Medalist 2nd Season

Ever since the novice coach Tsukasa Akeuraji took Inori Yuitsuka under his mentorship, she has improved her figure skating at a fast pace. After passing a qualifying badge test, she earns a spot to compete in the upcoming Chubu Block Tournament, where only five of the 15 competitors can move forward to the next stage—the prestigious All-Japan Novice Tournament. However, earning a slot will not be easy for Inori: most of her rivals have already experienced trying their luck in the competition.

The stakes are high as the competition begins, and one by one, each of the competitors strive to perform their very best in front of the big crowd. Moreover, the current figure skating generation's prodigy, Hikaru Kamisaki, is not competing in this block, which raises everyone's determination to qualify. That includes Inori, who must beat the odds if she wants to keep her promise to reach Hikaru and represent Japan in the Olympics with Tsukasa.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Yuitsuka, Inori Main

Haruse, Natsumi Japanese

Akeuraji, Tsukasa Main

Ootsuka, Takeo Japanese

Kamisaki, Hikaru Supporting

Ichinose, Kana Japanese

Okazaki, Iruka Supporting

Yamamura, Hibiku Japanese

Sonidori, Riou Supporting

Koichi, Makoto Japanese

Yodaka, Jun Supporting

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Kobuta, Main Supporting

Sasahara, Yuu Japanese

Sonidori, Shinichirou Supporting

Ban, Taito Japanese

Kago, You Supporting

Inoue, Honoka Japanese

Takamine, Hitomi Supporting

Katou, Emiri Japanese

Yamashita, Shinpei Producer

Yamato, Masae Producer

Sawada, Airi Producer

Miura, Takasumi Producer

Reviews

Mar 21, 2026

Marinate1016

Recommended

The greatest sports animanga of all time has finally graced our screens again and it’s better than ever. While it doesn’t have as much official skating competition as season 1, Medalist season 2 is honestly the most important part of the story thus far. For all the battling on the ice, Inori’s biggest struggle has always been internal. This season sees her confront a lot of insecurities and grow both as a skater and a person, surpassing her limits in both regards to become more confident on and off the ice. Of course that journey doesn’t happen without the best mentor in anime, Tsukasa. This ... season is as much his as Inori’s and they both grew so much by the end. I’m so proud of my babies. I just hate that it was only 9 episodes long, but I am beyond ready for the film!

Despite only having the 1 competition this season, Medalist season 2 was as engaging as ever from beginning to end. This story has never just been about skating. Keep in mind, skating became Inori’s escape from the bullying she faced at school and the emotional turmoil with her sister’s injury. This series has always been about her developing as a human being and becoming more confident in herself. I can truly say the inori we see at the end of this season is a night and day difference from the start of season 1. She still has many of the same quirks and is that loveable little girl, but she’s not afraid anymore. She has the best coach in the world and she’s proven she can compete with the best of them. That’s character development and that’s what this author does so well. Every single episode we see inori evolve, little by little she takes steps forward even when she’s afraid. It’s a nice parallel to Tsukasa’s own personal journey. Even though he’s the adult, he doesn’t have everything figured out and he leans on Inori just as much as she leans on him, learning from her as she does from him. Again what impresses me the most about his character is that he never forces anything on Inori and always respects her autonomy to make her own decisions. He refuses to try and live through her after his own skating career went south, recognizes this is her story and is committed to supporting her in whatever capacity is best. He’s truly the best support system anyone could ask for. This season we finally got to get some intimate moments with them off the ice as well which never failed to put a smile on my face. The two of them are each other’s biggest fans and it’s so cute. Moreover, the way Inori looks up to and thinks the world of Tsukasa, telling him what he needs to hear the most when he needs to hear it is so sweet. They were destined to be teacher and student and met each other at the perfect time.

We got a few new characters in this season, the Chubu block girls were all very fierce and talented. They pushed Inori to the limit and helped her become a better skater. I look forward to more of them because that sort of competition is needed for greatness. Yea, Hikaru is Inori’s ultimate aspiration, but don’t write these girls off either. For me personally, I really loved our new onee-san, Iruka though. She comes off like an asshole, but you can tell she’s got a heart of gold and respects Inori and her sister. Beautiful design, unique skating style focusing on her core strength and a little bit of a tomboyish personality, give me more of her. Inori’s new jump coach was also a nice addition to the cast and helped Inori grow tremendously. I like how much more into the weeds this season got as it relates to training methodology. I’m brand new to figure skating, so I really appreciate seeing all the behind the scenes stuff and learning how much work goes into preparing programs, milking every last point out of a competition, improving your mechanics, etc. This is basically a training arc season, but it still feels thrilling because you’re on the edge of your seat hoping Inori can implement new techniques into her repertoire and build on her existing bag. They really do a good job of making you feel like a proud parent watching your own child grow! Inori is my daughter, forreal.

Medalist continues to have the best 3DCGI I’ve ever seen. The way they blend the CGI with 2D drawings is just ridiculously good. Every motion is so fluid and graceful, they distinguish between the various skating styles too. So, for example, Inori feels like an elegant swan, Iruka feels more powerful and aggressive. I love how weighty all the movements seem and generally feels like they used mo-cap for all the skating scenes because of how realistic it is. It’s the gold standard in the medium. What a job from ENGI. Inori’s performance at the Chubu block finals will stay with me forever.

Only downside to this season for me is there’s barely any Hikaru. I need my yuri yearning with she and Inori.. but by all accounts, the movie should deliver that. I can’t wait. Other than that, this is the best medalist has been so far. I’m so proud of how far my daughter Inori has come, she still has a long way to go, but I know no matter how many times she falls down, she’ll get back up because of the commitment she has both to herself, and to Tsukasa.

Medalist season 2 gets 10, out of 10.

Reviewer’s Rating: 10

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Mar 21, 2026

OmegaTizona

Recommended

Unlike the first season, that is structured like a show, this one felt like watching a first act for a film. They are setting up the chess board to let the match unfold in the 2027 movie. It doesn't feel like a real, actual season, as in, it doesn't to have an actual finale. Considering how great the animators were in season 1 and this one, I bet they'll throw all of their artistic skills into that, which will try to pay off all of that set up of having the Hikaru girl as the main and mysterious antagonist. Finally, you'll get the confrontation.

Everything is ... looking out nicely for how they structured the story for the animated format. Looking forward to the movie.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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Mar 22, 2026

emberreviews

Mixed Feelings

Medalist 2nd Season is an affirmation of all the thoughts I had about the previous season as an adaptation, for both good and bad. It is a series constantly striving to put out exceptionally beautiful artwork, and occasionally does so, but is also constantly mired in an ever-present feeling of not being put together properly in a visual sense. Crisp character art, lavish color design, and hyper-polished stills to punctuate intense moments live side by side with shoddy compositing, awkward framing, and questionable CG assets. It’s also becoming clear that the CG models that are used the most (Inori, Hikaru, etc.) are used much more ... effectively than models that the animators aren’t used to working with as often, with the latter often getting significantly weaker face animations. It’s also become even more obvious that using a hyper clean art style for this adaptation over the manga’s wispier aesthetics leads to some inadvertently awkward design choices, such as with Yuuna’s pupils being so oblong in structure.
On the story front, however, I have few complaints. This season gets deeper into the sports anime aspects of the series as Inori and Tsukasa dive further into strategy, point systems, and the nuances of different jumps, and the explanations of all of these are easy to comprehend for those with little knowledge of figure skating. Inori continues to be a solid take on the underdog/late starter trope in her efforts to catch up to her peers and push the limits of her skating abilities, all while Hikaru looms in the background for the big tournament in the upcoming film sequel. I still think the more intense scenes of conflict come off a bit too angsty, but that’s a relatively minor issue. Against all odds, this series is somehow still holding itself together with duct tape and glue, but the cracks in the facade are clear. Were it not so damn compelling and expertly paced, I would have no issues just sticking with the manga, and yet I still keep getting drawn back to something that’s clearly not even close to the original. Maybe that movie will finally give the team enough time to make it all seamless and just as enchanting as its source material. I doubt it, but I can hope.

Reviewer’s Rating: 7

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