Uma Musume: Pretty Derby

Even though I enjoy the game and franchise as a whole, the first season isn't particularly compelling. Some of the aspects of their world that are normal but to us are horsey are fun, but underutilized. The sound was frequently mixed weird with glitches and bad balancing. The art felt manufactured and soul-less which unfortunately made it visually unappealing and didn't play into the fun designs the horse girls have. As a sports anime, it missed that sparkle that good sports anime have. The outcomes were pretty predictable and I never felt the stakes. The idol aspect of winning the races feels like a weird afterthought innearly every case.

The first thing that comes into my mind when I hear the word "horse girls" are those forbidden videos that you probably encountered at some point when you were watching porn. That's right. I'm talking about those ones. Just the idea of thinking about it makes me want to puke. Those videos changed my perspective of horses in a heartbeat. I found this anime yesterday when one of my friend added it into his/her's PTW list. The thumbnail of the anime looked enticing so I decided to click on it and it brought me to the information page. I first thought that this show wasa show with fox girls. However, I was wrong. This show was a show with horse girls. Horse. Girls. That first word.. It makes me want to puke. The past experiences I've had with horses in Pornhub and XVIDEOS.. They're terrible. They're terrible! But I decided to start this anime anyways because they looked like a fox. The story of Uma Musume is pretty simple. Horse girls racing. They win. They lose. Repeat. That's the plot of the story. We're simply just seeing cute horse girls racing each other. However, the simplicity is the gem of this show. It's not too edgy. There's nearly. Actually. No fan service at all. It's just pure entertainment and joy. This show is the ideal show for whoever's bored and doesn't really know which know they should watch. P.A. Works' art and quality still stands tall and strong. Powering the enjoyment of the show to the utmost. Though I have a small hope that it could've been better if they made the effects when running better. P.A. Works never fail with their art style and quality. Maintaining their status as one of the best anime producers out there. I approve! There's really nothing much for me to say about the sounds except from the fitting background musics that perfectly fits the scenarios. They're really good. I even cried. More than once. Not lying. Aside from the background musics. Everything else is pretty much already perfect and balanced so I have no negative comments. This also applies to the characters. They are likable and I especially like Silence Suzuka because she looks "the most" like a fox. Aside from my preference. The character developments are awesome and realistic. Losing is the key to success, and through hardwork, one becomes stronger. This anime also changed my perspective on horses. The memories of those terrible experiences had been completely cleansed by the pure kawaii horse girls of this anime. Ah, I have been enlightened. I really enjoyed this anime. It was relaxing to watch. Well. To a certain extent and it also calmed down my depressing emotions from a previous anime I've watched in which gave me depression. I am all happy again thanks to this anime! Anime really is amazing. Anything can become possible so long as it's anime. Cliche! But that's the point, isn't it? Heh. Anyways. If you want to see something that is relaxing and intense at times and is guaranteed that it won't give you depression. If you want to see kawaii girls running. If you want a little motivation. Then this anime is exactly just for you.

Each season PA Works delivers an enjoyable series, this time Uma Musume: Pretty Derby. The anime deepen values such us the need to improve no matter the adversity and the friendship. It is great seeing they did not resort to the fanservice or the boring and the repetitive plot ideas of the average sports series. The simple story carries a diverse set of characters and exploits their various personalities. Furthermore, the idea of moving forward keep us the viewer entertain until the end of the series. The main story is about horse-girls and their struggle to be the best. They suffer, cry, smile, joke, they arerivals, and are good friends. The story follows Special Week and her dream. In the beginning, we can feel her character a bit generic. As the story progresses, her role increases the complexity showing her emotions and fitting the story development. Special Week is the center of the story. However, the other horse girls aren’t left behind, and all the characters advance with the story and develop their personalities. For example, Silence Suzuka, her reasons for competing, and her values. The story pacing is excellent. For a sports anime, they do not prolong the tracks in an annoying loop. The direction focuses on both aspects, the sport and the slice of life of this horse girls. It is pleasing how these girls keep fighting to improve and to be the best but in a very healthy way and not the annoying, pedant rivalry from other series. On the other hand, the horse-girls names came from real horses. Perhaps, some of the details in the story are from real events, but those do not spoil the plot. Furthermore, the story has comical events executed are a perfect time and are used to boost the interest in the characters. The anime tried to mix the horse-girl idea with the idols. I am not entirely sure if they succeeded, but the idea is not intrusive with the whole story and adds some dynamism at the end of each race. Another remarkable aspect from this series are the characters. For me, they are the most enjoyable part of the story. They do not need the fanservice or the idolizing theme to gather the viewer's attention. The plot helped the characters to evolve and to show their values, rivalry with some comical events each episode. Finally, I consider Uma Pretty Derby an acceptable series that could bring some entertainment that some viewers will find enjoyable and funny. You should give this series a try and maybe support the video game in the nearby future when released.

Uma Musume tells a story of horse girl idols, attending horse girls' school, participating in races and giving concerts afterwards. Just how abstract does this concept sound? As weird as it might seem, Uma Musume is an outstanding show that exceeded my expectations. Let's start with characters, which to me play the most important role in this case. All the horse girls are based on real race horses and their designs are all connected to their real life equivalents. I love the character designs - they are all so detailed and the connection to the actual horses makes them even more interesting. All girls are unique,both physically and in terms of personality. And I love them all. With a cast this broad, it's amazing that all characters stand out in one way or another, and I think everyone watching this show will find a horse girl they'll love. Honestly though, at first it was hard for me to choose a favourite. But among all the lovely ladies, I think it's the elegant Suzuka that I love the most. It's also worth noting that the characters have the names of the actual horses, and these can be a bit quirky, yet - in my opinion - really cool. Now onto the races. They are also based on the races that actually took place, and their outcomes are also inspired by how it was in real life - now this is a unique kind of fanservice! My advice is to read a bit about the horses and their stories. You might spoil yourself a bit, but it makes watching this anime all the more interesting, since you know what is about to happen. And it increases the emotional impact. Not everything goes like it was in real world, though - and I'm especially happy about one thing that got changed. So happy that it made me burst into tears. The races are exciting and well done, I enjoyed watching them, and the fact that I actually care about the characters made watching them race even more enjoyable for me, since I was cheering for my favourites. Aside from racing, we see how the characters train, get stronger mentally and physically, develop friendships, face their fears and make their dreams come true. And as much as I get bored of regular slice of life, I enjoyed such kind of scenes in this anime. The comedy scenes are actually funny, there are some unique gags in Uma Musume which get repeated throughout the series but don't get old or unfunny. Uma Musume made me laugh many times. About as many times as it made me cry. I didn't expect a show about horse girl idols to make me this emotional, but Uma Musume did have an impact on me. It was funny, it was sad, and it was heartwarming. As I said before, our horse girls shine not only on the track, but on the stage as well! The songs are nice and catchy. And if you like them, I recommend checking more of the characters' songs, not only these that were included in the anime. Still my personal favourite is Silent Star, which we get to hear at the end of one of the episodes. Uma Musume both sounds and looks good. As I said, I love the detailed and diverse character designs, and the artstyle and animation are of good quality too. To wrap it up, Uma Musume turned out to be a great surprise for me and I enjoyed it in every aspect. I highly recommend it, no matter if it's the slice of life, the races, the horse girls or the comedy that you're looking for. I hope you will love my horse girls as well!

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