I’ve spent the last few weeks slowly reading through Medalist. It’s surprisingly dense; when they adapted it into an anime they only covered one chapter per episode and that felt about right. They’re long chapters but even so I don’t think that’s normal. Anyways, this is one you read for the character writing. The way Inori and her coach Tsukasa play off each other is incredibly charming, and the artist does a great job on facial expressions. It’s also amazing how a sports manga can feel like it has more dramatic stakes than something action-based. Maybe it’s the very real chance of failure. Maybe it’s just because it feels more grounded and realistic. Either way, nothing sucks me into the next chapter like one of the characters getting ready to do a difficult jump in a tournament and everyone is watching to see what they’ll do and speculating whether they can actually do it and then the “next chapter” button appears and I just can’t resist pushing it.