The official website for the TV anime Medalist released its third promotional video and a new visual for the show. It has also been confirmed that the anime will premiere on January 4th, 2025, on TV Asahi and its affiliated channels and air on January 6th on BS Asahi.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yotDEXGaP9k]
Yamamoto Yasutaka (Noblesse) is directing the anime at ENGI studio, and the anime will star:
- Haruse Natsumi as Inori Yuitsuka
- Outsuka Takeo as Tsukasa Akeuraji
- Ichinose Kana as Hikaru kamisaki
- Uchida Yuuma as Jun Yodaka
- Koichi Makoto as Riou Sonidori
- Kino Hina as Ryouta Miketa
- Toda Megumi as Mirio Nachi
- Koiwai Kotori as Ema Yamato
- Miyake Takahiro as Yuudai Jakuzure
The anime is based on Tsurumaikada’s Medalist manga. Tsurumaikada started the manga in May 2020 in Kodansha’s Afternoon magazine, and Kodansha published the manga’s first tankoubon volume in September 2020 and the 11th volume in August 2024. The manga is released in English by Kodansha USA Publishing, and it released the manga’s 10th volume in August 2024.
The Medalist manga won the Best General Manga award in the Shogakukan Manga Awards in 2023 and the Best General Manga award in Kodansha’s 48th Annual Manga Awards in May 2024.
The story follows Inori, a little girl who dreams of becoming a figure skater. Yet, the obstacles to this dream feel insurmountable: Inori’s already “too old” (she’s 11); she’s always had trouble at school; and, worst of all, her older sister’s skating dreams ended in failure, so her mother is dead set against putting her other daughter through a similar experience. Still, the rink is the only place Inori can be herself, and she’s out on the ice when a fateful meeting takes place. Tsukasa, a frustrated coach on the edge of giving up competitive skating himself, will join Inori to form an unstoppable duo powered by hard work, transcendent joy, and an unshakeable belief that they can prove everyone wrong.
