Medalist - Ch. 46 - Light and Shadow

[MangaDex]

 

[lovemonger]

hi medalheads

not a lot to say apart from the fact that you should consider buying this manga! whether digitally or in print (either works, really...).

from eveningcalm and i, enjoy the chapter, and happy skating!

 

[hongaandylee]

"Just marry me"
Hot damn Rioh has more balls than all the Shonen rom-com protag combined. And my man still standing strong after Hikaru tried to cut him down? Kid got balls, I tell you.

 

[Braverave]

A reminder this is a 10-11yr old talking like this

 

[Aikotoba]

This chapter is a roller-coaster of feelings

 

[Ldark]

this was such a good chapter!! good thing we could see Hikaru's side on her feeling and that Rioh cut her bs too and just gave him a word of his mind on what she think of her facade.

 

[Yumiiiiii]

beautiful chapter!! hikaru is soooo dramatic like yeah spending time jun yodaka would turn you into a emo. but i'm glad to understand her better now, she's a really good kid. dying to know more about her background, her biological family seemed terrible. i wonder if jun yodaka grew up just like hikaru except he never found people who loves him unconditionally like the sonidoris love her

thank you so much for the translation!

 

[susu19]

RIOH YOU'RE SO COOL.

Hikaru is so strong but so fragile too, I hope we get to see more of her background.

 

[Renu]

"the worst she can say is no"

 

[Scruffy]

A reminder this is a 10-11yr old talking like this

I think theyre older than that. They are both the same age and early teens

 

[Xamdiz]

I really love this chapter, there's a lot of self-reflection that is presented in such a different way than Inori's POV. Hikaru is often looking inwards towards herself while Inori have spent her whole life looking and envious of other people around her.

 

[Confucious]

https://mangadex.org/chapter/9d405f16-962b-4fd7-bf4f-816fbd8ee531/28

Not sure what to make of the panel with the “chassé”. That’s clearly showing a swing roll. Though chassé is definitely a funner word to say.

 

[fieldbythesea]

(coach tsukasa jetspray tears) AHAHAA. HIKARU 💧💧💧 this was such an interesting chapter!! it's really great to get to see more of hikaru's own perspective, especially after that mention of the hikaru — tsukasa and inori — yodaka jun parallels... i'm glad she was able to process her years in nagoya as love and strength.

the moment with yuna was also just the best. i wonder if coach sonidori had something similar to yodaka in their rival days.

thank you as always for the scans!!

 

[skylithos]

A reminder this is a 10-11yr old talking like this

Well they are all teenagers that is already compete at the level of world stage. Have you seen 12 years old chess grandmaster, as a chess fan I can attest those kids are far more mature beyond their age. Probably because of how much they need to communicate with 35 years old they just trashed.

 

[thirty7timeslucky]

YES SO MUCH DEVELOPMENT WAHHHAHHAH

rioh x hikaru ong like they're married already come on this series NEEDS a romantic subplot somewhere

also damn the emotion in this art is crisp

 

[twilightspirits]

IM SORI RIOH I CACKLED
but i admire the kid goddamn his maturity to not bottle shit up-- lotsa romance protags could learn quite a bit from him

 

[lasercats]

This chapter alone made their rivalry that much more interesting. Graduating hikaru from the genius unable to emphatize is a great decision. It's gonna make everything she says afterwards way more meaningful.

 

[lucifer83]

That was a huge development 😭
This manga just keeps getting better.

I guess I missed the part where Hikaru could get recommended to participate in the Junior All-Japans from Novice. Did she just not do it the previous year? That's a really hype finale!

Also is Inori going to compete against Iruka again for her next international? I'd imagine that their schedule won't necessarily line up again just because they went to the first one together. Wonder how it will go in the plot tho.

 

[gamria]

For the uninitiated, the 光/hikaru in Hikaru's name (狼嵜 光) means "light", which is especially highlighted in this chapter's theme of "Light and Shadow"

Man this is heartbreaking, the main reason Hikaru wanted to transfer out is for Coach Sonidori's sake. At the same time, I'm relieved it wasn't because she didn't care about the people around her.

Wow, Rioh confessed, if accidentally.

beautiful chapter!! hikaru is soooo dramatic like yeah spending time jun yodaka would turn you into a emo. but i'm glad to understand her better now, she's a really good kid. dying to know more about her background, her biological family seemed terrible. i wonder if jun yodaka grew up just like hikaru except he never found people who loves him unconditionally like the sonidoris love her

Hikaru's family is definitely not terrible, especially not after they hired a reclusive retired prodigy Gold Olympian to be her coach so as to put her on a path to the Olympics, and finance it all too. "Lack of warmth" perhaps, but her background is currently one big puzzle and nothing conclusive can be said.

1. This chapter Hikaru claims it was her biological parents who gave her her name
2. And yet back in Chapter 7.5/Short Program 4, the Kamisaki family described her as an orphan before becoming their adopted child.
3. Indeed during her debut in Ch 2, Hikaru says she doesn't have a mom

Also worth noting is that from time to time Hikaru is compared to a beast, in spirit to her animal motif (the 狼/kami in her name means "wolf"). And in this chapter, if her claim about imitating Mrs Sonidori has truth in it, it gives me the impression that Hikaru is constantly "adapting" to her environment.

I have my own crack theory: when Hikaru was an infant, her biological family took a trip to a snowy area but disaster befell them. Her parents passed away and Hikaru had to survive on her own in the wild. Eventually their family friends the Kamisaki found them, but the girl had lived in the wild for so long she's kind of feral and struggles to reintegrate into human society. Some time later after she's more settled, that's when she encountered Jun Yodaka.

Such a "vagrant" life would explain her animal-like tendencies (such as panning to her fangs), her different persona when facing adults, and why she didn't understand the weight of sacrifices (until now, when she finally parted ways with something dear).

We're bound to find out the truth eventually, but this chapter's shot of young Hikaru sitting on the Kamisaki Mansion's rooftop reminds me of young Inori by herself in the park, before she met Tsukasa. Both girls with an affinity for ice, but Inori always had her family with her (discounting her mother's disapproval for her getting into figure skating after her sister's accident)

 

[fernaldi01]

Seeing teenagers growing out of their emo phase never fails to impress me.
How precious.