Yuri!!! On Ice’s spiritual successor.

Medalist is confirmed to release 13 episodes for its first season and at the rate it’s going, the anime will likely conclude around the Chubu Block Tournament in Volume 6. Therefore, the series will be covering Inori’s rise to fame as she trains alongside her peers and attempts to catch up for all the years she wasn’t able to compete. The 11-year-old will no doubt have many challenges to overcome, but losing is an essential theme that always kicks off a new beginning in sports anime.

Why Failing Is So Important To The Sports Anime Genre

Medalist Needs To There Are No Lessons In Victory

Sports anime have a lot of common tropes or traditional arcs viewers expect to happen, such as heated rivalries between two parties, seniors graduating from the team, and the all-important loss that impacts the season. Think back to pivotal moments in Haikyuu!!, Yowamushi Pedal, Ace of Diamond, and Kuroko’s Basketball. Each had a dedicated moment where losing a match set them back or completely changed their way of thinking.

Some series start with that loss and use it as their reason why they want to climb to the top. Haikyuu!! features two former rivals defeated in separate matches having to form a proper team that rebuilds Karasuno's reputation after they fell from grace years prior.

Failure is a narrative tool that allows the protagonist to take stock and reevaluate their shortcomings, but it also deepens the relationship between the athlete and the viewer. No one wants to watch the hero lose, but in sports, it’s an inevitable outcome. The lows help to build a connection through empathy and the rising hope that the main character will pick themselves back up with newfound knowledge and be stronger for it.

Medalist is very similar to Yuri!!! On Ice for getting figure skating facts accurate in that it is a harsh sport that requires diligent training. Yuri Katsuki’s story begins with multiple failures in the Grand Prix Tournament, kicking him back to requiring a local tournament win for his invitation to the next major competition.

The series uses its short runtime to focus the journey’s crescendo on Yuri’s evolving definition of love performed on the ice. Medalist will likewise have a short runtime and, although the studio is quickly running through the manga, she doesn’t share the same route as Yuri, which is crucial to her growth as an inexperienced competitor.

Luckily, Inori Still Has Many Obstacles To Overcome As An Athlete

This Will Help Inori Build Character Throughout Medalist

This isn’t to say that Inori Yuitsuka doesn’t have her fair share of pitfalls in the anime. There are numerous walls against her right from the beginning that Yuri never had to face. Figure skating is an expensive sport, and Inori didn’t have the initial of her mother, the necessary connections, or even the fare to attend the ice rink regularly, hence why she exchanged worms to skate. She is also radically behind her peers, only able to take the sport more seriously at an older age due to her circumstances.

Inori doesn’t need as dramatic a circumstance as the one that surrounded Yuri in his first Grand Prix, but victory should be much harder to attain as a realistic standard. In Medalist, the bar for victory is standing on the podium, whereas in Yuri!!! On Ice, Yuri's goal is to win gold. Inori should be set on winning a medal, and any shortcomings would only add fuel to wanting to better herself for the stronger competition she'll face in the future.