It’s been just over a year since MAPPA officially called off Ice Adolescence, much to the disappointment of millions of fans who’d waited years on end for the movie. Naturally, fans still aren’t over the cancellation, especially since it’s been so hard to find anything that remotely fills the void Yuri on Ice left behind.
That said, Yuri on Ice may have finally found its one and only successor in Medalist, a sleeper hit from the Winter 2025 season that’s set to return this January with a can’t-miss new season. Albeit centered around the same sport, Medalist could not seem more different from Yuri on Ice at first glance, but it might leave fans pleasantly surprised.
Medalist is the Coming-of-Age Story Fans Wanted From Ice Adolescence
Based on the manga by Tsurumaikada and produced by ENGI, Medalist follows a young, aspiring figure skater named Yuitsuka Inori. Despite starting out later than her peers, Inori remains enamored with the sport and determined to pursue it. Guiding her as her career blossoms is a former ice-dancer named Tsukasa Akeuraji with regrets of his own.
As a coming-of-age story centered around Inori and her mentorship with Tsukasa, Medalist is inherently quite different from Yuri on Ice, which focuses more on Yuri recovering his self-confidence after a slump and finding love along the way. However, given that Ice Adolescence was supposed to be a prequel focusing on Victor’s early career, Medalist might just be the perfect replacement.
In a way, both Inori and Yuri’s character arcs involve overcoming plenty of hardship, stressing just how demanding figure skating can really be. In fact, fans might even find a little of Yuri’s traits in Tsukasa, whose character is defined by his perceived inferiority to the likes of Yodaka Jun and his regrets about not starting his career sooner himself.
Medalist Has All the Same Strengths As Yuri on Ice
As such, even though the series follows a very adorable eleven-year-old girl instead, Medalist feels oddly familiar. Granted, Medalist doesn’t have any of the revolutionary romance from Yuri on Ice. However, it arguably makes up for this lack of romance by portraying the sport itself in an almost romantic light.
Inori’s love for figure skating is as infectious as it comes, and just like with Yuri, viewers quickly find themselves rooting for her. Much like in Yuri on Ice, Medalist manages to get viewers deeply invested in every performance. Both series leave viewers on the edge of their seats every time a jump comes around, and both evoke the same sense of exhilaration whenever Inori or Yuri land a jump.
Much like in Yuri on Ice, Medalist manages to get viewers deeply invested in every performance.
Most importantly, though, both Medalist and Yuri on Ice put in effort to portray the sport well. In particular, Medalist has been praised for its well-executed CGI, which blends in seamlessly with the rest of the anime. This is quite a rare sight these days, with even major studios like Madhouse failing to hit the mark sometimes, as seen recently with Wandance.
All that said, with Medalist returning with season 2 on January 24, now is the best time to catch up on the series, especially if you’re a fan of Yuri on Ice, as it might just be its only modern successor.
- Release Date
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January 5, 2025
- Network
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tv asahi, ABC TV, Nagoya TV, HTB, Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting, NCC, Niigata Television Network 21, khb, KFB, HOME, KSB, Kagoshima Broadcasting, Oita Asahi Broadcasting, Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Iwate Asahi TV, Akita Asahi Broadcasting, Yamagata Television System, Shizuoka Asahi TV, Asahi Broadcasting Nagano, Hokuriku Asahi Broadcasting, Ehime Asahi TV, Yamaguchi Asahi Broadcasting, Kumamoto Asahi Broadcasting, Ryu-Q Asahi Broadcasting
- Directors
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Takahiro Hirata
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Natsumi Haruse
Inori Yuitsuka (voice)
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Takeo Otsuka
Tsukasa Akeuraji (voice)
