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The first season of the anime adaptation of Medalist has finished, and it covers the beginning of Inori’s journey as a figure skater. Since it covers her first learning to skate and starting to earn badges, the stakes aren’t that high yet. However, the manga—which is quite a bit further along in terms of content than the anime—appears to be setting up Inori for a big win, and it might be her most important win in the series. Following the style of a typical sports-focused series, Inori faces a mix of victories and setbacks. If she wins every competition, then the story becomes unsatisfying. Now, the manga is at a point where Inori needs a win, and I think I know how she’s going to get it.
Warning: Spoilers Ahead for the Medalist Manga!
It’s expected that the manga is ahead of the anime adaptation for any show, so Medalist isn’t an exception. As a manga that’s only updated monthly, you have to wait a bit to see what happens next, but we finally reached a point that confirmed one of my suspicions, and now I’m certain that Inori is about to get the most important win of her career as an athlete—even if it won’t be the biggest win during her time skating.
Prediction: Inori Will Win the Junior Grand Prix
If you need a bit of a catch-up, in the manga, Inori has aged out of novice and into junior skating. She was able to compete to become a designated skater for Japan as a result, and she ended up as designated skater B. This means that she represents Japan in international competitions, including the Junior Grand Prix, which will be shortened to JGP from here on. Inori and Iruka are the skaters who go to JGP. So why isn’t Hikaru competing? Well, the timing of her birthday means that she’s in novice for another year before she ages into the junior level.
Meanwhile, Iruka is an older skater and she’s considered the queen of JGP, having won the prior year’s competition. It’s not a surprise that she makes it to the finals, but Inori manages to make it to the finals as well. By this point in the manga, the series still has heartwarming moments, but there’s also a lot more drama and tragedy happening as you dig deeper into the rough backgrounds of some skaters. For Inori, this means that she’s unable to make it to the finals of the All-Japans, even though she’ll be heading to the JGP finals after she makes too many mistakes during her performance.
Seeing Hikaru skate in the finals and win gold in the All-Japans ignites new resolve in Inori, especially since Hikaru promised before her performance that she would skate her heart out so that Inori wouldn’t be able to stop herself from pushing herself to practice after watching. Naturally, this strategy from Hikaru works, and Inori is heading into the JGP finals, where Hikaru isn’t able to participate.
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Inori’s Biggest Competition Won’t be at the Finals
I’ve talked a lot about Hikaru, but now it’s time to look at Iruka, the queen of JGP who also qualifies for the finals. Iruka’s skill level is significantly above Inori’s, and she uses her physique to perform spins and jumps in ways that many other skaters can’t. I wouldn’t hesitate to say that Iruka would beat Inori in the finals for JGP easily. However, Iruka—Inori’s biggest competition in JGP—won’t be able to perform due to situations that I’m not going to spoil, since I’m already spoiling a fair amount of content.
Now, Inori has renewed determination from Hikaru’s performance, and Iruka is unable to compete at the JGP. This sets up Inori for a big win, and at this point, she needs that win to keep moving forward as an athlete. When you keep taking loses, you lose your confidence, and Inori is struggling with that, especially after she’s had so much pressure placed on her due to her ability to land a quad jump. It’s starting to crumble, so she needs a win to bring her confidence back up so she can keep moving forward.
Inori is an emotional character who’s easily impacted by the idea of not meeting the expectations put on her. JGP is far from the biggest or most renowned competition she’ll take part in, considering she wants to be an Olympian, but it’s going to end up being the most important competition if she can win. It can help her keep moving forward and growing in order to get past the slump she’s ended up in. In the meantime, all I can say is that Medalist thankfully got renewed for another season, and I can’t wait until we reach content like the JGP in future seasons.
