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Pre-Dracula Vampire Literature Masterpost Part I: pre-1880s - 1849

Before 1800

“Der Vampir” (“The Vampire”) by Heinrich August Ossenfelder (1748) [Vampires.com] [University of Victoria - German]

“Lenore” by Gottfried August Bürger (1773) [GoogleBooks - Multiple Translations] [University of Tampa - Multiple Translations] (not explicitly about vampires, although it does concern the re-arisen dead)

“The Bride of Corinth” by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1797) [GoogleBooks] [Project Gutenberg] [Wikisource]

“The Old Woman of Berkeley” by Robert Southey (1798) [GoogleBooks] [Famouspoetsandpoems.com] (not explicitly about vampires, although it does concern the re-arisen dead)

1800-1819

Thalaba the Destroyer by Robert Southey (1801) [GoogleBooks: Vol 1. | Vol. 2] [Project Gutenberg]

“The Vampire” by John Stagg, in his Minstrel of the North (1810) [GoogleBooks] [Archive,org] [The Literary Gothic]

The Giaour by George Gordon Byron (1813) [GoogleBooks] [Archive.org] [Polish Online Literature Library] [The Literary Gothic - Excerpt]

“A Fragment of a Novel” (aka “The Burial: A Fragment”) by George Gordon Byron (1816) [GoogleBooks] [Archive.org] [Project Gutenberg] [Lesvampires.org] [SFF.net]

“Christabel” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1816) [GoogleBooks] [Archive.org] [Project Gutenberg] [Erudit.org] (not explicitly about vampires)

“The Vampyre” by John Polidori (1819) [GoogleBooks] [Archive.org] [Project Gutenberg] [Lesvampires.org] [SFF.net]

“The Black Vampyre” by Robert C. Sands (1819) [Google Books: Part I | Part II | Part III not Available] [Amazon.com ($)]

1820-1829

“La Belle Dame Sans Merci” by John Keats (1820) [GoogleBooks] [Archive.org] [Poetryfoundation.org] (not explicitly about vampires)

“Lamia” by John Keats (1820) [GoogleBooks] [Archive.org] [Bartleby.com] (not explicitly about vampires)

Lord Ruthven ou les Vampires (Lord Ruthven or The Vampires) by Cyprien Berard (1820) [Archive.org - French] [Black Coat Press - English Translation ($)]

The Vampire, or The Bride of the Isles by J. R. Planché (1820) [The Literary Gothic]

Le Vampire (The Vampire) by Charles Nodier (1820) [Munseys - PDF]

“Vampirisimus” by E.T.A. Hoffman (1821), from his Die Erzählungen der Serapionsbrüder (The Serapion Brethren) [GoogleBooks] [Project Gutenburg] [National University of Central Buenos Aires - Spanish] (mentions vampires, but is ultimately about grave-robbing cannibals)

Smarra ou les Demons de la Nuit (Smarra, or the Demons of the Night) by Charles Nodier (1821) [Archive.org - French] [Project Gutenberg - French] [Rilune.org - French] [Amazon.com - English Translation ($)]

Han d'Islande (Hans of Iceland) by Victor Hugo (1821) [GoogleBooks] [Archive.org: Vol. I | Vol. 2] (not explicitly about vampires, although a major character drinks blood for the sake of revenge)

“Wake Not the Dead” by Ernst Benjamin Salomo Raupach (1823) [Project Gutenberg] [Lesvampires.org] [SFF.net]

La Vampire Ou La Vierge De Hongrie (The Vampire or The Hungarian Virgin) by Étienne-Léon de Lamothe-Langon (1825) [Gallica.bnf.fr: Vol. 1 | Vol. 2 | Vol. 3 - French] [Black Coat Press - English Translation ($)]

Der Vampyre und seine Braut (The Vampire and his Bride) by Carl Spindler (1826) [GoogleBooks - German] [Bibliotheque-vampires.de - German]

La Guzla, ou Choix de Poesies Illyrique (The Guzla, or a Selection of Illyric Poems) by Prosper Merimee (1827) [GoogleBooks - French] [Archive.org - French] (A literary hoax that purports to be a collection of folklore)

“Pepopukin in Corsica” by Arthur Young (1827) [GoogleBooks]

Der Vampyr (The Vampire) by Heinrich Marschner and Wilhelm August Wohlbrück (1828) [Stanford University - Libretto] [Archive.org - German Score] [Archive.org - German Recording] [Zeno.org - German Libretto]

Der Vampyre, oder die Totenbraut (The Vampyre and the Dead Bride) by Theodor Hildebrand (1828) [GoogleBooks - German]

1830-1839

“The Eve of Ivan Kupala” (aka “St. John’s Eve”]by Nikolaj Vasilevic Gogol (1832), from his Evenings on a Farm Near Dikanka [The University of Adelaide] (not explicitly about vampires, although it does concern blood-drinking witches)

“The Vampire Bride” by Henry Thomas Liddell (1833) [GoogleBooks]

“The Viy” by Nikolaj Vasilevic Gogol (1835), from his Mirgorod [The University of Adelaide] (not explicitly about vampires, although it does concern blood-drinking witches)

“La Morte Amoureuse” (“The Dead Lover,” aka “Clarimonde”; “The Beautiful Vampire”; “The Dead Woman in Love”; “The Dead Leman”) by Théophile Gautier (1836) [GoogleBooks] [Archive.org] [Project Gutenberg] [Lesvampires.org] [Université du Québec à Chicoutimi - French]

“Ligea” by Edgar Allan Poe (1838) [GoogleBooks] [Project Gutenberg] [Poestories.com] (not explicitly about vampires, although it does concern the re-arisen dead)

“Sem'ya Vurdalaka” (“The Family of the Vourdalak,” aka “The Curse of the Vourdalak”) by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (1839) [Scribd] [Az.lib.eu - Russian]

1840-1849

Der tote Gast (The Dead Guest) by Heinrich Zschokke (1840) [GoogleBooks] (not explicitly about vampires, although it does concern the re-arisen dead)

Upyr (The Vampire) by Aleksey Konstantinovich Tolstoy (1841) [Az.lib.eu - Russian] [Amazon.com - English Translation ($)]

‘The Vampire" by James Clerk Maxwell (1845) [GoogleBooks] [Poemhunter.com]

Varney the Vampyre, or, The Feast of Blood by James Malcolm Rhymer (sometimes attributed to Thomas Preskett Prest) (1845-1847) [University of Virgina] [Project Gutenberg - Incomplete]

Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte (1847) [GoogleBooks] [Archive.org] [Project Gutenberg] (not explicitly about vampires, although Heathcliff is accused of vampirsm)

“La Dame pâle” (“The Pale Lady,” aka “The Carpathian Mountains”; “The Vampire of the Carpathian Mountains”) by Alexandre Dumas and Paul Bobage, in Les mille et un fantômes (The Thousand and One Ghosts) (1849) [Project Gutenberg - French] [Wikisource - French] [Amazon.com - English Translation ($)]

More Vampire Lit: [x]

Werewolf Lit: [x]

Adapted from this forum post. Original poster has not read all works listed, but has applied descriptive/helpful notes where possible.

#old vampire literature #literature history #to read #marked for later

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dreamingbrownie · 1 day

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2024.05.11 Quardruple Axel May Issue: Exclusive interview with Yuzuru Hanyu

March 11th. When I walked into the hotel room in Sendai City, Yuzuru Hanyu greeted me with a gentle expression. The ice performance "Yuzuru Hanyu Notte Stellata 2024" held in the disaster-stricken area from March 8th to 10th, which he himself served as the chairman, has just ended. He should have been exhausted, but he didn't look like that. He just glanced at the tote bag in the reporter's hand and said, "That's a (souvenir) from the National Middle School Skating Competition, right? I miss it~", That was all it took to thoughtfully lighten the mood at the scene. He was interviewed by us for about an hour including filming time.

——Thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule to be interviewed today!

Hanyu: Thank you! Are you nervous? In fact, there is no need to be nervous at all. I haven't changed at all (from past to present)!

--Thanks. Then, I'm counting on you.

Hanyu: Please take care of me.

——It has been two and a half years since Yuzuru Hanyu started working as a professional skater. You have deeply thought and pursued both performance and figure skating itself, and you have even tried to work as an overall performance choreographer. In the process, you seemed to have increased the level of difficulty. Specifically, it means mental, technical, and physical endurance. In previous ice shows, besides the opening and finale, skaters mostly performed one program in the first half and another in the second half, a total of two programs. Under such circumstances, Yuzuru Hanyu had to complete an ice show alone. I think it is quite difficult for one person to perform nearly 10 programs. First of all, I would like to ask you to tell me why you decided to do a "solo performance" when you turned professional.

Hanyu: At "Yuzuru Hanyu notte stellata 2024" I skated three programs. In fact, just skating these three programs made me exhausted (laughs). As for me, even now, I have always treated figure skating as a sport. When it comes to why I chose solo skating over this, the first reason is that when I changed from competitive skater to professional skater, the voices from those who "still want to see Yuzuru Hanyu's figure skating" gave me a strong impact. Well, if that was the case, I started thinking, "For those who want to watch me skate, can I create an environment where they can watch me skate all the time?" This was the initial idea. And hence "Prologue" was born.

At the time of "Prologue", the MC session was very long, and the number of programs was obviously less than now. It wasn't easy physically at the time, but compared to now, I was able to skate through the whole show with plenty of room to spare. Through "Prologue", I also captured the feeling of "being able to perform continuously by myself." Of course, I don’t think I’ve fully presented myself yet. In fact, it cannot be said that all the programs were performed perfectly. In the previous "RE_PRAY" ice show, I was not able to perform all the programs perfectly. I thought that it would be really difficult to complete the entire performance alone, and it would definitely be physically demanding, but while I practiced for the solo ice performance, I gradually grasped the idea that "I can definitely do it alone."

——From the first "Prologue" to "GIFT" and "RE_PRAY", I feel that you are challenging more difficult programs every time you perform. Not just the physical strength, the fact that you can't just cancel a solo ice show because you're not feeling well, under such heavy pressure, your performances continue to exceed the audience's expectations. Isn't the daily practice quite a burden?

Hanyu: Maybe this is something that should be taken for granted after becoming a professional skater, but to be honest, the training I have accumulated now is incomparable to what I was able to do when I was a competitive skater. Looking back on the competitive days, it was enough to practice up to three programs (short program, free skate and performance skate) in a season. Because the number of programs is limited, it can improve concentration during practice. However, since I became a professional skater, if I hold a solo ice show, I would have to skate more than 10 programs. For a program to be comparable to traditional free skating, even without footwork and rotation, practicing seven jumps is undoubtedly necessary. In addition, if you want to skate many programs, not just jumping, you must also perform corresponding exercises for different programs.

On this basis, is it enough to just complete a certain amount of practice? Not really. Although as long as the amount is accumulated enough, the endurance will indeed keep up. However, these alone cannot maintain and improve physical fitness. Figure skating requires instantaneous movements. In order to consistently perform at my best, in addition to increasing the amount of physical training, training to improve my conditioning and fitness is also essential. Therefore, the current training can be said to be extremely hard (laughs).

——During the "RE_PRAY" performance in Yokohama on February 19th, you mentioned "about 6 hours of physical training a day." The amount of training is quite huge, right?

Hanyu: Yes, at that time, I felt quite upset because I was not able to perform well in the Saga performances. Since then, I have been studying better training methods and have been fighting with myself for more than a month. (Editor's note: As a result of hard training, in the final performance on February 19th, which was open to the media, "The Messenger of Destruction", which was as difficult as a free skate, was completed for the first time without any mistakes.)

After that, I immediately had to prepare for "notte stellata". Since there were three performances to be performed, it is necessary to practice accordingly. Especially this time, there are two new songs. Although the new program was arranged by someone in December last year, it was not possible to practice well (because he had to adjust for "RE_PRAY"). So, the first thing to do is to recollect the choreographic movements. Of these two new programs, the choreography for the second half of "Carmina Burana" started after the Yokohama performance of "RE_PRAY", but then it was decided to have additional stop for “RE_PRAY", so I have to keep practice for that too.

In this sense, although it is very hard, I am always thinking about how to continue to evolve during the process. For example, I mentioned about "learning" before. I can refer to the training methods and skills honed by top players in other competitive sports, or I can refer to paid course videos and study relevant papers. Although most of the contents are in English media, I can still learn and absorb various knowledge from them, and at the same time think about whether I can apply it to my own training, and thus formulate a training plan that suits my own situation.

——Performing more than a dozen programs in two and a half hours by yourself is something you have never experienced in the competitive era. In competitions, you just need to focus on the short program or free skate each day to bring your form to its peak. Now, in solo ice performances, the method of giving full attention to all programs must be carried out throughout the show. During the two-and-a-half-hour performance, in order to achieve the best condition in each program and repeatedly exert concentration and explosive power, has your "internal clock" changed compared to the competitive days?

Hanyu: Ah, right? (laughs) This is an interesting question. I don't have the impression of "just doing a long-distance race (a two-and-a-half-hour solo performance)" in my mind. Yeah, maybe it’s like the different feelings that a marathon and Ekiden (long-distance relay race) give to people. A marathon is run by one runner. During the 42.195km, there are ups and downs, and there are also times when the wind is going against the direction. We need to explore a strategy that can reasonably distribute the rhythm. In contrast, in Ekiden, multiple runners complete their respective sections, and all members relay the baton till the finish line. Among them, there are runners who are good at running long distances, and there are also runners who excel at running short distances at a fast pace. In this process, everyone devotes their effort to the parts that they are responsible for, and everyone's efforts are brought together as a team to complete the run.

Although my performances are like a marathon, I run alone all the time, but in fact, each program is like an Ekiden interval. Therefore, there are longer programs like free skating and shorter programs. Moreover, I always work hard to be able to perform all the repertoire at my best. So even though I ran the entire distance like a marathon, in fact, each part has its own Yuzuru Hanyu who is responsible for it. Each Yuzuru Hanyu is trying his best to skate each program. Only when they come together that a complete "solo performance" can be achieved. I imagine it would be similar to the feeling of running Ekiden alone. Because of this, each show’s approach to skating, the techniques used, and the pace are completely different. I had to practice them all one by one. In a formal performance, as long as the music starts playing, no matter how deprived of oxygen the body is and how hard it is, it must be completed. This is because it is not just about me, but the staff around me are also working hard to create with great care and dedication. So I have to persist in completing it. Although there were times when I couldn’t help shouting “I’m so exhausted” or “I really want to go back” (laughs).

To get back to the subject, I did not deliberately distribute (or preserve) the rhythm (physically), but trained in order to continue to exert my full strength for different programs.

—— Hanyu-san seems to be able to squeeze out his endurance from the limit, even when you feel physical pain and when you keep pushing yourself. Do you have the power to push the limits?

Hanyu: The support from the audience makes me very happy. I think there must be an invisible force, just like what everyone calls super energy in critical situations. However, I know firsthand that even this power has its limits. In my opinion, when the limiter is turned off, it is possible to awaken the extra 20% potential. However, since my competitive days, I have always been skating in a way that utilizes the extra 20% from the beginning. In this way, the remaining power has already been exhausted, if the energy is exhausted midway, the body will feel like it is stagnant. So it is important to recover when you're taking off your skates and changing clothes between programs, but it is actually very difficult to do that. The process of untying and re-tying skate laces also requires a lot of grip. In fact, the way you tie your skates can affect your condition and even bring the risk of injury, so concentration cannot be interrupted in this stage. Under such circumstances, my brain is still running at full speed, thinking about "Now, how can this body recover as soon as possible?" and "How to adjust the body's state and rhythm before performing the next program?". I was trying my best to overcome these difficulties. If there is nothing you can do physically, you can only rely on mental power to make your body move.

In this way, rehearsals become crucial. For "RE_PRAY", there is a free skate program ("Messenger of Destruction") at the end of the first half, but during rehearsals, I will skate "Messenger of Destruction" twice in a row after skating all other programs in the first half. Or sometimes I skate "Messenger of Destruction" three times in a row and then do the whole rehearsal. There are also cases where the original 30-minute break between the first and second half is reduced to 15 minutes and then the skating resumes immediately. Sometimes, after skating the Rondo step sequences three times, I will perform some additional performances. A formal show is definitely more physically demanding than a rehearsal, so I have to persevere until the end no matter what. In terms of research, I review scientific studies on the energy efficiency of muscles, the oxygen absorption of cells, and the oxygen transport of red blood cells, and train on this basis.

——Sounds like an impressive training session. In addition, in terms of performance content, after changing careers, you performed many jumping elements and programs that went beyond the rules of the game and broke the rules framework. Looking back at the competitive era, have you ever struggled with performances bound by rules?

Hanyu: I myself use the word "rules" in "RE_PRAY", but if you think about my experience in competitive sports, there is no doubt that I was bound by something like scoring. For example, in a certain melody, "Rather than jumping, I would like to do something that fits better for the performance", or "Although I actually want to perform like this, but in order to score, I can only do jumping here", psychological dilemma similar to this have indeed existed before. In this way, "If I want to complete this jump, I must ensure such a long skating assist", which means that I must have a corresponding distance. Or, to be honest, in order to get points, while thinking about matching the notes of the song, I have to think about "This step must be performed" or "This rotation must be included in the combination" situation. When considering the program, you’re always bound by the score.

Of course, arranging programs with the goal of obtaining scores is actually the fun of the competition. However, after I won the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, I began to feel that it was a bit lonely to think about making programs just for scoring. GOE has been adjusted, and I gradually feel that there is a ceiling-like existence in PCS. During that time, I had to think, "Well, what should I do to get points?" However, no matter how much effort I put into performance, and no matter how deeply I thought about the music, I was still unable to improve the PCS. It could be said that it had reached a point where nothing could be done. In this way, I could only improve the basic score of jumping, because I have to work hard to master new techniques (having to reduce the practice time in other aspects) and it is impossible to pay attention to and study in depth in all aspects. The most difficult part of figure skating is how to coordinate jumping and performance. On top of this, because of the constraints of scores, to be honest, I have repeatedly hit the wall for this.

——About "RE_PRAY" just now. After turning into a professional skater, the constraints of scoring disappeared. But on the other hand, the disappearance of scoring can also be said to have remove evaluation-related restrictions in a sense. The price of obtaining "free expression" is the loss of " judgment standards". Do you also have to face such a difficulty?

Hanyu: Thank you very much for your thoughtful interpretation of "RE_PRAY". To be honest, I was so happy that I couldn’t help but chuckle. After all, without scores, the so-called results, we cannot determine the right answer and the wrong answer. I am deeply aware of this difficulty. However, as a performer, it seems to me that the process of trying to find the right answer is actually similar to philosophy.

"RE_PRAY" slightly uses the Trolley Dilemma as a theme, but the answer to this question cannot be deduced by anyone. It can only be considered by each person as a pragmatism (practical, pragmatic concept) and find the answer that is suitable for them, the so-called correct answer. So I think this is similar to philosophy. In my mind, "I want to express it this way", "I want to add sounds for this kind of expression, and I want to convey this kind of world" are the correct answers. But for other people, they may feel that "It's not like that." When this remains in the world one day in the future, some people may think, "So this is how Hanyu Yuzuru (his performance, the world) feels." There may also be people who are deeply shocked. When I think about this, although it is difficult (performing without evaluation standards), maybe it is just out of the feelings of the athlete, but I still feel that pursuing it is meaningful. This is because I sincerely feel that if we always keep thinking and learning and deepening, we will definitely have the joy of continuous evolution. In fact, we can’t just talk about “fun” and “enjoyment”, after all, this is a job full of hardship. However, I feel that there must be correct answers and ways of thinking that I cannot discover on my own.

——How did the game-based concept for "RE_PRAY" come about?

Hanyu: Speaking of "RE_PRAY", when I was thinking about my future plans for skating, I thought that I had finally laid the foundation of "GIFT", the ICE STORY, at the Tokyo Dome, so I wilfully told the staff (lead by MIKIKO, the chief editor) "I want to continue ICE STORY", and that's where the creation started. I have been worrying about how to make ICE STORY 2nd, and I kept thinking "What is the most interesting part if it is presented as figure skating?" In terms of expression techniques, I thought, would it be more fresh and more interesting if I could start with things that I have the most contact with and that no one else has personally experienced? After thinking about it this way, I thought that I could use games and the like as the basis for the ice performance.

——The effects projected on the screen, the YES or NO option and the date of archive selection would change in each show, which has also become a topic of conversation among fans and everyone has made various comments and interpretations about them. Is there any special purpose behind it?

Hanyu: For these aspects, we just want to maximize the point of "creating stories as professionals". For figure skating, every moment of performance can become a work in itself. In addition, the reaction of the audience and the atmosphere at the event also create a sense of "live" at a certain moment. Therefore, as professionals, we are producing this ice show with the aim of striving for excellence to the end.

——In the video of "RE_PRAY", there is a scene where Yuzuru Hanyu uses a game controller to control the characters on the screen. That game character is also Yuzuru Hanyu. This design in which you control the game character Yuzuru Hanyu and move forward by choosing between YES and NO can also be said to be a unique worldview of yourself from an objective perspective. Hanyu also made many choices during his competitive days, such as deciding to go to Toronto, deciding to challenge 4A, and deciding to become a professional skater. When you are making these decisions, do you feel as if you are controlling the game character Yuzuru Hanyu?

Hanyu: That’s great, if you explain it this way. Thank you. Indeed, I also feel that I am the kind of person who is better at looking at things objectively. Whether in the process of skating or in the process of being interviewed like this, I seem to always be able to view myself objectively and observe myself from an overhead perspective, or I can say that I have good self-control. This personality may have penetrated unconsciously (during the creation of "RE_PRAY"). In fact, I also think that my own life experience has been injected into "RE_PRAY".

When I talk to you like this, I will also say "very interesting" and "not bad". When I organize the language, I do use unique wording in many places. Even so, I still feel that the expansion of the range of thinking and the richness of the set of options are very important. The story of "RE_PRAY" can be interpreted in various ways. In a sense, for the fans who have fought along with me, this is "Yuzuru Hanyu's story", but for viewers who are watching it for the first time, they may just watch it as an ICE STORY, right? For media people who conduct interviews and reports, they may think, "Because Yuzuru Hanyu used such language, that's probably what he thought?" Various programs also exist on the basis of many different interpretations. Integrating these into a complete work is what ICE STORY wants to pursue. Therefore, there is nothing happier for me than being able to take questions from people like you who understand this ice show.

——Having talked about this, I can also understand that for you, whether you are training and practicing as an athlete, or participating in the overall performance choreography, you need to consider themes and concepts, including polishing the details, all of which have a great impact on the body, brain, and spirit. All levels will bring a huge burden. Despite this, I can't help but look forward to Hanyu Yuzuru moving towards higher goals. When you held a press conference on turning professional in July 2022, you once said frankly, "The existence of Yuzuru Hanyu has always been a heavy burden for me." This sentence impressed me deeply. Has the burden that this existence placed on you changed since you became a professional skater?

Hanyu: (Laughs) It’s still very heavy. As expected, the fact that it feels like a heavy burden has not changed since the competitive days. For me, the fear of "Whether I can meet everyone's expectations?" and the uneasiness of "Whether what I am doing is actually responding to everyone's expectations?”, I have never stopped thinking like this to this day. But in my opinion, when such thoughts disappear and I no longer regard these as a burden, it probably means that I have reached my limit. I can still see the ideal image that can live up to everyone's expectations, and I want to make it my goal. In other words, in my opinion, my potential (moving his hand upwards) can probably reach this level. Because of this, I feel uneasy or have the feeling "This is the best I can do”. I may live up to everyone’s expectations only to this extent. It is very difficult to continue to evolve and finally realize your ideal, but I accept the state of mind of constant pursuit of this as the driving force.

——How do you spend every day keeping in mind the distance between you and your ideal?

Hanyu: To be honest, I do feel that I have always insisted on pursuing my ideal goal. But specifically speaking, the distance (to the ideal) is not a definite interval. Sometimes it is closer and sometimes it becomes further. It seems to me that this kind of thing happens all the time. At this point, this is true regardless in professional or competitive era.

For example, the "SEIMEI" I skated at the 2015 NHK Cup (which set a world record at the time) was almost close to the ideal, and I scored 322 points (total with the short program score). Regarding this, I thought, "It's close to the ideal, what should I do next?” In a sense, I have reached a state where I can be satisfied. At that time, facing the upcoming GPF, I kept thinking, "Can I score more than 320 points in the next competition?" and "What should I pursue next?" However, at the same time, my physical condition became not good, and I have a bit of a cold and at this time my ideal is far away from me again. But in the end, I scored 330 points in the GPF (Editor's note: Both the short and free broke the world record at the time, and scored an otherworldly 330.43 points, achieving three consecutive GPF championship titles). It can be said that I have fully realized my ideal, but that time I was completely burned out, and it was difficult for my body (state) to recover and my feet started to hurt. In this way, I have to put the ideal back in its place…

It is precisely because of that during the seasons around 2019 and 2020, although I had the ideal I had been chasing, there were times when I felt that another ideal was good and changed direction. I think the situation of being closer and further away from my ideal, or simply starting to pursue other ideals, has not changed even now.

——In the press interview after the "RE_PRAY" Yokohama, you said that you were “completely blank” when talking about future ideas. In fact, what are your next plans?

Hanyu: At the moment I really don't have any idea about the future. In fact, it is through this that I realize once again that I am in a creative field. Precisely because I have nothing, I have to create it, and it is precisely because I have to create, even though I will surely encounter difficulties, I still find pleasure and enjoy it. When it comes to what I am pursuing now, roughly speaking, I think it is "good work”. Although I can't be specific yet, what is the "good work" that I am pursuing? I think it should be something that I create from ‘nothing’, which is probably what everyone expects. However, I do benefit from the support of people around me, as in the case of "RE_PRAY", there are a lot of people who are really working on it. In this sense, I have had a lot of difficulties in the process of creation, whether it is the extensive training I have conducted in order to present a better performance, or the many difficulties I experienced during the actual performance, but I feel that the ice show created by the "Professional Group" is indeed the highest-level work. At the same time, I always adhere to the sense of responsibility that "I must perform at my peak" while creating ICE STORY.

——Thank you very much for taking up your precious time for an interview today!

Hanyu: You are so kind. I should be the one to say thank you!

[Postscript to the interview]

Wearing a black sportswear, Hanyu welcomed me into the hotel room. Within the allocated one hour, Hanyu spent 40 minutes carefully answering my questions one by one. Occasionally, there were times where he responded to my questions and said, "That's good," or "I'm happy you asked." The power of Hanyu’s words, the passionate tone of his voice when talking, and the words he weaves which are completely different from Hanyu on ice, are also full of charm.

At the end of the interview, we asked him to write down his future resolutions on colour paper. "Um…what should I write?" Yuzuru Hanyu looked at the paper with a serious expression and fell into silence for a long time. After a while, "I can say what I want to say, but what about writing it in words?" He said this while writing the words "Change the world!" When I asked him about the meaning of "world" here, he replied, "I want to change not only the field that I am currently fighting in, but also the world itself in everyone's eyes”, reveals such a grand theme to us.

During the filming process, he kept changing his poses at the photographer's request. While chatting with us from time to time, he has a smile on his face, but as long as he faces the camera, he can put on the required expression in a split second. This made us realize the strengths of Hanyu-san as an expressive person, who has been in the spotlight of the camera tens of thousands of times.

While waiting for the camera to be set, I asked him: "In your competitive days, you once said, "What I like most is when there is a barrier in front of me." Now that you are a professional skater, do you still like to encounter barriers?" Hanyu listened, compared himself to an "ant" and gave this answer.

"In the competitive era, there were scores and results, so when I looked back, I would find that the barriers were right there in front of me. Now it seems more like I have to find the barriers on my own. It's because I think, "I want to be more like this. "Or "I want to become stronger", so I have to build a barrier for myself, and then overcome this barrier. For example, there is a huge step here, and I am a little ant. After all, steps are just steps, not walls. However, if I think "I want to move to another level", like an ant, I have to treat this step as a wall and climb it over myself. I look for obstacles and climb over them in order to evolve, but what I want to say has not changed (I like it when there is a wall to overcome).

The interview was conducted on March 11th. It ended just after 14:30. When we put away the filming equipment and moved the tables and chairs back to their original positions, the same 14:46 as on "that day" arrived. Hanyu looked at the sea through the window and silently prayed. Although he himself was a victim of the disaster, he did his best in the ice show held to deliver the "light of hope" to the disaster-stricken areas. The back view of Yuzuru Hanyu at this time is that of an ordinary 29-year-old young man without the armour of the "Absolute Champion". For a while, Yuzuru Hanyu remained facing the window. After, you can see him raising his hand to wipe the corners of his eyes from time to time.

Source: https://weibo.com/1746783312/OdMLMnmye?pagetype=profilefeed Info: https://x.com/AxelQuadruple/status/1785923918215446592

#SUCH an interesting interview #also the end killed me. Gah. Doing this on March 11th with a show after... The man that you are.#Yuzuru Hanyu #King shit honestly #What he's pulling off physically is insane

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