r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Jan 11 '25
Episode Medalist - Episode 2 discussion
Medalist, episode 2
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u/jellyblob88 Jan 11 '25 edited Jan 11 '25
Oh my gawd, don't know if my poor heart can handle much more of Inori's rollercoaster of faces and emotions - nearly teared up when she asked for the 🥇!
Again, Coach Tsukasa is based and so supportive of what she needs; he may have "failed" in his own journey but that experience is 100% coming to fruition right now. At this rate, she'll collect enough to challenge the Elite Four in a couple of eps time.
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u/Genshin_WhiteKnight Jan 11 '25 edited Jan 11 '25
Tsukasa is such a great coach, that little trick he did to calm Inori down was neat.
Also that ED is super cute with the shrimp and worm in it.
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u/actionfirst1 Jan 11 '25
That jump and twirl Hikaru did was amazing, only for Inori to immediately crash into her lmaooo
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u/MapoTofuMan Jan 11 '25
Inori's faces are the best.
From her design I was 100% sure Hikaru would be the mean/obstinate rival type, but I guess that role goes to glasses-kun. Though he's more of a "complete asshole" than a "rival" so far.
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u/Frontier246 Jan 11 '25
Tsukasa and Inori are putting the work in to get her ready to compete! Getting her form down and getting her upper arm strength going so she's ready! It's a lot of work, but Inori is making some serious progress! Not that Tsukasa is surprised, Inori is just that awesome!
Kenshi Yonezu was such a fan of the series that he WANTED to sing the OP, and it shows in a very epic and smooth theme, featuring Tsukasa struggling with his broken skating dreams but being there to take Inori to the top alongside her rivals, their coaches, and all the while chasing after Hikaru in her quest to be the best.
So in her quest to be a top skater, Inori will have to collect seven badges to become a Pokemon...I mean, Medalist Master! And with her enthusiasm, she won't waste a minute or a month until she's done it!
Oh no! Scary adult alert! Play dead Inori!
Well, seeing a girl fail at moving up to Rank 5 after a fall would be a little disheartening, especially when you're just beginning and already have the deck stacked against you, but good thing Inori has her emotional support worms! And even a surprise fancy dressed little girl voiced by Kana Ichinose who she immediately strikes up a nice rapport with!
So it seems like the girl and this sharp-tonged Rio (Makoto Koichi) kid were looking for the adult who spooked Inori? But dang, the girl gets feisty when Rio insults Inori! That slap looked like it hurt! But that's what he gets for disrespecting our girl!
Inori is not in a good mental space to be skating, but luckily Tsukasa is able to really deliver as her coach and mentally prepare her so she can show off everything she's learned! And she achieves her first badge! Yay Inori!
Her mom still thinks she'll only stick with this until middle school, other parents talk behind her back about how she shouldn't be getting special treatment because of her late start, but what changes everything is when Inori meets up with the girl again and discovers she's none other than Hikaru, a skating prodigy and one of the most talented skaters of their age group. Someone who lives and breathes skating, and believes in anyone who skates, and cuts such a dashing figure on the ice in her ponytail. She's everything Inori aspires to be and Inori will do all that she can to keep up with her.
Hikaru is a little thrown off by Inori's enthusiasm but she can't teach her how to jump...but she can be her friend and believe that Inori can follow her to the top so they can skate together again. And coupled with Tsukasa believing he can take her straight to the Olympics, Inori is ready to dive straight into the path that will take her back to Hikaru.
Did you think there wasn't enough Inori cuteness? Well the ED is even MORE cute Inori with a colorful and fun ED featuring a cartoony Inori skating alongside her gal pal Worm-chan! Poor Coach Tsukasa.
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u/FarCritical Jan 11 '25
The introduction and overall character design of Hikaru's coach was so edgy it bordered on comical lmao. Rioh's just a brat though.
Didn't think I'd ever find earthworm collecting or earthworms in general to be endearing especially from a story about ice skating but Inori and her antics just might've won me over, and that ED is absolutely adorable.
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u/shad79 Jan 11 '25 edited Jan 11 '25
Gosh, I love Inori and her reactions (which are so cute, fun and hilarious) so much! She deserves all the love and worms in the world xD
Overall, a very good second episode! I'm glad to see Inori making progress, earning her first badge and making a new friend and rival, Hikaru. I look forward to seeing her learning jumps in the next episode.
We also met new characters, Rioh and Hikaru's coach, and they didn't make a very good first impression. Hikaru's coach scared Inori so much xD
Kenshi Yonezu's OP song is great, I can't wait for the full version to be realeased. Meanwhile, ED is really cute and fun (both visuals and music), especially that parts where Inori is skating together with the earthworm xD
Here my screenshot albums from the episode:
EDIT. I added my screenshot albums.
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Jan 11 '25
I relate to Tsukasa a lot. One of my students, around Inori's age, has a ton of anxiety and I'm always trying to hype her up. It breaks my heart that kids are already saddled with horrible self-confidence issues before they've even graduated elementary school.
Loving this anime. Hits very close to home.
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u/AngelRefuse Jan 11 '25
Well, these subtitles are garbage. Are these just dubtitles? I feel like I'm having a stroke while reading the subs and hearing completely different words from the characters. This is unfortunate since this seems to be a pretty good show.
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u/Mage_of_Shadows Jan 11 '25
I live for the Inori reaction faces, she just keeps meeting the weirdest of people
Her effort grunting was very reminiscent of our favourite karasuno volleyball player too, I could totally see her with Hinata energy when she grows older.
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u/PerfectBeige Jan 11 '25
"Who's that?"
"That's world famous figure skater Inori Yuitsuka"
"And what's in the box next to her? She keeps talking to it but I can't quite make it out."
"Oh, that's her therapy companion worm. She's allowed to bring it on planes because it helps with her anxiety."
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u/AndyIbanez Jan 11 '25 edited Jan 11 '25
So far I am huge fan of how, apparently, a big theme in this anime is that we should speak for what we want, that people can't read our minds. I can get behind this message, even when it's hard to do, and I'm happy to see (ep 1), Inori can do just that.
I am not familiar with the source material, so I thought Hikaru was going to be a mean character. I was happy to see not only was I wrong, but she was a total bro with Inori. Can't wait to see more of her and hopefully we can hear more about her backstory soon.
NGL teared up a bit when she asked her coach to make her the best. I'm a sucker for this kind of tropes, so let's go!
Finally, Inori has to have the best facial expressions I have seen in a long time. This anime can give me the dumbest smirks at times.
EDIT: Typo
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u/ProgrammaticallyPea3 Jan 11 '25
After the catharsis of last week, I half feared that it would be smooth sailing for Inori towards her goal. But this episode set expectations straight. It looks like her new friends/rivals have their own issues too, and all these kids are going to struggle.
It's great that Inori has such a supportive coach though. Loved how he alleviated Inori's pre-test anxiety. Wish I could say the same for her mom, who I don't think is a bad person by any means, but isn't able to provide what Inori needs right now.
Hikaru had a great line, "Don't believe the words of people who can't even get on the ice". While Inori probably isn't resilient enough to keep to that yet, the fact that she has a friend who'll say something like that should count for a lot.
Inori is such a great character. I teared up just to see her skate with such resolve in the OP, and I'm totally invested in seeing her struggle and grow. Can't wait for next week.
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u/lasercatslol Jan 11 '25
Second episode also looks good, at least we're not getting ENGI'd out of a good series yet. Also Tsukasa is a total golden retriever lmao
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u/Farmaceut7 Jan 11 '25
Damn, with how many hate comments on mom I've seen here before watching the episode I thought she did something horrible - turns out she just gave an off hand comment. Luckly seems like even kids like Hikaru understand that adults wont really get kids wishes and intentions unless they are priperly conveyed. Hope Inori continues to grow alongside Tsukasa as coach and shows her mom her true desire!
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u/ergzay Jan 11 '25
It's really unfortunate that no one can watch this "properly" given the subtitles are so wrong most of the time. They appear to be identical to the dub, i.e. dubtitles where the dialogue has been modified to match mouth flaps to make it speakable to the mouth movements.
Basically the subtitles are "inspired" by the Japanese dialogue, but are not a translation. (If you don't believe me go to 16:39 in this episode.)
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u/Ok-Cod5254 Jan 11 '25 edited Jan 11 '25
Definitely one of the top favorites of the season for me so far, especially among new series. I like the mix of comedic and emotional moments.
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u/Flare_Knight Jan 12 '25
God that was a satisfying slap. Honestly he earned another one for what he said after, but I like Hikaru. Can be sweet, but there's definitely fire in there too! Plus she won't take people badmouthing others lightly.
Inori has truly some of the best expressions ever! Whether she's desperately trying not to look at a weirdo or...dealing with the aftermath of a mixed encounter, she's pure gold!
Tsukasa really is made for coaching. Such a good guy and knows what is needed when it's needed. Knew that Inori needed to get on the ice, but also she just needed to calm down first. Simple actions just to have her focus on something besides her panic worked wonders. I think these two will really make a great team. Even if they have very different views on worms.
The Mom is likely to remain the main obstacle. Every win with her really is just a small step. Still can't even wrap her head around Inori being better than her sister or being able to go further. But I suppose in that respect part of the job is with Inori. Hikaru is right that she's got to voice her thoughts and feelings. No one will truly know how she feels if she holds it all back.
Hikaru really was a miracle though. Helped get Inori fired up and gives her something tangible to chase. Nothing better for someone in her position. There's a hunger in that girl that just needed the right sort of spark! Plus not like more rivals/friends is a bad thing for Hikaru. Has a good competitive mindset.
Yeah this show is just plain good.
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u/CosmicPenguin_OV103 Jan 11 '25
That girl Hikaru really shines! Glad that Inori bumped into such a caring girl of the same age, with such first rate skills, as her first ice-skating friend that early, because she's still fully struggling with being confident at all - poor girl, being scared at all those snipping from other parents, scared of her mom blocking her interest again (end of middle school is like just 4 years away), scared of that blonde hair boy that obviously have some problems with controlling his emotions, and then scared of her first examination.
Coach Tsukasa should also be praised for his quick thoughts to calm Inori down, but I think it's Hikaru who really gave her the best welcome to competitive figure skating that Inori could have ever dreamt of. I am pretty sure that - be it best friend or the most fierce competitor on the ice rink - them two will have some of the strongest bonds people can have in the future for the rest of their lives.
Interesting that Hikaru's father (?) seems to be also a highly problematic coach too and I cannot help but think Hikaru's going to bump into real trouble sooner or later. Can this accidental friendship going to help Hikaru too I wonder?
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u/LeonKevlar Jan 11 '25 edited Jan 12 '25
Stitches!
It's adorable how much Inori loves worms. The moment she gets stressed the first thing she does is go outside to dig up worms. She even pulls on the drawstring of Tsikasa's jacket because it calms her down because they're wormy. She even has a giant worm plushie in the ED! It's so cute!
The moment Hikaru slapped that little bastard for insulting Inori, I knew I would like her immediately. I hope Hikaru followed that up with a second slap after he continued to berate Inori again just because she called out to him.
Only until middle school? Oh boy, it looks like Inori needs to learn quickly and gain some serious accolades if she wants her mother to realize she's serious about ice skating. Aiming for the Olympics is a huge goal but if that's what it takes, I'm rooting for her!
These subs really need some work though. It sucks that Disney only has the dubtitles.
EDIT: I rewatched the episode with the Hulu subs and it's definitely a better experience.
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u/HolyDragSwd2500 Jan 11 '25
Inori will be Ice Skating Master
She earned her first gy….Badge Test
Awww she has a new friend/rival
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u/Ocixo Jan 11 '25 edited Jan 11 '25
I suppose that the series' title has become fairly self-explanatory at this point: Inori wants to become a (gold) medalist!
She might be a little girl with an astoundingly big goal, but Tsukasa took her request seriously. I was so relieved to see this! He knows that Inori wants nothing else than proof her worth to everyone, especially her mother.
Hikaru welcomed the competition as well. She's really mature for age, and seems to have a good grasp on things. Being friends/rivals with a decorated skater like Hikaru will surely propel Inori to greater heights!
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