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メダリスト [Medalist] #7
メダリスト 7
中部ブロック大会を突破し、いよいよ全日本ノービスでライバル・光と戦うことになったいのりと司。
だが、全国レベルの精鋭達と渡り合うには、わずか1ヵ月で3回転ルッツとフリップを習得しなくてはならない。
タイムリミットが迫る中、司が招聘したジャンプ指導のエキスパート・魚淵により、いのりの新たな才能が開花する！
だが、全国レベルの精鋭達と渡り合うには、わずか1ヵ月で3回転ルッツとフリップを習得しなくてはならない。
タイムリミットが迫る中、司が招聘したジャンプ指導のエキスパート・魚淵により、いのりの新たな才能が開花する！
194 pages, Paperback
First published December 22, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
August 2, 2023
Fresh off her victory, Inori has downti… no, it’s time to train some more. Tsukasa wants to add in the techniques she’ll need to beat her rival, Hikaru, but trying to harness her potential is going to need some outside help if they want to succeed.
Like many a manga before it, Medalist had a cast problem. A big one. As in, a big cast that’s a big problem. With no character pages at the start and these young skaters piling on top of one another as we see club after club, it’s pure madness trying to keep everybody straight.
This is absolutely to its detriment because we get some really interesting backstories here and it would be nice to be able to recollect them whenever these kids show up again, but that’s highly unlikely to be the case. Which is unfortunate because they really flesh out what is otherwise a typically brilliant sports manga.
And this is indeed a brilliant volume, as the time in between competing is just spent figuring out how to compete better going forward. Inori needs to up her game if she hopes to beat Hikaru, but the way ahead for her is not going to be easy.
There’s so much character work to love in this volume, truly, that it really makes the whole thing come to life. Tsukasa and Inori’s road trip in particular is both tender hearted and a painfully comical reminder that Inori’s still just a kid at the end of the day.
And when Tsukasa gets an injury trying to train Inori, it makes perfect sense that she becomes afraid of what she needs to do since it ended up hurting her coach. Her struggle to get over this is really believable and I also loved that the resolution gently punctures the trope of ‘yelling that you have to do something’, like many a manga uses, being the means to achieve anything. Tsukasa gets the idea of trauma.
The technical stuff is worked in really well, it’s a lot neater than that one volume we won’t speak about and the way they’re training Inori is actually really rather interesting and something I had never considered, but explains how a coach who isn’t a spry teenager can manage such feats.
While the skater intros are fun, the best character is probably the jumping coach that Tsukasa consults with, who is entirely too nice for his own good and gets treated like a minor deity for most of the volume. He’s also the source of the funniest omake at the back of this volume.
I also really liked Tsukasa’s old ice dancing buddies, who make the world of Japanese figure skating seem terribly small, and the hilarious weeb coach of one team who is imported from the States and looks incredibly stylish until it’s revealed that she’s a very different woman than her persona.
The ending shows Hikaru styling to throw down with Inori and definitely feels like a friendly rivalry that is starting to get well out of hand, but that’s not terribly surprising given the age of the girls and the influence of at least one of their coaches (Jun shows up just to throw a little wrench in what’s coming up, in a very effective cameo).
As transitional material it does a perfect job of bringing in new competition, raising the stakes, arming Inori with a new tool that may or may not be effective, and getting some emotion mixed in there to boot. This series has strong pacing that has made Inori’s journey feel believable and I particularly liked how people are finally noticing her by the end.
4.5 stars - definite ding for too many names and faces to keep track of; that really doesn’t help my emotional investment in things. However, the core of this is still so dang good that it overcomes its deficiencies at the end of the day. Big recommend still.
Like many a manga before it, Medalist had a cast problem. A big one. As in, a big cast that’s a big problem. With no character pages at the start and these young skaters piling on top of one another as we see club after club, it’s pure madness trying to keep everybody straight.
This is absolutely to its detriment because we get some really interesting backstories here and it would be nice to be able to recollect them whenever these kids show up again, but that’s highly unlikely to be the case. Which is unfortunate because they really flesh out what is otherwise a typically brilliant sports manga.
And this is indeed a brilliant volume, as the time in between competing is just spent figuring out how to compete better going forward. Inori needs to up her game if she hopes to beat Hikaru, but the way ahead for her is not going to be easy.
There’s so much character work to love in this volume, truly, that it really makes the whole thing come to life. Tsukasa and Inori’s road trip in particular is both tender hearted and a painfully comical reminder that Inori’s still just a kid at the end of the day.
And when Tsukasa gets an injury trying to train Inori, it makes perfect sense that she becomes afraid of what she needs to do since it ended up hurting her coach. Her struggle to get over this is really believable and I also loved that the resolution gently punctures the trope of ‘yelling that you have to do something’, like many a manga uses, being the means to achieve anything. Tsukasa gets the idea of trauma.
The technical stuff is worked in really well, it’s a lot neater than that one volume we won’t speak about and the way they’re training Inori is actually really rather interesting and something I had never considered, but explains how a coach who isn’t a spry teenager can manage such feats.
While the skater intros are fun, the best character is probably the jumping coach that Tsukasa consults with, who is entirely too nice for his own good and gets treated like a minor deity for most of the volume. He’s also the source of the funniest omake at the back of this volume.
I also really liked Tsukasa’s old ice dancing buddies, who make the world of Japanese figure skating seem terribly small, and the hilarious weeb coach of one team who is imported from the States and looks incredibly stylish until it’s revealed that she’s a very different woman than her persona.
The ending shows Hikaru styling to throw down with Inori and definitely feels like a friendly rivalry that is starting to get well out of hand, but that’s not terribly surprising given the age of the girls and the influence of at least one of their coaches (Jun shows up just to throw a little wrench in what’s coming up, in a very effective cameo).
As transitional material it does a perfect job of bringing in new competition, raising the stakes, arming Inori with a new tool that may or may not be effective, and getting some emotion mixed in there to boot. This series has strong pacing that has made Inori’s journey feel believable and I particularly liked how people are finally noticing her by the end.
4.5 stars - definite ding for too many names and faces to keep track of; that really doesn’t help my emotional investment in things. However, the core of this is still so dang good that it overcomes its deficiencies at the end of the day. Big recommend still.
February 1, 2025
5 ⭐ This series is everything to me omgg 😭
September 21, 2023
I guess this is the best sports manga that nobody's reading then?
May 7, 2025
Fascinating read. The first time I saw the jumping coach.. I was ready to take a bullet for him! An absolute cinnamon roll 💕 Fun road trip, new goals, and old friends figure out a new strategy to take on the Great Rival.
May 4, 2025
Ugh it is totally not fair that her quad is somehow going to be used against her!
August 8, 2025
Training Arc!
January 10, 2025
4.5 stars
Ich liebe diese Reihe einfach, wieder ein klasse Band! Inori macht wirklich Fortschritte, jedoch wird sie durch Tsukasas Sturz verunsichert. Aber die beiden holen sich Hilfe und haben sich nun auch ein neues Ziel gesetzt. Die Beziehung zwischen ihnen fühlt sich super warm an und wird von ihrer Liebe zum Eislaufen getragen. Das immer mal wieder Blicke auf andere Eisläuferinnen und ihre Trainer:innen dazwischengeschoben werden, hat mich am Anfang etwas verwirrt, finde die Idee aber an sich sehr cool. Jetzt stehen wir vor der Meisterschaft und Inori und Hikaru treffen aufeinander. Wird bestimmt super spannend!
Ich liebe diese Reihe einfach, wieder ein klasse Band! Inori macht wirklich Fortschritte, jedoch wird sie durch Tsukasas Sturz verunsichert. Aber die beiden holen sich Hilfe und haben sich nun auch ein neues Ziel gesetzt. Die Beziehung zwischen ihnen fühlt sich super warm an und wird von ihrer Liebe zum Eislaufen getragen. Das immer mal wieder Blicke auf andere Eisläuferinnen und ihre Trainer:innen dazwischengeschoben werden, hat mich am Anfang etwas verwirrt, finde die Idee aber an sich sehr cool. Jetzt stehen wir vor der Meisterschaft und Inori und Hikaru treffen aufeinander. Wird bestimmt super spannend!
March 13, 2025
This volume of Medalist gives us some intense jump training before th All Japans and Inori's faceoff with Hikaru. The jump expert's technique is cool to watch, and the explanation of different jumps helps me understand how tough skating is.
What I loved the most about this volume was Inori and Tsukasa having time to talk to each other. Their dynamic is wholesome and heartwarming, and I love their resolve.
This volume also takes some time to set up how some of the other skaters are preparing for the All Japans. All together, I am so excited for the next volume!
What I loved the most about this volume was Inori and Tsukasa having time to talk to each other. Their dynamic is wholesome and heartwarming, and I love their resolve.
This volume also takes some time to set up how some of the other skaters are preparing for the All Japans. All together, I am so excited for the next volume!
November 4, 2025
this volume had so many beautiful panels 🤧 the relationship between inori and tsukasa is so wholesome 🥺 in moments of doubt, they always uplift one another and reassure each other that they are amazing skaters who are capable of doing the impossible 🥹
February 4, 2024
"i bet you were born warm, coach... so you could skate on ice forever and not get cold"
IM CRYING
IM CRYING
June 27, 2024
Bomba assoluta
June 24, 2025
Harness practice levels up jumps like magic!
Read
December 14, 2025"I bet you were born warm, coach... so you could skate on ice forever and not get cold." WHAT IF I KILLED MYSELF
December 21, 2025
A really emotional one. I expect no less. The moment with Inori on the coach’s back and his realization is maybe one of my favorite moments in the entire manga. I love this series
January 17, 2025
Needless to say, I am stressed about Inori's quads 😭😭😭😭
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews