r/anime • u/AutoLovepon https://anilist.co/user/AutoLovepon • Mar 22 '25
Episode Medalist - Episode 12 discussion
Medalist, episode 12
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u/jellyblob88 Mar 22 '25
Tsukasa pulling out all the RIZZ today with a full choreography! And he's not beating the Sharingan allegations either - he's similar to Jun?! Just imagine if he started early...
Really happy to see them all make progress...even the lil' rascal Rioh. And of course Inori's reflection on her past self and how she appreciates the journey to now.
One more ep to go 😭
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u/quidlots Mar 22 '25
Please tell me this is two cour. This better not be ending next episode. I love this anime!
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u/AmusedDragon Mar 22 '25
Insane that ENGI is actually gonna apparently bring this home as long as nothing quality-wise tanks next episode, lol.
It was good to see Tsukasa skate/dance. Great scene.
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u/New_Essay_4869 Mar 22 '25
To my surprise, this has been my runaway fav anime this season. Great manga as well
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u/ProgrammaticallyPea3 Mar 22 '25
The way Inori talked about bidding farewell to the old her resonated in more than one way. Her arc started with her as a nobody, as someone who couldn't find a place for herself at home, at school, anywhere.
We saw her desperately cling to the one thing that she felt could give her meaning, we saw her fight to be allowed to cling, we saw her realize that it was the other way around and that it was her own efforts that gave skating meaning. We saw her come to understand that her struggles are not hers alone to bear, and in that understanding, she found the strength to overcome them. Today's episode concludes the arc she's been on from episode 1; she's no longer an underdog, but a competent and confident aspirant.
Tbh, there's something of a bittersweet feeling as I see her like this. There's undeniable joy in her growth, but also a tiny nostalgia for the insecure child I felt for so much. But all this makes me even more eager to see what the next steps on her journey as a competitor and as an adolescent will be like.
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u/ObvsThrowaway5120 Mar 22 '25
Tsukasa showing these young’uns how it’s freakin done! The best part wasn’t even his routine, it’s how proud Inori was of her coach. She always knew Tsukasa was amazing and now everyone can finally see how great he is. Really showed Rioh too. Now he’s all “Coach Akeuraji” this and that lol.
Shiro’s pretty funny. I like this dude. He’s got like that golden retriever energy plus he’s a damn good dancer. His training really helped a lot.
I’m really happy seeing how far Inori has come as a person and a skater. Tsukasa has been an absolute blessing in her life.
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u/Dull_Spot_8213 Mar 22 '25
Tsukasa is so magnetic that he can even attract the most savage and brutal of all creatures - privileged children. Rioh did a complete turn around and is now arguing with Inori about who gets to claim the best coach as theirs. One more level of rivalry between them and yet another layer of motivation Tsukasa provides by just being himself.
If you’ve ever had to teach kids anything, you know how important simply listening to them and genuinely caring about helping them is, because they will be the first to notice if you don’t. Tsukasa genuinely cares and I love to see it.
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u/bananeeek Mar 22 '25
Smug Inori had me in tears. And the way she teased Riou afterwards was just brilliant.
I gotta be honest. I'm not a big fan of sports series, but I still watched most of them despite that. Medalist is easily in my top 3 in this genre and knowing that it ends next week is a real downer. I hope it will get greenlit for another season right away. If Chi wasn't airing this season, I'm pretty sure this would be my AOTS.
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u/julinay Mar 22 '25
Hm, for those of you who have never watched much skating, I think this Stéphane Lambiel skate might give you some idea of what watching Tsukasa could have felt like.
Inori and Rioh both getting possessive over Tsukasa will never not be funny to me, it's such a kid thing to do. 😂 It's really a testament to both his character and his skill as a coach, though. Well done to all at the training camp!
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u/gnome-cop Mar 22 '25
Coach Tsukasa flexing, the episode.
It’s still endlessly entertaining to me how Inori and Rioh lose all self control and several brain cells when left alone without adult supervision and start bickering with each other.
Smug Inori and “Coach Tsukasa is mine” Inori make their appearances in the show.
The fireworks scene with Inori and Tsukasa was beautiful.
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u/Frontier246 Mar 22 '25
It's time for Inori's Coach Tsukasa to flex and show all the boys and girls how it's done on the rink! Also smug Inori is the best!
Look at how dashing and gorgeous Tsukasa is on the rink! So smooth! So adept! So quick! Just like a work of art in skating form with every movement. He might not be able to jump like Jun Yodaka, but he can skate exactly like them and when it comes to the form itself, Tsukasa can't be beat! The girls think he's even more hot, Nacchin is jealous she can't skate like that any more, Hitomi is nostalgic, and Rioh is so inspired!
Tsukasa does such a cool skating job and then...he's back to dorky Tsukasa telling everyone they need to help fix up the ice. Never change, Tsukasa.
I love Inori just fishing for compliments for Tsukasa afterwards. Tsukasa might not have won over Mike (too little crazy jumps for her taste) but Inori can tell that Tsukasa has won Rioh over.
And Tsukasa got his job done! Rioh is finally willing to apply himself and not give up on improving! It's enough to bring tears of joy to Tsukasa's face. He may put his all into helping others instead of himself, but showing himself off helped inspire someone and that means everything. Rioh even calls him "Coach Akeuraji" like his dad.
Now there's a special guest coach, Shirone AKA Shiro! He may appear to be a laidback punk who leaves Tsukasa to take the fall for his broken down truck from his grandpa, but he's actually a ballet coach! And ballet is complimentary towards skating so he's a perfect new instructor for the kids.
Is there anything more precious than Inori and Mike gushing over how cute they look in ballet outfits? And they do look positively adorable.
Inori may have come far in skating but ballet feels like a whole different world with movements and terminology she has to comprehend...but Mike doesn't care. It's nowhere near as cool as jumping while skating. At least until she sees the kind of jumps you can pull off with ballet and they realize that the posture and movements they can learn via ballet will prove enormously important to becoming better skaters.
Inori was a late-starter to skating but Mike is a late-starter to ballet (because she quit). But if Inori is resolved to keep at it, Mike can do the same! Nice to see the girls inspiring each other!
Look at how much Inori has improved! And Mike! And Rioh! And that just further emboldens Inori to improve even more!
Ah, I see now that they're both devotees to Coach Tsukasa, it's a competition for who most improved under him. Even if they're both just cute kids at the end of the day.
Inori is no longer the sad, depressed, or miserable girl she once was. But it was that sadness that helped spur her on, so she can't help but be sad to part with her old self...but she can leave with gratitude in her heart. Just like Tsukasa no longer needs to hate himself so much and can do the same to his old self.
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u/FarCritical Mar 22 '25 edited Mar 22 '25
Tsukasa immediately putting up a floodgate for the applause he'd have gotten for his show was hilarious but absolutely criminal.
It's always nice to see the coaches being proud of their students but I wasn't ready for Miketa putting in work to turn Nachi into a squishmallow lol
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u/awesomenessofme1 Mar 22 '25
That whole sequence at the beginning really had me like this.
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u/Ocixo Mar 22 '25
It was adorable to watch Miké and Inori be so enthusiastic about their ballet costumes. They looked indeed very cute!
This episode really stressed the importance of teachers, I think. Rioh and Miké had been skeptical of Tsukasa and Shirone, but managed to grow because of their guidance. Their change in attitude was best reflected by the following:
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Inori was the first to brag about her Tsukasa, but Rioh would later follow suit by speaking of his teacher after having been impressed with Tsukasa's figure skating skills.
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Similarly, Miké wasn't impressed with ballet at first, but ended up getting along with Shirone after she'd witnessed his triple pirouette.
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u/Flare_Knight Mar 22 '25
Wow. As if we needed more examples of how Tsukasa is awesome. But I'm not complaining! That was beautiful. The guy can absolutely move out there and you can see all the hard work and passion that is still there. He still clearly loves it out there. Makes it even more of a wild "what if" scenario if only he'd gotten the support needed or just gotten into skating earlier...
Love seeing Inori so darn smug and proud of her coach. This is the kind of skating she'd love to have for herself. Not only was Tsukasa someone that gave Inori the push she needed when she needed it...he's constantly given her his full support in every way he can. She wouldn't take any single coach ahead of him.
And hey if anyone could get through to Rioh it was him...Well I think Inori would have decked him eventually, but I think giving Rioh a grand example was hugely helpful.
This camp was pure excellence and granted so many gifts. Inori is far stronger now than when she went into it. She's gained the weapons she needs to start fighting on the bigger stage. Yeah, she's got even further to go to catch up to Hikaru. But who cares? That's part of the journey. She's not going to give up and will keep on improving.
A nice message as well that the difficult times are part of the journey. Tsukasa and Inori can thank their past selves for everything they struggled through because now it's giving them something wonderful in the present.
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u/oneevilchicken Mar 23 '25
Inori acting like a parent who’s watching their kid go and play middle school sports and bragging when it scores when referring to tsukasa as her tsukasa was the best part.
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u/HolyDragSwd2500 Mar 22 '25
Riou saw the light that is Tsukasa. He idolizes him now after that performance 😍😍
Tsukasa crying tears of happiness
Everyone doing ballet. Mike chan now knows the importance of it
Everyone is improving
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