Uma Musume: Pretty Derby - Shin Jidai no Tobira

It's everything I hoped for and more.

Coincidentally caught the movie while on vacation in Tokyo recently and was once again impressed by this series. The movie manages to capture in great detail the serious elements seen in S2. I found no pacing issues in it's arguably short runtime.

While all of the elements of the movie stood out as amazing, the direction and cinematography particularly during races is to me worth much more than my mere 2000 yen ticket. Even if a new viewer had not watched any previous installments in the film, the movie is presented in a manner that conveys the basic premise ... extremely well without making the movie difficult for fans of the series.

One of the best movie I've ever seen

BOANE premiered in cinemas on May 24th this year, and I've waited for a chance to see it outside of cinemas, especially with the high praise it got from those who got the opportunity to see it. Even with the high bar of expectation that was set for it, it exceeded it in all metrics.

Tight pacing, incredible composition, beautiful colors, fluid animation, wonderful character writing, and acting, and it all meshes in 1 hour and 45 minutes of absolute cinema. It is everything that you'd want in a movie. Everything that Cygames has done in the past is completely ... outclassed by this movie, for it seems that they took what they've learned from making previous shows like Priconne and bangbangbravern and applied that knowledge to make this movie.

Will not go into details so that more people can watch this unspoiled, but I will point out my one nitpick of the movie is Cafe's slightly lacking involvement in the movie, despite being promoted as part of the main 4. This is a nitpick because she did serve her purpose in the narrative and theme of the movie, but I do think it is the time constraint of 1 hour and 45 minutes that causes this, however, this does mean that they managed to focus more on Jungle pocket and keeping the pacing tight, which is definitely the right decision.

The epitome of sports anime.

Since Umamusume's anime debut in 2018, the series has undergone a very noticeable evolution. Initially, what was an easygoing CGDCT with horse girls inspired by IRL racehorses shifted to stories that focused on building drama through more serious narratives and greater emphasis on the sports aspect.
This entry is a culmination of how ambitious the telling of these stories gets.

Plot: Cypictures creates a simple yet very entertaining story.
Our protagonist horse girl wants to become the strongest, and despite feeling the impact of setbacks, she keeps pushing forward to make her ambition come true.

Characters: Some characters might ... be pointed out as the weakest link in this movie - some criticism is warranted given a lack of greater development throughout the movie given their position. This could probably have been remedied by a longer runtime, which also affected other aspects, but I'll put that for later.
Despite this problem, they are all fine. Pokke, especially, is very fun. Writers struck an excellent balance between her energetic and competitive personality - without overstepping into exaggerations and cringe -, with a more centered behavior of a normal person that feels appropriate.
The depiction of the effects of Pokke's "setbacks" on her performance during the movie feels very real and has subtlety to it.

Pacing: The last act of the movie felt constrained by the runtime. This rush had some effect on the delivery of the climax, which could have been more impactful if given the proper extra time.

Visuals/Sound/Direction: This last point is what makes this movie shine. The animation is outstanding, nothing short of. This movie delivers one of the best productions recorded in modern anime.
The ambitious direction heightens the weight of scenes through a myriad of employed elements: dynamic angles and pan shots, overaccentuated facial expressions, unorthodox soundtracks, visual imagery, and sound effects come together to create an experience that is absolutely unique.

Due to the simplicity of the story, some problems with the characters, and a little bit of trouble structuring the final stretch, I don't feel like a 10/10 is quite appropriate for this movie.

9/10