This was supposed to be the last review that I would have released in 2025, but things turned out different than anticipated. So yeah, the first review in 2026! I had pretty much quit writing reviews up until recently, but recently I’ve been pumping them out like crazy! ~~(some of them quite are negative sadly)~~ I hope you enjoy this one at least!
Umamusume: Cinderella Gray has been on my radar ever since I got into the Umamusume franchise throughout the global release of the game in July 2025. I watched Pretty Derby and liked it quite a bit, so when I saw that Oguri Cap is getting her own dedicated anime, the stars had aligned. I knew that I had just struck gold. I was really invested in the franchise at this point, and a competently made anime implementation by Cygames’s own studio meant that I would have a worthwhile experience to be had at the very least. The first cour of this anime released in the spring, but my review will contain spoilers for both cours; this is your spoiler warning!
Let’s start with what makes Umamusume’s premise interesting. Because this will be important for the core of my review. I will make references to this part a few times. Umamusume, translates to horse girls. Umamusume universe is filled with these horse girls that share the same names with real life racing horses in Japan. These horse girls attend races.. That’s it! The premise is quite simple. Seeing the journey of these horse girls is all Umamusume is about. But that’s not what makes Umamusume shine. Because Cygames did their homework… There is a story ready to be told but shaping it and molding it to the Umamusume universe they created while paying tribute to the real horses histories takes immense skill. And they are able to perfectly execute that. The added depth from following the history of Japanese horse racing makes the immersion a tad bit higher than it would have been if otherwise. This story is able to capitalize on the excitement sports has while having a mold to follow to create infinite content. And if this format were to land well, it would be a huge source of mone- OH RIGHT! Umamusume is a global epidemic now and they are making BANK!
The universe Cygames created has a decently big following now and that is what puts Umamusume Cinderella Gray in a unique position. If you were planning on getting into this anime, you are probably sold on the umamusume universe. Or at least heard a few things about it until. So all Cygames has to do is deliver on their promise: to create a sense of excitement and get you further into the wormhole. And this is what exactly they do with this anime installment of Cinderella Gray. Within the first few episodes, I was charmed by Oguri Cap. I really wanted to see the lengths she would have to go, to “defy” the umamusume racing history. I was captivated, my conscience was captured. I couldn’t take my eyes off of her. The promising character structure she has, and the history that she is been surrounded in; it felt like a perfect resonance between charming and assertive loaded on to an exciting battle scene.
My excitement was immense. That’s why I decided to do (almost) weekly write-ups for the second cour. And in those write-ups, what most of them were about up was just how much excited I was to see Oguri Cap’s journey. I wanted to explore it, devour it! With each new episode, I couldn’t contain my excitement. It was spilling out. I was enjoying my time so much. Getting on to my computer in the afternoon, and watching the new episode became a habit. Even if I was busy with my studies, I made time for the new episode. And I would always come back.
But… why? As I asked myself this question, the answer appeared in my mind almost exactly after. It was entertaining! Making a compelling story is hard, but already having a lead to follow, all you have to do is mold it the right way, and you have a compelling story to share! And adding characters that are worth exploring is a cherry on top. Other than Oguri Cap, I was almost equally enticed by quite a few of the side characters as well. In second cour, I was waiting for Super Creek’s appearance. It was a matter of time before she arrived. She was mostly in sidelines, but from her design, the aura that she possessed, I could tell that I should look out for her. So when the second episode of the cour aired, and she made her appearance in a race; it was like stars had aligned. I knew what to expect from her, and she delivered.
The races in Umamusume animes have evolved since the first anime installation of the series, Pretty Derby. Races in Pretty Derby relied on building up emotional attachment before the race started, so the result would signify something. An emotional peak per se. Races themselves were pretty short, lasting a handful of minutes at most. It was rare for a race to last an entire episode. They were exciting to watch, but I cared more about the implications of those races and the emotional highs those races bring to the table. Not the races themselves. Because making the races as entertaining as possible was not the main priority… Cinderella Gray is different. It uses the same formula, but it is pushing all the parameters to the maximum value. What do I mean by that? Characters with complicated motivations, check. A grandiose competition scene where a lot of chaos will ensue, check. Action packed races, spanning over multiple episodes in some cases, CHECK! In every race, you have to stay on the edge, or your expectations can be flipped on its head, and you will never know what will ensue if you let your guard down. The constant camera shifts that communicate a lot about the race with its unique movement, well-timed tonal shifts to indicate when something pivotal to the race; happens, how the umamusume talk to themselves; highlighting how they feel throughout the race, what goes in their mind when something they don’t expect come to be, the race commentator constantly shouting the immediate changes when something happens, the spectators and trainers reactions to any pivotal developments… There is just so much to pay attention to and I can not take my eyes off of it for a single second!
I was mostly talking about the second cour in this section because it is in my recent memory. But the first cour had its similar things as well. Not as much attention to the races, but using them to introduce Oguri Cap in the story and develop her as a character. If her character wasn’t explored before the big races became the main priority, there wouldn’t be nearly as much emotional buildup, which is the first part of the formula Pretty Derby uses. Oguri Cap is a great shonen protagonist: easy to take seriously and packed with infinite comedy potential. She does it all: give ambition and competitive drive to those racing her, and fond memories to look back on for those who are closer to her. Her simplicity allows the story to explore many side characters alongside her. I’ll give an example. In my write-ups for the second cour, I dedicated the first episode to Fujimasa March. She and Oguri Cap had a rivalry going among each other, because Fujimasa March was so confident in her ability when they first met. She was getting attention for being the outlier in a small town. That made her full of herself. But once she encountered Oguri Cap, they slowly got to learn about each other and raced together. After that, Fujimasa March started to change. It was steady, but her shift in personality was fun to explore alongside the already continuing main storyline. This was a clever tactic. Because Cygames had more content to fill the downtime when a big race wasn’t happening. They could just throw in some of the progress Fujimasa March had made, and it would serve a purpose. Like her comforting Oguri Cap in one of the later episodes of the cour... This proves that this friendship was worth devoting the screen time to. There are a lot of characters that were explored like Fujimasa March, sometimes not including Oguri Cap as a mediator. Especially in Japan Cup where quite a few of the racers were attending from overseas. I will toss that aside for now as I want to talk more about Oguri Cap.
Her ambition felt different from your usual shonen protagonist. Her desire, her emotions; it felt closer to home than it would ever be compared to Hinata from Haikyu for example. Because she possesses a trait many don’t. She is not goal oriented, she is just that passionate about running! I will use Haikyu for reference: even though Karasuno team in general is passionate about volleyball, they have an end goal. To win the national tournament. Sure, Oguri Cap aims to win in the big races like Japan Cup and Arima Kinen as well, but what she ultimately wants to achieve is to see how far she can take her running. Because walking in itself is a miracle to her. Let alone running. The passion that she has because of this gratefulness is what shines the most about her. I eventually fell out of love with Haikyu while I never see myself losing that spark for Oguri Cap’s journey. Every quality that she possesses sucks you into the story even more, and I’m all for it.
#####(I really like Haikyu, but it has not hit the same notes Cinderella Gray has, and that’s why I am holding it in a lower regard.)
I would go into detail for Japan Cup but I think I will cut it off from this review as further elaborating on that won't add anything more that I would want to express. I think I mostly exhausted the things I want to express about Cinderella Gray. It is harder to keep praising something than keep complaining about it, and that’s why I will slowly start to wrap this review up. Cinderella Gray has been an incredible journey, with its emotional lows and highs. This anime has a spot in top 3 of 2025 for me. I don’t know if it is my favorite, considering Apothecary Diaries s2 was quite the ordeal as well. But I certainly enjoyed my stay and I am hoping to see more of it in the near future. Cinderella Gray was able to hit a spot in my list that I never thought I needed. It was a breathtaking experience…
___Thanks for reading, happy 2026 you all!