Hello folks, and welcome back to Wrong Every Time. Today we’re taking a trip down to the race track, as we return to the equestrian escapades of Tokai Teio and her fellow horse girls. That’s right, it’s time for more Umamusume: Pretty Derby, and I have a feeling that this will be a particularly rough installment for our would-be champion. Having conquered the latest challenge in her pursuit of her idol Symboli Rudolf, she currently appears on top of the world – but given the ominous focus on her ankle that concluded our first episode, it’s clear she’s barreling towards a disastrous injury.
As for my own thoughts on all these urgent proceedings, I must say I’m still waiting to be hooked. I’ve enjoyed a fair number of comedy sports dramas, but so far remain unconvinced by Umamusume in terms of either its comedy or drama. I assume part of that comes down to the first episode’s busyness in terms of establishing all its players; the premiere’s endless procession of intricately designed horse girls felt like a perpetual reminder this is based on a gacha game, which is one of the surest ways to pull me out of a narrative. It’s also hard to believe in this world even on its own terms; our characters’ lives and aspirations feel so abstracted from human experience that I can’t really relate to Teio’s trials, and the show feels unconcerned with offering enough Girls und Panzer-style incidental pleasures to entertain if I’m not compelled by the character drama.
All that said, overstuffed first episodes are a common and entirely forgivable issue, and I imagine this season’s true strength will only be revealed once Teio’s wax wings start to melt. I’m not counting out these horse girls charming me yet, so let’s get back to the action and see what Teio gets up to next!