UMA MUSUME: PRETTY DERBY SEASON 2

DESCRIPTION

CAST

ANIME DramaUma Musume: Pretty Derby
ONA ComedyUmayuru
ONA DramaUma Musume: Pretty Derby - ROAD TO THE TOP
SPECIAL Slice of LifeUma Musume: Pretty Derby - 1st Anniversary Special Animation

REVIEWS

• 

  Jacklekins

  100/100
  Uma Musume Season 2 is the most surprising sequel I've ever seen.

  Everything about Uma Musume Season 2 is surprising. The fact it even exists, that Tokai Teio is the protagonist, and just how incredible it all is. I enjoy season 1, but for the most part it lacked focus and a strong narrative or characters, outside of Silence Suzuka. S2 however has an amazing cast with a very strong core identity and theme. So I just wanna take some time to really talk about why this show shocked me and why I ended up loving it as much as I do. Major spoilers included.

  The biggest reason I love this season so much is Teio. She is a very charismatic strong willed girl and just a lot of fun as a protagonist. Seeing her at her peak performance and genuinely believing she would reach her goals made it hit so much harder when she ended up getting injured. Of course she would always get back up, and be back to her peak before very long. Sometimes even better than she was before her injury, but that can't always be the case right? At some point she would fracture her leg too many times to keep running right?

  The third fracture is incredibly heart breaking. Seeing Teio's determination and charismatic personality slowly break, and her giving in and accepting that she will never be able to run the same way is genuinely the most painful thing in the series. Her fans and others telling her "we used to root for you" and similar things really just hit it all home. Teio was done.

  She found courage to continue despite this thanks to her friends and trainer. She pushed forward. In large part thanks to McQueen. It's a beautiful moment when she finds that courage, and decides to push forward and try to create her own miracle. Of course, this only makes it more painful when McQueen herself gets injured and can't run anymore. Teio swapping roles for her. Giving her the encouragement to continue, and something to work towards. As a rival, and a friend. Both of these girls are absolutely amazing, and their relationship is the strongest in the series.

  The second reason is Rice Shower. Rice Shower has probably my favorite two episodes in the show, and a very heavy theme. These two episodes tackle a lot of things, but mainly I want to focus on the nature of competition. In her races she beats Bourbon and McQueen and steals their triple crown wins. By doing so she is booed and told she is a disappointment by the audience. The fact that fans only want their favorite to win and see certain accomplishments, despite Rice making a new record in her race against McQueen everyone is still disappointed that she won. She's a "heel." Her only fan is Bourbon herself and she gives her the push she needs to continue racing despite how hated she is. Saying that if she keeps winning she will live up to her name "Rice Shower" and gain fans of her own. Rice has a very heavy story and theme in that despite how hard she tries, and how much it hurts her she pushes forward. I don't think Uma Musume comes to an exact answer to this. I feel that's the point. Of the entire show really. That no matter what hurdles are thrown at you you just have to push through them. Keep going with all you've got and you will make a miracle happen. You'll find your happiness and your place.

  All of that, among other things I didn't get into, are why this season is so completely surprising to me. I absolutely loved everything it brought to the table and it's easily my favorite sports anime and in my top 10 over all. The themes and characters mean a lot to me now, and I'm thankful I was able to experience the series. If season 3 comes around I hope to see it focus on another character and have a similarly strong focus and theme.

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• 

  jimaku

  90/100
  Uma Musume S2 shatters expectations

  I can’t lie, I made the mistake of writing off Uma Musume as a show to be skipped up until just a week ago when I tried starting the first season. At the surface, there are a lot of reasons it seems likely to fail--the biggest being 1) girls with animal ears and tails and 2) game source-material. Empirically, you are probably okay to skip shows with either one of those qualities so you’d think you can skip one with both. Yet you, like previous me, would be making a mistake skipping Uma Musume. This show is not great in spite of these qualities, but rather because of these qualities and it is made possible by what is clearly a LOT of love and attention from its creators at every level of detail. The thought put into season 2 in particular results in one of those rare gems of a show that has you laughing while you cry and wishing it would never end.

  I’ll start with the above points that stood out most to me prior to watching the show. It is really easy (and usually fair) to see a show with a bunch of cute girls with animal ears and tails and call it gimmicky. Uma Musume is not a show about girls who just happen to have horse ears and tails, it is a show about horse girls. Why do they all have such crazy names? Because they’re horse girls. Why do they love carrots so much? Because they’re horse girls. Why do they all run in competitions? Because they’re horse girls. Why do they sometimes struggle to get into the starting gate? Because they’re horse girls. Why do they do idol-style dance performances after each race? Probably because they’re horse girls (not 100% sure on that one I’m not a horse expert). But these things along with many others are built in to the show in the dialogue, the plot, and the characters themselves. I don’t necessarily recommend looking up the real horses that the girls were named after (it can be pretty depressing), but many of their behaviors and many of the plot points were derived from a horse that really ran the racetrack. Regardless of whether you think that is neat or not, it does serve to give an element of unpredictability to many of the stories and personality to the characters. If somehow all the horse girls in Uma Musume were suddenly not horse girls but regular girls, it would be a fundamentally different and less interesting show.

  As for the game source material, the problem you expect a show to run into when it is based on a gacha game is almost always going to be lack of substance. And it makes sense; if you go off source material only, you might have nothing more than a few Ultra Rare JPEGs and some voice lines to make up a character. In that sort of situation, it is up to the anime creators to fill in a lot of blanks--especially with two full seasons (so far) of content. On the other hand, you can imagine these circumstances may allow for greater creative freedom than is ordinary if the creators will step up to the plate; and I can only imagine that is exactly what happened. The director, Oikawa Kei, clearly deserves the maddest of props and has made his way straight to my favorites (I’m also a huge fan of Hinamatsuri). Just about every scene was so packed full of layers of entertainment--the main story happening in the foreground while jokes and gags constantly fill the background. Running gags that go on for entire seasons USUALLY get old about half way through, but there are actually just SO many that are placed with such precision I found myself laughing throughout. At the same time, moments that seem like they should have been cheesy were insead incredibly hype or emotional. Even the “trainer” character who is clearly a stand-in for the player character in the game adds to the story and has meaningful interactions that keep him from feeling like a completely flat self-insert character. Uma Musume actually makes it feel that if the team is talented enough to get creative and REALLY make the show their own (plus with the budget of a gacha game backing the project), game-based anime may not just be viable; but preferable to some of the other adaptations we’ve been seeing.

  There is definitely plenty to say in terms of praise for the show and I think that most everything I’ve mentioned applies to both season 1 and season 2… just not to the same extent. I liked season 1. It was enjoyable for many of the reasons I have written above, but if it were just season 1, I would not have gone to the effort to write a review. But season 2? Season 2 took what was already a pretty good show and upgraded nearly every part of it like I’ve never seen upgraded before. You get upgraded main characters, upgraded side characters, upgraded main stories, upgraded side stories, upgraded rival club, upgraded comedy, upgraded drama, you name it. All somehow while maintaining the show’s identity and feeling. It is clear that an incredible amount of thought and planning was had on what could be improved or fixed up going into the new season. That, along with the density of content, really made me feel like the people making this were putting as much effort into it as their characters were putting into winning their races.

  I absolutely loved Uma Musume and would be ecstatic to hear a third season announcement. I have no doubt they could take even any of the side characters (c’mon Twin Turbo) from either season and, if the same amount of love and attention is given, make something awesome again. My recommendation is that everyone check out the first season. If you for some reason HATE the first season, okay it isn’t for you probably. But if you like it at all, get ready for a treat in season 2 and hopefully season 3 someday.

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• 

  nafiy

  98/100
  Uma Musume Season 2: Hidden Sports Gem Under the Guise of an Idol Show

  The second season of Uma Musume portrays what is possibly the hardest part of being an athlete: injuries. The occurrences of injuries often haunt the careers of famous players throughout every sport, ranging from Kevin Durant to Jason Kendall to Tiger Woods. These injuries often lead to inactivity and when placed in an environment such as competitive sports, being out for a long period of time can often be career ending. Those who come back often aren't 100% what they used to be and it often results in a decrease in mental and physical health.

  Coming from a mediocre and generic first season that speaks of a countryside girl entering a new world of horseracing, the second season flips the script completely with a brand new protagonist Tokai Teio, whose motive is immediately established from the very beginning, to be just like her role model and win the Triple Crown. The show establishes the dreams and aspiration of Teio immediately and show that she already have two of the three qualities to become a legend, effort and talent, which leaves only luck to be desired. Teio's warpath to accomplishment is shown through a series of races just like in season 1 with Special Week; however, in this case, the true battles for Teio are fought outside the racetracks. This show asks arbitrary questions such as what do I have other than my dream and what comes after if the dreams are gone? It answers these questions by portraying a character dynamic between Teio and her team Spica and other rivals on the tracks.

  There are some battles you can only fight yourself and there are some battles you can't fight alone. This show showed not only the struggles of Teio but other characters as well. Most of the cast on the tracks are well established and the one or two episode side stories show their side, allowing the audience to decide who truly deserves to win. Without going to much detail as the show is best enjoyed without spoilers, the dynamic between rivals allow for the concept of improving through competition and helping each other by competing.

  The story of Tokai Teio is based on a true story of a legendary horse in Japan and explores the idea of self improvement and competitive improvement. Dreams are formed and new dreams can come; sometimes luck will not be by your side but you can still fight on. Sometimes your dreams are hard to achieve but will you give up or will you stand back up?

  This show is truly something special. It fictionalizes a real life story and humanizes the characters in it. Some things are more important than sweat and winning in sports, and this shows portrays this perfectly.

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