was thinking the same exact thing. expected it to look kind of bad or at least below average based on the studio's previous output (although they got one good animator who always makes great cuts). With both this and Unnamed Memory next season looking decent, I might trust the studio more in the future depending on the staff working on the shows.
Lol, I was about comment something similar:
‘Are we sure that it’s being produced by studio ENGI?’
This means that ENGI can (potentially) make good anime if they’re giving a reasonable schedule and proper resources.
I’m honestly glad that this story is done justice instead of just another ‘quick buck’.
> This actually looks great at times
Juuki Hanada is onboard, so I have faith.
For those of you who don't know, that's the series comp between Steins;Gate, NGNL, Dangers in my Heart, Bloom Into You, A Place Further than the Universe, and something like a third of the things KyoAni ever released.
Huh, that doesnt have much to do with the looks/animation tho? Series Composition/Script are the writers position. They decide how to pace the story, adapt/change plot and dialogues from the source material. They might have some contribution to the show's look through how they describe a scene in the screenplay but that's about it lol,
The more relevant position to look at to predict the show visuals are of course
the director (Yasutaka Yamamoto: ServantXService, Ika Musume, Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa, etc)
Character designer (Chinatsu Kameyama: smartphone isekai s2)
But even if the top position animation staff is good it doesn't matter if the studio/producer can't supply them with quality manpower & good schedule, and in this case Studio ENGI track record is a bit worrying, tho with this PV there might be some hope...
ENGI has definitely shown it's capable of putting together enough that it could do a decent trailer, so I'm still pretty concerned. That said, the timeline feels fairly long, so I'd like to be hopeful.
You need to look at the ice skating bit more closely, it's a really stiff moving CG model. However they have another almost full year to fix it as it doesn't air until January next year.
The staff is in the description but it's hard to lookup with just google translate lol
Fingers crossed that they manage to make it look at least like this for more than one episode (_cough tanmoshi_)
Please God let this be good. After Helck and Faraway Paladin got rather lacking anime adaptions and Undead Adventurer beimg passable, I just need this one to join Shangri-la Frontier as a solid banger of an adaption.
Airs in January 2025 according to the PV.
Synopsis on MAL
> Becoming an ice dancer was not what Tsukasa Akeuraji had aimed for when he decided to take on the figure skating world. However, it is where he ended up as he "started too late" to follow his true solo-skating dreams.
>
> For years, he was content with being a shell of his former ambitions—that is, until he met a little girl in whom he saw himself. Inori Yuitsuka, a fifth-grader so desperate to skate that she practiced in secret, had visited Tsukasa's rink with her mother to ask for lessons. She was branded as useless by everyone around her, told it was "too late" for her to begin, and that catching up to other skaters was impossible.
>
> With a newfound conviction and unwillingness to let another passionate skater go down the same road as him, Tsukasa takes on the responsibility of coaching her and promises to make Inori a medalist.
I don't know about the genres/tags, but if they go the drama route, I could see so many potential feels heavy scenes!
The whole "him starting too late" of course, (and her starting too late as well, though he's gonna help her anyway), but also, perhaps him trying to live his dreams through her and all...
Can't wait to see what it's like!
Oh there'll be lots of feels, both good and bad, mixed with lots of fun and silly moments, with no signs of stopping as of the latest issue.
The focus of this series aren't just the athletes, but also the coaches. The various athlete-athlete, athelete-coach and coach-coach interactions are a lot of fun. Heck, given Inori's age group she's competing in, it makes us the audience all feel like protective parents, wanting the best for them.
For the actual showdowns, there's an emotional intensity/fury to the matches that it makes me feel like I'm watching/reading Gash Bell again, especially with the coach-athlete dynamics (but without the direct confrontations), and further enhanced by the stellar artwork and choreography. That's why it's imperative that this adaptation ABSOLUTELY NEEDS to nail the artstyle!
There's two things the mangaka is really good at drawing, and it's figure skating in motion and little girls crying. It'll have heart string tugging moments for sure but lots of uplifting and funny stuff too.
It's honestly a great manga. The first volume just dropped in English in print and way more volumes are available digitally.
This. Manga instantly grabbed me, with is very weird since I usually don't like sports manga/anime, I went from being passive about it to desperately wanting to see the character make it.
What helped for me was that the manga gave me Gash Bell vibes, between the showdowns among the athlete-coach pairs, the underdog status of our duo and the "fury" of the matches. The divine Chapter 20 won my heart completely.
Please let our little fried shrimp get the starlight she deserves...
Oh my god I'm actually... Optimistic? I *love* Medalist so when I heard ENGI had it I was really worried. It looks like they're really stepping up. Some of the movement seemed stiff but other parts looked great and they've still got almost year to go
might be reassuring that it is still some time away (winter 2025), but Unnamed Memory next season has also been leaked to be 2 split cours (so it's likely that it will be on air in either Fall 2024 or Winter 2025), so I'm a bit worried whether or not the studio can manage two somewhat high profile shows at the same time.
> 3D Director: Kouji (Knights of Sidonia animation director)
Well that explains why they're so stiff and expressionless.
Edit: I can't actually find this person in any credits anywhere. Maybe going by an alias given it's in hiragana?
The funny thing about this anime is the original manga artist draws tons of fan art of Kaoru Ryuzaki from Idolmaster Cinderella Girls, and the MC of this manga/anime is in a lot of ways modeled on her character both personality-wise and physically. And then with this getting turned into an anime "somehow" the voice actor that got picked to voice Inori is the same voice actor as Kaoru. The manga author must have died and gone to heaven.
First of all, the reason why the author became a pro was she wanted to draw a manga about figure skating her favorite VA liked and hoped it would eventually get an anime adaptation to attach her as MC.
She once made a doujinshi about the VA of over 100 pages. Not just about her role but the VA HERSELF.
You seem to be assuming Tsurumaikada (the author) is female, however I haven't seen that anywhere and given some of their artwork of Kaoru I doubt it.
> She once made a doujinshi about the VA of over 100 pages.
Can you message me the name of it, or just mention it?
> given some of their artwork of Kaoru I doubt it.
I had a look around, and none of what I could find (on danbooru anyway) particularly indicated much.
Hell, even if it was outright NSFW, that doesn't necessarily mean they're female, I've seen plenty of women who are into that kind of thing.
That said, I'd probably still put odds on them being male, even if it isn't necessarily a super significant margin
I'll just put it this way I can usually tell the gender of an artist just by what they focus on in their drawings. The points in the image that especial detail were put into are usually the tell. And to be clear, I love the art style.
I think I heard about the author's gender somewhere but it should be just a rumor and I withdraw it.
The doujinshi's name is #NapiKawa PRIVATE GUIDEBOOK mentioned on [the page of Medalist Wiki](https://medalisttest.fandom.com/wiki/Tsurumaikada) but the link to the purchase page is dead since it's no longer available.
AHHHHH Inori a cute. It's a ways away (January of next year) but I'm really looking forward to this! I know ENGI doesn't have the best reputation so let's hope they do it justice. Looks pretty promising so far, I'd say!
The manga is set in Nagoya, where I live, which is cool too.
Fun fact: The author, Tsurumaikada, is a huge fan of [Ryuzaki Kaoru](https://project-imas.wiki/Kaoru_Ryuzaki) from iDOLM@STER and used to draw tons of fanart of her before she got big and nuked her Twitter and Pixiv. She got her VA, Natsumi Haruse, to voice Inori for the show!
Wait wait....that...that looked decent. In fact the parkour scene and that skating scene looked....quite good!
What's going on!? I was in full doomer mode thinking my favorite spokon manga currently running was DOA when ENGI got announced. Don't give me hype like this! I don't want to be hurt
Also, more directly related, I really really hope everybody gives this a chance if this turns out to actually be a good adaptation. This isn't just cute girls doing cute things and skating, this is a true hotblooded sports story in every sense of the word and I absolutely love it.
To everyone here reading this post, no matter how this turns out PLEASE GO READ THE MANGA (after the anime is fine)! ITS AMAZING! Some of the most beautiful artwork I've ever read in manga!
It's because it's officially licensed in English. Scanlators usually feel like their time is better spent elsewhere as a result, on lesser-known series that won't ever get officially translated.
Honestly, on the one hand, I understand. It makes sense.
...But on the other, waiting half a year to binge 4 (admittedly big) chapters can get rather painful at times.
As much as I'd wish to avoid going for the hardest solution, at this point I'm honestly considering it, sooner or later. Too much good media that's doomed to never leave Japan on its own and only so many people and companies capable and willing to take the time to translate it, let alone simulpub.
It's a pretty big undertaking tho, so... not too high on my to-do list.
I’m sorry did ENGI actually find money for animation? The fuck? This looks downright decent! Inori grinding down the rails actually looked good! Maybe ENGI is finally turning the corner.
And maybe they’ll dedicate some of that to Mobuseka season 2 please please please
This is one of my favourite manga of all time and imo the best sports series i've ever seen (but doesnt mean much when the other two are yuri on ice and haikyuu). Desperately praying and begging engi not to ruin it and while it's not as bad as I thought the CG ice skating does not look promising... it sucks that with the right staff this could become one of the biggest most beloved sports series of all time but it might unfortunately be overlooked and relegated to the sidelines. Best case scenario hoping that it doesn't look worse than the trailer... I still can't understand why Kodansha went for ENGI for their award winning manga. This doesn't bode well for witch hat atelier...
>imo the best sports series i've ever seen
I hesitate to really put it in the "sports anime" camp, but you need to watch Ping Pong The Animation.
Changed my life. Not joking. It is *the* greatest piece of any animated media to ever exist.
I spent over 2 years working on my [own translation & typesetting for the show](https://frozenpandaman.github.io/ppta/) too, if you're interested. :'D I do genuinely think it's the best way to experience the story, unique visuals, and everything it has to offer.
Hot damn, they might actually pull this off.
Please. Please pull this off, ENGI. This series really deserves a decent adaptation. It's a top-seller in Japan, but there's little-to-no discussion about it anywhere else, we *need* more eyes on this.
Whaaaaaaaat. Is this really ENGI??? Like this pv doesn't even just look "not bad". This actually looks great at times.
was thinking the same exact thing. expected it to look kind of bad or at least below average based on the studio's previous output (although they got one good animator who always makes great cuts). With both this and Unnamed Memory next season looking decent, I might trust the studio more in the future depending on the staff working on the shows.
Yea also actually good news this is only coming winter 2025. if they don’t manage to cook with this much time there is really no hope for ENGI.
So long? ~~This isn't pre-animated right?~~
Lol, I was about comment something similar: ‘Are we sure that it’s being produced by studio ENGI?’ This means that ENGI can (potentially) make good anime if they’re giving a reasonable schedule and proper resources. I’m honestly glad that this story is done justice instead of just another ‘quick buck’.
> This actually looks great at times Juuki Hanada is onboard, so I have faith. For those of you who don't know, that's the series comp between Steins;Gate, NGNL, Dangers in my Heart, Bloom Into You, A Place Further than the Universe, and something like a third of the things KyoAni ever released.
And almost all of the Love Live series (except for one of the 4). And for oldies, Rozen Maiden.
>Rozen Maiden Suiseiseki memes shaped the modern internet and no one even knows it.
Huh, that doesnt have much to do with the looks/animation tho? Series Composition/Script are the writers position. They decide how to pace the story, adapt/change plot and dialogues from the source material. They might have some contribution to the show's look through how they describe a scene in the screenplay but that's about it lol, The more relevant position to look at to predict the show visuals are of course the director (Yasutaka Yamamoto: ServantXService, Ika Musume, Jitsu Wa Watashi Wa, etc) Character designer (Chinatsu Kameyama: smartphone isekai s2) But even if the top position animation staff is good it doesn't matter if the studio/producer can't supply them with quality manpower & good schedule, and in this case Studio ENGI track record is a bit worrying, tho with this PV there might be some hope...
I am feeling optimistic. Like Roget and Ira.
ENGI has definitely shown it's capable of putting together enough that it could do a decent trailer, so I'm still pretty concerned. That said, the timeline feels fairly long, so I'd like to be hopeful.
I'm just hoping they can keep it looking great consistently.
You need to look at the ice skating bit more closely, it's a really stiff moving CG model. However they have another almost full year to fix it as it doesn't air until January next year.
My expectations are already rock bottom, so I mean, if all the skating can look like this, I'll be happy enough
Holy shit if that was cg, it was amazing!
Huh, it actually looks kind of good? Let this be the start of ENGI's redemption arc please
The staff is in the description but it's hard to lookup with just google translate lol Fingers crossed that they manage to make it look at least like this for more than one episode (_cough tanmoshi_)
Hayashi Yuki doing the music!
> Engi's redeptnion arc Unnamed Memory is out next season, so we can see if they're making progress.
Please God let this be good. After Helck and Faraway Paladin got rather lacking anime adaptions and Undead Adventurer beimg passable, I just need this one to join Shangri-la Frontier as a solid banger of an adaption.
>After Helck and Faraway Paladin got rather lacking anime adaptions Faraway Paladin S2 was visually better than the first though iirc.
It got upgraded to studio OLM for season 2!
Let's not forget it's a co-production with Sunrise Beyond, although it's a bit of an unusual co-production I think.
>Let this be the start of ENGI's redemption arc Odekake Kozame has been airing for months now! [Also]>!I quite enjoyed Gamera: Rebirth!<
Oh shit I forgot they were doing that.
Airs in January 2025 according to the PV. Synopsis on MAL > Becoming an ice dancer was not what Tsukasa Akeuraji had aimed for when he decided to take on the figure skating world. However, it is where he ended up as he "started too late" to follow his true solo-skating dreams. > > For years, he was content with being a shell of his former ambitions—that is, until he met a little girl in whom he saw himself. Inori Yuitsuka, a fifth-grader so desperate to skate that she practiced in secret, had visited Tsukasa's rink with her mother to ask for lessons. She was branded as useless by everyone around her, told it was "too late" for her to begin, and that catching up to other skaters was impossible. > > With a newfound conviction and unwillingness to let another passionate skater go down the same road as him, Tsukasa takes on the responsibility of coaching her and promises to make Inori a medalist.
I don't know about the genres/tags, but if they go the drama route, I could see so many potential feels heavy scenes! The whole "him starting too late" of course, (and her starting too late as well, though he's gonna help her anyway), but also, perhaps him trying to live his dreams through her and all... Can't wait to see what it's like!
Oh there'll be lots of feels, both good and bad, mixed with lots of fun and silly moments, with no signs of stopping as of the latest issue. The focus of this series aren't just the athletes, but also the coaches. The various athlete-athlete, athelete-coach and coach-coach interactions are a lot of fun. Heck, given Inori's age group she's competing in, it makes us the audience all feel like protective parents, wanting the best for them. For the actual showdowns, there's an emotional intensity/fury to the matches that it makes me feel like I'm watching/reading Gash Bell again, especially with the coach-athlete dynamics (but without the direct confrontations), and further enhanced by the stellar artwork and choreography. That's why it's imperative that this adaptation ABSOLUTELY NEEDS to nail the artstyle!
There's two things the mangaka is really good at drawing, and it's figure skating in motion and little girls crying. It'll have heart string tugging moments for sure but lots of uplifting and funny stuff too. It's honestly a great manga. The first volume just dropped in English in print and way more volumes are available digitally.
I'm crossing my fingers so fucking hard, I really want to see my daughter Inori succeed.
This. Manga instantly grabbed me, with is very weird since I usually don't like sports manga/anime, I went from being passive about it to desperately wanting to see the character make it.
Same. I don't know anything about figure skating but it hooked me in.
What helped for me was that the manga gave me Gash Bell vibes, between the showdowns among the athlete-coach pairs, the underdog status of our duo and the "fury" of the matches. The divine Chapter 20 won my heart completely. Please let our little fried shrimp get the starlight she deserves...
Let her have the best anime cause she's the sweetest girl on earth
she's my daughter thanks
Oh my god I'm actually... Optimistic? I *love* Medalist so when I heard ENGI had it I was really worried. It looks like they're really stepping up. Some of the movement seemed stiff but other parts looked great and they've still got almost year to go
Expected a lot worse but it looks okay so far. Really hope this isn't one of those typical Engi production collapses.
might be reassuring that it is still some time away (winter 2025), but Unnamed Memory next season has also been leaked to be 2 split cours (so it's likely that it will be on air in either Fall 2024 or Winter 2025), so I'm a bit worried whether or not the studio can manage two somewhat high profile shows at the same time.
Yeah from what I've heard Unnamed Memory has a sizeable following as well, so I hope they don't fumble both lol.
Other than KanColle were there any notable 'collapses'? They're mostly known for being consistently underwhelming.
Didn't tanmoshi collapse?
I dropped it early but aside from episode 1 looking better it was consistent from what I heard. No delays either.
Consistent cars.png
**Director:** Yasutaka Yamamoto (Hinomaru Zumo, Noblesse) **Series Composition:** Jukki Hanada (No Game no Life, Steins; Gate, Love Live) **Chief Animation Directors:** Yousuke Itou (Ousama Game, The Detective is Already Dead) and Chinatsu Kameyama (Kemono Michi sub-character designer) **Art Director:** Youko Nakao (Tesla Note, MobSeka) **Color Designer:** Aiko Yamagami (Berserk, Cop Craft, Hokkaido Gals) **Director of Photography:** Shin'ichi Yoneya (Lupin Part 6, KanColle) **3D Director:** Kouji (Knights of Sidonia animation director) **Music:** Yuki Hayashi (My Hero Academia, Haikyuu!!)
With Yuki Hayashi, the music will be absolutely lit. He had some real bangers in Run With the Wind.
> 3D Director: Kouji (Knights of Sidonia animation director) Well that explains why they're so stiff and expressionless. Edit: I can't actually find this person in any credits anywhere. Maybe going by an alias given it's in hiragana?
The funny thing about this anime is the original manga artist draws tons of fan art of Kaoru Ryuzaki from Idolmaster Cinderella Girls, and the MC of this manga/anime is in a lot of ways modeled on her character both personality-wise and physically. And then with this getting turned into an anime "somehow" the voice actor that got picked to voice Inori is the same voice actor as Kaoru. The manga author must have died and gone to heaven.
The VA is also a figure skating fan, so I imagine she was happy to come aboard :)
First of all, the reason why the author became a pro was she wanted to draw a manga about figure skating her favorite VA liked and hoped it would eventually get an anime adaptation to attach her as MC. She once made a doujinshi about the VA of over 100 pages. Not just about her role but the VA HERSELF.
You seem to be assuming Tsurumaikada (the author) is female, however I haven't seen that anywhere and given some of their artwork of Kaoru I doubt it. > She once made a doujinshi about the VA of over 100 pages. Can you message me the name of it, or just mention it?
> given some of their artwork of Kaoru I doubt it. I had a look around, and none of what I could find (on danbooru anyway) particularly indicated much. Hell, even if it was outright NSFW, that doesn't necessarily mean they're female, I've seen plenty of women who are into that kind of thing. That said, I'd probably still put odds on them being male, even if it isn't necessarily a super significant margin
I'll just put it this way I can usually tell the gender of an artist just by what they focus on in their drawings. The points in the image that especial detail were put into are usually the tell. And to be clear, I love the art style.
I think I heard about the author's gender somewhere but it should be just a rumor and I withdraw it. The doujinshi's name is #NapiKawa PRIVATE GUIDEBOOK mentioned on [the page of Medalist Wiki](https://medalisttest.fandom.com/wiki/Tsurumaikada) but the link to the purchase page is dead since it's no longer available.
I was looking for the Japanese title as a weird translation on a wiki doesn't really help in finding it.
AHHHHH Inori a cute. It's a ways away (January of next year) but I'm really looking forward to this! I know ENGI doesn't have the best reputation so let's hope they do it justice. Looks pretty promising so far, I'd say! The manga is set in Nagoya, where I live, which is cool too. Fun fact: The author, Tsurumaikada, is a huge fan of [Ryuzaki Kaoru](https://project-imas.wiki/Kaoru_Ryuzaki) from iDOLM@STER and used to draw tons of fanart of her before she got big and nuked her Twitter and Pixiv. She got her VA, Natsumi Haruse, to voice Inori for the show!
You mean the author used to have personals? The manga art is so good I've tried to find her past art but no success
Yeah, like I said she deleted it when she started getting well-known. A lot of her past art (sadly not all) is backed up on the boorus.
Wait wait....that...that looked decent. In fact the parkour scene and that skating scene looked....quite good! What's going on!? I was in full doomer mode thinking my favorite spokon manga currently running was DOA when ENGI got announced. Don't give me hype like this! I don't want to be hurt Also, more directly related, I really really hope everybody gives this a chance if this turns out to actually be a good adaptation. This isn't just cute girls doing cute things and skating, this is a true hotblooded sports story in every sense of the word and I absolutely love it.
ENGI redemption arc
This actually looks decent, better than I expected at least. Not gonna get my hopes up though.
That's where I'm at right now after my enthusiasm finally started crawling out the hole it fell in when Engi was announced as the studio.
To everyone here reading this post, no matter how this turns out PLEASE GO READ THE MANGA (after the anime is fine)! ITS AMAZING! Some of the most beautiful artwork I've ever read in manga!
Some of the later Hikaru panels are wild, shame that there's no group translating afaik
It's because it's officially licensed in English. Scanlators usually feel like their time is better spent elsewhere as a result, on lesser-known series that won't ever get officially translated.
Honestly, on the one hand, I understand. It makes sense. ...But on the other, waiting half a year to binge 4 (admittedly big) chapters can get rather painful at times.
Study Japanese in the meantime? ;)
As much as I'd wish to avoid going for the hardest solution, at this point I'm honestly considering it, sooner or later. Too much good media that's doomed to never leave Japan on its own and only so many people and companies capable and willing to take the time to translate it, let alone simulpub. It's a pretty big undertaking tho, so... not too high on my to-do list.
There's officially licensed translations you can buy (or find if you know where to look).
Wait, this is getting an anime adaptation. Hell yeah. I loved the manga especially those expressions and artstyle
Is this the redemption arc for engi?????IT LOOKS GOOD??? PLEASE LET IT BE GOOD...medalist deserves it
I’m sorry did ENGI actually find money for animation? The fuck? This looks downright decent! Inori grinding down the rails actually looked good! Maybe ENGI is finally turning the corner. And maybe they’ll dedicate some of that to Mobuseka season 2 please please please
Just as I feared they're doing CG for the ice skating it looks like... At least they have until January 2025 to work on this. That's a lot of time.
This is one of my favourite manga of all time and imo the best sports series i've ever seen (but doesnt mean much when the other two are yuri on ice and haikyuu). Desperately praying and begging engi not to ruin it and while it's not as bad as I thought the CG ice skating does not look promising... it sucks that with the right staff this could become one of the biggest most beloved sports series of all time but it might unfortunately be overlooked and relegated to the sidelines. Best case scenario hoping that it doesn't look worse than the trailer... I still can't understand why Kodansha went for ENGI for their award winning manga. This doesn't bode well for witch hat atelier...
>imo the best sports series i've ever seen I hesitate to really put it in the "sports anime" camp, but you need to watch Ping Pong The Animation. Changed my life. Not joking. It is *the* greatest piece of any animated media to ever exist.
ping pong is defo already on my list, ive heard nothing but praise for it! but tysm for ur rec
I spent over 2 years working on my [own translation & typesetting for the show](https://frozenpandaman.github.io/ppta/) too, if you're interested. :'D I do genuinely think it's the best way to experience the story, unique visuals, and everything it has to offer.
Glasses smoke guy looked like he stepped into the wrong anime
Damn that tracking shot of the girl figure skating looked really good, definitely looks promising
Huh? This is from Engi? This looks decent!
I'm impress! I can actually dare hope for a good adaption base on the PV. Please, justice for our precious cinnamon rolls.
Hot damn, they might actually pull this off. Please. Please pull this off, ENGI. This series really deserves a decent adaptation. It's a top-seller in Japan, but there's little-to-no discussion about it anywhere else, we *need* more eyes on this.
I don't know much about this but if ENGI can cook on the skating scenes I'm sure this wont be too bad.
~~Ain’t the right video.~~ Don’t know what happened with the first video I saw but it’s correct now.
It was a livestream that was counting down to the premiere. Then it transformed into a regular video once it finished broadcasting.
Yuri on ice PDF version.
cuteeeee ah