Anime and CG Animation Rarely Mix, But One New TV Show Has Nailed the Art Style
Medalist is a new figure skating anime that incorporates CGI to capture the sport’s fluid motion without sacrificing the expressive work that defines traditional anime. Rather than feeling out of place, the CGI brings an extra layer of realism by enhancing the choreography. With a careful balance, Medalist sets a new standard for how anime can integrate CGI without feeling out of place or creating starkly contrasting visual elements.
Blending CGI with traditional anime has long been a challenge, with many attempts resulting in jarring visual contrasts and stiff character movements when the two techniques are compared. While quite a few productions have effectively used CGI for backgrounds or mechanical designs, seemingly integrating it into character animation remains a difficult feat. However, Medalist is here, and it fully embraces CG animation in a way that enhances the storytelling and depth of the series as a whole.
The Animation in Medalist Is Stunning and Perfectly Blends CGI
Medalist Enhances Its Animation With a Mix of CGI and Traditional 2D Animation
The animation in Medalist stands out due to its smooth integration of hand-drawn artistry and CGI, perfectly demonstrated in Episode 5. Traditional 2D animation is still used throughout the anime, preserving the style many are used to seeing in anime, while the CGI completely enhances the figure skating sequences. With the use of CGI, the animation captures the sport’s fluidity and technical complexity in ways that hand-drawn frames alone may struggle to achieve. By carefully mixing these two elements together, the anime avoids the stiffness that often affects CG-heavy anime, ensuring that the character’s movements feel natural and visually striking.
What makes Medalist even more exceptional is how it uses CGI without disrupting the anime’s overall aesthetic. Smart camera work adds to the fluidity of CG animation, using smooth shots and angles to bring out the best of each skating routine. Rather than feeling like a completely separate style, it becomes an extension of the show’s animation, offering fans a level of realism that may not have been replicated otherwise.
Medalist Achieves What Other Anime Struggle Within the Past
Medalist Proves CGI Can Enhance Anime Without Losing Its Style
Many anime have tried to integrate CGI, but few have done so as smoothly as Medalist. One of the biggest challenges with CG animation is incorporating it without disrupting the anime’s art style. Medalist selectively applies its use of CGI, ensuring that the figure skating movements maintain fluidity and feel natural. By using CG animation, the anime enhances the motion of its skaters without sacrificing its traditional methods of animation and style.
Medalist is setting a new standard for how anime can evolve with CGI while preserving its signature hand-drawn style, which fans love. The series proves that CGI can enhance realism and movement when it’s done thoughtfully. If more anime follow this approach, CG animation could become a widely respected asset in the industry rather than a divisive topic. Through Medalist, anime demonstrates that tradition can seamlessly coexist with modern animation techniques.
Medalist
- Release Date
- January 5, 2025
- Network
- tv asahi, ABC TV, Nagoya TV, HTB, Kyushu Asahi Broadcasting, NCC, Niigata Television Network 21, khb, KFB, HOME, KSB, Kagoshima Broadcasting, Oita Asahi Broadcasting, Asahi Broadcasting Aomori, Iwate Asahi TV, Akita Asahi Broadcasting, Yamagata Television System, Shizuoka Asahi TV, Asahi Broadcasting Nagano, Hokuriku Asahi Broadcasting, Ehime Asahi TV, Yamaguchi Asahi Broadcasting, Kumamoto Asahi Broadcasting, Ryu-Q Asahi Broadcasting
- Directors
- Takahiro Hirata
Cast
Natsumi HaruseInori Yuitsuka (voice)- Takeo OtsukaTsukasa Akeuraji (voice)
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