Forum SettingsEpisode Information
Forums
Medalist
Available on Manga Store
New
What did you think of this episode?
DO NOT discuss the source material beyond this episode. If you want to discuss future events or theories, please use separate threads.
DO NOT ask where to watch/download this episode or give links to copyrighted, non-fair use material.
DO NOT troll/bait/harass/abuse other users for liking or disliking the series/characters.
DO read the Anime Discussion Rules and Site & Forum Guidelines.
Pages (2) [1] 2 »
Feb 1, 8:57 AM
#1

Offline
Nov 2011
129420
Inori's hard work paid off but she's still got a lot of competition.

I think most prominently, Hikaru is someone to watch out for because she's extremely talented. I love the competitive energy in this show though. Everyone kinda approaches it differently but all have the same goal in mind. Looking forward to more of Inori's development.
Feb 1, 8:57 AM
#2

Offline
May 2020
11716
The kid who acts like a brat to be honest never had a chance after the last episode, I mean from a rational point of view, we just can’t have our main girl losing to someone who was annoyingly rude to her right? Wrose, she kinda messed up as well. Would be a good learning experience for her, but yeah, all that matters is, Inori took the first prize, rightfully. Though hey, I’d like to see more of her and her coach going forward, just because of how good their bonding looks.

The animation for performances is holding up decently enough till now, I mean the kind of dread everyone thought it’d be isn’t anywhere to be seen. I mean I really liked Hikaru’s performance in the second half. I know the bare minimum about figure skating and haven’t actually watched a single performance live, so it could be that as well, but yeah, I’d love to see more of these kinds of performances. Everyone was in awe, I mean, after Hikaru’s turn. Btw hey, you don’t treat someone THAT way when they've fallen on their head lmaoooo. The guy who looks full of edge actually should try not to talk edgy as well... I liked Tsukasa's reply to him, really, in the end.
Feb 1, 8:58 AM
#3

Offline
Dec 2021
3040
I mean after seeing my queen Inori going crazy on the rink just minutes before, I think anyone would be anxious to see how they could top it off. But yeah, I feel for her. While she acts like a kid, it's natural, she's, well, a kid lol. It's natural that she feels the way she did feel. I'm glad to see that Tsukasa isn't the only goat sensei around here. Cat girl's sensei is also an amazing one. And hey, nice to see that they are back on good terms again. GREAT terms if anything, I mean, girl was taking a nap on Inori's lap and everything xD

But yeah, everyone has glazers for a reason, and when it comes to Hikaru, I can COMPLETLY understand why she has glazers. She is fucking INSANE. I though Inori went crazy last episode, NAH SHE WENT EVENNNNN CRAZIER. But yeah, we finally meet her sensei as well, and bro is just the aura king apparently. Tsukasa being the badass he is as usual though, bro cooked him. Can't wait to see where it goes from here.


Feb 1, 9:28 AM
#4

Offline
Feb 2019
9874
Greatest sports animanga ever idc.

Mike’s faces during her routine really killing me man. You know it’s funny, her whole thing was about bucking whatever adults told her and she attacked Inori for following Tsukasa advice so much, but if she listened to her coach more she would’ve done better. Good on her for realizing she needs to change her attitude to succeed. That’s all you can ask for

It’s so sweet how all the athletes have coaches that are PERFECT for them too. Miké’s coach is just a grown up version of herself. Very beautiful moment with them making up, I’m proud of her. Inori helping her up on the podium was so cute too. So now Inori has a goal to strive towards in Hikaru and someone who’s chasing her in Miké. We’ve got the sports anime love triangle 😂

Speaking of Hikaru, I’m speechless. That performance was incredible. Just when you think Inori and Miké did a great job you see the talent and experience gap between them and Hikaru. Such elegance and refinement in every spin and turn. It’s like watching poetry in motion and the classic music used during her performance reflects that.

Lmaooo Inori out here assassinating coaches on some Tonya Harding type shit. Good on Tsukasa for standing up for Inori against Jun. Idk what made him so jaded, but dashing a little girl’s dreams is cruel. He seems way meaner than Hikaru.. but something had to have happened to make him that way. I wonder what.

Really sweet episode as per now I can’t wait to see where things go from here
Marinate1016Feb 1, 1:37 PM
Feb 1, 9:40 AM
#5

Offline
Mar 2021
2062
Congratulations Inori on taking first place she was just on another level. Hikaru was also just as amazing in her performance no wonder she is adored.
Feb 1, 9:57 AM
#6
Offline
Sep 2015
6980
This anime completely integrate comedy into the important scene with the important character at ease. No one is safe from getting killed by Inori, not even the gold olympic medalist LOL
Feb 1, 10:25 AM
#7

Offline
Jul 2016
2659
Why bother with lame stuff like hard work when you're as efficient at assassinating coaches as Inori is? She'd rise to stardom in no time while her earthworm buddies take care of the corpses.

On a serious note though, watching Tsukasa defend Inori's honor against that edgelord was beyond cathartic. Ryoka accepting the realization that she needs a personality overhaul was a neat moment too.
Feb 1, 11:39 AM
#8
Offline
Feb 2021
3
The studio really nailed Hikaru's performance, it was stunning.
Feb 1, 12:30 PM
#9
Offline
Dec 2017
421
Did Rishe Inori Weitzner bump into Emperor Arnold Hein on the stairs? (at least he sounded like that to my ears). If so, she has six more time loops of 5 years each to get as good as Kamisaki Hikaru (whose performance totally stole this episode anyhow).

Miké / Mittens is essentially Iseri Nina on ice? I'm not wrong, screw everyone, throws tantrum... Next time she should perform swinging a broken lamp! Considering the heavy use of 3D-CGI and how emotional the story is, series could be retitled Girls Ice Cry
Feb 1, 12:32 PM
Offline
Oct 2020
3739
Hikaru really was different. On another level honesty. Her performance was amazing.

Also Inori took first for her section beating Mittens nice.

At the end we're also picking a fight against a former gold medalist too.
Feb 1, 12:38 PM
Offline
Jul 2019
85
nah I'm convinced, they're cookin with the 3D sequences
Feb 1, 2:13 PM

Offline
Mar 2023
122
Hearing Saint-Saens was not on my checklist for anime this season, but I am absolutely not going to complain. Hikaru's rendition to Danse Macabre was breathtaking.

The animation and the storytelling are top-notch. Add in the bit of drama there at the end and I'm thoroughly enjoying this so far.
Feb 1, 2:34 PM
Offline
Feb 2023
55
This animes CGI is the best I've seen since I started watching anime. The plot is beautiful, colouring is beautiful.. Also they nailed the times that the atmosphere should be dense or comfy. I've already read the manga but I'm still going to watch this again since it's one of the best at this season.
Feb 1, 3:06 PM
Offline
Dec 2017
421
Reply to thelastavocado
This animes CGI is the best I've seen since I started watching anime. The plot is beautiful, colouring is beautiful.. Also they nailed the times that the atmosphere should be dense or comfy. I've already read the manga but I'm still going to watch this again since it's one of the best at this season.
thelastavocado said:
This animes CGI is the best I've seen since I started watching anime.

Medalist's main issue is they are apparently unable to do much facial animation during 3D-CGI scenes, thus Kamisaki Hikaru performed stone-faced on ice. Being kind of a pro athlete already, stoicity is not a glaring issue for her - but could become one for Inori in future episodes. (Land of the Lustrous also had problems with CGI facial animation, so they tried to avoid close-ups as much as possible.)

That's not something motion capturing can solve as there are dozens of minuscule face muscles, so it must be animated manually from scratch even on computers or at least copied from 4K video footage of real people and then made exaggerated to match anime style. However, the extremely expressive but cartoonish facial animation used in Girls Band Cry would stand out too much in Medalist's super polished and shiny CGI scenes.
Feb 1, 3:20 PM

Offline
Jul 2011
2222
The old anime trope, after getting defeat the rival becomes the very clingy. In this case glued to the person.

I guess after so many times people raining on Inori's parade, I feel indifference about the Yodaka Jun-guy assertion.
Feb 1, 3:40 PM

Offline
Aug 2018
48
while I would still prefer if this wasn't in CG this is exactly what I was hoping for those long nearly uncut routines, great episode can't wait for when they start going more advanced techniques
Feb 1, 5:00 PM

Offline
Aug 2020
4210
another great ep


the coach is not afraid to use big words!!!
otakuweek (100k Followers) on insta for News /best recom etc

just have a look, you won't regret it...

Link below:

https://www.instagram.com/otakuweek?igsh=em5kY3Q4NTVtNXlh
Feb 1, 5:41 PM

Offline
Nov 2021
698
What is up with these 5 minute episodes? It was PEAK. The CGI in Hikaru's performance is genuinely so impressive, my eyes were glued to the screen the whole time. Glad Inori and Miketa were able to make up. And Tsukasa defending Inori at the end there, man I love this anime so much
Feb 1, 6:34 PM

Offline
Mar 2022
71
Ngl, I got chills from everyone's performance. The cgi and camera work are fantastic. And I really like Miketa and her coach's relationship. I think she's someone who's got the potential and tenacity to climb to the top. She's still 2 year younger than both Inori and Hikaru afterall.

Also that mini horror scene at the end and Inori's reaction are hilarious.
Feb 1, 7:10 PM

Offline
May 2023
301
INORIIIIIII CONGRATSSSSS
Feb 1, 8:18 PM

Offline
Feb 2020
319
The way Mike latched onto inori was so cute 🥺

Idk how our bbgirl is gonna catch up to THAT level of performance from Hikaru but I'm rooting for her and hope she can prove Hikaru's coach wrong someday!!!!
Signature removed. Please follow the signature rules, as defined in the Site & Forum Guidelines.
Feb 1, 8:58 PM

Online
Jul 2021
1918
Stunning performance from Hikaru.

3D CG animation sure is something else. As much as I like hand-drawn dancing, it could look a little rough at times (Yuri on Ice). But here, it just feels so smooth and free.

Hikaru's program music is Danse Macabre by Camille Saint-Saëns.

The piece was composed in 1874, based on a poem about an old French superstition in which Death comes out on Halloween night to play his fiddle and raise the skeletons from their graves so they can dance till daylight.

Feb 1, 9:00 PM

Offline
Nov 2010
1371
  • Hikaru's skating scene of 2 minutes and 30 seconds was great. It's rendered with only BGM, scratch and wind noise, and no narration. If the frame rate was much higher, it should have looked better.
  • Of course, Mike's starting posture was cute, though.
  • hey, Yodaka, it's a worst thing an adult can do to send a little girl such a nasty criticism.
Feb 1, 9:05 PM
Offline
Jul 2017
45
This anime has no right to be this good, yet it is. It is one of my favorite anime this season. I'm so proud of Inori and even Mittens. The Black hair girl (sorry, I'm not good with names) dance left me speechless.
Feb 1, 10:29 PM

Offline
Apr 2014
77
This episode is so lit. Hikaru's dance is trully pure fiction 🙌 and Jun vs Tsukasa coaching is absolute cinema🙌

Feb 1, 11:50 PM
Offline
Oct 2024
77
Another banger of a episode, I swear this anime is crack. I especially loved the ending with Tsukasa believing in Inori plus I love how we got a glimpse of Tsukasa's past experience with figure skating and him failing the lift. Hopefully, we can see more of this. If I predicted what I think his backstory is I think it's dark and he accidentally killed his partner due to her breaking her skull open and was banned from skating.
Feb 2, 12:34 AM
Offline
Jan 2022
47
cgi done right. refreshing
Feb 2, 2:54 AM

Offline
Nov 2013
6836
Yay, Inori won! Felt sorry for Ryouka. Aww, now she's gonna be clingy. Jun is a funny dude. Hikaru's too good!
Feb 2, 3:18 AM

Offline
Feb 2014
4039
Inori: Top notch ice figure skater in the making, but also a secret top notch assassin racking up the kills before you know it! XD

Putting that hilarious moment aside, this was another stellar episode. Watching Mittens and her performance did show how good she was, but also how much more she has to learn, so seeing her being honest with her faults towards her coach was good character growth for her. Not only that, but she was so happy that Inori still wanted to be friends with her that she latched onto Inori and stayed like that for a while.

Then came along Hikaru and her performance on the rink was simply amazing. Not only were her moves done with perfection, but she also had an excellent song, Danse Macabre, that matched up to her moves from start to finish. Not to forget, but the CGI used for her performance was probably the best yet for this series so far, which was pretty impressive.

Tsukasa also deserves praise for standing up for Inori after Hikaru's coach, Jun, criticised her ambitions for wanting to be able to skate at Hikaru's level. With that determination and passion, I hope that Tsukasa is true to his word and helps Inori to get to Hikaru's level someday. =)
Feb 2, 9:56 AM
Offline
Jan 2025
1
The animation for the skating was soooo good and the character development at the end was great as well.
Feb 2, 10:04 AM
Offline
Jan 2024
25
With Hikaru skating to Camille Saint-Saëns's "Danse Macabre" this episode,
we very much have her represented as an unapproachable witch, or perhaps even a dark goddess.
Someone truly overwhelming as a challenge to overcome.
Feb 2, 10:09 AM
Offline
Mar 2022
34
Yow why is tatsuya here? He retired from guarding miyuki to train hikaru?
Feb 2, 10:18 AM
Offline
Apr 2021
66
Absolute Cinema (character limit)
Feb 2, 1:27 PM

Offline
Mar 2021
36




this is after landing her jump. j/k
Powered by「アニソン」。

'anison' (ANIme SONg).
RAW and NOT DILUTED (aka NOT REMIXED [there are exceptions])
AND NOT THE WESTERN/GAIJIN EMPHASIS ON OST/BGM,
but...OPs, EDs, INsert Songs, & Character Songs!
Feb 2, 2:05 PM
Offline
Aug 2020
4
FoxuCrayon said:
The studio really nailed Hikaru's performance, it was stunning.

Yeah, I'm interested to see how it develops. Honestly, it is a fantastic adaptation of the manga so far. I was worried about how they would adapt the impact frames between Inori and Hikaru (with the lines on the side of the panel) but they did a great job. The one issue I see for those who haven't read the manga or know figure skating is the naming of the moves mid-routine. In the manga we could be in Inori or Tsukasa's mind and know what each move was as it was performed, but since we didn't get the actual movements it's difficult to recognize for those who don't have a figure skating background.
Feb 2, 2:11 PM
Offline
Jan 2019
8
This show is so good. I want this to be a long-running sports anime so bad.
Feb 2, 2:34 PM
Offline
Dec 2017
421
Reply to N1gtwhisper
FoxuCrayon said:
The studio really nailed Hikaru's performance, it was stunning.

Yeah, I'm interested to see how it develops. Honestly, it is a fantastic adaptation of the manga so far. I was worried about how they would adapt the impact frames between Inori and Hikaru (with the lines on the side of the panel) but they did a great job. The one issue I see for those who haven't read the manga or know figure skating is the naming of the moves mid-routine. In the manga we could be in Inori or Tsukasa's mind and know what each move was as it was performed, but since we didn't get the actual movements it's difficult to recognize for those who don't have a figure skating background.
@N1gtwhisper
N1gtwhisper said:
The one issue I see for those who haven't read the manga or know figure skating is the naming of the moves mid-routine

Ooi Tonbo! suffered from trying to cram lots of golfing jingoistics into the competition narration and it's probably best to avoid such pitfall again. Figure skating kind of speaks for itself, since it's a highly visual sport (versus the not so obvious ballistics of golf).
Feb 2, 3:14 PM
Lilium Gardener

Offline
Jul 2011
3739
How is ENGI doing this? They have even less excuse for their shit prior to this one now. The skating sequences were absolutely stunning. Beautiful work with the CG. Beautiful work all-around. Mittens scene with her coach was very touching. Also glad her and Inori grew closer. Their moments were very cute. The ending of the episode was hilarious and then badass all in the same scene. The source obviously helps a lot, but ENGI and whoever they are outsourcing deserves a lot of credit. Now, I'm officially all-in on this adaptation. If they fuck it up somehow after this glorious start, I'm going to be very aggravated.

TLDR: Goddamn, that was good!

Feb 2, 4:13 PM
Offline
Jun 2015
189
Reply to KingYoshi
How is ENGI doing this? They have even less excuse for their shit prior to this one now. The skating sequences were absolutely stunning. Beautiful work with the CG. Beautiful work all-around. Mittens scene with her coach was very touching. Also glad her and Inori grew closer. Their moments were very cute. The ending of the episode was hilarious and then badass all in the same scene. The source obviously helps a lot, but ENGI and whoever they are outsourcing deserves a lot of credit. Now, I'm officially all-in on this adaptation. If they fuck it up somehow after this glorious start, I'm going to be very aggravated.

TLDR: Goddamn, that was good!

@KingYoshi

I imagine it's the sheer magnitude of the pressure. This was a critically acclaimed award winning work. Fucking it up would have been studio sinking.
Feb 2, 4:34 PM

Offline
Apr 2015
1490
Ok wtf??? There is no way this episode was 20 minutes long, I swear I just started watching the episode and then the next thing I knew, the episode ended. Damn...this episode was amazing. If I'm being completely honest, I didn't enjoy watching Ryouka's performance very much (the facial expressions and movements were very odd-looking), and even Inori's performance in the previous episode (I feel so guilty just typing this out), but wow, Hikaru's performance was on another level. I could barely even tell it was CGI. It was stunning, I can watch it on repeat several times.

Hikaru's coach is cool. I can't dislike him since I would have a hard time believing Inori had a chance against Hikaru if I was a bystander, but I'm definitely looking forward to seeing Inori's journey in making that a reality.



"As promised, all that you seek, all that we desire, is prepared up there. On top of the Tower."
Feb 2, 11:06 PM
Offline
May 2018
79
This episode sure was amazing, but I, as someone who knows absolutely nothing about figure skating, have one single question. What was so wrong with Mike's performance? Maybe I missed a line or something, but, yeah, I understand that she skipped a jump in her programme or something, but in the end Tsukasa and Hitomi looked kinda awkward and mentioned something about her doing the same jump twice... is that something bad? I like spokons because you can always learn some new things, so I'm trying to understand what happened there.
Feb 3, 4:00 AM

Offline
Nov 2010
1371
As the credit says "figure skating execution (by)", I consulted with Google and found the skating scenes are motion-captured like this. It seems Suzuki-san played some character's skating. Incidentally, the manga only depicted very limited portion of the skating of this episode. So, they may have complemented the lack of the sequence.
---
PurpleMario said:
This episode sure was amazing, but I, as someone who knows absolutely nothing about figure skating, have one single question. What was so wrong with Mike's performance? Maybe I missed a line or something, but, yeah, I understand that she skipped a jump in her programme or something, but in the end Tsukasa and Hitomi looked kinda awkward and mentioned something about her doing the same jump twice... is that something bad? I like spokons because you can always learn some new things, so I'm trying to understand what happened there.
The show explained it sort of vaguely, but the manga explains it briefly in a footnote: "You have to execute 4 different jumps for first jumps in this competition." (As for general short programs, you can read the detail here. It seems it is written well, but I haven't read it.)
Anyway, she redid the same first jump (2S) as a jump combination and it was counted as invalid. As her coach said she should execute 1F+1A instead of scheduled 1F to add points.
kuroneko99Feb 3, 5:35 AM
Feb 3, 8:16 AM

Offline
Sep 2024
412
That's not about the story or characters, but the visuals disappoint quite a bit and the faces look off in some shots.
TressymFeb 3, 9:53 AM
Feb 3, 9:31 AM

Offline
Jul 2016
8796
Miketarou's relationship with her coach sure is an interesting one. Though I'm not sure if I fully agree with her coach's way to encouragement. I mean, no one is telling the kid to change her personality/way of being. Just don't act like an unbearable brat to people who don't deserve it. Simple as that.

Other than that, it was another superb episode with Inori winning her first official competition, Hikaru's stellar presentation and Tsukasa going full GAR at the end to defend Inori's honor. Apparently, dude's nowhere near black-haired edgelord's level yet he's ready to go to war for his kid despite everything and I absolutely love that.
Feb 3, 9:48 AM
Offline
Dec 2017
421
Reply to SouthRzVa
Miketarou's relationship with her coach sure is an interesting one. Though I'm not sure if I fully agree with her coach's way to encouragement. I mean, no one is telling the kid to change her personality/way of being. Just don't act like an unbearable brat to people who don't deserve it. Simple as that.

Other than that, it was another superb episode with Inori winning her first official competition, Hikaru's stellar presentation and Tsukasa going full GAR at the end to defend Inori's honor. Apparently, dude's nowhere near black-haired edgelord's level yet he's ready to go to war for his kid despite everything and I absolutely love that.
SouthRzVa said:
Miketarou's relationship with her coach sure is an interesting one. Though I'm not sure if I fully agree with her coach's way to encouragement. I mean, no one is telling the kid to change her personality/way of being. Just don't act like an unbearable brat to people who don't deserve it. Simple as that.

Coach is wise. Figure skating is not a sport for long-term career: kids start at 5 y.o. and their bodies wear out by 17-18, very early 20s at the latest. Miké / Mittens, with her well-preserved unbearable brat personality could then raise the middle finger to the rink and enter rock music as an Iseri Nina imitator... Everybody screw off, I'm not wrong!, adults suck, throws tantrum. (It shows that the two series, Medalist and GBC have the same script-writer and we definitely need a Girls Ice Cry collab!)
Feb 3, 1:48 PM
Offline
Jul 2022
68
I wonder if Hikari's program music, "The Danse Mcabare" (Dance of Death), is foreshadowing for her character development ? I'm just wondering out loud... not looking for spoilers
Feb 3, 2:38 PM

Online
Jul 2021
1918
Reply to SouthRzVa
Miketarou's relationship with her coach sure is an interesting one. Though I'm not sure if I fully agree with her coach's way to encouragement. I mean, no one is telling the kid to change her personality/way of being. Just don't act like an unbearable brat to people who don't deserve it. Simple as that.

Other than that, it was another superb episode with Inori winning her first official competition, Hikaru's stellar presentation and Tsukasa going full GAR at the end to defend Inori's honor. Apparently, dude's nowhere near black-haired edgelord's level yet he's ready to go to war for his kid despite everything and I absolutely love that.
SouthRzVa said:
Though I'm not sure if I fully agree with her coach's way to encouragement. I mean, no one is telling the kid to change her personality/way of being.

I thought Nacchin did a good thing here.

If Mike was unrepentant and throwing a tantrum, then that might be a different story; she should be reprimanded and start working on her aggression and stubbornness.

But her morale was completely shattered here, and she herself recognized that her personality was problematic. Or rather, she admitted what she's always known and felt insecure about. To be a little overdramatic, it's almost like she was questioning the very core of her being.

To say "yeah, you suck, glad you finally realized it" is not a good move. Even if it was true (which it isn't, imo).

I think what was important here was to focus on the positives of her personality, which is undeniable. Her personality is what drives her and helps her excel.

Mike was already rethinking her actions anyway, even after Nacchin's "just win" speech, as we see her scared and embarrassed to face Inori afterwards.

(And to be a little cynical here, being a brat and upsetting some people is a small price to pay if it helps you succeed in this hyper-competitive environment... That's a big if, though)

Note that I do think there might be other ways to approach this that are also valid. But this was a pretty good lesson for this specific kid in this specific situation.
Yesterday, 1:45 PM
Offline
Jan 2017
2
Tsukasa coach you’re the best ! another great episode so far but really I don’t like CGI animation it’s just off for me switching between
Yesterday, 4:31 PM

Offline
Apr 2008
2706
Inori over there killing people left and right, she cracks me up.
Yesterday, 7:34 PM
Offline
Jun 2017
2
The coach resoluteness on beating the Olympic champion was quite astonishing, really made the episode for me.
Pages (2) [1] 2 »

More topics from this board

Poll: » Medalist Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 )

Stark700 - Jan 11

70 by davidyodo24 »»
12 minutes ago

Poll: » Medalist Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 )

IzanaSolos - Dec 14, 2024

126 by davidyodo24 »»
Yesterday, 10:41 PM

Poll: » Medalist Episode 4 Discussion ( 1 2 )

Stark700 - Jan 25

80 by NishimiyaChoran »»
Feb 3, 11:24 PM

» How good is Hikaru-chan compared to skaters irl?

goodbyedays - Feb 1

6 by goodbyedays »»
Feb 3, 12:26 AM

» OP & ED

NB_Tenchy - Jan 29

7 by NB_Tenchy »»
Feb 2, 9:22 PM

Preview MangaManga Store

It’s time to ditch the text file.
Keep track of your anime easily by creating your own list.
Sign Up Login