Medalist - Ch. 51 - All-Japan Junior Women's FS (Part 1)

[Hem]

It might be unsatisfying... but Hikaru might realize that she already has what she wanted and just go back with Rio's family.
She doesn't really have to quit skating or even become much more casual about it... she can just decide "Whats the point of sacrificing when I already have what I want?" and go back to doing what she was before with a more mentally/physically health pace and a different coach when Jun loses interest in a student who isn't pretending to be an edgy lunatic - This could bring an angle for Inori to match or surpass her... kind of a role reversal where Hikaru/Tsukasa eventually have to confront Inori about an unhealthy mindset eventually.
Doubt Inori could ever reach such a point with Tsukasa around though (a coach switch would be insane but perhaps a fun bit of nonsense)... and realistically unless Inori simply settled for just reaching Hikaru's level, Hikaru is probably being set up for an injury or some kind of distance to be put between herself and skating so Inori can win golds.

OR although it would probably be bemoaned to hell and back by the readers... Inori could just settle for being the best she can be without an unhealthy obsession, she'd come to understand that Tsukasa wouldn't regret investing in her, and she wouldn't be a failure if she was just a "top" skater instead of THE TOP... or she just switches to Ice Dance or Usagi Drops us with one of the coaches and the readers burn all of their volumes... kek

 

[doomrider7]

it feels author still holding fmc(Inori) have good story just like Junpei (dance dance danseur) and dont know will author give story Inori get another master couch or not..... yup looks like it will be long story like Satoshi/Ash Ketchum always lose or
draw match until he become strongest and win pokemon world champion

Personally, Inori is fully capable talent-wise of matching Hikaru. Inori is insanely talented too. She wouldn't have come so far in so short a time if that wasn't the case.

The problem is mental. Hikaru has hit a place of self-actualization here. Inori has a laundry-list of mental hangups and unhealthy mindsets that throw her off kilter. Until she unravels and grows inwardly, she'll be stuck.

@J_the_Man
I agree. The issue to me is that I've noticed a pattern of "correction" whenever she strays too far from being the broken meek girl with zero confidence, self-worth, and pride. Sort of like she's not being ALLOWED those things and every time she builds up to those things it's immediately snatched. O think the Chubu Bloc was the last time she got to win BIG and feel all of those things.

@Cashini
That would would be incredibly lame of that's the case of her always losing or drawing at best until the absolute very end. Also Inori switching coaches defeats the purpose of things since as she told Mike at camp, she wants to be so good that she can PICK her coach and she's picked Tsukasa.

 

[Azauqyar]

Personally, Inori is fully capable talent-wise of matching Hikaru. Inori is insanely talented too. She wouldn't have come so far in so short a time if that wasn't the case.

The problem is mental. Hikaru has hit a place of self-actualization here. Inori has a laundry-list of mental hangups and unhealthy mindsets that throw her off kilter. Until she unravels and grows inwardly, she'll be stuck.

Not only that inori also lack the hawk eye ability that Hikaru posses. Which i think would be tsukasa's climax in his story line.

 

[Yumiiiiii]

this was truly our yuri on ice

thanks for the translation!

 

[SuperOniichan]

dude chill let me have my stupid yuribait in peace

i can relate to being annoyed by people not understanding the "deepness" of a work or its intended meaning--but i think some people (like me) genuinely enjoy medalist and express their appreciation for the wonderful characters and relationships through silly stuff because that's the only way to express the GDGFHDFHDIUHFHD (emotion) that this story induces.

basically it's not that deep + i can ship whoever i want and it's only weird when you make it weird

(side note i think your analysis is very good)

Shipping does not necessarily imply an attempt to impose a ship on others as something objective or plausible, calling every time the characters form any bonds with each other as yuri bait/yuri subtext. Even fujoshi have already stopped behaving like this in the battle shonen discussion, but for some reason when yuri fans do so, it is still considered normal.

 

[madohomufan]

On the side of where the competition goes from here: I'm sure the mangaka can still find ways to keep Inori's growth interesting and to have a fight between her and Hikaru from here—it's not just who can do the hardest jumps. I think it's clear that, e.g., Iruka's GOE is still beyond the kiddos, for example. And even in real life, Trusova was only 14 years old (!!!) when she was the first woman to land a quad Lutz in competition—and she still hasn't got an olympic gold yet, or a senior grand prix final gold, despite having 5 (!!!!!) quads in her free skate in the 2022 olympics.

On the side of the relationship between Hikaru and Inori. Yeah, despite being a huge yuri fan, they're of course still kids. But leaving aside romance, I do like that the intensity of their feelings, and the importance of their (non-romantic) relationship seems to be deepening. I hope Inori can appreciate how Hikaru feels eventually.

 

[doomrider7]

Personally, Inori is fully capable talent-wise of matching Hikaru. Inori is insanely talented too. She wouldn't have come so far in so short a time if that wasn't the case.

The problem is mental. Hikaru has hit a place of self-actualization here. Inori has a laundry-list of mental hangups and unhealthy mindsets that throw her off kilter. Until she unravels and grows inwardly, she'll be stuck.

Agree with the second one for sure. The first I'd like to believe, but honestly it's looking grim all-around. Not just in her reaching that height, but also how she goes about fixing her mental and emotional hangups.

On the side of where the competition goes from here: I'm sure the mangaka can still find ways to keep Inori's growth interesting and to have a fight between her and Hikaru from here—it's not just who can do the hardest jumps. I think it's clear that, e.g., Iruka's GOE is still beyond the kiddos, for example. And even in real life, Trusova was only 14 years old (!!!) when she was the first woman to land a quad Lutz in competition—and she still hasn't got an olympic gold yet, or a senior grand prix final gold, despite having 5 (!!!!!) quads in her free skate in the 2022 olympics.

On the side of the relationship between Hikaru and Inori. Yeah, despite being a huge yuri fan, they're of course still kids. But leaving aside romance, I do like that the intensity of their feelings, and the importance of their (non-romantic) relationship seems to be deepening. I hope Inori can appreciate how Hikaru feels eventually.

Haven't watched it, but didn't Trusova have some falls or misses in her routine? Not to mention being much more toned and fit?

The thing that bothers me about some of the shipping amd relationship stuff with Hikaru is that it's pretty much treating it as Inori's most major and important relationship. Not the one with her parents especially her mom, her sister, and her coaches especially Tsukasa. Like the whole idea that Hikaru's skate will fix her motivation issues and her mental state and not seeking actual outside counseling and therapy to learn not to keep things bottled up and that it's okay to open to her family and coaches who love her and want to help her.

 

[doomrider7]

Shipping does not necessarily imply an attempt to impose a ship on others as something objective or plausible, calling every time the characters form any bonds with each other as yuri bait/yuri subtext. Even fujoshi have already stopped behaving like this in the battle shonen discussion, but for some reason when yuri fans do so, it is still considered normal.

There's definitely some subtext, but I get what you mean.

 

[mina_kjj]

THIS IS MY YURI ON ICE

 

[mina_kjj]

Not all meaningful and strong bonds between people can be or must be romantic. Especially when they have a certain context.

nobody is saying it needs to be romantic, but fandom works this way. people like shipping things, especially if there is a good trope like rivalry and a good relationship development (which hikaino had), aparently the author likes queer relationships so I wouldn't be surprised if this ship becomes canon in the future

 

[mina_kjj]

Shipping does not necessarily imply an attempt to impose a ship on others as something objective or plausible, calling every time the characters form any bonds with each other as yuri bait/yuri subtext. Even fujoshi have already stopped behaving like this in the battle shonen discussion, but for some reason when yuri fans do so, it is still considered normal.

And even If people call It Yuri subtext (which hikaino is btw) what is so annoying about that? As long as they aren't hurting anyone or forcing others to ship It, then just ignore It. Tho I bet If hikaino was a straight ship, you wouldn't care about people shipping It

 

[SuperOniichan]

nobody is saying it needs to be romantic, but fandom works this way. people like shipping things, especially if there is a good trope like rivalry and a good relationship development (which hikaino had), aparently the author likes queer relationships so I wouldn't be surprised if this ship becomes canon in the future

You contradict yourself by first saying that things don't have to be romantic, but then trying to convince me that this ship has a chance and implying that the rivalry between two 13 year old girls athletes must necessarily turn romantic. Dude, what queer relationship? What's the subtext? Hikaru already has a male love interest, Inori is implied to have one too, this is a sports manga, not your another yuri bait all-female title. It's as if any dynamic and well-developed relationship must necessarily become a romance, otherwise it won't be as important, interesting and valuable.

And even If people call It Yuri subtext (which hikaino is btw) what is so annoying about that? As long as they aren't hurting anyone or forcing others to ship It, then just ignore It. Tho I bet If hikaino was a straight ship, you wouldn't care about people shipping It

It's hard to ignore something when people are constantly trying to get your attention by regularly calling yuri bait wholesome rivalry in sports manga and constantly sexualizing it. You're just devaluing the entire gamma of characters' feelings and the essence of their friendly rivalry by regularly trying to simplify it into a simple "she just wants to fuck her hehe." And it's really annoying. And if it was straight ship, then dudes like you would be the loudest in saying that it's fanon and there's nothing in between, lmao. You think I've never seen yuri shippers act like that when discussing titles like MHA or JJK? Not to mention that a boy and a girl have a much better chance of falling in love than two girls or two boys, but I already know that you will immediately start lecturing me about heteronormativity.

 

[mina_kjj]

You contradict yourself by first saying that things don't have to be romantic, but then trying to convince me that this ship has a chance and implying that the rivalry between two 13 year old girls athletes must necessarily turn romantic. Dude, what queer relationship? What's the subtext? Hikaru already has a male love interest, Inori is implied to have one too, this is a sports manga, not your another yuri bait all-female title. It's as if any dynamic and well-developed relationship must necessarily become a romance, otherwise it won't be as important, interesting and valuable.


It's hard to ignore something when people are constantly trying to get your attention by regularly calling yuri bait wholesome rivalry in sports manga and constantly sexualizing it. You're just devaluing the entire gamma of characters' feelings and the essence of their friendly rivalry by regularly trying to simplify it into a simple "she just wants to fuck her hehe." And it's really annoying. And if it was straight ship, then dudes like you would be the loudest in saying that it's fanon and there's nothing in between, lmao. You think I've never seen yuri shippers act like that when discussing titles like MHA or JJK? Not to mention that a boy and a girl have a much better chance of falling in love than two girls or two boys, but I already know that you will immediately start lecturing me about heteronormativity.

Your dumbass thinks hikaru's foster sibling is her love interest?? No one ships this shit because there's nothing romantic in their relationship lol, the face hikaru made when he asked her to marry him was hilarious. And you really need a lecture on heteronormativity If you ship this over hikaino which has much more development. Their relationship is not just friendly rivalry, as hikaru literally admited she loves inori and was obsessed with her. And now she is dedicating her performance to inori. I know your dumbass would ship hikaino If inori was a man, because straight guys like you love seeing female characters dedicating themselves to males, but you deny It cause they are both girls (btw, the author is a fujoshi, she knows exacly what she is doing here, even the japanese fandom loves hikaino). I hope It becomes canon just to piss you off

 

[SuperOniichan]

Your dumbass thinks hikaru's foster sibling is her love interest?? No one ships this shit because there's nothing romantic in their relationship lol, the face hikaru made when he asked her to marry him was hilarious. And you really need a lecture on heteronormativity If you ship this over hikaino which has much more development. Their relationship is not just friendly rivalry, as hikaru literally admited she loves inori and was obsessed with her. And now she is dedicating her performance to inori. I know your dumbass would ship hikaino If inori was a man, because straight guys like you love seeing female characters dedicating themselves to males, but you deny It cause they are both girls (btw, the author is a fujoshi, she knows exacly what she is doing here, even the japanese fandom loves hikaino). I hope It becomes canon just to piss you off

Oh, come on, insults and passing off your own headcanon speculations and biased interpretations as actual story content. And you literally used the biased rejection of the straight ship literally in the same post where you tried to prove that people ship straight ship just because it is straight? I just love it when people stupidly refute their own arguments instead of me. And you yourself tried to pass this off as the reaction of the majority, lmao. Goodbye, I don't have time for another aggressive toxic shipper who just can't accept that someone is questioning his ships. And potentially creating a fake account because he doesn't have enough balls to write directly.

P.S. Do you want this to become canon just to piss off those who disagree with your fan theories? Oh, how trite. This is probably already a classic for weirdos like you.

 

[mina_kjj]

Oh, come on, insults and passing off your own headcanon speculations and biased interpretations as actual story content. And you literally used the biased rejection of the straight ship literally in the same post where you tried to prove that people ship straight ship just because it is straight? I just love it when people stupidly refute their own arguments instead of me. And you yourself tried to pass this off as the reaction of the majority, lmao. Goodbye, I don't have time for another aggressive toxic shipper who just can't accept that someone is questioning his ships. And potentially creating a fake account because he doesn't have enough balls to write directly.

P.S. Do you want this to become canon just to piss off those who disagree with your fan theories? Oh, how trite. This is probably already a classic for weirdos like you.

You were the one who said Hikaru has a male love interest (she does not) and yet you act like I'm forcing a ship? Blud just say you dont like yuri and go. Btw the straight ship is rejected because is pseudo incest and hikaino has much more development, its not just because its straight 💀

 

[Ldark]

Well we still need to see how this finish, but Hikaru it showing Inori even is she did not mean it their gap is too big, even the other are seeing it now, how they can reach her? I know Inori has the heart to do it, but what is the plan now, bigger coaching, leaving her family behind just like Hikaru told coach Tsukasa that is what is holding Inori back? Guess right now it will depend on Tsukasa to guide Inori, can they make it or they need a drastict chance of plans

 

[amc9988]

i have the feeling the manga will end with Inori never beating Hikaru and it be one of those "and she continue to fight" kind of ending with positive outlook and stuff...

 

[Zenoslash]

Your dumbass thinks hikaru's foster sibling is her love interest?? No one ships this shit because there's nothing romantic in their relationship lol, the face hikaru made when he asked her to marry him was hilarious. And you really need a lecture on heteronormativity If you ship this over hikaino which has much more development. Their relationship is not just friendly rivalry, as hikaru literally admited she loves inori and was obsessed with her. And now she is dedicating her performance to inori. I know your dumbass would ship hikaino If inori was a man, because straight guys like you love seeing female characters dedicating themselves to males, but you deny It cause they are both girls (btw, the author is a fujoshi, she knows exacly what she is doing here, even the japanese fandom loves hikaino). I hope It becomes canon just to piss you off

She literally knows nothing about Inori outside of skating. Her entire reason for liking Inori is her skating potential. There's not a single chapter where she hangs out with Inori casually or talks about other stuff with her.

There's a lot more groundwork made for Rioh and Hikaru than Inori and Hikaru being a thing. Not that there's much in the first place, but at least the reasons why Rioh likes Hikaru aren't soley due to ice skating.

 

[mina_kjj]

She literally knows nothing about Inori outside of skating. Her entire reason for liking Inori is her skating potential. There's not a single chapter where she hangs out with Inori casually or talks about other stuff with her.

There's a lot more groundwork made for Rioh and Hikaru than Inori and Hikaru being a thing. Not that there's much in the first place, but at least the reasons why Rioh likes Hikaru aren't soley due to ice skatiu like pseudo-incest. Hikaru might not know a lot about inori right now, but It seems like they're gonna get closer as the story progresses. And you should not

She literally knows nothing about Inori outside of skating. Her entire reason for liking Inori is her skating potential. There's not a single chapter where she hangs out with Inori casually or talks about other stuff with her.

There's a lot more groundwork made for Rioh and Hikaru than Inori and Hikaru being a thing. Not that there's much in the first place, but at least the reasons why Rioh likes Hikaru aren't soley due to ice skating.

It doesn't matter If Rioh likes hikaru (I doubt he likes her romantically, I think he was just trying to stop her), unless you like pseudo-incest, but i don't think the author is going to that route, since she made it very clear that hikaru does not want any romance with rioh. Hikaru might not know a lot about inori right now, but It seems like they're gonna get closer as the story progresses. And you should not underestimate their relationship just because it's centered around skating. they are literally each other's motivation to skate, and inori made her realize that she does not need to live in Jun's shadow, something that Rioh was never capable to do, no matter how much he tried. Don't forget that skating is everything to both inori and hikaru, so ofc their relationship will be centered on skating (for now at least). but to say that hikaino doesn't have potential is joke, the author knows what she is doing and she definitly knows about yuri subtext, since one of her mangas it's a yuri lol

 

[irondark30]

Guys…. I’m too sad right now 😭😭 will Inori and Tsukasa even be able to keep their promise?? Is he even good enough to still guide her?? This just seems like the biggest wall ever made, and don’t forget about all the staff and facilities that help Hikaru. I just want my girl Inori to have her dream come true 😭