There’s a series that’s pretty funny from the outside but outright personal on the inside and I would personally like to put Uma Musume as a prime example. From the start, the series with season 1 started very promisingly despite what others would say. It’s a reimagination of horse events that happened in Japan (and I would like to remind you that those events are still happening, even to this day) but now, with horse girls with entirely unique personalities and motives to keep the whole thing fresh. It worked out well when it was fully built but even I have to admit that it can be a bit too silly for its own good. So it didn’t hold my interest in the series that much. That was until the existence of season 2, which heavily changed the series for the very best. While I still think season 1 was solid, it can be pretty lacking when you consider everything about it from a narrative standpoint. Season 2 is where the series peaked and it exactly gave us what we expected from it.
---
If you missed it by now, the series is about horse girls who are both students and idols, all while having their own personalities as well as being based on each historical horse regarding their strengths and weaknesses in racing. Season 1 was about Special Week’s passion. Season 2 was about Tokai Teio’s passion. Despite these kinds of similarities, these two remained different from each other. One is more upbeat with entertainment and the other settles a little more on a serious tone. Despite season 2 coming out after the first, funnily enough, regarding the overall timeline, this one may come first. That is because season 1 is based on the 1998-1999 gen, whereas season 2 is based on the 1991-1993 gen. It’s pretty confusing, I know, but surely, you would get the hang of it if you study more about the events the franchise reimagines thus far. Season 2 is pretty similar to season 1. You got the Tracen Academy, where we see what the characters do outside of racing. You got the occasional comedic moments because the screenwriters thought it would be a nice change of pace. You got the idol moments which, to this day, are still rarely touched. And of course, you have racing, the main nucleus of the series. Now keyword, “pretty similar”. What are the major differences involved?
Let’s start with the worldbuilding, which is arguably a little bit downgraded. The worldbuilding in Uma Musume as a whole is very underrated because not only do the settings look clean and nice when considering the combination of narration and atmosphere, but it also connects with the series’ characters well. The overall settings truly show what each character is capable of, not just through racing, but through their unique quirks as well. Season 1 expanded this worldbuilding so greatly. Even if it’s not the most complex kind, it does show that the overall narration of the series is further expanded on its own behalf. Season 2 still excels at it quite well, it’s just that, in comparison, it doesn’t do much. Yes, the worldbuilding may be a bit more accurate regarding the elements of the atmosphere, but it’s just not as great. With that being said, what does season 2 excel at that the predecessor doesn’t do as much? Well… everything. In fact, this sequel further expands the overall potential the previous season gave at first, but doesn’t have much gravitas towards, and truly seeks out what the overall series is about. While it’s nice that season 1 is a bit more chill, just so it can slowly introduce the series’ unique gimmicks nicely, season 2 is more on board with the overall narrative.
For starters, the comedy is toned down quite decently. Yes, the humor in the series overall can be nice, but Uma Musume is not like Gintama, Konosuba, or Bocchi the Rock, where the funny is a main aspect. The reason why the series had comedy to begin it was because it needed some sort of fanservice whenever it finds itself with more entertainment value (and no, NOT THE fanservice you would normally think of). While there’s still a handful of comedic moments every now and again, it’s not used as much here as in season 1 and that’s for the better when the series needed more time to expand its main perks. Speaking of main perks, this finally brings us to one of the things season 2 truly excels at in the form of racing. It’s technically the same, the horse girls practice hard as shit before they enter the big race. Even if they lose, they’re only learning much more from here. However, only this direction on the aspect is much more compelling. We can actually see a lot more strategy from this. The strengths and weaknesses of each Uma are shown more when looking at how they attend each race. Season 2 brought more tension to each major racing scenario. This honestly took my main criticisms I had with season 1. While S1 does a nice job handling the racing aspects, it didn’t bring enough variety (by variety, I’m referring to the amount of tension) when it was a little too focused on comedic moments at times. S2 found what was missing in the previous and used it to its own advantage.
---
Strategy isn’t the only thing that makes the racing (and this season as a whole) truly great. We still have yet to address the elephant in the room: the duo between Teio and McQueen as well as their journeys and their legacies. The dynamics between Teio and McQueen are among the best in the series and possibly even the industry. Both of these characters truly aim to be the stars of the Derby they’re involved in. However, McQueen is more dominant than Teio (at least for now). Both have their pride to show that they want to achieve their own goals, but McQueen is a bit more on the serious side while Teio acts a bit more childish. Regardless, even if McQueen is a better racer, she teaches Teio about how to be a more formidable opponent. This is because she learns about how the racers deserve to improve, no matter what the scenario may be. While it may look difficult for her to handle Teio due to her childishness, in practice, their relationship with one another actually went well. McQueen shows Teio how winning in a race is not as simple as one would think, even if it isn’t your intention of being a remotely perfect racer, but still shows her the ways of how you can improve in various ways. This relationship is very compelling. McQueen truly cared about Teio despite having the potential will of beating her in a race and Teio wanted to be recognized as a champion by people, especially including one who we will get into in a bit.
So even though Teio can be pretty bratty at times, she willingly takes McQueen’s words and advice. Again, the reason why this relationship is truly great is because both of these characters point out their individual characteristics and motives, all while being great friends (or rivals?) with one another in order to keep their journey fresh. Think of this as some sort of parent-to-child relationship with a lot of jewels to analyze or something like that, even though Teio and McQueen aren’t really related to each other. But you wanna know who is and fits the parent-to-child premise with Teio more? Symboli Rudolf. She may not have a lot of screen time but she’s actually an important element for this show so ramble about her. Rudolf is who Teio wanted to be like, even if not necessarily on the same level. Fun fact: In real life, Rudolf is Teio’s father. Although this technically doesn’t translate into the anime well, considering that the vast majority of the cast consists of horse girls, the show uniquely makes it so Rudolf is Teio’s idol and guardian. One may call Rudolf a plot device but I do think she’s a charming character, despite her moments of cracking up dad jokes, because of her influence and she’s one of the reasons why Teio is a deeply nuanced main character.
On that specific topic, I want to ramble about why Teio is an incredibly well-crafted protagonist AND character. She acts silly and childish but she stills know how to get her shit together as a racer. Her juxtaposition of having her own vision of fun and finding her ways to mature as both a person and an opponent makes her very relatable AND profoundly believable. What strengthens her characterization and development even more is this. Teio wanted to be seen as a champion or at least a star amongst racers because she wants to show Rudolf how much she respects and carries her legacy. At the end of the day, however, she is flawed at racing. No matter how hard she tries, she potentially gets one-tapped by McQueen. She even gets gosh damn leg problems. All while still having a handful of traits of being a playful and angsty kid. And yet, she wouldn’t give 3 fractured shits. You want to know why? She always pushes forward. She has been taking the words from her trainer, Rudolf, and McQueen and uses them to her own advantage. She’s the lower knight that holds the spirit of a higher paladin, a niche trope that’s so badass yet poetic and Teio’s entire character is narratively and thematically one of the best examples of that. Her determination is very inspirational and brings a lot of impactful foresight.
Going back to the duo between Teio and McQueen, the aforementioned aspects like pointing each other out and acknowledging both their journey and legacy are growing stronger than ever as their bonds develop more and more. On top of that, they’re also becoming more personal, even outside of racing. From episodes 9-12, Teio told and showed McQueen that she’s becoming more fragile than ever on a lot of occasions. She may or may not be able to hold her gravitas regarding her motivations much longer because of her issues, which also explains her recent absences. McQueen, however, refuses to let her let go of said gravitas. She’s even aware of what Teio was aiming for in the first place as well as what unique perks she uses when growing stronger in racing. McQueen has the tendency to give Teio all of her strength because, at the end of the day, she now considers her to be a far more important opponent. How thematically noble of her. To give your own friend your own benefits, just to make said friend run on the golden road, is such a good decision. McQueen wasn’t even convinced to be the number 1 despite what her goal initially appears to be like so this decision is truly for the best.
---
And this finally brings us to Miracle Run, without question one of the greatest finales in anime history. This is the terminus where we see Teio overcoming her issues as well as seeking what she aims for. After practicing, failing, learning, and suffering, Teio definitely knew how to get everything she had gathered thus far together. She spends all of her adrenaline to give her full shot in her last race, and what a full shot she has. Her energy is so damn intense that it blew everyone’s expectations, even including McQueen’s. At the end, she finally got what she desperately wanted in her whole life. Teio didn’t just win and she didn’t just achieve her goal. She shows and teaches us what being a strong person means. Teio isn’t just a well-written character and protagonist in so many areas. She gave us some of the most valuable and well-thought-out lessons in an anime. Her flaws and her ability to overcome those flaws greatly reflect Uma Musume’s direction on its philosophies: what it means to be a champion. Overall, being a champion doesn’t just mean you win against contestants and overcome your flaws. It also means you’re showing people who watch you how to build your own strength, although that depends on the scenario. Uma Musume taught everything about this to us so well and that’s all thanks to Teio’s presence.
Honestly, with all this character writing rambling we’ve gone through, the main cast might be season 2’s biggest strengths. Teio and McQueen are the reasons why the storytelling and directing are exceptionally good, to begin with. They’re key characters that set everything that reflects on the story and show us the definitive value. They’re potentially legends, like, literally. They’re the types of figures that inspire a lot of racers and their distinct ideologies gave them exquisite reputations. They deserve to earn those with how much they’ve come thus far. Of course, the main cast isn’t the only thing that keeps everything fresh. But first, I have to grudge that the side characters are the weakest parts of this season. While it’s true that they have their unique importances and that they aren’t close to being half-bad, in comparison, they’re usually plot devices to further boost the narrative backgrounds. Luckily, there are exceptions in mind. We already talked about Rudolf, but I think Rice Shower is especially a standout because she’s a relatable character and she’s fun to watch whenever she’s involved in the racing scenarios. Her struggles are also believable, although not as believable as Teio’s or McQueen’s for me.
---
Now then, what about the production value? From my observation, the animation here is heavily upgraded from season 1. S1’s animation is good, but it can be quite stiff at times. But here? There aren’t a lot of issues surrounding the frames. And need I mention the racing scenes, which are metal as hell. The action frames look very clean and they portray the movements on how the characters perform their special moves in each race nigh-perfectly. The character designs, like in season 1, are criminally overlooked. The aesthetics lean towards a great blend of simplicity, style, and how they fit well with each character. Although the designs look a bit nicer here. The music is also underrated. Each track nicely matches with each sequence. Of course, what kind of fool would forget about the voice acting? Most of the voice acting is great. Teio’s voice has kind of gotten a reputation for being quite annoying, but I just disagree. Her energy is just fun to listen to.
---
Quick character tier list. There are more characters I missed out on but I just elected to pick ones I personally consider to be the most important
Uma Musume season 2 is by no means the most groundbreaking thing ever. There are some flaws I want to consider. Aside from the lacking side cast with some exceptions, the idol aspect is still underutilized, which is pretty ironic considering that’s a main theme in the franchise. But I guess it wouldn’t matter all that much in the long run. All in all, this show is just great. There are more good things I can talk about her, but it has a lot of things that made the Uma Musume franchise such a special series, especially regarding storytelling. While the series is not for everybody, to those interested, give it a try. Season 1 is an arguably underrated installment, and I will stand by that, but season 2 is on a different level.