You’re Missing Out on 2025’s Best New Anime so Far

It often feels like there are too many anime to pick from when you want to watch something new. There’s no shortage of shows that involve fighting and survival, like Solo Leveling and Jujutsu Kaisen. However, competitions and fights take a lot of forms, and approaching them from a different perspective is what makes this anime one of the best of 2025, and you might be missing out on it. Perhaps it’s because I was once a figure skater in my youth, but I can already see that Medalist is a gem and a refreshing take on what anime and fights contained in shows can be.

Aside from the accuracies in how figure skating and the world of its competitions are portrayed, Medalist includes themes that can resonate with any type of viewer. You also don’t need to have any background knowledge about figure skating to enjoy the series, but if you do, you’ll definitely appreciate the way it’s portrayed and the incredible animation style used for the skating portions. I know I can’t look away from them.

Inori and Tsukasa Strengthen Each Other in Medalist

Inori and Tsukasa are the stars of Medalist. At age 11, Inori is starting her figure skating journey at what’s considered a late age for anybody who wants to become a professional. Tsukasa is her coach, but she’s his first student and his background is in ice dancing instead of solo skating. However, he also started his skating journey at a late age, which made it tough to pursue his dreams.

Their first meeting was an accident, as he bumped into Inori when she was trading worms for free skate time with the ice rink’s front desk worker. He tries to help her by giving her numbers for clubs to join, which leads to him meeting her again later, as her mom takes her to speak with the clubs and Tsukasa is being offered an assistant coach position at the club they’re visiting at the same time. Naturally, he takes her as his first student when he tests what she can do on the ice, fighting for her to join the club, even though her mom is against it.

Tsukasa sees a younger version of himself in Inori, having dealt with a lot of the criticism she receives for starting at a late age. Meanwhile, Inori sees Tsukasa as a source of inspiration, and she’s driven to do better because he’s the first person to listen to what she wants, then help her to achieve those goals. They drive each other to be the best versions of themselves, and that ends up being the greatest strength that they each have. It’s no wonder that the series’ promotion was so cheerful, as the show itself is already filled with heartwarming moments, even though we’re only in the early episodes.

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The World of Figure Skating Reflected in Medalist

Compared to some of what we see in Medalist, my skating experience is a bit outdated in terms of the technology that coaches use. However, it reminds me so much of what I experienced as a figure skater. It’s true that you have a certain age period to start skating if you intend to be a professional, and the show mentions age 5 often, which is how old I was when I started. Rather than Inori, my own experience is more similar to her older sister, whose skating journey came to an end early due to physical injuries.

The rivalries and competitions in figure skating shown in Medalist have a high degree of accuracy as to how it works, and it’s refreshing to watch when the anime market is saturated with shows that have physical fighting as the main form of competition. That style doesn’t give you the same representation of rivals that you see in Medalist, where you try to beat your opponents, but outside of competitions, you grow and learn from each other as friends.

When you figure skate, you really get to know the skaters at your level when you join a club and start competing or performing in shows together. As a result, rivals become your best friends and your greatest inspirations, since you drive each other to do better. Medalist hasn’t shown too much of this yet, but we’ve seen some friendships and rivalries starting to form for Inori, particularly with Hikaru, who’s currently the best young skater and aiming to get into the Olympics. It’s a start, and I expect to see a lot more of this content, especially with Ema, who seems similar to Inori in her skating journey.

The Perfect Timing for an Uplifting Journey

I think that this is a big reason that Medalist’s manga has occasionally shot ahead of hit series like Dandadan. There are times when the world is scary and the future becomes uncertain, and those are the moments when we need uplifting shows like Medalist the most. Inori and Tsukasa are obviously the stars of the show with their dedication to their dreams, and it’s inspiring to watch. But you also have side characters being fleshed out with their own struggles and dreams, making the show’s world feel real.

After all, who hasn’t had a dream that they wanted to achieve, then faced issues along the way that they needed to overcome to succeed? Who hasn’t felt like they would never be good enough to follow their dreams, or that they started working towards them too late? Medalist has a host of characters with struggles relatable to anybody, even those who have never put on a pair of skates and aren’t interested in doing so.

The world is tough, and sometimes it leaves us feeling beat down. Medalist reminded me of my childhood of figure skating, and it also made me realize that we’re never too old to pursue a new dream, no matter what other people might say. I’m begging you to try this masterpiece of an anime, and you won’t regret it.