MEDALIST

DESCRIPTION

CAST

CHAPTERS

ONE SHOT ComedyYatogame-chan Kansatsu Nikki x Medalist
ANIME DramaMedalist
ANIME DramaMedalist 2nd Season
MOVIE DramaMedalist Movie

REVIEWS

• 

  saulgoodman

  80/100
  There's still time left

  ___ #__Teaching an old dog new tricks__

  NIche sports series have always been some of the most enjoyable I've read, from sumo wrestling to competitive dancing, which always seems to share the joint characteristic of the novelty of an unorthodox sport and exhilarating character development. Medalist's harness on ice-skating isn't so much eye-catching as is how distinct its writing is from traditional sports genre. Rather than complying with a middle or high-school setting, the series pivots around the 11 year-old Inori and 28 year-old Tsukasa duo. The competitiveness of ice-skating allocates an especially demanding career time-frame, requiring many to start early as 5 years old to pull ahead of their peers in the future.

  Medalist harps on the repercussions of the sport's rigidity on the tender psyches of especially young athletes. This juxtaposition of elementary-school children and the maturity of their mental and emotional issues that even 28 year-old Tsukasa presently empathizes with is the narrative's driving force, hooking you in from the get-go. Although the massive age-gap between the two protagonists could pose an awkward rift in both narrative and theme, Tsukasa and Inori's parallel in their lack of confidence in their abilities due to starting the sport late are established without a hitch. Given Tsukasa's blazing, optimistic nature and Inori's mature, pessimistic rationale, there's a middle-ground to be met in lieu of their ages. Although projecting his distraught and regret from his career onto Inori, who still has time to make up for starting off late, Tsukasa's genuine goodwill rekindles Inori's motivation and passion, who responds in turn, making for a heartwarming dynamic.

  ---

  ___ #__Time's ticking__ Although, *Medalist* is certainly not as psychological as I may have worded it. There's very much a large sports factor at work, which, again, is somewhat unorthodox in the sports genre. Knockout/round-robin style tournaments have always been a staple, working in as easy introductions to many important characters to serve as the protagonist's rivals/obstacles, ultimately an efficient character device while maintaining electrifying sport matches. While *Medalist* writes in many small regional tournaments, they have a slightly different nuance as a character device. Thus far, these "tournaments" are badge/rank tests (similar to boxing class matches) that measure an individual's abilities in solidarity in how they perform certain skill sets, as opposed to relative to other athletes in the form of matches and points. While point systems, trophy places and potential rivals appear progressively, the core of the tests are what both Inori and Tsukasa narrow in on. Although other athletes Inori's befriended serve as solid motivation and camaraderie, it's her own progress that she learns to measure herself by, rather than continuing by others, as both she and Tsukasa have for years. Thematic and character writing aside, these badge tests display the kinetic energy of both ice-skating and [Ikada Tsuruma](https://anilist.co/staff/169333/Ikada-Tsuruma)'s art. Comical and silly as the frequent *chibi* sketches are, Ikada's sense of anatomy is striking and flamboyant in depicting a plethora of different ice-skating poses and jumps. Although the paneling flow may be a bit ambitious at times, the flow of motion coincides with the poses, which appeals with interesting details instead of grandiose movements. Ikada often makes great use of screen-tones and gradience to accentuate certain movements or build up to the climaxing pose, in addition to easy-to-follow vector arcs. Just to reiterate myself once more, by God, the poses are fantastic. If this series ever sees the light of an *anime* adaptation, I pray that the key animators do them justice. ___ ___ #__Conclusion__ Although still newborn in plot development, *Medalist* gleams with tremendous potential. The dichotomy between its extremely young cast of characters and their strikingly mature internal conflicts quickly sets the narrative's foundation and continues to develop. Reminiscent of [*March comes in like a Lion*](https://anilist.co/manga/31224/March-Comes-in-Like-a-Lion/) and [*Blue Period*](https://anilist.co/manga/107237/Blue-Period/), the series is primarily an exploration of fragile psyche bared against the sport's trials and tribulations. Just as the art frequently flip-flops between sloppily endearing *chibi* art and despairingly grim visage, the series is an accumulation of crestfallen anguish lifted up by heartwarming encouragement. Inori and Tsukasa's dynamic establishes itself on their shared agonies in the sport, but rather than licking their own wounds, they foster hope and change in one another against the orthodox of ice-skating. Time is never at stand-still but it's for the individual to do something with the remaining time.
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• 

  nanuha

  100/100
  It's not too late to start

  Medalist starts as your typical underdog story, in a sport that is extremely cruel with those who don't start early, someone with a surprising natural talent that didn't have the opportunity to start earlier. Inori finds Tsukasa, a coach that doesn't believe in himself, who becomes passionate about helping Inori achieve her dream of becoming a gold medalist, being completely captivated by her. Both Tsukasa and Inori lack confidence in their abilities, since they both started late, but it's because of this that Tsukasa with his new found passion for coaching, wants to make sure Inori will definitely achieve her dreams, and prove to her what took him too long to realize, due to not having anyone to help him with this, it's not too late to start pursuing your dreams and doing what you want to do, what you love. It doesn't matter what people say, you should just go for it. Both of our characters start off with inner self-hatred for the people they were in the past, but they're able to push eachother to greater highs, as mentor and mentee, and finding a new happiness that wasn't there before, but happiness doesn't last forever It's not all sunshine and rainbows, Inori struggles deeply with disappointing others, and with people thinking she's not putting her all into this, she's nothing outside of the ice rink, and Tsukasa really struggles whenever he fails in making Inori succeed, feeling inadequate. Inori, as her own name "prayer" indicates, is a girl whose strength comes from carrying the prayers and hopes of others, only making it more crushing whenever she fails, specially considering her young age, aswell as all of her insecurities that come from having hated herself. Never being good academically or having anything she excelled at, finally able to find her passion in skating, being good at something, and finding the strength to keep on going when things go south, thanks to Tsukasa as well as her rival, Hikaru, her shining light of hope. Hikaru is a fairly complex character, a girl that looks down on skating, who only started ice skating because the adults around her wanted her to do so, a girl who is constantly playing the role people want to see, not who she really is, following in the steps of Jun Yodaka. A girl who sees Inori as her salvation in this world, the two sharing mutual admiration, who eventually breaks through from this role she's playing and starts being her own person, breaking out from her miniature garden, and becoming the light (Hikaru) of hope that Inori needed. Tsukasa couldn't succeed at any of his dreams, replacing one with another when things went south, but he's now found a new dream, becoming the coach of his ideal, someone he wishes had been there for him when he needed it. He wants nothing more than to help Inori succeed. Tsukasa's and Inori's dynamic is one of the best you'll ever see, the side cast is also phenomenal, special mention to Iruka in particular, a girl who has lost all sense of normalcy due to her pain but refuses to get hurt any longer and wishes to become the coolest skater ever. It's not just the writing that is phenomenal in Medalist, the art is absolutely gorgeous too, having a perfect choreography in which you can really feel the movement at any time, as you can see by looking at the past pictures, Tsurumaikada has nailed everything in this series. There's a lot I could say about this series, and I didn't do it enough justice here but I'll make a longer review when it finishes, if you want a realistic story about hardworking people pursuing their dreams, pushing eachother and dealing with failure, please read Medalist!
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