Older female fans’ steamy comments about gold medal skater Yuzuru Hanyu sparks debate online

Some call the sentiments creepy, while others say they mirror their own.

Right now, few people are the object of more admiration in Japan than Yuzuru Hanyu. At the PyeongChang Olympics, the 23-year-old figure skater recently captured his second consecutive gold medal, a feat that hasn’t been accomplished in the men’s singles event in 66 years.

Add with his boyishly reserved demeanor, delicate smooth-faced features, and slender build, Hanyu is also seen as incredibly attractive by many Japanese women. However, more than a few Japanese Internet users are saying that the comments made about the skating star by a pair of older female fans are over the line.

この画像は男女を逆転してみると破壊力がわかるよね 20歳の女の子に対して 41歳主夫「年上として癒してあげたい」 47歳公務員「おじさんがいろんなことを教えてあげたい」 こういうことですよ https://t.co/d3iOJEJngA

—
  (@hiro_tyun) February 20, 2018

Twitter user @hiro_tyun recently shared the comments, which were originally recorded by Japanese women’s interest magazine Shukan Josei when Hanyu was 20. The magazine quoted a 41-year-old housewife as saying “I want to comfort and heal him in the way an older person can,” while a 47-year-old woman employed as a civil servant coyly declared “I want to teach Yuzu-kun all sorts of things.”

“There’d be a huge commotion if you switched the genders around and had 41 and 47-year-old men saying that about a 20-year-old woman,” said @hiro_tyun, prompting close to 30,000 likes and agreements from commenters such as:

“’I want to heal him.’ That’s creepy.”
“I’m a woman, and even I think they’re being creepy. If they were men, someone would probably report them to the police.”
“That’s being harmful to Hanyu, not healing. Instead of talking about teaching him things, she should learn from Hanyu’s grace and dignity.”
“What pervs.”

On the other side of the debate, though, were those who shared, or at least could understand, the passionate fans’ sentiments.

“These days, there are some young men who’re strongly attracted to older women. So while it’s not true for everyone, some guys would be happy to be in this situation.”
“How shameless those women are…and how embarrassed I am for not finding anything unusual in their comments.”
“When a woman says these things, my first reaction is that she’s just showing her maternal side, but if a guy says it, instead of sounding paternal, it just makes him seem like a pervert.”
“Idol otaku say the exact same things about idol singers, so I don’t think there’s anything particularly scandalous about the women’s comments.”

It’s worth pointing out that in Japan, legal adulthood begins at 20, so while the women may have been more than twice Hanyu’s age at the time the comments were made, he was, in the eyes of the law, a grown-up.

If Hanyu’s fanbase is going to become any less passionate, then perhaps newly famous silver medalist Shoma Uno should be mentally prepared for similarly steamy sentiments, even if he’d rather be playing video games than dating.

Source: Twitter/@hiro_tyun via Hachima Kiko
Top image: Pakutaso

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