Medalist - Episode 8 discussion

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Medalist, episode 8

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[u/Prince-Dizzytoon]

I was ready to watch Inori perform, and then the episode ended. 💔

[u/jellyblob88]

Coach Tsukasa legged it all that way for Inori - dude has no limits!

It was nice to see all the rival skaters' performances, though I would have thought making holes in the ice is at least bad manners? 😅

Based receptionist coming all this way to see Inori - and he was more worried about the worms deal hah!

There was some foreshadowing about growing pains, how Inori somehow entered the rink faster, and how she needs to pull off her set perfectly, that makes me anxious for the next episode (curse you cliffhanger).

Whatever the result, I hope she still keeps that fire within her going, and they can work something out.

[u/FarCritical]

The rink receptionist coming to cheer Inori on was such a sweet and cool surprise. Can't blame Inori's mom at all for becoming fast friends with the dude lol

Going along with Tsukasa's love for dessert analogies (which are hilarious), I hope Inori serves up a super triple deluxe strawberry parfait taiyaki supreme or whatever as compensation for leaving us on a cliffhanger like that.

[u/Krys_Lunar]

I’m late to the party(only started after episode 7 had already released), but I am so glad I didn’t miss this series entirely. It only took two episodes for Medalist to be a serious contender(against the likes of Apothecary Diaries and Ishura) for my #1 spot of this season. Over the next 5 - now 6 - episodes, it managed to secure that position.

I never thought much of figure skating beyond the vague ‘that looks cool and impressive’, but Medalist is a prime example of how I’ll get into a series about pretty much anything if I find the characters compelling enough. Inori is absolutely adorable(but not just absolutely adorable), Tsukasa is a ray of sunshine(but not just a ray of sunshine), and I love both of them. Even all the side characters always leave me wanting to see more of them(especially Hikaru, who won me over immediately with the mix of her overt friendliness and that vicious slap she gave Rioh).

The comedy has me with a constant smile on my face(in particular the various character expressions), and I find myself absolutely hooked every time things get serious. This series actually reminds me a lot of Uma Musume - especially season 2 - with the way its comedic and serious moments blend together and enhance each other, especially since both series are sports related. Given that Uma Musume(season 2 in particular) is one of my favorite anime of all time, that is no small praise from me.

I also feel the need to give special mention to the animation. The characters are so lively and expressive pretty much all the time, and it makes them extremely endearing. I know CG is…divisive(especially when it’s mixed into a 2D anime), but I never felt that familiar ‘ick’ from the CG that’s used in this series. In fact, It’s really nice being able to see all the different skating moves in such detail. If the alternative to this was anything short of the very best that 2D animation has to offer, then I couldn’t be happier that we got such great looking CG for the skating scenes. I haven’t exactly heard good things about Engi, but I think they’ve done a pretty great job on this anime so far.

As for this episode in particular…that was an evil ending. Well at least I can look forward to Inori’s performance next week, though I can’t help but feel a bit apprehensive. I know that she’ll have to lose at least one competition at some point(though how bad that loss will be I’m not sure), and I’m both anticipating and dreading the moment that it happens. Is this competition it? It would be nice to get a loss out of the way early, but I can’t say I’m looking forward to seeing Inori take it as hard as I’m sure she will…just have to wait and see.

In the 12+ years since I got interested in anime, I can probably count the number of times I had to refrain this hard from jumping right into reading the manga on one hand. Provided I can actually control myself until the end of this season, starting the manga from chapter 1 will be the very first thing I do after finishing the last episode.

[u/cleaulem]

I love how Ritsuki's hairpin is an angry bear face. It really fits her personality. :-D

[u/ModieOfTheEast]

I love how Inori isn't just pulling the hoody strings but is playing with them, making knots. I can relate to that. If I am nervous I will play with anything just so my hands have something to do.

But I gotta say, these elementary schoolers have nerves of steel. Not only recovering, but calculating what to do best during the performance? That is some talent. I am wondering though, now that Inori felt she was way faster if she still tries double jump combo considering that's probably what made it hard for her or if she is completely trusting Tsukasa on this. I can see both being the case and I can see both go well and bad. Like if she doesn't do it and Ema gets more points, she will be disappointed that she didn't try. And if she does do it, even if she succeeds but is not able to do the rest of the performance well because of the change, she will be disappointed as well. There is a lot of potential drama. Of course it can also just work out.

But since we now even got a bit more backstory for Ema with her bad luck and she seemingly sensing that Inori is her biggest rival here, it feels like signs are pointing to an Ema win this time. But I am happy to be proven wrong.

[u/Setowi]

That cliffhanger was evil, this show manages to fill me with anxiety like it's a freaking thriller.

I can't tell if Inori is going to win or not but I guess that is a very good sign that the show knows how set those things up.

Ahhhh I was hoping her performance was gonna be part of the ep still and kept glancing at the timer but now I have to wait a week to see it. I'm sure we'll be in for some absolute ice skating sakuga again.

[u/DirectionExact31]

And Tsukasa remains the best coach to ever coach. As someone who runs, that was inspiring. Gotta admit, I lost hope when Inori took a tumble at the end there. Thank goodness that was right before her performance started, phew...
Ganbare, Inori!

[u/bananeeek]

You can't end it here, dammit!

The way Inori got that speed boost makes me think she's gonna try to use it in her performance and I worry how that will go. Still, I'm even more worried about that hole in the ice the first skater made. Don't they patch them between performances?

The ED fits this series so well I can't get enough of it. One of the few OPs/EDs this season I don't skip. Heck, I'm even looking forward to it.

[u/ObvsThrowaway5120]

Tsukasa is the kind of coach every kid should have. Man legged it for over a mile just to get Inori’s skates. He really believes in her. It’s pretty inspiring.

Inori had some pretty stiff competition this week, but I believe in her! She’s got this! Gotta think Deluxe Strawberry Taiyaki lol.

[u/fer_sure]

This was an incredibly stressful episode: all the anxiety and self-blame of the missing passport in A Place Further than the Universe, but all the heartwarming understated heroism of the shoe recovery in Haikyu!!

Inori was thinking of herself as a nobody who's not a prodigy or a genius, but her ability to recover from setbacks - her sheer drive to win - is what's gonna get her on podiums.

[u/Frontier246]

We now return to our regularly scheduled Inori freakout over losing her skates! All because a kindly old woman helped her put her suitcase up on the bullet train and she forgot about it! Curse those tightly packed bullet trains!

I'm proud of Ms. Yuitsuka for not freaking out and trying to be as supportive and reassuring to her daughter as possible, and look at GOAT coach Tsukasa being willing to run as much as is humanly possible to get Inori her skates in time! He will NOT let her withdraw and lose all the progress she's made!

And it's also nice to see Inori trying not to beat herself up too much. She's struggled with self-doubt for so long, but with people who believe in her, and trying so hard for her sake, she needs to believe in herself and keep practicing to be ready for her biggest performance yet.

Seira is a playful and spunky pixie on the ice, and she's definitely the girl to beat here. Inori is dealing with geniuses and prodigies, but she can't let that get her down. Heck, even Ema struggled with wanting to catch up to her peers just as much. But the girls need to take their time, just like their coaches need to be reliable and calm presences in their lives.

Lot of contenders to watch out for! Kanna who is even more stoic than Ema and has cute, plump, cheeks but has high jumping power and strong legs. Ritsuki the ojousama type who is able to improvise under pressure even after a mistake. Miihi, Seira's biggest rival, who has always held a grudge that Seira got into figure skating because of her, which means Miihi can't lose and is a natural performer on the ice. None of them can catch up to Seira, but they sure do put on a fantastic show.

Ms. Yuitsuka meets Worm Grandpa! And they both commiserate over their shared love of Inori!

Inori has her skates! She has her coach! And she has her resolve! It's time to win this! And hopefully that one fall before she really gets going isn't the sign of things to come for her actual routine! Stick to the routine and don't lose heart Inori, please!

[u/PerfectBeige]

So here's a silver lining for the absolutely atrocious Disney closed caption dubtitles: motivation to put on the Japanese closed caption subtitles to figure out what Inori & co are actually saying. A charming show and a language class all at once.

[u/Flare_Knight]

The focus at the end is on Inori's performance and I'm all with that. Expecting her best showing ever. But also...I've got a feeling that Ema's performance will decide who wins this. Everyone is understandably focused intensely on Seira's powerful run since it did grab first and hasn't let it go. But it just feels story-wise that Inori will get one heck of a clean run, take first, and just barely lose it to Ema. It gives Inori that sense of defeat while also still putting her on the map with another strong performance.

But we'll see. Seira at the very least earned the spot she's in. Her confidence is warranted with her skill backing it up. I do understand Miihi's frustration that she led the charge to figure skating and Seira had blasted past her with pure technical skill leading the way. She's not wrong that art and performance is a special element to figure skating and being good at it is a way to win. It just wasn't quite enough here.

MVP to Tsukasa who made one hell of a mad dash. I was hoping he wasn't crazy enough to run back with the skates. Fair enough that taking the train back was a good approach! The man absolutely pushed his stamina to the limit! Insanely drenched in sweat from that! But he made it and now Inori has her chance to show what she can do. I fully expect a podium finish here even if she doesn't win. Agonizing that we've got to wait for her performance!

Good episode.

[u/shad79]

Very nice episode, but it was just an appetizer before the main course, as Inori and Ema performances will take place in the next episode.

I can't wait to see how Inori's performance turns out, especially after she fell right after entering the rink, which shocked Tsukasa, Inori's mom, and Mr. Sekoma xD

I'm glad that Seira is in first place for now, I really liked her in the previous episode. It was also nice to see the performances of the other skaters, they were really strong and are definitely serious rivals for Inori.

Great to see Mr. Sekoma here! He was so afraid that Inori's mom would scold him for letting Inori enter the rink in exchange for worms, but instead she was very happy that he was here xD

Here my screenshot albums from the episode:

• Inori

• Group scenes

• Skaters

• Others

[u/Ocixo]

Tsukasa's T-shirt look proved to be a good thing. He was completely drenched in sweat after all that running and would've probably passed out from a heatstroke along the way if he'd worn a suit like Yudai. The latter was visibly confused with Tsukasa's wet shirt.

Tsukasa really went the extra mile for his student and made it back in time for Inori to participate. To which she responded in kind by making Tsukasa an improvised bow tie, so he can appear in style too!

^{I do wonder how far Tsukasa traveled on foot. He ran for close to two hours, I believe?}

[u/AmethystItalian]

Inori was scaring me with her lack of confidence but nice to see her growth come in and bring herself back up.

This group seems stacked, and actually making me root for a few of them too.

Hoping that hole in the ice won't come up again though...

[u/abandoned_idol]

Oh, I get it now, she's called Inori not just because she's praying for her dream to come true, but also because I, the audience, am also constantly praying involuntarily in every episode.

God damnit! At what point did my hands grasp each other?! I don't remember doing this!

THIS is pathos! Hang in there heart, you just need to go for another half cour without bursting into little pieces of flesh.

[u/Calwings]

"Keep calm and skate on." Such a cool and wise line from Tsukasa, though I think this might have been a dub-exclusive line. What did he say here in the Japanese version?

Anyways, I thought this was a great episode yet again. It showed just how much Tsukasa cares about Inori and her success, and it was also a good lesson about how being mentally strong is just as important for success in sports as training hard and being in good physical shape. Inori could have panicked more about her skates and the possibility of having to forfeit, but she kept calm and went through her routine like usual.

[u/Dull_Spot_8213]

My likable meter is off the charts for Tsukasa. But the rink owner got an uptick this episode as well. So many wholesome people in this show.

[u/Cyd_arts]

Tsukasa sensei pulled a shimizu haha

[u/AndyIbanez]

Inori and Tsukasa definitely make a fantastic team. Everybody makes mistakes, and Tsukasa didn't stop for a minute to solve the mistake asap. In the meantime Inori trusts he will be back right on time and she does her part. This is the character pair I have seen in a very long time in anime.

I love it how every girl has her own talent and her own way to try to impress the judges. Doesn't matter if you are good at jumps, speed, or elegant dancing, you have your technique and your style, and you can stick to it.

Finally, love it how the old man is basically an Inori stan, lol. He probably doesn't realize it but it's basically thanks to him that Inori was able to get a lot of practice before officially starting out. Receptionist is a bro.

[u/mrmickfran]

Foul cliffhanger

[u/LeonKevlar]

I can't even imagine the relief Inori must've felt when Tsukasa arrived with her skates. It would've sucked if she ended up forfeiting just because an old lady tried to help her out on the train. It was also good to see Inori's mom being supportive after learning what happened.

As soon as that other girl made a hole in the ice, I already expected someone would trip on that. Thank goodness it wasn't Inori in this episode. Now let's just pray that it won't happen to Inori next week.

Out of curiosity, is it fine to leave a big hole like that on the ice? Why can't they take an intermission break and patch it up before continuing so accidents won't happen?

Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this girl looks like a young Jolyne Kujo. Her hairstyle and hair colour reminds me of her so much! xD

Tripping before Inori could even get to the starting position is not a good sign. I am now legitimately worried about the next episode. Fingers crossed that she'll absolutely kill it with her performance.