Embarrassingly, I first learned of this work from an in-theater commercial at last year's Kyoban Festival. But the commercial was so wonderfully made that I looked it up as soon as I got back to my lodging, found out it was an amazing work, and it became a series whose anime broadcast I'd been eagerly awaiting ever since.
Medalist is Tsurumaikada's debut work as a manga artist. The fact that a debut work suddenly got an anime adaptation is already amazing, but every single anecdote that comes up around the making of this manga has incredible impact.
First, Kenshi Yonezu, who sings the OP, is such a huge fan of this work that he praises it, saying, "It's just such a wonderful manga, the entire human race should read it." On top of that, Tatsuya Kitani — an artist you can't leave out when it comes to anime songs these days — has openly declared himself a big fan of the work, going so far as to say he's looking forward to what the soundtrack will be like. And it's not limited to the music world either: Yuzuru Hanyu, who boasts top popularity in figure skating in Japan — no, in the world — apparently watches this anime with deep emotional investment. Akiko Suzuki, the former figure skater who participated as a choreography collaborator on this work, left a gem of a comment that conveys just how much emotion she poured into reading it: "It feels exactly as if I'm out there on the rink myself."
It took first place in the upcoming Manga Taisho 2022 and has numerous other awards... even as I write all this, the level of social acclaim is astonishing enough to make you want to ask, "Really?"
There's another astonishing anecdote: it became a topic on social media that the author, Tsurumaikada, had long been a fan of ("oshi") a character named Kaoru Ryuzaki from THE IDOLM@STER CINDERELLA GIRLS, and was simultaneously a fan of that character's voice actress, Natsumi Haruse — which is why Haruse was cast to voice the work's lead, Inori Yuitsuka. The fact that there's no shortage of anecdotes means it's a work with that much power. Just how many dreams has Tsurumaikada made come true with a debut work...!
Yuki Hayashi's wonderful soundtrack!
There are many scenes playing pieces centered on a childlike feel — a track that plays its intro on a xylophone, producing purity and innocence while letting you settle into a heartwarming mood; a fun, up-tempo piece that begins on piano; and others. But it's a content-rich lineup that extends all the way to more grown-up pieces: a cool track with impressively light, crisp string staccato, and a moving piece in which piano and strings express wavering emotions without leaving anything out. Every piece has its own personality, and yet, when it plays in the background of the anime as a soundtrack, it blends into the scene and pulls your focus toward the story instead — a construction unique to a soundtrack, thanks to which I ended up replaying it over and over.
This isn't Yuki Hayashi's soundtrack, but "Jupiter" from Holst's suite The Planets, which plays during the performance scene in Episode 4, also matches the anime's visuals firmly and is genuinely moving, so please do watch it. Incidentally, the composer, Gustav Holst, didn't have a smooth-sailing life either; he became a composer remembered by posterity only after many hardships and twists and turns. Perhaps that background, too, is being expressed in overlap with the feelings of the protagonist Inori Yuitsuka at this moment.
Medalist already draws especially high attention among this season's anime, centered on social media, so by all means follow it too. You absolutely won't regret it.
Cited from the official site https://medalist-pr.com/
