We should talk more about the good parts of Pretty Derby because I'm tired of it getting clowned on as if everything good about Umamusume didn't start with that anime. Cinderella Gray wouldn't exist if that anime didn't exist. It's not a perfect show by far, I've mentioned some of my own issues with it, but I also love talking about what I love about Pretty Derby.
Season 1 has legit some of my most favorite moments of the whole franchise because of how unexpected those moments are in what is mostly a feel good wholesome (and very gay) series.
Like the way that everyone reacts to Suzuka's injury in the moment after the foreshadowing we get from Grass Wonder about how serious injuries to the legs can be. The fact that Special Week saves Suzuka is like come on, that is a peak moment.
And then you have the phone conversation between El Condor Pasa and Special Week, which fucked me up when I watched it and still does when I think about it, because here El is being all cheery and optimistic only to slowly lose all of her composure. Spe-chan does not know what to do, one of her friends is breaking down on the phone with her and she is just flummoxed on how to help or how to even process it. Like it really gives you that other side of winning and how it feels to want something so bad only to lose when you've been riding that high on victories.
And then the scene with Grass Wonder, for real everything about Grass and Spe-chan's rivalry and how one-sided it is because Special Week just does not have her head in the game. Grass is just SAVAGE when she comments on how she gave her all against Special Week and hoped she could have done the same for her. And really the way Special Week has to relearn her ambition and drive because she's become so hyperfocused on Suzuka and she has to recognize she is holding BOTH of them back in the process. Like I love that kind of unintentionally toxic codependency.
Everyone talks up about how great Season 2 is, and it is really good, but honestly, as much as I still enjoyed it, Teio and McQueen aren't who I got invested in. I was invested in Nice Nature who keeps trying so hard and yet never gets there and we see her progression of acceptance and growth from that in Season 3. I was locked in about Rice Shower and Mihono Bourbon. God Rice's arc in S2 is so much more interesting to me tbh than the "athlete is injured and has to keep battling their way back to their sport" storyline which was AMAZING but like we have seen it before. It's not a unique story for sports anime/media.
Rice Shower's story though. Now that is an entirely unique story. To be hated for winning when you wanted people to love you for succeeding. To feel like you are punished for doing the thing you are MEANT to do, to feel like you are a curse on others around you because you stop them from achieving their dreams by achieving your own. Also just Bourbon and Rice are the gayest somehow in the whole series. There is nothing straight about their relationship and how they are with each other. Ride or die MihoRice stan here.
And then there's Season 3. Season 3 that people criticize for "turning Kitasan Black into an underdog when she shouldn't be" but I don't think that is what they are trying to do with Season 3 and why I really loved it. I think instead Season 3 is about the life of an athlete, what it means to be one in all facets of it. It's about a character who knows they SHOULDN'T be the underdog but kept losing anyway for a while. To show how even the most peak of athletes aren't perfect, they can still lose, because others can be just is good. That is why Kitasan keeps getting upset because she's like "I have all the skills, I gave it EVERYTHING, why didn't I win???" Ya know? Like she's not an underdog, but someone else just ended up being BETTER and that person is a rival she ends up never being able to beat.
Then when she's just THAT GOOD, suddenly...her time is almost up. And she has to come to terms with being past her prime. With knowing she can never be who she once was. She's on limited time. And she has to make the decision as an athlete when to accept this and go out. Season 3 is about recognizing when to go out on your own terms before someone else or something else doesn't give you that choice anymore. And that is actually a lot more relatable to me because I've never suffered severe injuries as an athlete before. But I've gotten hurt. I've gotten older. I've seen my body move slower, my reactions not being what they once were. Time comes for us all, and the chance to leave something you love on a high-note of your own making just hits different for me. I love Season 3 so much for that.
I also love the fact that Cheval Grand basically declares her love for Kitasan by beating her while working through her own feelings of self-worth and inadequancy with her sisters. And how messed up EVERYTHING going on with the Satono Clan is and all its messy implications. Yep sure do love me a lot of that. And Nice Nature being a mentor figure without even trying to be because Kitasan kept going to her for advice. So many good things in S3.
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