Disney+ has been hiding out one of the best new anime of the Winter 2025 anime schedule as Medalist has quickly taken over the world thanks to its CG animation going viral among fans. Disney+ continues to offer some of the major anime releases fans will get to see over the course of the year, and one of the headlining features of the Winter was the upcoming adaptation for Tsurumaikada’s Medalist. Already a huge hit in Japan since it was launched with Kondansha’s Monthly Afternoon magazine in 2020, it’s now starting a full takeover of the rest of the world thanks to its new anime.
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Medalist made its debut this year as part of the Winter 2025 anime schedule as the biggest exclusive for Disney+ kicking off the new year, and it has quickly overtaken major hits like Dandadan and Jujutsu Kaisen in sales with just the first few weeks alone. Helping in these matters is the CG animation helping to bring all of its figure skating routines to life, and one particular clip from the latest episode has gone viral as fans have been surprised to see such a high quality experience from a weekly anime series. Check it out below as gone viral thanks to @hensyucyoanime on X.
What Is Medalist?
Originally created by Tsurumaikada for Kondansha’s Monthly Afternoon magazine in 2020, Medalist follows a duo who are both at the same breaking point in their prospective figure skating careers. But the key difference between both is there wildly varying ages, and the experience that one has over the other. When Tsukasa Akeuraji, the former ice dancer who is set to give up his career, then meets the young talent Inori Yuitsuka and decides to coach her, the two then head into the highly competitive figure skating industry and all of its rivals and challenges.
Yaustaka Yamamoto is directing Medalist for studio ENGI. Jukki Hanada is handling its screenplay, Chinatsu Kameyama is overseeing the character designs, and Yuki Hayashi is composing the music. Former Olympic skater Akiko Suzuki is even helping to choreograph the skating routines for the series alongside the retired Yuhana Yokoi and active Hinano Isobe to get these routines just right. Coupled with that impressive CG animation, and it’s no wonder that this anime has been taking over the world since its premiere.
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How to Watch Medalist
If you wanted to check out Medalist for yourself to see why it’s been such a hit with fans thus far, you can now find the anime’s newest episodes streaming with Hulu in the United States and Disney+ in international territories. If you have the Disney+/Hulu bundle, you can also just find it within the Disney+ library too. Both the Japanese and English dubbed releases are currently available to check out, so fans can jump into whichever version they want to see.
It’s a stacked cast with either version too as the Japanese dub is led by Natsumi Haruseย as Inori Yuitsuka, Takeo Otsukaย as Tsukasa Akeuraji, Kana Ichinoseย as Hikaru Kamisaki, and Yuma Uchidaย as Jun Yodaka. As for the English dub, it’s currently led by Jonathon Ha as Tsukasa and Madeline Dorroh as Inori. As for how Disney+ and Hulu tease Medalist, the synopsis for the series hypes it as such:
“Tsukasa Akeuraji, a frustrated skater, meets Inori Yuitsuka, a girl who yearns to be a figure skater. Motivated by Inori’s obsession on the rink, Tsukasa begins coaching Inori. Inori’s talent blossoms, and Tsukasa becomes a brilliant mentor. Together they aim to make her a glorious medalist!”
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