Medalist (manga)

Medalist
	First tankōbon volume cover, featuring Tsukasa Akeuraji (left) and Inori Yuitsuka (right)
メダリスト; (Medarisuto)
Genre	Drama; Sports;
Manga
Written by	Tsurumaikada
Published by	Kodansha
English publisher	NA: Kodansha USA;
Imprint	Afternoon KC
Magazine	Monthly Afternoon
Original run	May 25, 2020 – present
Volumes	13
Anime television series
Directed by	Yasutaka Yamamoto
Written by	Jukki Hanada
Music by	Yuki Hayashi
Studio	ENGI
Licensed by	Disney Platform Distribution
Original network	ANN (TV Asahi)
Original run	January 5, 2025 – present
Episodes	13
	Anime and manga portal

Medalist (Japanese: メダリスト, Hepburn: Medarisuto) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Tsurumaikada. It has been serialized in Kodansha's seinen manga magazine Monthly Afternoon since May 2020, with its chapters collected in thirteen tankōbon volumes as of June 2025. In North America, the manga is licensed for English release by Kodansha USA. An anime television series adaptation produced by ENGI aired from January to March 2025. A second season is set to premiere in January 2026.

Quick facts メダリスト (Medarisuto), Genre ...

Medalist won the Next Manga Award in the print category in 2022, the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category in 2023, and the 48th Kodansha Manga Award in the same category in 2024.

[1]

No.	Title ^[50]^[51]	Directed by ^[50]	Storyboarded by ^[50]	Original release date ^[52]^[a]
1	"A Genius on the Ice" Transliteration: "Hyōjō no Tensai" (Japanese: 氷上の天才)	Yasutaka Yamamoto	Yasutaka Yamamoto	January 5, 2025 (2025-01-05)
Tsukasa Akeuraji is a former ice dancer who is now employed at a local ice rink for figure skating run by his former ice dance partner Hitomi Takemine. One day, Tsukasa catches an 11-year-old girl named Inori Yuitsuka attempting to skate at the rink without paying the entrance fee. At a nearby park, Inori explains that she wants to figure skate but her mother will not allow it. Tsukasa tries to motivate Inori by giving her the contact information of local figure skating coaches. The next day, Tsukasa is surprised to see Inori with her mother, Nozomi, consulting with Hitomi. Nozomi reveals that due to both Inori's age and what previously happened to her older sister, she plans to make Inori quit the sport via the coaches' advice. However, Tsukasa proposes to let him watch Inori first before making his decision, after which everyone discovers that Inori already knows the fundamentals, much to Tsukasa's delight. Seeing Inori's determination, and reminded how he was once in a similar situation, Tsukasa convinces Nozomi to allow him to be Inori's coach.
2	"Prelim Badge Test" Transliteration: "Shokyū Bajji Tesuto" (Japanese: 初級バッジテスト)	Takahiro Hirata	Toshihiko Masuda	January 12, 2025 (2025-01-12)
After a few days training under Tsukasa, Inori shows significant improvement. Tsukasa then informs Inori that a Badge Test will take place soon, which is a series of tests to determine a skater's skill level. Inori insists on taking it right away. On the day of the test, Inori encounters two other skaters, a girl and boy. While the girl is friendly, the boy, Rioh, is rude towards Inori. The experience leaves Inori nervous about taking the test, but Tsukasa successfully calms her down and she is able to pass the preliminary level test. While Nozomi is happy, she reminds Inori that she is only willing to allow her to skate until middle school. Back at the rink, Inori meets the girl she befriended, and realizes that she is Hikaru Kamisaki, an award winning novice skater. Upon hearing some parents criticizing Inori, Hikaru takes Inori to the ice and they skate together. Hikaru tells Inori that she dreams of going to the Olympics, and advises Inori that she should be more open about her desires. When Tsukasa arrives, Inori tells him her dream of being an Olympic gold medalist, which Tsukasa promises to help fulfill.
3	"Taiyaki and Cake" Transliteration: "Taiyaki to Kēki" (Japanese: たい焼きとケーキ)	Shinichi Fukumoto	Shinichi Watanabe	January 19, 2025 (2025-01-19)
Tsukasa decides that the best way to convince Nozomi that Inori is committed to skating is to win a competition, so he enrolls Inori in the Meikoh Cup. During practice, however, Inori struggles due to her stage fright. Tsukasa tries to help by showing her how he skates, which greatly impresses her and motivates her to improve. As they practice, they also meet coach Mario Nachi and her student Ryoka Miketa. Despite Ryoka's abrasive attitude, she and Inori end up befriending each other, but Ryoka has a falling out when Inori insists on practicing with Tsukasa. Seeing Ryoka's skill, Tsukasa advises Inori that she has to make a choice: either focus all the time they have left on mastering jumps, or focus on mastering the basics of dancing first. Inori ultimately decides to focus on the latter. As the competition nears, Inori has most of her program mastered except for the double Salchow jump. After seeing a dog chase its tail, Tsukasa has the idea of having Inori perform a flying sit spin instead. Inori manages to perform the flying sit spin flawlessly, which is encouraging since it is considered to be the more advanced move.
4	"Meikoh Cup, Junior Women's Prelim Free Skating (Part One)" Transliteration: "Meikō-hai Shokyū Joshi FS (Mae)" (Japanese: 名港杯初級女子FS（前）)	Manabu Kurihara	Shinichi Watanabe	January 26, 2025 (2025-01-26)
Inori's older sister Mika returns home from Canada to visit as well as to see Inori skate at the Meikoh Cup, and Mika assures Inori that despite her appearance of disinterest, Nozomi is actually very enthusiastic about Inori skating. However, during the warmup session, Inori performs very poorly. Seeing this, Nozomi wants Tsukasa to lower the difficulty of her program. Overhearing this, Inori begins to lose self-confidence until she has the epiphany that she is already much different than she was before. She confronts Nozomi and insists that her program not change. When the competition starts, Inori initially falls but quickly recovers and performs the rest of her program flawlessly, ending with the flying sit spin. However, she shocks everybody, including Tsukasa, by following up with a broken leg sit spin, a move that she had only been able to perform once. Witnessing Inori's determination, Nozomi is finally convinced Inori can be a professional skater and decides to throw her full support behind her. Meanwhile, the judges award Inori with a score of 12.64, putting her in first place.
5	"Meikoh Cup, Junior Women's Prelim Free Skating (Part Two)" Transliteration: "Meikō-hai Shokyū Joshi FS (Ato)" (Japanese: 名港杯初級女子FS（後）)	Shinichi Fukumoto	Hideaki Uehara	February 2, 2025 (2025-02-02)
Ryoka begins her program for the competition, and while she has a strong start, she accidentally misses a combo, which causes her to panic and forget to perform her planned recovery move. Despite landing her double Salchow jump perfectly, Ryoka only scores an 11.17, putting her in third place. Distressed at losing first place, Ryoka apologizes to Mario for her aggressive behavior, only for Mario to chastise her, pointing out that said aggressiveness is what makes her stand out from the other skaters and drives her to be better. Inori then approaches Ryoka in an attempt to rekindle their friendship, which Ryoka accepts, having a newfound respect for her. As the Novice level competition begins, Rioh arrives with his father, Olympic silver medalist skater Shinichiro Sonidori. Hikaru then performs her program, captivating the crowd and earning a score of 97.23. After the competition, Inori tries to meet Hikaru, but runs into her coach, gold medalist skater Jun Yodaka. Jun is skeptical that Tsukasa will be able to train Inori to a level where she can beat Hikaru, but Tsukasa swears to him that he will.
6	"The Night of the First Competition" Transliteration: "Shosen no Yoru" (Japanese: 初戦の夜)	Hideaki Ōba	Toshihiko Masuda	February 9, 2025 (2025-02-09)
Following the Meikoh Cup, Inori tells Tsukasa that she wants to take the level one Badge Test. Once Tsukasa agrees to arrange it, he tells Inori about his past. In a flashback, he was inspired to skate after he watched one of Jun's performances. Due to his age, however, no skating club would take him. In high school, he helped a woman named Meiko Kago and managed to get a part-time job at her husband's company as well as being treated as a member of her family. With his paycheck, he started training with Hitomi. They eventually were able to go to the All-Japans competition, but ended up in fourth place. Tsukasa then cut ties with the Kago family after Meiko died of an illness. Back in the present, Tsukasa unexpectedly runs into Koichi and Yo, Meiko's husband and daughter, once Inori leaves. Koichi soon reassures Tsukasa after the latter explains why he left. Realizing his mistake, Tsukasa decides to reconnect with Koichi and Yo. The next day at the rink, Inori tells Tsukasa how she is inspired by his life story, and they both decide to properly celebrate her winning the Meikoh Cup.
7	"Level One Badge Test" Transliteration: "Ikkyū Bajji Tesuto" (Japanese: 1級バッジテスト)	Motohiro Abe	Motohiro Abe	February 16, 2025 (2025-02-16)
Tsukasa starts preparations for Inori to take the level one Badge Test as well as compete in the West Japan Championship. In order to do so, he plans to add double jumps to her program. However, despite Inori insisting she was able to complete one on her own, she is unable to repeat it during practice. Tsukasa assure Inori that she does not need to rush. On the day of the test, Tsukasa and Inori encounter skaters Suzu Kamoto and Ema Yamato, along with their coach Yudai Jakuzure. Both Inori and Ema are able to pass the level one test while Suzu passes level seven. Tsukasa is impressed with Ema's skating and asks Yudai for coaching tip, which he agrees to. Working together, Yudai observes that only thing that Tsukasa really needs to resolve is his self-confidence issues as a coach. Over the next month, Inori is able to master the double loop jump thanks to Tsukasa's coaching. At the West Japan Championship, Inori encounters several other girls competing, including Suzu and Ema. However, during the warm up session, a distraught Inori realizes that she has misplaced her skates.
8	"Western Powerhouses (Part One)" Transliteration: "Nishi no Kyōgō (Mae)" (Japanese: 西の強豪（前）)	Takahiro Hirata	Takahiro Hirata	February 23, 2025 (2025-02-23)
Inori realizes that she left her skates on the train, so Tsukasa heads out to the train station to retrieve them. Trusting that Tsukasa will come back in time, Inori focuses on practicing her program. Meanwhile, skater Seira Shishido sets the bar for the competition by scoring a 23.37. Tsukasa is narrowly able to return in time for Inori to be present for the start of her group's programs. Kanna Kitora has a strong start with a 23.03, but leaves holes in the ice due to her strong toe jumps. Ritsuki Koguma goes next, but she misses a combo after tripping on one of the holes Kanna made. She manages to improvise a new combo and scores a 23.28. Miihi Kurosawa, a friend and rival of Seira, relies on her performance rather than stunts for her program, scoring a 23.34. Concerned, Inori asks Tsukasa whether she should improvise and add a double jump in her program to compete with the other skaters, but Tsukasa insists that if she can perfectly execute her program as is, she will be able to win first place. Inori then prepares to perform her program as everybody watches.
9	"Western Powerhouses (Part Two)" Transliteration: "Nishi no Kyōgō (Ato)" (Japanese: 西の強豪（後）)	Yūki Kanazawa	Shigehisa Īda	March 2, 2025 (2025-03-02)
Inori performs her program, and despite suffering from muscle fatigue, she emulates Tsukasa's moves and is able to complete it flawlessly and scores a 24.32, putting her in first place. However, she suffers a sprained ankle. Despite her injury, Inori insists on staying long enough to watch Ema's performance. When Ema's program starts, she recalls how she struggled in training due to her growth spurts prior to Yudai becoming her coach. She pulls off an array of highly complex moves and scores a 25.57. Ema and Seira take first and third place, respectively, with Seira and Miihi joining Ritsuki's club. On the train ride home, Tsukasa warns Inori that she will need to take a break due to her likely having shin splints, which could lead to a stress fracture. Inori reflects on the competition and promises that despite the gap in experience between herself and her rivals, she will not give up on her dream. Five days later, Tsukasa promises Yudai that he and Inori will impress him at next year's All-Japans competition. Elsewhere, Hikaru wins the West Japan Novice B competition while Rioh angrily curses at his father as he congratulates Hikaru.
10	"Howling at Night" Transliteration: "Yoru ni Hoeru" (Japanese: 夜に吠える)	Hideaki Ōba	Shinichi Watanabe	March 9, 2025 (2025-03-09)
One year later, Inori takes first place in the level five division at her second Meikoh Cup, having made significant improvement. All she needs to do is pass the level six Badge Test in order to qualify for the All-Japans Novice A division so she can compete against Hikaru. However, Tsukasa notes that level six is the most difficult level to pass, requiring mastery of the double Axel jump. During practice, Tsukasa is called away to meet Rioh and his father, Shinichiro. Shinichiro explains that Rioh's progress has stagnated, so he wants him to temporarily be placed under Tsukasa's tutelage. Rioh, however, proves difficult to get along with. Inori eventually loses her temper and challenges Rioh, stating that she will reach level six before him and defeat Hikaru. After practice, Tsukasa has a private meeting with Inori where the latter reveals that she can already perform a double Axel jump on land, but cannot perform it on ice yet. Realizing Inori is already physically capable of performing the move, Tsukasa decides to accelerate her training.
11	"Dance the Night" Transliteration: "Yoru o Odore" (Japanese: 夜を踊れ)	Mitsuo Hashimoto	Motohiro Abe	March 16, 2025 (2025-03-16)
Inori participates in a special training camp along with the rest of her club, with Mario attending as a guest coach. Mario takes note of Tsukasa's enthusiasm, but Hitomi warns her that his greatest weakness is his lack of self-confidence. After the first day of training, Tsukasa encounters Rioh in the bathhouse. When asked about his training goals, Rioh claims that he has hit a wall and is skeptical of Tsukasa's qualification to be a coach since he only passed the Prelim level Badge Test. Initially discouraged by Rioh's pessimism, Tsukasa fires himself up by swearing to teach Rioh how to master a triple-double combo. Meanwhile, Inori confides with Ryoka that she hopes she can pass the level six Badge Test to prove Tsukasa is a worthy coach. The next day, Inori finally manages to land both her first double Axel jump and triple Salchow jump, while Rioh continues to struggle. Witnessing Inori's success, Rioh is reminded of how quickly Hikaru surpassed him. Tsukasa privately meets Rioh again and deduces that Rioh's pessimism comes from him being unable to match Jun's skill. Now knowing the problem, Tsukasa prepares a new training routine for Rioh.
12	"Shirone's Lesson" Transliteration: "Shironeko no Ressun" (Japanese: 白猫のレッスン)	Takahiro Hirata	Hiroyuki Oshima	March 23, 2025 (2025-03-23)
Tsukasa starts by performing Rioh's program himself, and completes it flawlessly. Rioh is shocked at how Tsukasa's skating actually rivals Jun's, and Hitomi points out that when they were partners in ice dancing, Tsukasa had to work hard on his skills to be able to keep pace with her. Recognizing Tsukasa's skill, Rioh finally comes around to accepting him as his coach. The next day, the guest coach Tsukasa invited, Kohaku Shirone, arrives at the training camp. Shirone was invited due to his expertise in ballet, which will also serve to help the skaters in their performances. However, having never taken ballet classes, Inori struggles to keep up with the rest of the class, which motivates her to work even harder. With everything they learned, Inori, Rioh, and Ryoka quickly master their triple-double combos. As the training camp ends, Inori confides to Tsukasa about how much fun she has had skating, and looks forward to improving even more in the future.
13	"Morning Arrives" Transliteration: "Asa ga Kuru" (Japanese: 朝が来る)	Yasutaka Yamamoto	Shinichi Watanabe	March 30, 2025 (2025-03-30)
Inori prepares to take the level six Badge Test. She encounters Hikaru on the way to the testing site and promises she will pass the test so she can compete against her in the Nationals, to Hikaru's delight. She and Tsukasa also meet Rioh and Shinichiro, with the latter thanking Tsukasa for helping Rioh achieve a breakthrough in his training. During the actual test, Inori reflects on how she was one year ago, and accepts that even though she was weak in the past, she is resolved to becoming a better skater in the future. Rioh also takes part in the test and manages to complete his program, much to his surprise. As the judges announce the test results, Inori begins to have a panic attack but is calmed down by Rioh before they both learn they have passed. Afterwards, Inori declares to herself that she will surpass and defeat her friends and rivals to win the gold medal.

Medalist (manga)

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