After writing my review of the first season a while ago, a kind reader encouraged me to give the second season a chance as well. Since I was already hooked on the game and thoroughly enjoyed the Cinderella Gray spinoff, I decided to jump right in. And I must say, I wasn’t disappointed at all.so let’s take a closer look at this season, starting with what stood out most.

Plot

My main issue with season 1 was its artificial storytelling. Special Week’s career felt like a children’s show - one that had to end on a positive, inspirational note, even at the expense of logic or realism. You can read more about that in my earlier review if you’re curious.

Season 2, however, pulls no punches. It features tragedies, upsets, and genuinely unexpected turns. I have to admit I’m not particularly familiar with or interested in real-life horse racing, so I can’t say how closely the story follows actual events - but the plot progression this time feels far more grounded and believable than anything in season 1.

I have to praise Cygames and Studio Kai for managing to turn horse racing into such a compelling anime, full of rivalries, friendships, personal struggles, anxiety, and growth. They did an excellent job transforming the rivalry between two horses into a touching and bittersweet friendship between two horse girls, complete with ups and downs, while staying largely true to the game’s characterizations.

Initially, I was a bit overwhelmed by the large number of new characters introduced in the first few episodes, many of whom only got a few seconds of screen time each, but the show eventually wrapped up most of their subplots in a satisfying way. One lingering issue is that many promising challengers only received development right before their relevant races. While this didn’t ruin the excitement, it did make most other runners - some of them established characters - feel like mere extras.

In the end, the season concluded on somewhat of a positive note that, for once, feels earned and I was not only uncertain about the outcome till the last minute, but also quite invested.

Sound

This season’s soundtrack was much more to my taste. While I wasn’t a big fan of the ending theme, I really appreciated how it changed or was replaced entirely when different characters took the spotlight -that was a nice touch. The opening won’t make it into my playlists, but it was still enjoyable.

Characters
As mentioned earlier, the flood of new faces early on was initially off-putting. It almost felt like the animators were showcasing every game character possible, most appearing for less than a minute during the first quarter of the season. Team Canopus, in particular, seemed like pure comic relief at first, constantly holding “strategy meetings” about how to beat Team Spica without achieving much of anything.

However, my skepticism faded once the secondary characters began to shine - starting with Rice Shower. She initially appeared as a somewhat creepy stalker, which seemed pointless at first, but once her subplot came full circle, it became one of my favorites this season.

That said, most side characters don’t develop much outside of their spotlight moments. The story focuses heavily on Teio and McQueen, and while that works, several secondary arcs introduced along the way end up not fully resolved once the narrative returns to the main duo.

Team Spica fares worst in this regard. I understand that the anime compresses multiple generations of racehorses into one school, and not every teammate was active during this period, but the complete absence of any races or mentions involving them makes Spica feel more like support cards from the game than a group of active athletes. Since the show wasn’t afraid to deviate from real events in season 1, it would’ve been nice to see at least a little bit going on in their life as well.

One thing I found both strange and amusing is the creators’ commitment to referencing real-life racing lore - having a girl escorted to her gate because she suddenly gets too nervous to enter. It’s oddly specific, but also kind of hilarious.

Visuals

Visually, not much has changed from season 1. Some scenes are impressively detailed, but the races, even the major ones, still rely heavily on CGI. The CGI isn’t bad, and I personally don’t mind it, but it’s noticeable, which may bother some folks.