Medalist

Tsukasa Akeuraji always dreamed of becoming a competitive solo figure skater, but starting too late in life meant his ambitions never got off the ground. Now barely scraping by, he takes on an assistant coach job, resigned to a future far from the one he once imagined.

Before his first day, Tsukasa meets Inori Yuitsuka, a shy fifth grader sneaking into the rink to practice. Captivated by figure skating, but held back by her mother's overprotectiveness and her own self-doubt, Inori has never been encouraged to pursue her passion until she encounters Tsukasa. Beneath her personality lies great potential, waiting to be unlocked with the right guidance.

Moved by Inori's determination to change and reminded of his own struggles, Tsukasa offers to coach and help her chase the dream she has been too afraid to voice. While the road ahead is long and filled with unfamiliar challenges and rival skaters, Inori dedicates herself to the art and strives to one day reach the Olympics and become a medalist.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yuitsuka, Inori Main

Haruse, Natsumi Japanese

Akeuraji, Tsukasa Main

Ootsuka, Takeo Japanese

Kamisaki, Hikaru Supporting

Ichinose, Kana Japanese

Sonidori, Riou Supporting

Koichi, Makoto Japanese

Yodaka, Jun Supporting

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Miketa, Ryouka Supporting

Kino, Hina Japanese

Sonidori, Shinichirou Supporting

Ban, Taito Japanese

Kago, You Supporting

Inoue, Honoka Japanese

Takamine, Hitomi Supporting

Katou, Emiri Japanese

Sekoma, Mamoru Supporting

Muraji, Manabu Japanese

Yamashita, Shinpei Producer

Sawada, Airi Producer

Yamato, Masae Producer

Kanbe, Kouki Producer

Reviews

Apr 22, 2025

portia77

Recommended

Medalist's MAL rating is a well-earned 8.3/10. I gave it a 9 mostly because it surpassed my expectations and ended with a strong finish. It's a great show with a lot of heart. I'd encourage you not to listen to a review from someone who couldn't be bothered to watch more than three episodes... 🙄 It definitely IS about skating, though you don't get to see Inori compete in the first few episodes (a ridiculous and meaningless benchmark for judging an anime, if you ask me).

Medalist does a great job of representing girlhood and female friendship in Inori and her peers. She's endearing and ... loveable, alongside her charming and endlessly upbeat coach, Tsukasa. I would probably pick YoI's ice skating animation style over this, but the CGI didn't really bother me. I appreciated it for what it was. Medalist isn't likely to make the top ten anime for many people, but it's a great watch! Can't wait for season two.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by portia77 (3)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Mar 30, 2025

Cynthesia

Mixed Feelings

Wasted potential. Medalist is a show that holds so much potential but ends up fumbling the execution of pivotal moments resulting in an experience that leaves me conflicted. All of the pieces are there. Great characters, an engaging plot, interesting subject matter and drama , if only it were handled with slightly more care it could have been one of the greats.

Medalist features the best rags to riches story that you can imagine. Inori starts from below zero. Her entire life has been defined by belittlement, rejection, and failure. She's outcast from not only society but her own family and completely rejects any meaning ... in her life. That is, until she meets Tsukasa, who is so enamored with her skating ability that he vows to bring her to the top despite what she's been told her entire life. Tsukasa and Inori's relationship is the crux of this anime's appeal. They have such incredible chemistry and love for each other that you can't help but smile whenever they put each other on the highest of pedestals. The value of a positive role model cannot be overstated, Tsukasa is a man who brings out 200% in anyone he sets his sights on. Not through overwork or strict training regimens, but rather through unrelenting torrents of praise and suggestion. And just as he brings out the best in Inori, she brings out the best in him. Through watching her progress, Tsukasa realizes that he isn't the failure that he's deemed himself to be. Their relationship is truly something special and a joy to watch unfold on the screen.

They aren't the only characters in the show of course. For the most part they do fine. Rioh is the strongest, being introduced in the back half of the show and receiving the most development of any of them. Just like Tsukasa and Inori he's deemed a failure because of his inability to shape up to the best of the best. Of course this is entirely self proclaimed and watching Tsukasa work his magic on him, although to a lesser degree than Inori, is very charming and hammers in the importance of positive role models. Hikaru is the virtuoso endgame rival character. She's nice, doesn't really contribute overall but serves well as an end goal for Inori. Mittens is a decent early rival character, she gets better with time. Other characters definitely do exist but ultimately are sidelined to focus on Inori and Tsukasa's relationship which is a good choice as it's easily the strongest aspect. They mostly behave as you would expect children to do, with all of their issues essentially stemming from typical melodrama that you would expect from an immature mind. They serve their purposes well as rivals but don't go much beyond that after their performances.

Speaking about the performances, this is probably the most polarizing aspect of Medalist. I fall slightly in the middle camp although I lean more towards the "it doesn't look great" side, and this is where the majority of my disappointment with the show comes from. On one hand, it's understandable that they would choose to use CG for the figure skating portions. Not only is figure skating incredibly complicated but CG can allow for a much more fluid full body feel as it's generally much more naturally smoothed out. There's certainly good looking CG so it's not an inherently bad decision to use it. Unfortunately, Studio Engi didn't nail it. The models look pretty gross, especially when using their performance outfits. They really stick out on the ice and it creates this very mannequin-esque feel to their movements. Similarly the performances are not all that smooth. This is most apparent whenever they have to perform any kind of spin, which only becomes more prevalent as Inori's skill level increases. Rather than incorporate an entire 360 degree rotation they simply chopped together 4 90 degree rotations and loop it which makes for a very choppy looking experience. The general movement ends up looking fine but whenever they have to perform anything with any technicality it ends up falling short. This severely limits the potential impact of the performances which are the key highlight of the show. Climactic moments are equally hindered as they either rush into them or don't provide them enough time to build tension which also ruins their impact. This is easily the worst part of the show, and it happens to be the most important one.

Similarly, some dramatic moments outside of the rink are handled somewhat poorly. This is more of an issue in the first half of the show rather than the second. Inori and Tsukasa's backstory feels a little glossed over and their relationship develops at lightning speed as they try to get onto the rink as fast as possible. As Inori is someone with massive trust issues and negative self confidence this doesn't really make sense and I would have appreciated it if they went a little more in depth. This can be somewhat excused as they only have 13 episodes to work with and clearly don't want to sacrifice more than they already, clearly, have from Inori's development on the rink. With regards to Tsukasa's backstory it ends up being mostly reduced to a bullet point form and doesn't receive any major focus in the show. This ends up detracting a little from Tsukasa's overall character as it's not entirely convincing why he believes he's a failure but this isn't so much of a major disappointment as it is a source of mild dissatisfaction.

The pieces are there for Medalist, and maybe I'm being a bit too harsh. But when you present something with so much potential and then end up consistently missing the mark when it matters most it creates such a strong feeling of disappointment than if the difference of potential and execution were smaller. Medalist is certainly a fantastic drama, featuring a strong cast who all go through massive growth and a clear love for the sport that it's depicting. If only it were able to nail those pivotal moments.

Reviewer’s Rating: 6

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by Cynthesia (26)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

Apr 14, 2025

LevixAckerman

Not Recommended

Preliminary (6/13 eps)

Somehow, when I watch Medalist, I often compare it to Yuri on Ice, and maybe that's not the best idea. The story revolves around our protagonist, Inori Yuitsuka, who wants to start figure skating because, according to her, she doesn't excel at anything else. By chance, she encounters Tsukasa Akeuraji, a former professional skater. His dream of winning a medal was never fulfilled, so now he wants to achieve it through Inori.

It's a nice premise, but it just feels way too forced. The protagonist comes off like a robot who can only identify with figure skating. The other skaters are all still kids, constantly rivaling ... each other and wishing the worst for one another. The characters and their actions also didn’t convince me. Medalist feels like a checklist being ticked off. Maybe comparing it to Yuri on Ice was simply unfair, since that still remains the best figure skating anime.

Unfortunately, I can't recommend it!

Reviewer’s Rating: 4

What did you think of this review?

Nice 0

Love it 0

Funny 0

Confusing 0

Informative 0

Well-written 0

Creative 0

More reviews by LevixAckerman (25)

Show all

Read more

Show less

Open

Gift

Report

2020's Essentials Part 3 [2024-2025]

by baby_minu

32 Entries · 20 Restacks

BEST RATED ANIME OF THE 2020'S (No Sequels/Donghua)

by erotardation

50 Entries · 7 Restacks

Good Anime of the January 2025 Season

by Davi4cs

22 Entries · 4 Restacks

'Medalist' TV Anime Receives Second Season

The 13th and final episode of Medalist ended with a second season announcement on Sunday. The official website also revealed an announcement promo and commemorative ...read more

Mar 29, 11:01 AM by Vindstot | Discuss (15 comments)

Winter 2025 Simulcast List [Update 2/23]

In this thread, you'll find a comprehensive list of television anime acquired for simulcast release during the Winter 2025 season. Anime series licensed for hom...read more

Jan 1, 1:41 PM by Snow | Discuss (13 comments)

	Poll: Medalist Episode 9 Discussion Stark700 - Mar 1	42 replies	by davidyodo24 »» Apr 27, 6:52 AM
	Poll: Medalist Episode 8 Discussion Stark700 - Feb 22	42 replies	by davidyodo24 »» Apr 27, 5:33 AM
	Poll: Medalist Episode 7 Discussion Stark700 - Feb 15	36 replies	by davidyodo24 »» Apr 26, 9:26 AM
	Poll: Medalist Episode 6 Discussion Stark700 - Feb 8	49 replies	by davidyodo24 »» Apr 26, 8:39 AM
	Poll: Medalist Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 ) Stark700 - Jan 25	93 replies	by -Araragi- »» Apr 26, 7:51 AM