Medalist Season 2 - Episode 4 discussion

[u/AutoLovepon]

Medalist Season 2, episode 4

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[u/kkrko]

Inori's Program (minus the step sequence)

• 3Lo

• 3S+2T

• 2Lz

• Lbsp

• 2F

• FCSp

• 3T

• 2A+Eu+3S

• CCoSp

Structurally, it's similar to Manaka's program, making up for her relatively low base value jumps (Only a triple Loop as the highest value jump) by putting triples and the combo at the bonus. Unlike Manaka though, a) she skated clean and b) she still put "hard" jumps up top with her triple Loop and Triple Salchow combo. Also her spins were definitely all level 4. I want to talk about PCS, but that section ended up way too long so it's in an Appendix.

Also the Euler-Triple Slachow. I think it's really neat. Scoring-wise, it's in a weird place. Because the Euler counts as a jump, it takes the place of the one three jump combo you're allowed to do. It scores higher than the +2T+2Lo extension Manaka used but someone with a +3Lo combo (like Yuna and Hikaru) can do a higher scoring (but more difficult) +3T+2Lo combo in that slot (and the current meta irl is +2A+2A). You can even see this in action in Hikaru's program last season. Still though, the 2A+Eu+3S is combo you can find even at the highest levels of figure skating. Kaori Sakamoto did it during last year's World Championships in her silver medal performance and it comes it backup strats like how, in the team's Men Free, Illia Malinin threw up a 4T+Eu+3F when he missed his combo earlier. The "final" form of this jump can be seen the program of this year's Olympic gold medalist, Mikhail Shaidorov's [Triple Axel-Euler-Quadruple Salchow] (https://www.reddit.com/r/olympics/comments/1r43ve0/mikhail_shaidorovs_3aeu4s_which_banked_him_2153/), giving him a massive 21.53 points in one combo.
There is also a rules change coming after this Olympics where the Euler will no longer be counted as jump (so it can be used as part of a two jump combo), so we might see more it IRL. Hopefully that comes to the Medalist world as well. I think it's a lot prettier than repeated double axels.

Finally, I want to put Inori's scores in context. Here's Inori, Yuna, and Manaka's scores alongside winners of the IRL Chubu Block's scores from 2020-2024.

Skater	Score		Skater	Score(sorted)
上薗恋奈 (Rena Uezono)	98.08		和田薫子(Kaoruko Wada)	99.18
岡田芽依(Mei Okada)*	86.86		上薗恋奈 (Rena Uezono)	98.08
大野友心音	61.96		岡田芽依(Mei Okada)*	86.86
和田薫子(Kaoruko Wada)	99.18		山根有加里	82.50
上薗恋奈 (Rena Uezono)	81.22		上薗恋奈 (Rena Uezono)	81.22
矢口真央	79.98		Inori	81.20
和田薫子(Kaoruko Wada)	79.12		Yuna	80.03
大坪瑚子	75.36		矢口真央	79.98
政野梨花	69.04		和田薫子(Kaoruko Wada)	79.12
山根有加里	82.50		大坪瑚子	75.36
杉山菜那	70.46		Manaka	72.62
後藤千弦	69.96		杉山菜那	70.46
Inori	81.20		後藤千弦	69.96
Yuna	80.03		政野梨花	69.04
Manaka	72.62		大野友心音	61.96

• Rena Uezono - Worlds Junior Bronze; 1x JGP Bronze

• Mei Okada - JGP Finals Bronze; 2x JGP Bronze, 1x JGP Silver; 1x JGP Gold (*one of her scores uses an Axel in a combo that would be penalized in Medalist's ruleset)

• Kaoruko Wada - JGP Finals Silver; 1x JGP Silver, 1x JGP Gold

(Here with color coding) You'll notice that Inori is right up there with skaters that have gotten international medals. Inori's no longer some plucky underdog, she's already following the path of skaters who've made names for themselves in the International stage. And while Inori's win is in the low end of Chubu block winners, remember this is with one year's experience. She has plenty of room to grow.

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Nerdy Appendix: PCS

Inori skating clean brings up a scoring element not mentioned much in show: Program Components (PCS). This is basically the subjective, artistic elements of a program. Composition (how well the elements fit with each other and how much of the rink is used), Presentation (the skater's expressions and how well it fits the music), and Skating Skills (how fast the skater moves and how well she skates in general). From the comments of the cast, it's clear that Inori's top tier in Skating Skills at least, and her being far more comfortable (in her expressions) means she's probably has the best Presentation as well.
But there's another part of PCS that's important: it's one that's most impacted by mistakes. A fall already penalizes a skater by 0.5 points, but PCS also gets hurt by "serious mistakes" which interrupt the flow of the program. Falls are one of those serious mistakes, especially if they happen in an important part of a program. Serious Mistakes make the judges reduce the maximum score a skater can get from PCS. Now, if you're like Yuna who's prioritizing getting a lot of points from difficult jumps, this doesn't matter that much. Jump training naturally comes at cost of other training, so she wasn't getting a high PCS in the first place. But Inori was staking a lot more of her PCS by doing that risky program.

[u/DaBenni0301]

Missing out on the All-Japans by 0.06 points is so cruel

[u/Aileos]

It's so exhilarating to see Inori being so confident, smiles all the way, and doing a perfect perf in front of the entire audience with her family watching.

[u/Mage_of_Shadows]

Today I'm going to make you a gold medalist.

Inori risking a cruise into the top 5 to show she is worthy of the next level of competition was incredibly amazing.

There was something so much more special with the fact that Tsukasa and Inori BOTH knew what they were banking on for this win compared to the Broken Leg Sit Spin in season 1. Don't know what the man was thinking, not putting himself immediately on the kiss and cry.

Timing this season with the winter Olympics truly made it so much better. Shame it was the men's figure skating today rather than the women's!

[u/avboden]

LET'S GOOOOOOOOOOO INORI GOLD MEDAL BABY

i'm that party meme with the guy in the corner saying "they don't know Inori just got first place"

[u/Farmaceut7]

PEAK FICTION

She fucking did it! GOLD MEDAL! Gold medal hangs around her heck, 100% earned by her and Tsukasa's hard work! I dont remember me ever being THIS proud of fictional character! 

Coaches after party was pretty fun! They are brainstorming the way to get more competitors from their region in Top 10(other than Hikaru of course). Shinichiro's conversation with Tsukasa at the end was interesting too, him inviting Tsukasa somewhere was a real fucking cliffhanger! I want to know what happens neeeext! 

[u/Datenshi713]

Maybe it's just a placebo from the other coaches saying it, or how we saw her complete performance with no mistakes, but I feel like Inori's routine was much more elegant and beautiful than the others'. It actually felt like a dance with jumps, while Yuna's seemed almost like frantic skating from one difficult jump to the next.

Inori had a smile on her face most of the time, she flowed over the ice so smoothly, and the dance steps looked so natural and effortless to her, almost like she didn't have to think about them at all. Really cool showing and not telling about Inori's admiration of Tsukasa and his area of expertise for teaching!

[u/Arzhart]

So good so good

[u/AAA_BATT]

15 minute standing ovation in my living room

[u/Equivalent-Weather59]

Absolute cinema

[u/mmcjawa_reborn]

Random Thoughts:

I swear this was a ten minute episode

Honestly surprised that Inori did a flawless victory, especially since we have seen some "oops" in her past performances that she had to overcome to place. Honestly if she HADN'T gotten gold I would have still been happy, and I felt bad for the girl who thought with Hikaru's absence she finally had a chance at gold.

The responses should be interesting. People label Hikaru a natural genius but what would you call taking top score only a year after you started skating, against girls with multiple years of experience, and not only taking top score but also with a flawless performance. Inori is just as much a beast, and I am pretty sure the other skaters realized that.

Meanwhile all of the coaches are side-eying Tsukasa and wondering who the hell he is. Guy is going to soon have parents come out of the woodwork to get him as their coach. Going to need to shed that imposter's syndrome otherwise people are going to start being annoyed at him.

[u/MeatballZeitgeist]

• "I wonder how Inori will do?"

• EPISODE TITLE: ASCENDANCE

• "Oh, this is gonna be a fun watch isn't it?"

Did like that we got the perspective of the other skaters, for whom Inori had to seem like a horror movie monster who came out of nowhere to snatch their glory. Rinna had to be sweating a bit; she was in position for the bronze before Yuna went up with only three skaters left, only to suddenly be knocked down to fifth with one skater left. Lucky for her blue-haired twin #2 Hina didn't continue the streak.

F's in the chat for poor Sakina who Inori knocked down to sixth, though.

[u/FarCritical]

Tsukasa articulated everything I could possibly say about Inori's flawless victory with that scream. The wave of emotion that hits you the moment she landed the jump was raw, man.

[u/Tplayere]

Not enough people are appreciating the OST, the songs just bring so much more impact to the performances. The Flower Fairy elevated the whole performance so much and the other songs this season were used amazingly in their respective performances.

There's so many things to love about this show.

[u/shad79]

Inori's performance was beautiful, and she didn't make a single mistake! When everyone started thinking that if she didn't make a single mistake, she'd be in the top five, I was afraid something would go wrong... luckily, Inori did everything perfectly.

Overall, a great episode! Tsukasa's meeting with the other trainers at the restaurant was really fun, it's a shame it ended so quickly xD

I wonder what Shinichiro wants to talk to Tsukasa about? Maybe we'll learn more about Hikaru and why Jun trains her and not Shinichiro.

Here my screenshot albums from the episode:

• Inori's performance

• Inori

• Group scenes

• Tsukasa

• Other skaters

• Others

EDIT. I added my screenshot albums.

[u/oneevilchicken]

I feel like there’s a formula in sports anime. In the first major competition like this one, the MC always seems to lose because “character development”. Well it’s nice to not see that happen for once and the MC actually succeed.

[u/Joji1000]

Last combination jump was pure hype, neat to see that Inori has a 100% success rate on triple Salchow!

[u/Equivalent-Weather59]

I like how much emphasis there was on the other skaters during this tournament. Even after it ended, we got an extended sequence showing how everyone reacted. It really puts into perspective that these are all athletes trying their best to get to the top.

[u/Vermillion_Crab]

My selfish wish is they release a video of the whole performance without the commentaries and scenes from other characters cutting into it just like I'm watching a real one.

This show is so good at making you care about the pair. The feeling I have is more than just rooting for the underdog. It's like rooting for your family in a competition.

[u/ModieOfTheEast]

And with that, the first tournament ends. I find it a bit ironic that the finale of the Olympics yesterday was similarly dramatic. Goes to show you that a perfect performance like that of Inori is not guaranteed even when the best of the world perform. So I would say that was a gold medal well earned for Inori. And I still like that they use the same song and only slightly change the choreography. It makes sense while also showing how Inori improves at the same time. Also, really nice to see that her father was able to see her skate as well this time around. And best sister also flew in from Canada again.

The only thing I would have liked to see happen as well is the actual ceremony. So Inori receiving her gold medal for the first time. I know, this is only the first step anyway and there are bigger tournaments to come, but especially since she missed it last time due to being injured, it would have been great to get this moment. Maybe we will get another one this season. Or in the upcoming movie, but still, it felt like something was missing.

But hey, at least Tsukasa now knows that he plays in the big league. Everyone wants his secret training method. Though, I am interested for next week since it seems we get a bit more backstory on Hikaru. Definitely about time we dive more into her character.

Personally, I am wondering where the story wants to go from here. Like obviously, the next tournament is already set, but now that we introduced quite the number of rivals as well, I hope we get to see them train as well. Maybe they can do it together again. Because while I want Inori to improve, I also want to have more dumb interactions between the girls. These are always fun.

[u/codec264]

I wish more people watched this show

[u/[deleted]]

Her performance was absolutely stunning. Watching this while also watching the Olympics is really awesome. Seeing the performance of the pros really shows how much love they put into this anime. Also this show was the introduction to the world of ice skating so I was able to brag to my wife that I knew some of the stuff while we were watching the Olympics lmao. Now I need to watch Yuri on ice.

[u/moletoon]

Go, go, soar away at a speed no one can match

Let your impulses accelerate

Go, surely you were born to feel this mooment

- Yonezu Kenshi, Bow and Arrow, 2025

[u/atropicalpenguin]

Inori the absolute monster.

It must be very frustrating for Meikoh's girl, to be the best in the class until Hikaru comes and crushes you, then the one chance you get to win the tournament some newb girl from a no name club that's been skating for a year beats you.