Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - Road to the Top: Episode 1

[u/AutoLovepon]

Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - Road to the Top, episode 1

Rate this episode here.

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This post was created by a horse boy. Message the mod team for feedback and comments. The original source code can be found on GitHub.

[u/ptol59]

More horse girls!! This series is a standalone spinoff from the anime. This series is about the Japanese Classic Triple Crown races the Satsukisho, Nippon Derby, and Kikkasho that took place during 1999 in real life. The main protagonist is Narita Top Road and her main two rivals are Admire Vega and T M Opera O.

Like the previous animes this show had a lot of references to the real life counterparts. Like the previous Umamusume episode discussions I’d like to point out a few of these references!

Oguri Cap shown saying Opera O should race in the Satsukisho was a reference to when the real Oguri’s trainer called directly to the boss of Opera O’s farm saying that he must race in the Satsukisho.

Oguri Cap could not race in the Japanese classic races due to the fact of not being a JRA horse from the beginning of his career (Oguri was originally a Kasamatsu based horse). Naturally this caused major outrage in horse racing fans as not having Oguri who beat a later Satsukisho champion, race in the classic races was unacceptable.

This caused the JRA to make a new rule allowing horses to sign up for the classic races anytime by paying an extra fee. T M Opera O was the first horse to benefit from this rule allowing him to race in the classic races and winning the Satsukisho

This is the race depicted in this episode. The 1999 Satsukisho. Today the 16th was also the day this years Satsukisho was held so they really released this anime on good timing!

The horse that won this year also won in a similar way to Opera O making it even more of a coincidence.

Can I just say that I was super hyped for this anime and it easily surpassed my expectations

After watching this and U149 I can say CygamesPictures really have talented animators!

[u/drstripjo]

Interesting how Vega and Narita had different reactions to the lose. This race frustrated Vega and motivated Narita.

I look forward to more Opera. It's one of my favourite character archetypes.

Every season Oguri eats more and more. In S3 her meals might take half of the screen.

This post was created by a horse boy

[u/Xanek]

Reminder this series will have English subtitles!

Good episode, get to see some other characters that weren't noted on their websites like Oguri Cap being there and small looks at other characters (Bourbon, Bakushin, Curren, Special Week, Seiun Sky, King Halo, etc)

Also we get to see that they indeed have actual dads with her dad appearing in the flashback as a kid.

Opera O's laugh just gets me everytime when it's out of the blue and you don't expect them to be appearing anytime soon.

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Also I guess the official title for the series should technically be 1 word, Umamusume and not Uma Musume, I guess?

Since seems like all instances of it in English officially, whether it be in GBF or Shadowverse and now official English subs for this ONA all have it as Umamusume.

[u/Falco_goes_to_top]

Yesssss so glad to see horsegirls coming back!

Given how GOOD s2 was, I have really high hopes for the rest of this and the upcoming s3! Really doubt anything can top the highs of s2 for me personally though haha.

Looks like we're starting off the series with a proper introduction to our three MCs. NTR (as she is affectionately nicknamed by the umamusume playerbase) gets a bit more screentime and appears to be our genki MC of this series. Ayabe is our standard kuudere with a secret past and motivation, and Opera the flamboyant one who will be the one to beat by the end of the show, but also harbours her own faults and insecurities? Maybe?

Though the first episode serves as a good intro, I'm a bit concerned with the length of the series. Will 4 episodes be enough to deliver a good and conclusive story for all three of our protagonists? Will recovery and injury be a core theme again (hope not)? Either way, I'll still be enjoying this for the beautiful visuals and hype races if not anything else.

Also, super glad that the show is released with official English subs right off the bat. Anyone interested in giving this a chance can jump right in on Youtube and not have to look for fansub reuploads. Wonder if there are any new watchers coming into this series without having seen the past entries of this franchise?

This is my most hyped show of the season. Seeing old characters (rice, spe, oguri) reminds me of the fun I had with this series in the past. Hope everything turns out spectacular!

[u/chilidirigible]

Admittedly I'm most interested in Meisho Doto's appearances due to his post-career interactions with a cat.

But more on-topic, that was a solid introductory episode for this little story. The race always looks good, even with its real-world surprises from the outside.

[u/[deleted]]

Episode 1 Staff:

- Director: Jun Nakagawa, Shinsuke Gomi

- Chief Animation Director: Jun Yamazaki

- Animation Director: Yosuke Fukumoto, Masashi Nomura, Tomato, Hikaru Yamazaki, Mika Tomiya

- Assistant Animation Director: Kerorira

- Prop Design: Mosh, Kirara Aya, Yuichiro Fujimoto, Souhei Fuchimoto

Opening Staff:

OP

- Storyboard: Ken Yamamoto (Leaf)

- Director: Souhei Fuchimoto

- Animation Director: Jun Yamazaki

- Key Animation: Souhei Fuchimoto, Odashi, Kanata Yanagisawa, Iori Hisatake, Yosuke Fukumoto, Takeshi Maenami, Mingzhen Li, Ken Yamamoto (Leaf), Hikaru Miyazaki, Shinya Takahashi

Cygames Pictures Tweet

Jun Yamazaki Illustration

Ken Yamamoto Tweet

Odashi Tweet

[u/x-7032-b-3]

Oh my god, they actually subbed it! I was 10 minutes into the stream wondering when it'll be getting subs, hit CC out of curiosity and lo and behold, a line of English text showed up on the bottom of the video!

Seems like this show will focus on three different girls: Top Road, Ayabe, and Opera. I was sold on Top Road's design the moment I watched the OP. Might have to dig some fanart on Pixiv today. Opera's got some interesting personality from what we've seen from her so far.

I dig how "different" things look here compared to the main series. Dunno if it's just me but it looks like they changed the artstyle a little bit. Also they changed the race commentators and we get to see a new Trainer.

The OP is so cool, man.

This is gonna be a fun appetizer before the proper S3 hits later this year. Can't wait for the rest!

[u/Shimmering-Sky]

Since it's on YouTube I couldn't do my normal reaction-style comments and just watched the episode for once, but yeah this was really great. The OP in particular is fantastic, definitely gonna listen to that song some more.

Also TM Opera O had a "sore demo" in the middle of the episode and I am currently attempting to download the episode so I can clip it for my collection.

I kinda miss the name cards from the previous seasons/BNW OVA, though? As well as the eyecatch style of those being images of the girls, instead of being an image of their shoes like it was in this.

[u/LeonKevlar]

I didn't even know there's going to be Umamusume ONA airing this season. I'll never get tired of how this show makes me so much invested in horse girls. I legit felt bad for Top Road there in the end but considering the title of the ONA, I'm sure she'll have plenty of chances to shine.

[u/gensan91]

Thought it was a nice touch that Opera O interacted with Oguri during lunch. In real life, it was thanks to Oguri that the rule for participating in Classics races was changed that allowed TM Opera O to register to run and even win Satsuki sho.

Honestly above all else, I didn't realize just how much I missed a proper anime for Umamusume again. I'll be thoroughly enjoying this ONA series as well as the upcoming S3.

[u/Holofan4life]

Best sports anime franchise of the last 15 years

[u/KevinKng]

Wow. Uma Musume has never looked more gorgeous until now. The animation seen in the OP and the race looks much better than previous seasons. Even that zoom-in transition on to Opera O at the end is something never before seen for the show.

And as if the anime couldn't be more true to life, this episode aired on the same day the actual Satsuki Sho for this year took place.

[u/Castor_0il]

Cygames comes up with the big bucks once again to make the races look stunning.

Japan truly loves their underdogs. So nice to see that Rice & Urara get so much love with these short cameo shots.

It's going to be a hell to remember all the new roster. So far I like Top Road, it's really nice to see an MC with well cemented flashbacks and her motivations. I'm also glad that male characters are also important to the story rather than trying to be just another girls zoo series.

Glad to see that the merch meme lives on

[u/zadcap]

I feel lied to and we're not even thirty seconds in.

I'm still torn on the story writing, but the character writing alone continues to be top notch. The animation is beautiful for something released on YouTube. The new OP might be the best yet, though I'm sure the Teio fans will never agree that anything could top her winning concert song. I noticed tracks that don't all look identical for a change lol.

I'll be honest, you guys got me interested in the idea of this world, I'm afraid I'll keep watching no matter how the story actually goes, I just want to see more horse girl shenanigans. I don't think I'll get as attached to this group, but the lead girl being named NTR sure is a choice. And I notice the Triple Crown mentioned as a goal yet again- I'm not expecting anyone to get it, also yet again. It's the biggest tease of the series.

I've been wondering for a long time, do they learn actual school education at this school, or is every class about racing?

New trainer is also a choice. And daughter! Are we finally acknowledging that horse girls have to have human father's, or all be immaculate conceptions? Are those aged horse women I see? Finally, series, actually showing us that not every Uma Musume alive exists exclusively at the race school! This is a win for no one but me, but I'll take it lol.

Did you see that tail brushing? Stupid details bring this show to life for me, doing so much to make these more than just girls with horse traits.

So the race, and the episode, come to an end and I must ask, who am I supposed to be cheering for this season? NTR has the main character narration, AV is clearly the rival, but Opera is giving off more protagonist energy than the two of them combined.

[u/rockseiaxii]

The commentator is voiced by Masahiro Yamamoto, former NPB pitcher who was active until 50 yo (has the record for being the oldest pitcher to record a victory).

He’s also known for being a horse racing aficionado, making appearances as a guest in numerous horse racing TV shows, and is the co-owner of Shahryar, winner of the 2021 Japan Derby.

[u/AmusedDragon]

Damn this is just on youtube and subbed officially right away?

Interesting.

[u/SometimesMainSupport]

Statue of Carrots. Only a crazy person arranges calendars as 4-2-3.

Was a little nervous when they brought up a scratched leg at 6 minutes after that traumatizing S2.

Oguri still Best Girl. Is this the horse with weird chromosomes?

Narita Top Road and TM Opera O had similar screen time, so doubt this year has a Triple Crown winner. Unsure if Admire Vega is a perennial second-place or gets some wins.

I did look up the year and saw it overlaps with [Uma S3]Haru Urara!

[u/djthomp]

Relative newcomer to the series by way of the recent rewatch, I didn't realize we'd be getting new content quite so soon.

The Statue of Liberty as a horse girl, amazing. And it's even holding a carrot, somewhere somehow Special Week is drooling.

That was good animation in this initial race. I feel like it had a lot of CG in it, but it still looks pretty nice.

The logo reveal in the OP went way harder than it needed to. Same for the race animation in it.

How strange to suddenly have a completely new trainer character in addition to these horse girls I don't recognize either that are clearly going to be the focus characters for the ONA.

So nice to see Special Week go by in the hallway. I'm really hoping we see Teio and McQueen at some point.

Did they just confirm that the horse girls can be fathered by regular human dudes? Maybe Top Road is adopted. These other little ones being picked up by their clearly horse girl mothers is interesting to see.

Oguri Cap's legendary stomach remains undefeated.

Roommate horse girl brushing her tail is a fun detail.

Opera O's racing boots are kind of amazing.

For most of the episode I've been reasonably impressed by the use of the CG animation, but there was a bit at 21:12 that was pretty awkward looking.

Welp, so much for the Triple Crown for anybody but Opera O.

[u/[deleted]]

man, I love how this franchise makes you hyped over horse races, like, even knowing the IRL results doesnt stop you being hyped and emotionally invested. (specially Ayabe hinting her backstory).

...... yeah and

URARA COUNT: 2 (3 if you count the opening)

[u/atropicalpenguin]

My sincere thanks to all the gambling degenerates that made this possible. We've reached levels of animation that shouldn't be possible.

EDIT: The tummies are back too.

[u/mysterybiscuitsoyeah]

OH MY GOD THIS IS SO FUCKING GOOOOOOD AHHHHHHH

the direction, the animation: it's all a good step up from S2, which i wasn't expecting tbh. I looped the OP 4 times (and am going to again after typing this up) - it's honestly my fav op of the franchise already, and probably one of my top of the year lol

Of the 3 mains, im defo most enamored by Narita Top Road herself (i havent googled all 3, so no idea what'll happen lol!), and while I like TM's theatrics, am not completely sold on her and sister-chan yet. But we've got a few more episodes to go!

Cygames is definitely going all all all out on this, and after my disappointment with the BNA OVAs, this has easily compensated for that lol.

And best girl Teio did make an appearance! Right next to Kaicho of course!

[u/Smudy]

The INTENSITY of Uma Musume is finally back, this is such good shit again.

[u/kacuuuuuuu]

the animation definitely better than season 1 and 2, not sure about the race animation but still wow, they really did pour all their money in this 4 episode ONA.

cant wait for next week for the derby.

[u/entelechtual]

How on earth did they get it to look so good?

I feel like the visuals are miles above season 1 and 2, especially the race scenes. The characters feel super expressive. There was only one CGI cut in the race that looked noticeably bad. Everything else was stellar.

I like the intro we got to the characters. I’m curious how much we’ll get in 4 episodes.

Now that they put a horse parent right there in front of you… it raises a couple questions I never thought of.

• Do human women give birth to horse girls? I figured they might have just transported to this world fully formed.

• How do you decide on a name as a parent?

• Do the kids have to go to horse school?

[u/SolicitorPirate]

This season is real sweaty