Kodansha has unleashed a new special promo for the latest volume of the Medalist manga. The thirteenth volume of the Medalist launched in Japan on June 23rd, and to commemorate the occasion, Kodansha shared new animated footage, featuring key drawings from the manga. The series is a sports anime about ice skating, with the fresh promo highlighting many scenes of the lead protagonist, Inori Yuitsuka, on the rink. The promo is edited similarly to the opening of the first season of the anime, which premiered in the 2025 Winter season. Kenshi Yonezu’s “Bow and Arrow,” the same song used in the anime’s opening, is played in the promo, further emphasizing the similarities between the new footage and the anime.
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Yonezu released a musical video for “Bow and Arrow” earlier in the year, starring a male figure skater stylishly performing tricks, matching the skating as shown in the Medalist. Yonezu shared the video on his official YouTube channel, which has over 7.5 million subscribers, and within eighteen hours, the โBow and Arrowโ video had amassed over 2.3 million views, becoming one of the more popular openings of the anime winter 2025 season.
Why You Should Read and Watch The Medalist
The promo is a simplistic yet effective video, showcasing the excellent drawings by the series author Tsurumaikada. By connecting the footage with the anime, the trailer is potentially drawing in new, potential readers who only watched the show. The Medalist was one of the bigger sleeper hits of the 2025 Winter season, with many praising the series for its animation and relatable lead characters. The series stars eleven-year-old Inori, who wants to be a figure skater. However, she is discouraged by everyone around her as she is deemed too old to begin training professionally. Her mother also doesn’t want her to follow the same failed career path as her older sister.
Luckily, Inori meets an older competitive ice skater named Tsukasa Akeuraji, who decides to coach her. The duo’s goal is for Inori to win the Olympic gold medal. Nonetheless, to be considered for the Olympics, she needs to compete and win in multiple ice skating competitions. The manga began publication at Kodansha’s Monthly Afternoon magazine on May 25th, 2020, and is currently still running. The anime ended its thirteen-episode first season on March 30th, 2025. A second season for the anime has already been announced, yet there is no official release date scheduled. The anime is currently streaming exclusively on Hulu in the United States, while Disney+ streams the show worldwide.
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