With every new year, there’s plenty of new anime spread across increasingly varied streaming service options for fans to discover. One of the best genres for uplifting, cerebral, or simply thrilling content is that of sports anime, with one outlier rising quickly above the rest in Winter 2025. Medalist‘s first anime season was very successful, and with it, the manga’s popularity skyrocketed, with many more fans, fan art, and another season leading to it. Furthermore, the manga sales and viewership were boosted significantly, and the effect is still being felt months after it ended. With Season 2 confirmed to release in January 2026 after a recent trailer drop, the wholesome and beautiful series will continue hitting new milestones and only getting more popular.
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As confirmed in a new article by Oricon, LINE Manga announced its 2025 First Half Rankings, which are the most-read manga on the platform for the first 6 months. Medalist came in at first in the collected volumes category, with the historical Kingdom by Yasuhisa Hara coming in at second, and the football sports manga Ao Ashi by Yugo Kobayashi coming in at third. The category includes metrics like reader count, likes, and purchases, and with the many popular manga available on the platform, it is very impressive that Medalist still managed to come out on top. The series’ popularity, especially in Japan, is extremely high, and both the manga and anime have been collecting achievements ever since season 1 began earlier this year.
Medalist Comes Out on Top in the First Half of 2025
14-year-old Tsukasa Akeuraji was inspired to pursue figure skating after witnessing a world-class performance. But starting late led to constant discouragement, eventually forcing him to give up singles skating and switch to ice dancing. For years, he drifted aimlessly until meeting a girl named Inori Yuitsuka. Meanwhile, in the present, 11-year-old Inori, isolated and talentless in most areas, found joy in skating, secretly practising despite her mother’s objections. After seeing her potential, present-day Tsukasa recognised his younger self in her. Reignited with purpose, he decides to coach her toward Olympic gold.
The physical manga sales are equally impressive, with Volume 12 scoring 105K in its first week. This is 4 times the figure of Volume 11, which sold 28K first week. The anime is to thank for this, and the massive increase in sales shows just how well-received the story was. Furthermore, Medalist took the gold medal on NicoNico’s most-watched anime thus far of Winter 2025. Besides the high-quality story that evokes nothing but inspiration and tears, the anime was gorgeous to say the least, and the CGI was done beautifully as well. Incredible visuals and amazingly animated sequences meet an amazing storyline and cast, leading to the explosive growth of Medalist that will no doubt continue into Season 2 next year.
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Image Courtesy of TOHO
