That started out quite well, but went downhill fast. With a slight recovery at the end. Which, I guess, is how a competitive skate program might go so maybe sort of fitting. I never thought I would be in a position to consider dropping Medalist after three episodes, but if I look at things realistically I can’t deny that reality. And it would be a huge disappointment to say the least, especially given how mediocre this season looks on the whole.

Again, it’s ironic that the skating animation and choreography is absolutely fine, and with ENGI involved everybody assumed that would be the Achilles’ heel with Medalist. I actually think it’s quite good – and I think the sound of the blades on the ice is my favorite part both of the skating scenes here and actual figure skating. And I like Tsukasa, even if there’s a risk that he’s coming off as a bit too perfect. But there’s not a lot else that’s working for me at this point.

The new character and her coach – oy. I admit I was on the fast forward button pretty hard in the middle of the episode. At least Kino Hina sounds more like an actual child than Haruse Natsumi, but Mittens is absolutely fingernails on the blackboard (even more than the last “Mittens” to be in the spotlight, in 2012). I hated both of them instantly and nothing that happened for the rest of the episode made a dent in that. If Mittens is destined to be Inori’s fated rival we’re in serious trouble here.

I don’t like the distorted faces and the chibi intercuts. I don’t like the hackneyed BGM. I’m meh about Inori a lot of the time. I like it when she and Tsukasa are talking about her training, and when they’re actually doing it. That’s fun to watch, and feels way more genuine than anything else that’s going on. But so far there’s too much annoying extraneous stuff for those sequences to stand out. I’m not done here – there’s too much invested in Medalist in a season like this to give up this quickly. But if next week leaves me feeling the same way, it’s probably not going to matter.