A Medalist Review

Other than Bandori, I've been pretty out of the seasonal anime scene for a while, so I kind of missed the boat when Medalist originally came out last year, with its second season finishing a few months ago. Now that I've started reloading my Plex server, I decided that it would be the first new show I would watch start to finish as my entry back into the modern anime world. I don't really consider myself to be a media reviewer, but I decided I wanted to write about my thoughts on it. So, let's jump into that.

Story

Arguably, the story of Medalist doesn't really do anything especially innovative. The story of an underdog athlete who is too old or not inherently skilled enough to go pro is one that's been told many times before, and the story of a first-time mentor trying to find their confidence is pretty common too. With that said, the execution of both of those stories is done very well in Medalist, and it does a great job keeping you invested. By the last episode, I found myself getting a little choked up at the recap of Inori's journey throughout the course of the season.

Inori does suffer from the issue of progressing unrealistically quickly, grabbing wins in her first events in the early ranks of the skating ladder. With that said, that does come with the territory for this kind of story, so I don't think I can take too many points off for that, but it does reduce some of the stakes when you realize that Inori is just a prodigy who can pick things up faster than anyone else, even if she got a late start.

The overall tone of the show was a bit goofier than I was expecting. It's not like the show doesn't take itself seriously, and it's not like I was expecting no humor, but it was a bit more absurdist humor than I expected going in. That's not really a criticism, just something I noticed and was surprised by.

The ending was a bit of a disappointment. There was a lot of build-up leading to it, and then the show just kind of ends abruptly. There are sequel hooks set up earlier in the final episode, but the ending didn't really feel like it tied things up satisfyingly, nor did it really bait the hook for the second season.

Audio

Overall, the music for Medalist is pretty good. The OP, Bow and Arrow, is pretty solid, and the ED, Atashi no Dress, is fun and upbeat, even if it feels a bit out of place after a couple of the more serious story beats. As for the background OST, it doesn't really have any standout tracks, but it does the job of a good soundtrack well enough. At the end of the day, I don't have any complaints.

I've always preferred dubbed anime, so I watched Medalist in English. Sony's anime dubbing seemed to have started going downhill toward the end of the Funimation era and continued throughout the start of the Crunchyroll era, but Medalist was quite solid overall. It was also nice to hear some new voices that have started coming through the ranks since I was last into the anime scene. It was nice to see a return to form from the Dallas squad.

Animation

Medalist has a lot of shots focusing on its characters eyes, and for good reason. The eyes are definitely one of the points that a lot of effort went into. They're very detailed and unique across most of the major characters. It's definitely the most unique aspect of the characters, and it's incredible to see every time the show draws attention to it. The animation team also put quite a bit of work into the show's facial expressions. Inori in particular gets most of the good ones, but a few other characters have some gems too.

Like many sports and performance anime, Medalist uses 3D CG for the skating sequences. It's pretty obvious every time the switch happens, but it doesn't look so out of place that it takes you out of the show. Beyond that, the animation is pretty competent overall, with no major complaints. There are enough slips and falls that take place off-screen to make it feel like an intentional decision, but it isn't so much that it interrupts the flow.

Characters

The characters are both the strongest and weakest point of the show. Inori in particular is a very likable and sympathetic protagonist. Ryouka seemed like she was going to be fumbled initially as just an annoying brat, but the anime managed to salvage her without needing to dull any of her sharp edges, which is a remarkable feat. Emma, despite not having a chance to display much personality, is helped significantly by having a strong backstory to work with.

On the other hand, some of the other characters were more difficult to feel for. I had a hard time sympathizing with Riou, even after we got a glimpse into his backstory. Hikaru was set up as a big rival for Inori to surpass, but we learn very little about her other than that she's pretty friendly and also very talented, making it difficult to feel anything for her. Some of the minor characters, like Suzu, Seira, and Ritsuki, just don't get enough development to justify how brash and bratty they are. Even Tsukasa's antics grated on me a bit over the course of the show.

Conclusion

Overall, Medalist is a really good show. Inori's journey is fun to watch, the rivals are engaging and sympathetic for the most part, and even Tsukasa gets some growth throughout the season. I'm looking forward to getting my hands on a Blu-ray of season 2 to see how it continues to build on its foundation and if they can clean up any of the issues that cropped up in S1.