Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - Shin Jidai no Tobira

And just like that, Umamusume has once again risen from the ashes.

I do not play the Umamusume game mainly because I find gacha games very dubious and that I can't really read Japanese. Nevertheless, I was a fan of the first and the second season of the anime series. When I heard of this movie, I was quite hesitant because while it has enjoyable moments, the third series was just a notable let-down in my opinion. I've watched cute horse girls run the shit around loops of grass and soil for dozens of episodes already, I've seen them lose, win, cry, sing, dance, eat piles ... of carrots, and run around loops of lumpy terrain some more. Surely it would have ran out of steam now, right?

Apparently not.

This movie is basically a short season of Umamusume, which manages its time well to avoid repeating the training montages which were already plentiful in the series. Compared to the rather down-to-earth protagonists, our main character is the cocky and downright feisty Jungle Pocket who actually give some new flavor to the staling portions of the series. The story kicks up fast... almost breakneck in its initial minutes. Jungle Pocket is no different from any shonen protagonist and while her motivation aint really that compelling, she is much better a protagonist than Kitasan Black. There are scenes involving some characters from past seasons and was always a delight to see them again even when they were just for a few seconds of cameo. HOWEVER, what stood out here in the movie were the rivals.

I've loved Gold Ship and always elevates any episode with her in it but goddamn is Agnes Tachyon a bombshell of a character. Her introduction, her personality, her voice, and her motivation was interesting. It would've been enough but the movie had the gall to give her the coolest running sequence in the series. I shit you not, her running animation and specially the sound design was spectacular. She is the best rival figure ever introduced in the whole series and that was not to mention that she is the only horse girl with a default yandere face. Also there is another rival, Manhattan Cafe who is a downright adorable goth with a mysterious affliction and mental condition. Oh and Dantsu Flame... is there. Ok so 2/3 of rivals are actually good but Agnes was just the absolute scene stealer.

The best thing in the movie was the sound and art. It just oozes style during its gorgeously animated running scenes specially with the aforementioned Agnes Tachyon scenes. I thought S3's sequences were already peak but apparently it just got ran over with this. Characterization was alright for most supporting characters. The resolution was just alright as well though I suppose this was again based on the real careers of the horses the series based them off. I doubt Umamusume as a whole will top the climax of season 2 but this was a good attempt. In the end, Jungle Pocket was worthy of rooting for, ended with a great dance number, and most of all, I was blessed with a lot of yandere glances in the Umamusume universe. I thought it would never happen

However, the movie has janks I just cant ignore. The slapstick humor around Jungle Pocket just...did not work. Her VA voice acting just sometimes does not match the needed energy for certain scenes. Likewise Dantsu Flame was forgettable and barely has presence despite her screentime. I needed to google her name just for me to remind she was part of the movie. It still uses the same athletic anime formula with some tweaks here and there. I still watched girls with horse ears and tails running in goddamn high heels going mach 4 around an arena of grass and soil. Only this time, with prettier graphics, greater sound design, and a new girl with a stare that sees through my soul. Hell, Agnes was enough to see this movie.

Watch this with the best audio setup available. The running scenes here are equal or better than most shonen fight sequences. Action-packed, mostly strong characterization, a differently-built protagonist, and Agnes Tachyon.

Just as some people adore watching race in an oval for ungodly amount of laps, I will continue to keep watching horse girls run some more dirt tracks. More Umamusume please. And more Agnes.

9/10

Overall Recommendation (Spoiler Free):

This movie can be watched with no prior knowledge of the series and is independent of previous installments. I believe it deserves a spot in the top anime movies of all time, and would recommend it to anyone even slightly intrigued by the premise or who is otherwise a fan of the sports genre.



Review (Spoilers Ahead):

Thank you for your time, I hope you enjoy reading my review.

The depiction of three hard-edged characters with often grave and sometimes almost sinister expressions is a significant departure from the past installments, which feature sweeter, gentler personalities. This change from an established trend whilst holding to ... the overarching themes is a constant of the series and I believe one of the reasons it has managed to hold its momentum through so many installments with largely similar premises. This movie marks the biggest such change, so much so that in the first few minutes I found myself thinking “Is this the Umamusume we know?”, yet it has been pulled off brilliantly. In particular, Tachyon’s permanently ‘V’ shaped mouth and almost disturbing gaze made her instantly unforgettable. A few frames of abstraction were used strategically throughout the first half, such as the hungry grin of Pocket in the classroom as she watches her prey draw on the window. The frames wherein the characters literally dissolve in shock were very Bocchi-esque and really sold those expressions.

During Tachyon’s change of heart - as she goes to leave the stands at the Derby - the use of a geiger-counter-like sound as a build up to Jungle Pocket’s victory roar is genius. It ties into Tachyon’s mad scientist themes and has such a powerful impact through the use of a sound which the viewer will deeply associate with a great threat: radiation. The accompanying discordant sonar/siren-like sounds in this particular scene were also perfectly chosen and placed as a cue to the viewer that Tachyon’s thoughts and spirit are in great turmoil. The use of sound design to contradict her outward monologue as she climbs the stairs is masterful.

These powerful distinct sound elements stand in stark contrast with the general tone of very little background sound and music, particularly during many of the races, compared to past installments in the series. This blank canvas approach allows the race commentator’s passion and the thundering of hooves to take centre stage and heighten the drama.

It is also a bold move that relies on the visual and narrative elements of the movie to hold the viewer’s attention but therefore allows creative advantages not normally available to a production constantly backed by an OST. During the trip to the beach which comes as a narrative wind-down from the climactic Derby, the chirping of the cicadas paint as much of a vivid picture of sparkling summer as any tune could, and the strains and grunts of Pocket on the leg press at the gym are left unaccompanied to describe her effort, giving a more resonant sense of the work she is putting into her training.

The general absence of music allows its use to stand out more prominently, such as when the slow piano piece really sets the atmosphere during Fuji and Pocket’s chat at the festival. The transition from a set of traditionally directed and produced scenes to Pocket’s waking nightmare on the bus is a masterstroke. Realist elements such as the brief close-up on the bus wheels uncomfortably close speeding bus wheels, the single frame of the seatbelt cueing a sensation of being trapped, and Pocket’s increasingly restless legs are merged with visions of an endless chase across a vast grass flat and an unreal Tachyon grin crossing the spectre of Fuji’s face. This all serves to bring the viewer into the episode alongside Pocket herself.

These portions of moody brilliance are contrasted by moments of levity throughout the movie which are well placed and serve to accentuate the grand tone, resulting in Umamusume’s signature balance of serious high stakes and feel-good light-heartedness.

At times in the past the series has suffered a little from excessive use of the anime trope of ‘power-up shouting’. While there are moments of the classic Umamusume race climax internal monologues with building shouts, which this movie executes just as well as past installments: it also tells far more with its visual and audible effects as some of the races end with the main characters charging for the finish so intensely that not a word is spoken but for the commentator’s frantic calls.

The best example is the Yayoi Shou where Tachyon’s final push speaks entirely for itself as literal mathematical formulae begin to fall from her. As she picks up speed she begins to embody the storm which had overcast the racetrack and the viewer knows in an instant that there is a link to Cafe’s elusive “imaginary friend”.

Going back to Pocket’s win at the Derby, there is a long drawn out shot of Fuji Kiseki and Trainer Tanabe talking to one another with their eyes, a conversation that is clearly about Pocket but which the viewer is left out of, masterfully building tension for her roar and Tachyon’s realisation.

As usual with Umamusume there is very little if any fanservice or other unpleasant additions so often made in the name of increasing popularity and sales with degenerates. The movie is unapologetically straightforward in its purpose of telling a story of great rivalry, all the nuance that entails, and - crucially - nothing else.

Every scene advances the plot or develops the narrative without any filler; all the fat has been trimmed from the storyboard to the final cut in a way that is a hallmark of a great film. This is an example of how an anime movie really can reach heights of cinematography on par with a Tarantino, in its own way. I also believe the series as a whole demonstrates anime’s unique ability to take a bizarre premise - one that might even be called shallow at face value, particularly because it originated from a monetised mobile game - and develop it into novel, engaging stories that deserve as much appreciation as more conventional works.

The only two things I could say that don’t constitute total praise were that I was expecting a more conclusive ending and that I felt the idol concert was an unnecessary addition between the epic climax and the credits roll. After watching the movie I went online and learned that Tachyon never returned to racing. Given that the series likes to stay true to history, I therefore feel it is unfair of me to criticise the movie for not including the more conclusive finale I was expecting. Working within the constraints of the truth that they set for themselves, I actually believe the climax couldn’t have been better. It is remarkable that so much story was packed into a runtime of only 107 minutes. I also cannot criticise the movie for its idol concert ending, as this is an established element of the Umamusume world and it is only a matter of taste that I personally would enjoy the show even more without it. That being said, the scene did not actively detract from the movie and was very well produced.

One could go on ad nauseam with many more ways in which the movie excelled across all aspects: the whole world turning an oppressive red for several minutes throughout the reveal of Tachyon’s retirement, perfectly villainizing her; the breathtaking use of silhouettes and the neon-bright vending machine by a lonely torii gate; the illustrators’ craft taking a mechanism as simple, tried and true as heavy rainfall during Cafe’s big moment, and raising it to absolute art. But in the name of brevity, I will conclude my review here.

I suspect this movie will earn and retain an even higher spot on MAL’s Top Anime List once more people see it. I have decided to rate it a 10 despite the swift ending because with sufficient effort one can find something less than perfect in any work. This movie is undoubtedly a technical masterpiece.

The Uma Musume Movie.

Wow. I'm getting into this little review as a new fan of the anime, I've only really watched the series in full within the last 4 or 5 months and was really lucky to find a full version of this movie online earlier than anticipated, I thought I would be waiting at least until 2025 around when the next spin off season featuring Oguri-Cap is releasing, alas.


If you are a new or older fan to the series, I think this movie has absolutely everything for you. Did you ever wonder what it was like seeing a girl win the triple crown finally ... after witnessing special week, tokai teio and kitasan black all fail to deliver? A new cast of girls and some already existing cast all merge together at a much higher stakes and a much higher emotion ridden performance, in what seemed to be such a short movie comes together perfectly at the cost of your sanity. Yes that's right, after watching this you will go insane, you will be thinking, "should I actually watch real horse racing?" "Should I start gambling?" This show has taken itself to a whole new level with this movie, everything about it is so perfect to me.

The sound. The sound was better than anything I have ever heard, I checked to make sure David productions wasn't involved just to make sure, and I found out they hired Foley artists to make the most accurate and high quality sounds possible, if you have watched the movie, I'm sure you understand exactly how accurate and well designed the sound scaping was, truly a masterclass work and truly captivated me, leaving me with goosebumps several times and a newfound enjoyment for what goes on behind the scenes on making an anime movie.

Enough about the sound, the cream of the crop, the animation and cinematography, a word I wouldn't have seen myself having said a few years ago, both were absolutely breathtaking. The one scene where Jungle pocket had almost a PTSD ridden existential crisis about not being good enough and being hung over the "what ifs" it was framed perfectly, the use of sounds and animation was perfect, and the lots of little details really added uo to the enjoyment, and it proved that not only were the races high spec and enjoyable, but the actual movie itself outside of only just the "hype" moments, in which many anime seem to only put good animation and focus on "hype" rather than a well balanced approach.

Anyway enough of my rambling, you wanted a review, and to keep it super short, if you love cute, tomboyish and crazy girls doing some crazy epic running, this movie is for you, and I hope that you enjoy it a fraction of that I certainly did, this is honestly a top 3 anike movie for me I have ever seen, and I was I could describe in better words just how I feel after watching this without adding too many spoilers, since I do hardly write reviews after all.

10/10 animation
11/10 sound
10/10 cinematography
10/10 voice acting
Overall: perfect.