Uma Musume: Pretty Derby (2018)

[ウマ娘 プリティーダービー]

Season 1

Director: Kei Oikawa
Studio: PA Works
Starring: Azumi Waki, Marika Kouno, Koji Okino
Episodes: 13

Synopsis:
A horse girl from Hokkaido travels to Tokyo with the dream of becoming the #1 horse girl in Japan.

Impressions:
This franchise first came to my attention when they were promoting it in Granblue Fantasy. It wasn't until the game was released on DMM that I decided to check it out and from there came to this anime. So the franchise is all about anthropomorphized horses based on real-life racehorses... who are also idol singers, because Japan. Now, if you're not a fan of idol stuff, you will be pleased to learn that it's not much of a focus (and if you are a fan of idol stuff, be aware that it's a distant second to the main focus, which is the races). As I said, the characters are based on real-life racehorses and if you start looking into their history, there will be spoilers for the story. Alternatively, you may enjoy the additional layer that comes with the knowledge. The show does a decent job of balancing the large cast, giving them screentime of varying degrees while keeping the narrative focused on Special Week and her teammates. Special Week is a bit conventional as a protagonist, but I guess that translates to general appeal. If nothing else, it serves to help highlight the more idiosyncratic cast members. We get some decent ups and downs along the way, making for an all-around satisfying experience. It's definitely better than most people would expect from not only a game adaptation but one with a premise like this. It's worth a watch, so give it a shot.

Rating:
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