cinderella gray, oguri as the main character? say less. i will be there no matter what. grandma’s funeral, i dress in casual wear, cingray? i come in with my 3 piece suit. its that simple. but for real tho, i think this show is pretty good, and its coming from the goats (cygames pictures thank god). its been journey typing these up and gotta say, its been fun. but the journey is over (at least for now, i will make another 1 for cour 2 when that comes out), and im ready to move on to review more anime cus i like doing these. anyways lets start with animation.

cygames pictures (G O A T S) now has finally gotten to work on a TV series for uma and was excited to see what they were cooking up. and to no surprise, its really damn good. the artstyle was the first thing i notice to which fits to match with the tone of the show. its great choice to tied to theme of the rising underdog brimming with overwhelming talent, to challenge the top league of umas but everyone rejecting how a little nobody from a small town shows up to compete with the big wigs. its an amazing way to showcase the underlying tone for story with just a simple artstyle choice. the animation is also stellar, with nice moments of sakuga, even in the little moments when want to just show extra details (a bit of flex but im not complaining). the way character acting is handled is excellent, seeing emotions that feel very reminiscent of movie/ovas that you dont normally see in the main series. all in all cygames cooked.

so story. cinderella. a story about a girl that with the help of some godmothers, is able to live her dreams as a princess and get with her prince charming. this is great title for the show as is literally the premise of the show. in the countryside of kasamatsu, an aspiring racer known as oguri cap attends to a local racing academy but no knows that she will forever change the horse racing scene in a way no one saw coming. knowing that the real horse’s lore, this isnt much to a surprise for some. but as uma musume loves to utilized the real lore in anyway they can, they come to find a way that intrigues to the viewers for a cool plot design. the main thing i want focus on how this show portrays its characters and its unique relationship with the setting/world. as we progress to the story, with oguri becoming more and more known, the story shifts in dramatic ways that fit in line with oguri’s presence. characters as well changing, an example, the 3 bullies that messed with oguri in the beginning (norn, rudy, and mini) that we know and love, change, respecting oguri’s skills as an amazing racer and obsessive to the point where they scream whenever oguri’s name is mentioned. also i want mention that the support cast for this show is probably best in umamusume anime (although i think new era may contend with that spot idk its hard to choose really) joe and musaka are probably the best example as they really contribute and complement not just each other but with oguri as a whole. without these characters, cingray wouldnt be as impactful if it was just oguri herself trying carrying the weight story (especially the arc with joe’s nationals vs tokai derby bet). god i still havent talk about all stuff that happens in tracen yet, jesus this show is that good lmao (thats that cygames difference right there). alright so now going on to tracen, theres so many little things i could get into, but ill just talk about my favorite moments from this second half. rudolf exuding crazy aura in ep 7 against oguri to not take the twinkle series lightly and her coming back with response that is equally cold af (please i need a prequel story of rudolf with other senior umas pls pls pls). tamano cross in general, i never thought i would like her tbh, but they built up to make her really fun rival for oguri as she is one of first umas to give a run for her money. and finally personally maybe my favorite part of the whole show surprisingly, rudolf confronting with URA chairwomen to convince the committee let oguri in the derby. i cant believe we got something related to the URA related since they im pretty sure they directly ever spoke about the URA in any of animes i watched. this really helps with worldbuilding and just knowing that there is a board that oversees everything is really great touch that adds on the society of uma musume.

ok im going to stop here cus this shit is way too long but this show is genuinely amazing, im glad tamano won that last race, it wouldnt be fun for oguri to just win everything. cant wait for cour 2 and to see cygames pictures cook up what looks to be another great chapter within the uma musume world.