The surprise sleeper hit of 2025, Medalist, continues to win the hearts and minds of anime fans all over with its sincere story about a young ice-skater. An event exhibition celebrating the series was held at Event Square in Matsuya Ginza in Tokyo, Japan. The Japanese voice actors for the two leads of the Medalist anime were in attendance at the event, where they both spoke about their roles. Natsumi Haruse plays the main protagonist, Inori Yuitsuka, an 11-year-old girl who competes in ice-skating competitions. Takeo Otsuka plays Inori’s coach, Tsukasa Akeuraji, a former competitive skater who now wants to help Inori achieve her dream.
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The Medalist streamed on Hulu in the United States and Disney+ in most other territories outside Japan as part of the Disney Platform Distribution. The anime was praised for its ice-skating animation and the sincerity displayed by the protagonists. Haruse and Yuitsuka discuss how they both prepare for their roles at the Medalist Exhibition Event, with Haruse admitting she’s been a lifelong skating fan and has been taking ice-skating lessons. Through her practices, she discovered how difficult it is and used that experience to determine how much weight is placed while skating, which influenced her performance as Inori. She called the recording sessions “full of discoveries and joy.”
Natsumi Haruse and Inori Yuitsuka Discuss Medalist
Otsuka also discussed learning more about skating to understand his role. He interviewed Akiko Suzuki, an ice-skater who provided motion capture for the anime. Suzuki would even teach Otsuka how to skate, giving him a reference for his performance. Otsuka further revealed that they would often record the anime together, and he would constantly ask Haruse about anything he wouldn’t understand. The Medalist anime aired its final episode of its first season on March 30, 2025. Fortunately, a second season for the show was quickly announced and is scheduled to air in January 2026. Hulu offers an English dub version of the anime, with voice actors Madeline Dorroh and Jonathon Ha voicing Inori and Tsukasa, respectively.
Medalist stars Inori, a young girl who was persuaded against becoming a skater, and she is told that she is too old to start professionally at 11. She eventually forms a partnership with Tsukasa, who was on the verge of giving up his dreams. Their goal is for Inori to win an Olympic gold medal, but to be considered for the Olympics, Inori must compete in many ice-skating competitions and earn top marks.
Japanese singer Kenshi Yonezu performed “Bow and Arrow” for the Medalist anime adaptation, releasing a passionate musical video in March. Yonezu shared the video on his official YouTube channel, which has over 7.5 million subscribers, and within eighteen hours, the “Bow and Arrow” video had amassed over 2.3 million views, becoming one of the more popular openings of the anime winter 2025 season. The first season ran for 13 episodes, with a trailer for the second season released by Hulu on July 27th. The original Medalist manga began publication at Kodansha’s Monthly Afternoon magazine on May 25th, 2020, and is currently still running.
H/T: Oricon US
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