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Animate on ice: Yuzuru Hanyu | Hot Asian Men Friday

Written by Prisca Tang (Columnist / Senior Reporter) on

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One line can summarize how attractive the Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu is. He looks like he is straight out of an animation. His perfect jawline, flawless skin, skill dance on ice. He is a real life anime character.

Yuzuru Hanyu is two times World champion for men’s single figure skating. He is currently the third best figure skater in the world, and was first from 2013-2018. He had also won first place in two Olympic games. Those successes are only cherries on top of his perfection.

He started his ice skating career when he was four. He used ice skating as a method to raise money for the 2011 Japan earthquake and tsunami. Hanyu has been a spokesperson and supporter for various campaigns to help the victims that were directly affected by the disaster. Do I have to state the obvious and say that this man has a big heart?

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天使がいた 🕊

A post shared by Yuzuru Hanyu (@officialyuzuruhanyu) on

For someone with a pretty face, most people do not expect that he has a soft spot for Winnie the Pooh. Yuzuru Hanyu has a Winnie the Pooh tissue box as his lucky charm. Yes, a tissue box that is literally Winnie the Pooh shaped. He carries it everywhere he goes, including to practices, competitions and interviews. His fans will throw Winnie the Pooh on the ice skating rink after his performance. Allow me to quote one of the Time’s witty line that explains the scene:

“When Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu won the short program at the Olympic games on Thursday, the weather report inside the arena changed from clear skies to a steady downpour of Winnie the Pooh bears.”

The situation is described as “literally [a] Winnie the Pooh chaos” by the commentator after the rink was showered with Winnie the Pooh.

In another article written by NBC Chicago, the closet explanation I can extract is that Orser, a two-time Olympic silver medalist said, “I know that Yuzuru is very, very superstitious, and I believe it’s part of the superstition”. Maybe this is the beauty of his mysterious side.

His obsession with Pooh Bears had caused problems for other skaters. In the same NBC article, it quoted Nathan Chen saying that “in that situation, it’s a little bit of a mind game, making sure I am able to stay focused no matter what the distractions may be – a million Pooh Bears or someone doing something unnecessary or abnormal.”

The Pooh Bear definitely warmed up the image of the ice prince a little bit.