exit from the competitive circuit "marks the end of an era". Juliet Macur of "The New York Times" remarked that "we may never see another skater like Yuzuru Hanyu". Numerous sports figures from and outside figure skating reacted to Hanyu's announcement with gratitude and praise, including Japanese gymnast Kōhei Uchimura, baseballer Shohei Ohtani, and tennis player Naomi Osaka.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu later opened accounts on social media, having long eschewed it for years, that are mainly managed by staff. He stated his intention to show his skating through his YouTube channel and increase opportunities for everyone to watch it, including those who are unable to attend ice shows and live overseas, but that he did not have plans to make videos about his daily life. On August 10, Hanyu live-streamed an open practice session on his channel, where he performed his past free skate programs, including a flawless performance of "Seimei" with the same elements as he had performed at the 2018 Winter Olympics.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In November to December 2022, Hanyu held his first ice show tour as a professional figure skater, titled Prologue, in Yokohama and Hachinohe. The solo show of 90 minutes runtime was produced and directed by Hanyu himself, featuring a selection of his past competition and exhibition programs. The final shows at each venue were aired live on national television and livestreamed in select movie theaters nationwide. On December 5, 2022, Hanyu announced his second solo ice show with the title Gift, which will be held at Tokyo Dome, one of Japan's largest entertainment venues, on February 26, 2023.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Before the 2011–12 season, most of Hanyu's career was guided by Nanami Abe in Sendai. After winning bronze at the 2012 World Figure Skating Championships, he switched coaches to Brian Orser, who is known for guiding Kim Yuna to gold at the 2010 Winter Olympics. In switching, Hanyu continued to attend high school in Sendai but made frequent trips to Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club (TCSCC), where Orser works as a skating instructor. Hidehito Ito, the figure skating director at the Japanese Skating Federation, said the change was necessary to "challenge" Hanyu and "raise the level [of his skating] more". During his time at TCSCC, Hanyu was also coached by Tracy Wilson and Ghislain Briand. On his experience working as a jump specialist with Hanyu since 2014, Briand stated that he was given a lot of room: "I have to admit [Hanyu] is probaby the first athlete who really recognizes what I'm doing with him." After Hanyu turned professional, Briand stated that he would continue to work with him when he was needed.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: During Hanyu's junior career, all of his programs were choreographed by Nanami Abe. Starting from his 2012–2013 season, his programs were choreographed by others, with Shae-Lynn Bourne and Jeffrey Buttle as frequent collaborators. Hanyu has also worked with Canadian choreographer David Wilson for several years, including his free skate program for the 2014 Winter Olympics, before collaborated on many exhibition programs. Other choreographers for his exhibition programs include Kurt Browning, Kenji Miyamoto, and former coach Nanami Abe.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In 2021, due to travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic, Hanyu started to train alone in Sendai with some remote consultation from his coaches. Despite the difficulties of training alone, Hanyu found that it had been a good opportunity to learn how to control and analyze himself, which led him not return to Canada until he turned professional and made Ice Rink Sendai his training base again. During that period none of his coaches accompanied him to any competition except the 2021 World Championships. Hanyu also opted to receive remote choreography for his programs ever since and has contributed significantly to the choreography of his programs in the 2020–21 season.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu is regarded by analysts as an accomplished skater known for his high-level technical elements as well as mature and versatile artistry. His performance is often characterized as "the perfect combination of skills, strength and elegance", tending to "[blur] rigid gender lines". According to four-time Olympic medalist Evgeni Plushenko, Hanyu had a "decided edge over other skaters in the completeness of his performance—spins, skating skills, transitions between jumps and musical interpretation". Two-time world champion Stephane Lambiel described him as "the most complete athlete in figure skating, probably ever."


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu is known for his ability to generate skating speed "out of nowhere" and cover long distances with only a few strokes. At the 2021–22 Japan Championships, he managed to perform a clean short program without using consecutive crossovers and reduce the number of basic skating movements to a minimum. This is a feat that has long been considered near impossible, as stated by former competitive skater John Misha Petkevich in his book "Figure Skating: Championship Techniques" from 1989: "Without a doubt, crossovers are the staple of every skater. Not only are they used to negotiate corners, but they are also used to pick up speed. Skating without crossovers would be virtually unthinkable."


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: The ability to accelerate with a few strokes allows Hanyu to execute his jumps from a variety of difficult entries. Notable are the backward counter turn, twizzle, and spread eagle into his signature triple Axel jump. Hanyu is also known for his strong vaulting technique with minimal pre-rotation on the ice at the take-off, achieving trajectories of impressive size. With a height of 70 centimeters and covering a distance of 3.62 meters, his triple Axel was the largest measured jump in the men's short program at the 2019 World Championships. In 2018, Hanyu's triple Axel from the 2018 Winter Olympics was used as a demonstration example by the ISU for the GOE judging criteria "very good height and very good length" as well as "steps before the jump, unexpected or creative entry". Despite the complex preceding steps and big trajectory, he manages to land his jumps smoothly and increase his skating speed from take-off to landing. With the toe loop, Salchow, loop, and Lutz, Hanyu has successfully executed four different types of quadruple jumps in the course of his competitive career. He stated his preference for edge jumps, and notably featured all three types in his short program of the 2016–17 season.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu is able to execute the layback Biellmann and doughnut camel spin, which are more commonly seen in women's singles and known for their difficulty among male skaters due to the high flexibility required in spine, hips, and shoulders. Other signature moves include the layback Ina Bauer, hydroblading, and the side lunge. Overall, Hanyu's technical elements stand out for their high quality of execution, having received a total of 29 maximum scores in international competition, covering all four types of required elements in the men's singles discipline: jumps, spins, steps, and choreographic sequences. Beyond that, his elements are noted for their seamless embedding into the choreography and his movements for their precise timing with the music, the latter being awarded a perfect 10.00 in the interpretation component at the 2021–22 Japan Championships.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu's programs cover a variety of different music genres, including classical pieces, modern pop rock, musicals, and traditional Japanese music. He notably portrayed the historical Japanese figures Abe no Seimei and Uesugi Kenshin in his free skate programs at the 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics. He also dedicated various exhibition programs to the victims of the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami and performed them as live music collaborations at shows like Fantasy on Ice among others. Hanyu is known to be involved in all aspects of his programs, from the music selection and editing process to the costume design and choreography. As his choreographer Shae-Lynn Bourne stated, "He knows what costume he wants. He knows what jump order he wants. He makes a lot of the decisions on his own. You can't say 'no' to that ever. You know, with music especially, because he is going to skate with conviction."


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Figure skaters Hanyu looked up to while growing up are Evgeni Plushenko and Johnny Weir. With his competitive programs for the 2018–19 season, he paid homage to the two skaters by skating to "Otoñal" by Raúl di Blasio as well as "Art on Ice" and "Magic Stradivarius" by Edvin Marton, which had been used by Weir and Plushenko, respectively, in their programs. At the press conference of the 2018 Winter Olympics, Hanyu also mentioned Stephane Lambiel, Javier Fernández, and Dick Button as the skaters who had influenced him as a skater.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu has appeared in many commercials and advertising campaigns over the years. In 2013, Hanyu, alongside fellow Japanese figure skater Daisuke Takahashi, became the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics campaign ambassador for P&G's global "Proud Sponsor of Moms" campaign. He also signed an affiliation contract with All Nippon Airways and from February 8 to 23, 2014, Hanyu endorsed their new line of flight attendant outfits, which were designed by Prabal Gurung and appeared in a TV commercial for their 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics "Hello Blue Hello Future" campaign. In September 2014, Hanyu starred in a TV commercial for Capcom's new video game Monster Hunter 4G. and endorsed Lotte's Ghana milk chocolate with Mao Asada, singer Airi Matsui, and actresses Suzu Hirose and Tao Tsuchiya, in following years he also endorsed Lotte's Xylitol Whites and GUM FOR THE GAME.


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: Hanyu has also worked with other brands such as Ajinomoto endorsing their sport nutritional products Amino Vital and nutritional meals along with other athletes like Uta Abe, bath salts Bathclin Kikiyu, bedding products Nishikawa Sangyo co., and Phiten for their line of Rakuwa nylon-coated necklace models including Hanyu's inspired necklace 'Wings Gold'. In 2019, Hanyu became the ambassador for Citizen in China, Hong Kong, and Macau, as well as the global ambassador of the Sekkisei series by Kosé. He was later appointed as the global "muse" of the Sekkisei Miyabi brand in 2020. In October 2021, Hanyu was chosen as a face of Towa Pharmaceutical co. appearing in a TV commercial with veteran actress Tetsuko Kuroyanagi and endorsed ANA's new teleportation services "avatarin".


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In 2013 and 2021, Hanyu was appointed as the model for Miyagi Prefecture Police's traffic safety poster aiming to encourage compliance with traffic rules and spread awareness of safe driving. According to an official in March 2021, Hanyu was chosen because "he embodies sportsmanship".


title: Yuzuru Hanyu

text: In June 2021, Hanyu was appointed as the ambassador of the world's first official Paralympics game "The Pegasus Dream Tour", making his video game debut with his avatar appearing in the game. According to the representative of the game's developer company, Hanyu was chosen because "he is an athlete as well as a person who has artistry in his way of life".