Written and illustrated by Tsurumaikada, Medalist began its serialization in Kodansha’s seinen magazine Monthly Afternoon in May 2020. The sports drama follows , an 11-year-old girl written off by society as "too old" to start figure skating, and her coach Tsukasa Akeuraji , a former ice dancer who missed his own shot at glory. Together, they navigate the grueling, highly technical, and emotionally taxing world of competitive figure skating, aiming for the world stage.
Before jumping into the original Japanese text, it helps to know the core terms TSURUMAIKADA frequently uses. Figure skating terms are often written in (phonetic script used for foreign words), making them relatively easy for English speakers to decipher.
) can sometimes lag behind, reading the Japanese raws is the only way to stay completely up-to-date with Inori and Tsukasa’s journey. latest volume cover medalist raw manga
What makes Medalist unique is its gritty realism. Unlike hyper-kinetic sports manga that rely on superhuman abilities, Medalist focuses on technical precision, the agony of jumps like the Axel or Lutz, and the financial ruin that competitive skating often brings. Readers desperate for the next chapter often turn to searches because the official English translations, while excellent, often lag behind the Japanese serialization by several months.
This is one of the most popular platforms for accessing Japanese raw manga directly from Monthly Afternoon magazine. Written and illustrated by Tsurumaikada, Medalist began its
However, the modern manga landscape offers a solution. You can have your cake and eat it too. Purchase the digital Japanese Monthly Afternoon for the raw experience, then buy the English volume for the deep translation when it drops. By doing so, you graduate from a thief of time to a true fan—one who helps keep the spotlight shining on one of the greatest sports manga of the decade.
"Raw" refers to the original Japanese digital scans or official e-book releases before they are translated into English or other languages. Reading the raw version allows you to see the artist’s raw pen strokes, screentones, and sound effects (SFX) exactly as intended, without text boxes covering the art. Before jumping into the original Japanese text, it
(メダリスト) manga, written and illustrated by Tsurumaikada, is a highly acclaimed sports series. Since its debut in Monthly Afternoon
While the official translation by Kodansha USA is highly regarded, several unique factors drive the global fanbase to seek out the Japanese raws: Go to product viewer dialog for this item. Medalist 1
: Seinen (targeted at adult men, but widely popular across all demographics). Core Narrative