Medalist Episode 5 Review: Inori Will Rise Against All Odds

This episode of Medalist was pretty good, and we see Tsukasa’s protective side. Let’s see how this episode turned out.

Medalist Episode 2 Episode 4 Recap

The long-awaited contest has arrived, and Inori is caught between excitement and overwhelming nerves. Adding to the pressure, her older sister, once a professional skater, has returned from Canada to watch her perform for the first time. But the stakes are even higher than that; Inori needs to prove to her mother that skating is worth the time and effort if she wants to continue beyond middle school.

However, managing nerves is no simple feat, especially for someone like Inori, who has always struggled with anxiety. Before the actual performance, each skater is given time to warm up, but even then, the judges are already observing and making notes. This is where Inori needs to make a strong impression, but instead, things take a turn for the worse, she stumbles multiple times.

The episode once again does a wonderful job of portraying the immense pressure young athletes face, many of whom are barely in their teens. Inori’s love for skating is evident, but passion alone isn’t always enough, she must prove she can turn it into something more. Unfortunately, reality doesn’t always align with effort, and here, she gets a harsh lesson in that truth.

At first, Inori’s mother may seem frustrating in her strictness, but as the episode unfolds, her perspective becomes clearer. Her resistance to skating doesn’t stem from mere disapproval but from a deep-seated fear of seeing her daughter struggle and feel lost. Thankfully, by the end, we witness a meaningful shift in her character.

Medalist Episode 5 Review And Recap

Today’s episode was definitely very good as it sets up the stage for further rivalries for our protagonist. In the beginning, we see Mike preparing herself for her competition and constantly convincing herself that she can win against Inori. We see a bit of background about her and realize that she has been shunned by adults all her life who did not believe her when they should have. In place of that, they blamed Mike even when she did not do anything. This made Mike distrust adults all the more.

She starts her routine, and at first, she does pretty great. We see her gliding confidently and taking fierce strokes, just like her personality.  However, because of her overconfidence in herself, she lacked practice. This gives her a rude awakening, pointing to how she should have listened to her coach. She realizes this and later apologizes vehemently to her coach and promises to listen to her. She also sets her record straight with Inori, with whom she is back to being a very good friend.

However, the second half of this episode becomes a bit more interesting as we see Hikaru after a long time. Here, we actually witness how good she is at skating as she comes and absolutely captures the audience. Her way of skating is powerful yet elegant, and she introduces complex moves, one after another. Her routine is intricate, and even Tsukasa recognizes she must have a very prominent coach.

Thankfully, we do meet her coach, and this segment started off pretty funny. But we also got some interesting bits as it gets revealed that Hikaru’s coach, Jun, shares history with Tsukasa. Jun’s interaction with both Tsukasa and Inori was not a heartwarming one.

Verdict

In today’s episode, we again see how good of a coach Tsukasa is, who just does not take his students for granted. He steps up for Inori all the time, and it doesn’t matter to Tsukasa, who he is going against for her. The rivalry between Jun and Tsukasa is going to be an interesting thing to see.

Also Read: Medalist Episode 4 Review: Get Back Up!!