ウマ娘プリティーダービー Season 3

UMA MUSUME: PRETTY DERBY SEASON 3

ANIME

STATUS
COMPLETE
EPISODES
13
RELEASE
December 28, 2023
LENGTH
24 min

DESCRIPTION

The third season of Uma Musume: Pretty Derby.

CAST

Kitasan Black
Hinaki Yano
Satono Diamond
Hina Tachibana
Toukai Teiou
Machico
Mejiro McQueen
Saori Oonishi
Rice Shower
Manaka Iwami
Silence Suzuka
Marika Kouno
Special Week
Azumi Waki
Gold Ship
Hitomi Ueda
Daiwa Scarlet
Chisa Kimura
Twin Turbo
Miharu Hanai
Nice Nature
Kaori Maeda
Symboli Rudolf
Azusa Tadokoro
Vodka
Ayaka Oohashi
Daitaku Helios
Aya Yamane
Mihono Bourbon
Ikumi Hasegawa
Machikanetannhauser
Hikaru Toono
Trainer
Kouji Okino
Cheval Grand
Yuuko Natsuyoshi
Air Groove
Ruriko Aoki
Duramente
Akina
Meishou Dotou
Misaki Watada
Mejiro Palmer
Yuri Noguchi
Satono Crown
Sayumi Suzushiro
Vivlos
Ayasa Itou
Ikuno Dictus
Masumi Tazawa

EPISODES

Dubbed

| | |

RELATED TO UMA MUSUME: PRETTY DERBY SEASON 3

Cover Art for Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - 1st Anniversary Special Animation

SPECIAL Slice of LifeUma Musume: Pretty Derby - 1st Anniversary Special Animation

Cover Art for Uma Musume: Peace Peace☆Supi Supi Golshi-chan

MANGA ComedyUma Musume: Peace Peace☆Supi Supi Golshi-chan

Cover Art for Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - Shin Jidai no Tobira

MOVIE DramaUma Musume: Pretty Derby - Shin Jidai no Tobira

REVIEWS

veemon23
80/100
I Have Finished the Race
SEASON 3!!! - I can't write spoiler free reviews lol It focuses on one of my top 3 favorite girl! One thing we both agree on, Teio is best girl! __Toukai Teio__ __Kitasan Black__ Our little horse girl from season 2 is all grown up now and racing just like both of our favorite horse girl Teio (still the best Idol Horse Girl) How do you measure greatness? It is not what one accomplishes as a individual achievement. It is the ability to inspired others. There are those who chase after others. And some that chase after dreams and goals. But the great ones, they have others chasing after them, setting the standard of what greatness is. They inspired the next generation, they leave a legacy as they tread into the unknown, because only the greats has dear to venture into the heights others cannot reach. Greatness is not measure by what you accomplished, but how you can inspire others to dream dreams. Greatness is about leading the way for others, making a path for others to follow, setting a good example. Though it is lonely at the top, you were willing to go there first, so that others may dear dream dreams of what they thought was impossible. Even the greatest have to someday stop, time catches up to us all. Our prime, our peak, it can be anytime. Some people can play forever and some with injuries and unforeseen circumstances will be cut short. We don't know when our end will be, but let us at least run this race of life without having any regrets left. It's okay not to achieve your dreams, it's better to have a dream then to have nothing to look forward too. Failure is part of growing and learning, we will fail, we won't always win. We just need to get back up and try again. At least in the end, we know, at least we gave it our all. It's not for us only, but it's for all those who has always been there cheering us on. For that one person who believes in us and for those who inspired us. We do it not for ourselves only but for all those who were before us and behind us. --- It's not fair to compare these season with one another, as we all know, season 2 is by far superior to the rest. Each season tells a different story about a different girl with their own issue. And how they learn to resolve or overcome these hardships. Season 1 is more of a setup and it just focuses more on just learning to find a place she belongs. And eventually learning to become stronger as the season went on. It was your more traditional setup. Almost like the underdog story or the new comer who defied all expectations. Season 2 focuses more on the real actual story of a horse called Tokai Teio. Though loosely base since obviously she's not a full horse but a horse girl, but you get the point. This is why it more well written, since it was really more well known and has a good source to use. Also off course best two girls! The best rival as well! Season 3 is more as I wrote above, learning to let go and move on. It's about accepting defeat and knowing that we all will hang it up one day. With that, the thought that one day someone will think about us for one last time and we may be forgotten someday. Even so, what kind of legacy do you want to leave behind when you finish your journey? Because we don't know if anyone will remember us in 100 years but what kind of impact do you want to leave behind for those who were here and now? --- I do feel bad for her this season, I feel like man she got treated so badly but that's the reality of life... you can't always win and life hurts... those who wants to succeed often taste so much defeats. We don't always win, we may suffer more defeats and some people may never even experience any victories... but it's not so much about the destination as the journey... it's about chasing that dream regardless of how hard it seems and how far it is. And it's about learning when to pass that dream onto others, not as a parent who's failed dream that force on their child. But more as a inspiration for the next person who wants to chase that dream. Be the inspiration for them. Though season 2 is the best, this one has a beautiful message in defeat. While season 2 is one in triumphant, I think both compliment each other well. Just as she longed to be like Teio and failed to be... it was a great representation of season 2 and 3. Though almost similar but so different, two side of the same coin. --- __Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond__ Vs __Toukai Teio and Mejiro McQueen__ The first pair serves more of a friendship before a rivalry. They were not like the second pair who brought the best out of each other. Where McQueen in all her effort did her best to help Teio get back into shape. Becoming the best Horse Girl again. While the first two is more of Kitasan Black inspired Satono Diamond to want to race. But Satono has always been just naturally better. So, it became more of Kitasan chasing after her while Satono having probably one of the most emotional episode... winning her one race. That was a well done episode in my opinion. Teio and McQueen serve more of a rivalry that was well done and written. Their love for each other and support as not only teammates and friends, but two people who truly respected the other. It was done far better but this is not to discredit the other two at all. Season 2 is just far superior, but this is not to say season 3 was lacking. They were just different stories but with some similarities you can't help but compared. Satono being McQueen and Kitasan being Teio 1st - Teio 2nd - McQueen 3rd - Kitasan They are my top 3 favorites... who's number 4??? I don't know... probably Symboli Rudolf (Pres) or Rice Shower, maybe Nature too --- A beautiful ending to one of the best of her generation. Finish as she started, running strong and true to herself. Giving her best and being the people's champion. A true winner is not one who wins in first but one who inspires others and touches the life of others. They inspire and motivate others, she is a prime example of that. As she loves her community and is loved by them. The last race was not to prove to herself that she can win or that she's the best. It was for the people who's always been there to cheer her on. It took a lot of growing on her part, instead of chasing after Teio, she learned to lead by setting a example of hard work and determination to the very end. Also I just have to say, her last outfit was GORGEOUS! Since it was not her own but the team (except for Special Week lol). --- Lastly - shout out to probably one of the best supporting character of this season who's presence doesn't stand out but was a great supporter. Nature (Senpai) --- "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."
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Ritsui
65/100
Running in a downwards spiral
(This review contains __heavy__ spoilers!)
So, here we are 2.5 years after the amazing 2nd season ended. And the horse girls are back again for a 3rd season! And this time it's Kitasan Black's time to shine.

I was really looking forward to this season after S2. I knew it probably wasn't going to be as dramatic, but I had high expectations. Before it started I was told that Kitasan Black was very successful IRL, even elected as the best Japanese race horse in 2017. And from that expected this season to be relatively straightforward and more chill compared to S2.

I just want to quickly interject here to say that this is my first ever "serious" review of an anime, and the very first one I publish one on AniList like this. I've spent a lot of thought and time on this one. I'm open for any feedback!

The first part of this review is going to be a short summary of the plot to give my reflections more context.

We start off with Kitasan training for her first big race and the characters are (re)introduced. We also get to see some new faces, Chevral Grand and Satono Crown. Then we’re thrown into the first race! Unfortunately though, Kitasan loses to another newcomer this season, Duramente. Who seems to become her rival for this season. This setback came unexpectedly quickly but seemed pretty natural, just like for Spe in S1(even if hers came later). But as the second episode starts rolling, it immediately turns into something existential for Kita, as she wonders what she's even running for. If you remember from S2, Kita is Teios biggest fan and aspires to be just like her.

As she tries to collect her thoughts, Duramente is injured and Kitasan feels as if her feelings are responsible for this. Nice Nature, who hasn't played any major role in the series up until now comes in to console her, they quickly connect and gain chemistry. They have a serious talk that sends Kitasan confidence back up and she finally wins her first race! The next episode has Kita fired up again, continuing her training. Until Goldshi announces her retirement from the Twinkle Series, and Kitasan is deeply affected by this...

It's actually the first time the show ever touches on this subject, retirement. Up until now the previous protagonists just kept existing, training and watching the current protagonists races.

Kitasan runs alongside Goldshi in her last race. But in the end, neither of them win as... "All Haiyu" takes it home? Not even the 2nd place is handed to them, only 3rd for Kitasan. The 4th episode starts off with Kitasan, once again sulking over a loss and requires Nature-sensei's sessions.

Kitasan's confidence is once again brought up, and she goes off to a training camp hosted by Bourbon and Rice Shower. Who you probably(should!) remember from S2. The camp is in full wing and knowing full well she'll miss Dia's race, she still goes ahead. But the morning after Kitasan still decides to ditch the camp and is able to just catch Dia... losing her race. Kitasan returns to her camp, improves significantly and the episode ends.
Or so I thought... After finishing the episode I read up on some discussions afterwards, and the race she spent the entire episode training for was run and won in a 90 second slideshow with the ED rolling. Her first G1 at that.

The story for the most successful Japanese race horse and her friend starting off so rocky and melancholy already had some people concerned or even critical already. I agreed that it seemed odd, but I thought this was a part of the buildup. And I remembered that my expectations were completely subverted in an amazing way while watching S2 as it aired, so I kept my hopes high. But as I learned about the true ending of episode 4, that hope started waning here.

In the next episode we have Kitasan speak to Duramente for the first time. They have a nice chat and connect a bit as Duramente’s return race dawns.

Unfortunately though, the race lost to.... "Who?!" again. Sadly it's also the last episode where Duramente has any relevance.

Oh right, did you know that the 3rd season has a 2nd protagonist? Satono Diamond! She was allocated the entirety of episode 6 for her part.

The Satono family is cursed with the "Satono Jinx" that has them losing races over the smallest thing. It's driven her siblings to despair, and it has Dia on the brink of the same fate after experiencing this "jinx". We get to see Dia overcome this jinx by overloading it with bad luck, signs etc. And then eventually taking home her race in a very emotional ending. The episode does an excellent job building up Dia's dilemma. Displaying her resolve and emotions of overcoming this "curse" with an ending so satisfying it mingles with the end of S2. This episode is by far the best one up until now, I even watched it twice.

Sadly after this, not much of Dia's story was focused on again. We’ll get to that.

Back to Kitasans story we go... I'm going to fast forward this plot summary a bit from here:
She wins, it's barely acknowledged, spends an episode hanging around other horse girls. Loses, it's back to Nature-sensei again and the rest of the episode is sulking around. Then we get a surprisingly nice SoL episode with just Kita and Dia hanging out outside the city, wins again and it's barely acknowledged. Hosts the school festival and loses again... But as this episode ends, we are left in shock seeing what state Kitasan's in. She's reached beyond her physical peak. This obviously hits her even harder than the usual losses. Oh yeah, and Dia runs her biggest race over in France and it's only shown as a newspaper page.

We're now at the second last episode with Kita running her next race. And she actually wins! But, the mood is still anything but happy as it’s clear as day she’s struggling to run. And after that, she's forced to announce her retirement. As the episode goes on, Kitasan desperately tries her best training for the remaining races.
The second last race approaches and... The focus is shifted towards Chevral Grand? She takes over Kita's focus from the episode and her feelings are surfaced. Then she wins the race over Kitasan in a strange ending episode...

We're finally at the end of the show. Kitasans last final race is coming up and everyone in her team wonders what they can do for her. So, they all come together and design her a new outfit:

Even though she was literally screaming for the entire race, she takes it home! And for the first time it feels like Kitasans victory matters for real. We also get a really good winning live performance before Uma Pyon starts playing, the signature ending song for the series.

Despite the story’s flaws and shortcomings, the ending was pretty great. On par with episode 6, but not entirely redeeming...

Now onto my reflections and criticism

When I learned about the ending of episode 4, I knew something was really off. And it didn't take that many more episodes to realize that Kitasan Black’s path was intentionally made really painful. All while grossly overlooking over her victories. It was as if it that was all the show was focused on with Kitasan... When her peak came, I honestly just went “Oh come on!” instead of the “What?! Oh no!” I’m sure the show tried going for. I was hoping that they'd stop the overbearing on her losses, and balance out with her feelings and celebrations after victories. But instead, the end of her career is effectively announced which just left me more mad than sad.

The amount of times Kita was down sulking and needed Nice Nature, totaled to about 4. The show even started joking about this in episode 8, when Nice Nature had yet another pep talk to a sulking Kitasan, despite her winning several Kikkashou races compared to no-win Nature, with the visuals even emphasizing this:

I honestly wonder if I'd enjoy this season more if it hadn't been told about Kitasan's IRL career. Because it felt so strange to make one of the most successful races horses career into something so strugglesome. Maybe I missed the point here, and the intent was actually to display the personal struggle and feelings of someone so successful? But they didn’t exactly show this incredible success either. Anyway, to do this with Kitasan Black was in my honest opinion, a bad choice given how it turned out. And they didn’t handle anyone else’s exact same feelings well either, strongly hinting towards Dia at the end here.

And yeah sure, this anime is about race horses as high school girls. They absolutely don't have to follow IRL history. But, the show does adapt real races and their results. Which to me implies it's inviting real horse racing fans who know about these races and their outcomes to watch. So why does it feel like being in the unknown is how this season was supposed to be enjoyed...?

Dia was promoted as Kitasan's partner in the main role and even in S2, yet she was essentially shafted to a single episode. Yes, we had a similar lineup in S1 where we had Special Week AND Silent Suzuka as the main characters, with the focus mostly laying on the former. But Suzuka wasn't shafted as hard as Dia, and actually accomplished her own goals in the end, just like Spe.
And instead of Dia’s race in France that I mentioned, we instead got to see Cheval Grand taking up her potential screen time? I mentioned earlier that the only acknowledgement of this race was on a newspaper, and that was it. That was a really bad decision, to shove in another story and focus on another character at the very end when the main ones needed it. If they really had to pick someone other than Kita to take up screen time towards the end why not, again, Dia who just lost her biggest race or at least Duramente who’s probably not feeling great having her career ruined?

Another bad thing about the story is how Kita's rivals were handed. We were first introduced to Duramente who seemed to be the antagonist, until she broke her leg in the 2nd episode and never bounced back. Sataono Crown was hinted to be a rival, but not much came out of that either. Cheval Grand seemed to be the rival towards the end of the season, but just like with Crown it felt like Kitasan wasn't actually acknowledging her as one due to the obvious. And then the show somehow tries to make you feel happy for Cheval as she bests Kita when she’s already down for the count?

Even if I did like Nature-sensei's sessions, why weren’t they given to Tokai Teio? Teio's only part in this season was just her approach with Kitasan which was basically just "It'll work out". Sure, eventually it did but it seemed weird how Teio was present but never took on the mentor role for Kitasan and left it to... Nice Nature? I'm not sure if it was to not have Teio shine in another season, or to give the other supporting characters more development. But either way it didn't really play out well... And speaking of Nice Nature, in-between episode 4-8 as well as after she's given almost nothing but some faces at Kitasan’s races. This despite her chemistry with Kita after four sessions…

Closing words on the story

Like I said, I was really looking forward to this season. But I felt quite disappointed with how both Kitasan and Dia's stories were presented. And a whole lot else didn't make any sense either. Such as the disjointed focus on the "rivals" or supporting characters. Or Teio's toothless role.

Of course, not every story needs to have the protagonist be invincible and win all the time. And I wasn't expecting that, even with Kitasan Black. It'd just be boring or even frustrating, and it leads to a lack of sympathy for the protagonist. But when you the opposite, downplaying their successes at the earliest convenience to focus so heavily on their failures or losses and don't balance it out, you still get the same result.

The other stuff

Apart from that the show still had all its funny gags going, some more hidden than others. You could honestly rewatch this entire series and still not catch all of them! I'm not going to blurt them out as they're like easter eggs waiting to be found, but you know when you see(or hear) them. Also felt like they for the first time started emphasising a bit on fan service too... No details but I think if you compare the seasons you'll see what I mean.

Animation was all-around pretty solid, no complaints. OP and ED were pretty great as well, especially the former.

Sadly we weren't given many winning lives this season either... One was about to start at ep 7, but was cut out by the usual ED. We did have a great one at the end, so I suspect that's where all the effort went. Still, I'd love it if this series could do them more frequently! I also didn't realise until now how much I like the signature ending song and how fitting it is, Uma Pyon. Even if I was disappointed by the story, it made me feel like I was watching the ending credits to a very enjoyable movie.

Parting words

Despite the critic I had towards the story, I still enjoyed the other parts of this season. It returned back to more Cute Race Horse Girls Doing Cute Things(CRHGDC) in-between the races we had in S1 that I like so much as a general SoL fan. But I honestly can't overlook this unbalanced and disjointed story telling.

And again, this is my first review and I'd love to get any feedback on it! Either link here or just on my profile.
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dabage
75/100
While not matching the dramatic highs of Season 2, the journey from gate to wire Season 3 offers is well worth it.
A review of Season 3 from a long time Uma Musume fan!

(spoilers ahead!)

Uma Musume always has a message that is consistent in almost every form of media the series has:
__Every character has a story to tell.__
A series that is based off animals that have once lived or are living in the real world often has to meet these ideas: especially one based on thoroughbred horses. Nothing was ever perfect, some often lived a tough life, and we can only interpret how these animals felt during their highest high, lowest lows or their middling middles.

Despite how high the expectations Season 2 of Umamusume sets, how we felt every setback and triumph Tokai Teio that led to her Cinderella ending, I felt that Umamusume Season 3 doesn't match those dramatic climaxes.
As a fan of the series, I was disappointed by how pedestrian season 3 felt to its predecessor. I let my thoughts about the season brew before I wrote this review, through participating in discussion about the anime and even with fans who have watched Japanese horse racing and have gone to watch Kitasan Black race when the real horse was active from 2013-15.

And through this discussion and thinking, I always come back to what this series excels at: Every character has a story to tell.

When I think about Kitasan Black, her story in the anime, her real life background and what the horse meant to fans who witnessed his greatest moments live, I realize the story that Studio KAI has given wonderfully tailors the story of Kitasan Black. A plucky horse never meant for anything exceeding their circumstances, no matter how flawed they were.
Uma Musume often remarks that all horsegirls run for different reasons, and it's no different here. From Duramente, a stoic and terrifyingly strong that was born to win, to Satono Diamond, a character that is hoisted by the hopes that her family has in hopes of breaking some long time superstition; its clear what each character's motivation is throughout the season. For our main heroine Kitasan Black, it's not a story that is meant to match what Tokai Teio felt, what Special Week achieved or the hardships that Narita Top Road faced. Its her story, and while Kitasan respects who came before her, each episode pieces together the motivation of Kitasan and her will to run. Through her greatest triumphs, and her harshest defeats, we learn with Kitasan what it means to run and compete, and how do we define ourselves and our legacy.

It's here where I begin to understand what this media franchise stands for and why its so successful in Japan, and how Uma Musume consistently handles topics of the less talked about aspects of sports. Physical and mental decline, the acceptance of regression, and what it means to truly compete, all while being a series about anthropomorphic horse girls. It demands to be taken seriously despite its weird premise and does it wonderfully.

Obviously there are some issues I do think is separate from this: Season 3 had a bloated cast of main characters that while help carry the overall theme of the story this season, these characters often faded in and out of the background and sometimes were thrown to the side, with some of their important events happening off screen. Covering a story that focuses on 4 main characters and spans almost 3 years (especially one where its based on real life horse races and events), is hard to fit inside a 13 episode season, where often events were rushed or skipped that felt noticeable to even anime watchers that did not know the real life events and results.

Regardless of these shortcomings, it was still a great watch for any Uma Musume fan, but I would go in with different mindset/expectations about this season. Kitasan and her story was meant to separate herself from the rest of the main characters Uma Musume has had, and knowing this will make you appreciate what the show has to offer. While not matching the dramatic highs Season 2 delivered in spades, the journey from gate to wire Season 3 offers is well worth it.

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