Medalist Episode 4 Discussion

Glad to see the whole family is finally supportive of the skating thing, unlike at the start of the series. Mom even made her a skating uniform! And hell, even her classmates showed up to cheer her on... though, not even five seconds after she falls, lol. On the bright side, the animation for that scene where she rolled over in a cartoonish way was pretty good lol. And yeah, that moment brought back the same concerns Mom had in the first episode, but this time, instead of Tsukasa stepping in to defend her, she stood up for herself. And you know she was serious because she pulled out a name drop, like A BOSS.

But still, Tsukasa didn’t just stand around doing nothing. Nah, he gave Inori the confidence to lock in and take it home. Tsukasa, the GOAT as always. And then we get to the skating itself... and SHE ABSOLUTELY KILLED IT. AHHHHHHH. I was so worried because this episode was outsourced, but GRAHHHH, they freaking cooked. Just like Tsukasa would give Inori five trillion points, I’m giving the studio TEN TRILLION POINTS. She crushed it, and this was the push that finally got Mom to fully support her—not just as some medalist but as an olympic medalist. And yes, to top it all off, she rightfully took home first place. FUCKING DESERVED


One of, if not the, best episode, not just of the show so far, but of the whole season bro.

wtf was that shit, we're on episode 4 and I was fucking bawling the entire second half of the episode. Strong contender for a 10/10 for me if they keep this up for the rest of the season.

I can only wonder how good this show would have looked, had it been picked up by a studio like Production I.G. or Wit, or even CloverWorks (they would probably also have gone with the 3D approach tho). But in the end ENGI is hitting way above its weight class with this one, and manage to deliver a solid product anyway, so I'm not complaining at all. You just can't help but wonder.

Will definitely be picking up the manga for this one

@Herman97
For a large and/or highly esteemed studio, Medalist adaptation would have been business-as-usual but for ENGI (and the OEMs working for them) it's the chance of a lifetime and they don't let it slip from their fingers.
Let's hope the remaining 8 or 9 eps can maintain both the impulse and quality! (In ep4 there was already visible cost-saving in animation during the big sis skating retrospective scene, which makes me a little worried.)

@Herman97
For a large and/or highly esteemed studio, Medalist adaptation would have been business-as-usual but for ENGI (and the OEMs working for them) it's the chance of a lifetime and they don't let it slip from their fingers.
Let's hope the remaining 8 or 9 eps can maintain both the impulse and quality! (In ep4 there was already visible cost-saving in animation during the big sis skating retrospective scene, which makes me a little worried.)

Inori is great, a fantastic episode. It said she was currently in 1st place for the Hulu subs, her sister mentioned she was at the end of group 2, is group 2 done, or is there more? I'd hate to see her first place get ripped away. Not sure if later groups are competing with scores with earlier groups or not.

Additional thought I had, did her older sister quit due to the accident and opt to never go back? Mom has seemed pretty obviously traumatized about falls since the start.

"Medalist" is a visual spectacle with solid animation, but its story is a dumpster fire. The cringe-worthy script, awkward MC moments, and the complete disregard for sportsmanship and emotional intelligence are infuriating. The writer's blatant disregard for logic and the crushing of youthful dreams with the "it's too late" trope is utterly infuriating. This is a prime example of how not to write a sports anime. The creator deserves all the criticism they receive and should be judged for this nonsensical and insulting piece of work.

Inori is great, a fantastic episode. It said she was currently in 1st place for the Hulu subs, her sister mentioned she was at the end of group 2, is group 2 done, or is there more? I'd hate to see her first place get ripped away. Not sure if later groups are competing with scores with earlier groups or not.

Additional thought I had, did her older sister quit due to the accident and opt to never go back? Mom has seemed pretty obviously traumatized about falls since the start.

@razisgosu

I mentioned it elsewhere, but the manga heavily implies that Inori is on the neurodivergent spectrum(autism, ADHD, etc.) and it made a lot of things very difficult for her at school(the bullying was SIGNIFICANTLY toned down from the manga) causing her mom a lot of anxiety and other issues(she mentions it a bit, but the manga talks about her blaming herself for Inori not fitting in and being a bad parent). The fanbook explains that it was a whole mix of things.

@KIDMENOT007 are you fucking high? i mean for real. It proves exactly ALL the things you wrote completly opposite.

she is just fucking showing that its still possible to follow your dream. and her trainer supports that. you serously didnt understand a single thing abou the show.

@doomrider7 i don't think that's the case, she's just not confident. She can express her thoughts where autistics have a hard time in it. last time i saw a lot of people assuming an autistic character was laios from dungeon meshi. And it turns out the author herself said he is normal lmao.

Made me tear up a little. At the same time I had a huge grin on my face. This show is amazing. Congrats to Inori. Lets see if the gremlin can beat that score.