Uma Musume Pretty Derby Season 3

Episode 9

Throughout this Uma Musume season, Kitasan Black has expressed her desire for her races to feel akin to a festival. The joy of competition isn't a new idea for this series; the horse girls live and love to run, after all. But Season 3 has dialed the pure pleasantries of the sport up to an elevating eleven. That's embodied in this episode's first half, as broadcasts playing up Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond's supposedly heated, revenge-fueled rivalry give way to the two going on a jaunty day out together. Off the track, they're the same package deal of pals they've always been.

As I mentioned regarding last week's episode, Uma Musume has defined itself in its slower segments as much as its high-octane racing scenes. This stretch of the episode is another example of that, without even a whiff of melancholy to diminish the delights of the day trip. Forget training montages, it's time for a train montage. Witness Kita and Dia riding around on various increasingly cozy examples of Japan's storied public transit system, clashing in nothing more high-stakes than rock-paper-scissors games, nearly wordlessly against soothing music.

It's drawn out, sure, but the pure, festive joy on display is the clear intent. I had trepidations in the previous few episodes that the rigors of plot-propelling competition might test Kita and Dia's friendship. But apart from a few uncertain whiffs, that's soundly been put aside, and in its place is a reinforcement of the same adorable couple of horses I've watched grow up to this point. It's just a cute-as-frig sequence. The backgrounds show off the true artistry of the team behind this season, where things like the racing have been more uneven. To say nothing of giving me the pick of the litter for scenic screenshot choices.

But just because Uma Musume Season 3 can seem comfortable does not mean it is complacent. Right at the halfway point, the shoe drops, and Dia asks Kita what it is she really wants to talk about.

It's nothing so self-serious as the scenes that left everyone sobbing back in Season 2. It's simpler, bolder than that. Kita needed the resolve to tell her beloved friend that she would try to beat her in the upcoming Spring Tennō Shō and accept that Dia would be making the same effort. Sure, it's been clear through 2.5 previous seasons of Uma Musume (to say nothing of all other sports anime since the dawn of time) that the greatest respect you can extend to your friend and rival is to face them directly without holding back. But against the backdrop of Kita and Dia's unflinching bond (again: they sleep with plushies of each other), it feels like a new level of that competitive connection has been unlocked in the medium.

How else could that be paid off then but with a straightforward depiction of the climactic race they were running towards? While I've found Uma Musume Season 3's racing scenes to be hit-or-miss, this entry stands as a strong example of the particular problem the series has always thrived in solving. The results of this race are still beholden to those of the actual 2017 Spring Tennō Shō, where Kitasan Black maintained a commanding lead for virtually the entire run, even setting a new record in the process. Presenting that as a tense duel between destined friends/rivals must all come down to presentation. So the anime dives into the idea of Kita's connection with Dia pushing her even as she stayed out in front the whole time and paid things off by thrilling the sheer spectacle of her exemplary performance.

Yes, it is time for those Uma Musume chills again. It's an absurd idea that makes perfect sense in what they're adapting: Kitasan Black was already running fast, so their only choice is to dramatize the moment she decides to run faster. The stunning moment of her freeze-framed before pushing off again. The noises are delivered as she does. Dia's reflection on how her friend has always been leading her up to this point. And, of course, there was a zoom-in on Kita as she smiled. At that moment, she has found her fun. Her joy. Her festival.

It's an episode of Uma Musume that crystalizes how this season could shoot for unbridled delights in its competitions and still carry those enthralling race-day vibes through its stories. Where it goes from here, I have no idea. This episode cuts to a black-screen credit scroll instead of its usual ending sequence, our horsey heroines resolving to take their show on the world stage. A few episodes of Season 3 remain. But at least here, the show found one hell of a way to cross this particular finish line.

Rating:

Uma Musume Pretty Derby Season 3 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Chris is excited to be back for the mane event, and is hoping he won't have to be a neigh-sayer. You can catch him horsing around on his blog, as well as Twitter, though he doesn't expect that to be around furlong.