Medalist

Becoming an ice dancer was not what Tsukasa Akeuraji had aimed for when he decided to take on the figure skating world. However, it is where he ended up, as he "started too late" to follow his true solo-skating dreams.

For years, he was content with being a shell of his former ambitions—that is, until he met a little girl in whom he saw himself. Inori Yuitsuka, a fifth-grader so desperate to skate that she practiced in secret, had visited Tsukasa's rink with her mother to ask for lessons. She was branded as useless by everyone around her, told it was "too late" for her to begin, and that catching up to other skaters was impossible.

With a newfound conviction and unwillingness to let another passionate skater go down the same road as him, Tsukasa takes on the responsibility of coaching her and promises to make Inori a medalist.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Medalist has been published digitally in English by Kodansha USA since May 18, 2021, and in print since March 5, 2024.

The series won the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category in 2023, and the 48th Kodansha Manga Award in the general category in 2024.

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Characters

Yuitsuka, Inori

Main

Akeuraji, Tsukasa

Main

Kamisaki, Hikaru

Supporting

Okazaki, Iruka

Supporting

Yodaka, Jun

Supporting

Miketa, Ryouka

Supporting

Sonidori, Rio

Supporting

Takamine, Hitomi

Supporting

Sonidori, Shinichirou

Supporting

Inukai, Souta

Supporting

Reviews

Apr 27, 2021

machuzka

Recommended

Preliminary (6/? eps)

Hi, I'm a figure skater.

This manga is incredible and I can attest to that. (TL;DR at bottom)

STORY: 9

It's a simple premise, a journey of Inori's way to an Olympic medal, but that's what makes the story so great. With such a simple plot, there's no limit to what you can do with it if you know and care for the sport. (Which, the author absolutely does, considering nearly everything to do with actual figure skating is factual.) For example, they incorporate actual skating culture into the manga, which unfortunately is a culture of classism and superiority complexes, but the culture also attributes to the plot ...

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Sep 11, 2024

Jemnite

Recommended

Well-written

Preliminary (46/? eps)

This is a premier, top of the line, character focused, theme heavy, sports manga about striving for victory. The primary conflict is about Inori trying to work her way to becoming No.1, e.g. Gold medalist, but there is so much beyond that. Almost every character in Medalist is a protagonist of their own story. This is not something you are only reminded of as an afterthought but something that works its way in at every point possible. Tsukasa has his own themes about sacrifice, chances give up on, making sure the next generation has better opportunities than he was given. Hikaru has her own set ...

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Jan 7, 2025

BG_Comedimet

Recommended

Preliminary (3/? eps)

I'm gonna write this from Volume 1 (until Chapter 3)perspective only and review as a sport manga reader and Figure Skating fan.

It's been a while since we get manga/anime about Figure Skating. 1st manga I know was Ginban Kaleidoscope from 2003 and then; Yuri on Ice anime, in which, was okay but it was below my expectation in term of sport entertaining aspect.

Story:
Now, we get to see manga about Figure Skating(FS) which focused on Competitive skating. Tsukasa, a retired average-no-job Ice Dancer met Inori, low self-esteem, 5th Grade girl who sought to learn FS but started a tad late according to her age. Nonetheless, she ... bears a glimpse of talent. Mangaka invested time to research FS and went FS on their own, and said that they had an injury from ice rink before releasing volume 1. Not only that, they also cooperate with Skating Expert to help furnishing the Skating domain. and this was about Women FS which was I've been waiting for a long while, hence this passed my checklist box. The training element, tournament was very good, met my standard. The skating scene during tournament wasn't just come and go. Even though we won't hear a music or watch an animate scene, but Mangaka did a great job to express the scene for us to grasp the atmosphere. Looking forward to the story in the future. I bet this is a coming-of-age which means there must be time-skip scene (or at least she must grow in age). In no way they gonna let her be 5th grade forever had she wanted to compete Olympics. Not to mention, there was many real-life drama inserted here e.g. No funding to support skaters— it was pricey hobby after all.

The Art:
was so neat, delicate and clean. The facial expression was funny, on point, dramatic. I just love it. It seems the author was very competent at digital art. Good for them.

Character:
The character development gonna put so much into play here. So far, it met my expectation: The rivalry b/w Inori and other skaters.(The rivalry b/w athlete? count me in), The trust b/w Coach Tsukasa and Inori. Inori has to change herself from low-self esteem into someone who has a lot of confidence in order to shine in her career.

Overall:
It looked promising and was one of a manga that you wouldn't see much in rare genre as Ice Skating, it's worth a try, especially if you are Figure Skating fan. You gonna love it.

UPDATE: Completed Vol.1 and wrote the first review on 2021, now I completed vol.11 on 2025, I dare say this is a sport manga that has qualities I'm looking for. It's rare to find FS manga that gonna explain the complicated Figure Skating rules in detail such as this one. The MC is a beginner, so no worry if you never watch FS, they will teach you the rules step-by-step. Since FS has complicated rules, many pages contain technical detail that it requires you a lot of focus to digest the information. Regarding the character depth, it is not flat here. Mangaka gives depth and backstory to each main characters, so you get attached to them. Although, I wish some character has more backstory to it. Speaking of Figure Skating depiction accuracy, it stays true to the reality, with the easter egg such as the real ice rink, but some elements were changed a bit to fit the story, but the manga noted them in a side note, so you know which one is real or fiction.

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Poll: Medalist Chapter 50 Discussion zhiktang - Jan 23	0 replies	by zhiktang »» Today, 9:09 AM
Poll: Medalist Chapter 49 Discussion zhiktang - Jan 23	0 replies	by zhiktang »» Today, 8:38 AM
Poll: Medalist Chapter 48 Discussion ryzxgum - Dec 5, 2024	2 replies	by BG_Comedimet »» Jan 6, 11:36 PM
Poll: Medalist Chapter 44 Discussion ryzxgum - Jul 28, 2024	3 replies	by meyve »» Nov 3, 2024 11:04 AM
Poll: Medalist Chapter 47 Discussion InNeedOfAName - Oct 4, 2024	1 replies	by MaxtotheMinimum »» Oct 5, 2024 5:05 PM

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