Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - Road to the Top
ウマ娘 プリティーダービー Road to the Top
After making a promise to stand on the top of the Twinkle Series with her trainer as a child, horse girl Narita Top Road has been practicing diligently ever since. After winning several races, Top Road's efforts finally pay off when she earns a chance to participate in the race she has always dreamed of: the first race of the prestigious Classic Triple Crown, the Satsuki Sho. However, winning the Satsuki Sho is no simple task. Numerous brilliant horse girls are also joining the race—including two other rising racers—the flamboyant T.M. Opera O and the reserved Admire Vega, who seeks revenge against Top Road for a previous defeat. Although triumphing in the Satsuki Sho and the rest of the Triple Crown races is far from guaranteed, there is nothing that can stop Top Road on her road to the top. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Synopsis
After making a promise to stand on the top of the Twinkle Series with her trainer as a child, horse girl Narita Top Road has been practicing diligently ever since. After winning several races, Top Road's efforts finally pay off when she earns a chance to participate in the race she has always dreamed of: the first race of the prestigious Classic Triple Crown, the Satsuki Sho. However, winning the Satsuki Sho is no simple task. Numerous brilliant horse girls are also joining the race—including two other rising racers—the flamboyant T.M. Opera O and the reserved Admire Vega, who seeks revenge against Top Road for a previous defeat. Although triumphing in the Satsuki Sho and the rest of the Triple Crown races is far from guaranteed, there is nothing that can stop Top Road on her road to the top. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Characters
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Supporting
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Trailer
Reviews(10)
-BL0SS0M-
May 8, 2023
Road to the Top focuses primarily on both Narita Top Road’s and Admire Vega’s ambitions to win the three Classic competitions (similar to the American triple crown). This being a side story the other parts of the franchise are not necessary prerequisites to watch this, but would help in the sense of knowing the cast members and concept of Uma Musume a little deeper. With only four episodes of runtime the story is largely concise and stays focused on developing the main pair. Many aspects familiar from the television series are there (comedy, character cameos, etc), but toned down in order to not stray toofar from the core plot line of training and competing. Narita Top Road takes the role of primary main character, and her portrayal is fairly straightforward in comparison to her primary rival, Admire Vega, who has a somewhat emotional backstory giving her drive. Frankly I found that T.M. Opera seemed more like a supporting character, as she lacked much development and often fell to the background in favor of the racing rivalry between the two previously mentioned girls. I would say this is the primary negative along with Admire’s story becoming a little too single-mindedly fixated on her sister, but frankly the fact that the story’s focus wasn’t spread too thinly worked out due to the limited amount of episodes to work with. With more runtime this could rival the impactful story of the second season, but what emotional scenes are present are used appropriately and don’t feel too overly dramatic. Having not played the original game or know the source content with much depth I can’t say how accurately this is adapted, but from what I can tell the historical aspects connecting each girl with their real world namesake’s achievements is done well, and the flow of the story rarely feels too choppy or rushed. In terms of audio & visuals - excellent. There are a wide range of instances where they go the extra step in portrayals of scenes. Small hand/facial movements at times show emotions without needing the scene to be voiced, while during races sound effects of everything from jangling of metallic adornments on clothing to the running of the girls themselves enhance what’s being shown. Off of this the shift in how the races are directed compared to the TV seasons is the most notable. The racing feels more powerful and almost intimate with the main cast due to the camera angles being used as well as the largely hand drawn focus allowing more creative freedom in how their speed is expressed. Instead of the viewer largely watching the race like a spectator, this actively imbeds you inside the race itself. There are numerous instances where it wouldn’t have been out of place to rely on CGI, but they chose not to. The music and OST I would say is safely on par with the television seasons in quality, and appropriately capture the tone of each scene. This overall matched if not exceeded my expectations on how well this would turn out, and while they are done by different studios this has only bolstered how much I’m looking forward to the third season. It would be really nice if Cygames continued to produce quality side stories like this in-between full length seasonal anime in the future. I would definitely recommend this as either a small sample of the franchise for someone new to Uma Musume, or to a returning seasonal viewer who wants some more quality horse racing action.
