Season 3 of Uma Musume is Another Win for The Champion
To say the third season of Uma Musume was my most anticipated anime of this season would be a massive understatement. The impact Uma Musume has had since its last season in 2021 has been, much to the dismay of my loved ones, nothing short of critical. Some of my worst hardships have been handled with playing the mobile game, or looking at beautiful art its lovely community has made (and no, I don’t mean art). Sadly, I was recently IP banned from playing the mobile game (Cygames has been aggressive with stopping non JP users from accessing the game- maybe signs of the global release soon?) and I had to say “goodbye horses” to my collection of goofy horsegirls I couldn’t understand what they were saying to me. Nevertheless, I still keep track of updates to the game and engage in conversation with other fans. I’ve even started planning buying cosplay dresses for some upcoming runs (if you’re interested in me chronicling that, let me know, I think it might be fun).
With two full years of support and new names in the corral to choose from, this third season has wasted no time introducing viewers to dozens of new characters. Kitasan Black and Satano Diamond may be the main characters (and two we have seen in season two, albeit when they were ch- colts???), but the anime has not been shy to put some shine on wonderful characters such as Copano Rickey, Cheval Grand, Duramente, Sounds of Earth (my love), and Satono Crown to name a few. This show is busy with throwing a quantity of characters akin to something wild like the Marvel Cinematic Universe at the screen at once, but it never feels rushed or bloated.
Something that I adore about this season in particular is how unique it stands out in comparison to the others. Season one welcomed us to the world of horsegirls and racings through Special Week. She witnessed the challenges and joys others have from racing and even found her own “why” to running. Season two explored the highest highs and lowest lows of an athlete by following Tokai Teio and her climb to the top, meteoric fall, and her scrapping and resilience to return to doing what she loved. This season, we have had a bit more of a blend of the heights of season two with the wonderment of the first. The overall tone is much more positive, as the ensemble remains healthy for the most part (with exception of one, but even she rebounds remarkably fast in a borderline comedic fashion). Rather, the horsegirls are all “slow starters’’ in their racing careers and experience gradual climbs in their decorated careers. The narrative goes out of its way to explain that Kitasan is essentially the Terminator and is immune to injury and decides to do training in the mountains like she is Rocky Balboa in Rocky 4 as she slowly shapes into a Hall of Fame runner. Meanwhile, Satano Diamond’s commitment to being an inspiration to her family name and breaking a long streak of losing provides a gripping, tearjerking drama.
What really surprised me this season, however, was the love that some of the older characters have gotten narratively. Fan favorite, YouTube star Gold Ship, the “senpai” of the cast, notoriously swings from being the best runner in the show to lazing around (a fun note here is that the real Gold Ship horse accurately was like this- super streaky and even acting like a goofball to trainers and competitors). At the end of her time in the league the cast runs in, we get a very emotional peek into the finale of her career. Another fan favorite, Nice Nature, finds arguably some of the biggest glow up as she becomes a direct mentor figure for Kitasan almost every episode (another fun fact, Uma Musume fans funded a comfortable retirement for the real life Nice Nature as the horse was living in less than ideal circumstances in their retirement). As expected, Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen provide moving insight into their underclassman’s circumstances to very emotional effect. Heck, we even see once stoic Mihono Bourbon inspire Kitasan with fire and pep (now if only they would do something about Silence Suzuka, who has about as much personality as unflavored gum). It reminds me of the charm of the anime for Princess Connect Re:Dive(u) where the second season continued to expand on the good times with older characters.
Overall, I write this article as a sort of love letter for the franchise. I mentioned in my last Uma Musume article how much I appreciated the care and focus it has with running as a sport. It’s the single most important thing to me in my life aside from my family and dog. Maybe that is why this became an obsession for me. Even after losing access to the mobile game, the characters and music ooze a charm that I find myself coming back to as a “go to” for self care. I wouldn’t wish for a rushed global release of the gacha if not solely because I’d rather not see Crunchyroll Games publish it as this is a death sentence for titles…rest well, Princess Connect. Some of my friends and family don’t really understand where my fandom really stems from, and its hard to explain. This is arguably one of the most difficult things to explain cold turkey to someone. It is a sports anime franchise, but its about…horses. But not real horses, they’re horsegirls. But not in the way most people gravitate towards thinking. They’re athletes, with a love for running and very human inspirations. There are beautiful outfits full of as much character as the cast themselves. Its narrative speaks to my heart as a runner. And to top it all off, every race and character is cleverly written based off of their real-life counterparts. In many ways, this is one of those rare cases where the right piece of media hit me at the right time in my life. Something like that is rare, and I will forever be grateful for that.
