Medalist Anime Film: February 19, 2027 Release Date Confirmed With New Trailer
This post discusses the general shape of the Medalist film's story, which follows the manga's All-Japan Novice Championships arc and Inori Yuitsuka's rivalry with Hikaru Kamisaki. If you're only caught up through Season 2, some of this will be new information.
The wait for more Medalist finally has an end point. According to Anime Corner, The Fandom Post, and anitrendz.net, the Medalist sequel anime film will hit Japanese theaters on February 19, 2027, with the confirmation arriving alongside a new teaser trailer and a key visual. It's the first hard date attached to the project since it was first announced back in January, and it gives fans of the figure-skating series a concrete target to look forward to.
From vague announcement to a real date
Medalist's road to this film reveal has played out in stages over the past several months. The project was first announced on January 17, 2026, at a special screening event, according to Anime News Network, but that initial reveal came without any release window attached — just confirmation that a film was happening at all. Then, on March 21, 2026, immediately following the airing of the Season 2 finale, an "ultra teaser" visual and PV arrived, still without a release date, but with one important piece of context: it confirmed the film's story picks up after the events of Season 2.
That left fans with a confirmed film, a rough sense of where it fits in the story's timeline, and no idea when they'd actually get to see it. This latest reveal closes that gap. With February 19, 2027 now locked in, the film has moved from a vague promise into something fans can actually count down to.
What the film is adapting
According to anitrendz.net's report — corroborated by a Facebook syndication of Japanese press coverage — the film adapts the manga's All-Japan Novice Championships arc. That story centers on protagonist Inori Yuitsuka competing against rival skater Hikaru Kamisaki, setting up a head-to-head showdown at one of the more significant competitive milestones in the series so far.
It's worth being precise about what is and isn't confirmed here. No outlet has stated whether the film covers the entirety of the Novice Championships arc as it appears in the manga or only a portion of it, so it's best to treat the film as an adaptation of that arc broadly rather than assume a specific chapter range is being fully translated to screen. Similarly, beyond the general framing of Inori facing off against Hikaru at the championships, no plot specifics — outcomes, twists, or how the rivalry resolves — have been detailed by any source covering the announcement. Anyone hoping for spoilers beyond "these two skaters compete against each other" will have to wait for the film itself.
The returning cast
The film keeps its core voice cast intact from the TV series. Per anitrendz.net, Natsumi Haruse returns as Inori Yuitsuka, with Takeo Otsuka reprising his role as coach Tsukasa Akeuraji. Kana Ichinose voices rival skater Hikaru Kamisaki, and Yuma Uchida rounds out the confirmed cast as Jun Yodaka.
That's a relatively short list compared to the full ensemble Medalist has built up across two seasons, and it lines up with what you'd expect from a teaser-stage cast reveal — the names most directly tied to the Novice Championships story being adapted, rather than a complete roster. A fuller cast list seems likely to follow as the film's marketing rolls out over the coming months, but as of this announcement, those four names are what's been confirmed.
The creative team stays consistent
One of the more reassuring details in this announcement, at least for fans who've liked what the TV series has done so far, is how much of the creative team is carrying over. According to Anime Corner and anitrendz.net, the film retains director Yasutaka Yamamoto, series composition and screenplay work from Jukki Hanada, character designs from Chinatsu Kameyama, and music by Yuki Hayashi. Animation production continues at studio ENGI, the same studio behind both prior seasons.
That kind of continuity matters more for a series like Medalist than it might elsewhere, given how much of the show's identity is tied to how it depicts skating itself — the choreography, the sense of physical weight and risk, the way competitive pressure gets conveyed visually. Keeping the same director, writer, character designer, composer, and studio in place suggests the film is being treated as a direct continuation of the TV series' established visual and tonal language rather than a reinvention for the big screen.
Where the film picks up
Because the March "ultra teaser" already confirmed the film's story takes place after Season 2's events, the timeline here is fairly clear even without a synopsis spelling it out. Season 2 aired January 24/25 through March 22, 2026, running nine episodes with the same core cast and staff as Season 1, though Anime News Network notes a couple of technical crew changes along the way — art director Hazuki Nakamura stepped in for Yōko Nakao, and Kentaro Kashiwagi took over as compositing director of photography from Shin'ichi Komeya.
With the film picking up right after that season's conclusion and adapting the Novice Championships arc specifically, it reads as the next chapter in Inori's competitive arc rather than a side story or flashback-driven detour. For viewers who've followed her development across both seasons, that continuity is likely a big part of the appeal — this isn't a spinoff, it's the next real step forward for the character.
A quick refresher on Medalist's run so far
For anyone who hasn't kept up since Season 1, a brief recap: Season 1 aired January 5 through March 30, 2025, running 13 episodes at studio ENGI under Yasutaka Yamamoto's direction. It's worth flagging that some summaries floating around have cited a 12-episode count for that first season, but Wikipedia, Anime News Network's own encyclopedia entry, and multiple episode guides all agree on 13 episodes — that's the figure worth trusting.
Season 2 followed roughly a year later, picking up the story with the same creative core intact aside from the crew changes noted above. Between the two seasons and now a film adapting a specific manga arc, Medalist has built a fairly steady release cadence for an original-format anime adaptation, which bodes well for how consistently the franchise might continue to expand if the film performs well.
The manga behind it
Medalist is based on Tsurumaikada's manga of the same name, which has been serialized in Kodansha's Monthly Afternoon since May 2020 and remains ongoing, with 15 tankōbon volumes released as of July 2026, according to Wikipedia and Anime News Network. The series has picked up serious industry recognition along the way, winning the 68th Shogakukan Manga Award in the general category in 2023 and Kodansha's own 48th Manga Award in 2024. Kodansha Comics holds the English-language license for the manga.
That combination of critical recognition and steady, ongoing serialization is part of why the anime adaptation has had staying power beyond a single season — there's a substantial and still-growing source of material behind it, and the Novice Championships arc being adapted for the film is drawn from that same continuing manga run.
Where to watch
Per Anime Corner and anitrendz.net, Medalist is available to stream via Disney+, with the show airing under Hulu in the US specifically. That distribution setup has applied to both TV seasons so far, and while no outlet has confirmed exactly how the film will be made available to international audiences, the existing Disney+/Hulu relationship gives at least some indication of where a streaming release might eventually land — though that's inference based on the show's existing distribution, not a confirmed plan for the film itself.
It's also worth being direct about what hasn't been announced: comicbook.com explicitly notes that international theatrical release plans have not yet been announced for the film, and no outlet covering this reveal has given an exact home-video or streaming date beyond the February 19, 2027 Japanese theatrical date. Fans outside Japan should expect a wait between the theatrical premiere and any confirmed way to watch it themselves, based on how the TV seasons have rolled out previously.
Bottom line
Medalist's film now has what it didn't have as recently as March: a real release date. February 19, 2027 is locked in, backed by a new teaser trailer and key visual, with the core cast, director, writer, character designer, composer, and studio all carrying over from the TV series. The story is confirmed to pick up after Season 2 and to adapt the manga's All-Japan Novice Championships arc, pitting Inori Yuitsuka against rival Hikaru Kamisaki, though exactly how much of that arc makes it to screen and how the rivalry plays out remain open questions. What's clear is that this is being built as a genuine continuation of Inori's story, not a detour — and with roughly six months between this announcement and the premiere, expect the marketing rollout, including a fuller cast list and additional trailers, to pick up steam from here.
Expect additional trailers, a full cast reveal beyond the four names confirmed so far, and likely a theme song announcement as the February 19, 2027 date approaches. No international release plans have been confirmed yet.