The TV anime "Medalist" is based on Tsurumai Ikada's figure skating manga, which was also chosen as the top comic in the "Next Manga Awards 2022". The show started airing in January this year on TV Asahi's late-night anime slot "NUMAnimation". It is a passionate drama about Inori Yuzuki, a girl who dreams of becoming a figure skater, and Michiko Akiura, a young man who failed as a skater, aiming to become a glorious medalist as a coach and athlete, and has attracted attention for its beautiful and powerful figure skating performance scenes. The passionate performances of the voice actors, including Natsumi Haruse as Inori Yuzuki and Takeo Otsuka as Michiko Akiura, are also attracting attention. We spoke to Yamashita Shinpei, producer of KADOKAWA, who produced the anime, about the behind-the-scenes production, including casting.
◇ The original author and staff were unanimous in their casting. "Everyone was facing the same direction."
"Medalist" began serialization in the manga magazine "Afternoon" (Kodansha) in 2020. It focuses on athletes from childhood and depicts the harsh world of figure skating, where it is said that "if you don't start at age 5, it's too late to aim for the Olympics," from various perspectives including athletes, coaches, and the athletes' families, and has been a hot topic since the beginning of the series.
Regarding the casting, Producer Yamashita revealed, "From the moment we told the original author that we wanted to make an anime out of it, Haruse, who appeared in the original commercial for 'Medalist,' was our first choice for the role of Inori."
However, after an audition, Haruse won the role of Inori.
"Just like the other cast members, we had her act in an audition. As a result, when we heard Haruse's voice again, we thought, 'That's Inori.' On top of that, the director and sound director also had certain requests for her to act in a certain way, so we discussed this with her and proceeded with the dubbing."
Not only Haruse, who plays Inori, but also Otsuka, who plays Tsukasa, said that "it was unanimous, and there was no room for doubt," including the original author. "It was the same for all the other cast members. When it came to casting this time, Tsurumai Kada-sensei, Director Yamamoto Yasutaka, and we were all in complete agreement. We didn't audition for all the guest characters, but the cast that Sound Director Imaizumi Yuichi and the sound staff chose were perfect, and it felt like we were all facing in the same direction. It was an audition and casting that we didn't have any worries about. That's probably quite rare."
◇The inside story behind the hiring of Kenshi Yonezu for the much talked about opening theme song
The anime "Medalist" is also attracting attention for its opening theme "BOW AND ARROW" by singer-songwriter Kenshi Yonezu. Yonezu is an avowed fan of the original work, and said, "When I saw information that it was going to be made into an anime, I asked if I could write a song for it, and that's what led to me writing BOW AND ARROW."
Producer Yamashita said, "In order to make the work bigger, I wanted to ask artists with a strong affinity to perform the opening and ending themes. Artists have a lot of influence in anime. I consulted with a person at Sony Music, who has helped me with other works, about who I should ask for 'Medalist,' and we spent some time thinking about it."
"While we were thinking that there was no one who would be a good fit for the OP, we heard that Yonezu's side might be interested in 'Medalist'. At the time, we didn't know the details, and we found out later that he had approached us himself. Because we had been in contact with the label side, we felt that we happened to pick up on this information at a time when we were struggling."
If the artist in charge of the opening had already been decided, or if the anime production side had remained unaware of Yonezu's wishes, "Bow and Arrow" might never have been created.
◇To make the most of the quality of the original work
The anime "Medalist" is being produced with the cooperation of various parties, including Kodansha, TV Asahi, and the Japan Skating Federation, as well as figure skaters such as Akiko Suzuki, who is in charge of choreography for the performance scenes. There is also drama in the casting and the selection of the theme song artist.
Producer Yamashita spoke about the unique appeal of the Medalist anime, saying, "Everyone who has come together because they truly love the original work is making the most of the good parts of the original. We've used the time, movement, and sound that are unique to anime to bring to life what the original work wanted to achieve."
Even though they said they wanted to "make the most of the good points of the original," it was difficult to include all of the lines and scenes from the original when adapting it into an anime, so "selecting and choosing what to keep from the good parts of the original was quite difficult. The scenario meetings were probably the most difficult part."
"Even during the scenario meeting, screenwriter Jukki Hanada thought a lot about it, saying things like, 'By consolidating this episode here, I think it will be easier for people who have seen the anime to accept.' Director Yamamoto Yasutaka is also a very experienced director, so he wanted to show the figure skating scenes as uninterrupted as possible so that people watching the anime would find it enjoyable. At the same time, he also wanted to include lines that were popular in the original work, so we all went through a process of trial and error while struggling to come up with the best structure as we created it."
Regarding the scenario and production process, they always check with the original author, Tsurumai Ikada, and say, "We also want to make the anime together with the original author, and we think that doing so will make it better. As a result, we're always together with the author."
Many people who were fascinated by the original work are participating in the creation of the anime "Medalist," which is moving in the same direction. When asked what to look forward to, he said, "New characters will appear, and we will see how each of them will face figure skating while facing their worries and suffering. Of course, there will be acting scenes, and there will be a series of scenes that will make everyone love the work even more, so I hope you will look forward to it."
