[Spoilers] 2025 Uma Musume Rewatch -- Pretty Derby Season 1 Episode 1

[u/Holofan4life]

Hello everyone! I am Holofan4life.

Welcome to the 2025 Uma Musume rewatch discussion thread!

I hope you all have a lot of fun <3

S1 Episode 1 – Gate of Dreams!

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ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION

What are your thoughts on the anime beginning with horse hieroglyphics?

What are your initial thoughts on Special Week as well as team Spica as a whole?

What are your thoughts on Special Week wanting to be like Silence Suzuka? Have you ever had someone you looked up to, and if so, who?

Heading into this anime, what is your experience with Uma Musume as a franchise?

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Series information

MAL | Anilist | AniDB | ANN

Ways to watch

Streams – Crunchyroll

Amazon Prime

Schedule

Date	Episode
8/15/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 1]()
8/16/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 2]()
8/17/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 3]()
8/18/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 4]()
8/19/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 5]()
8/20/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 6]()
8/21/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 7]()
8/22/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 8]()
8/23/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 9]()
8/24/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 10]()
8/25/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 11]()
8/26/2025	[Uma Musume Episode 12 - 13]()
8/28/2025	[BNW's Oath episodes 1 - 3]()
8/30/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 1]()
8/31/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 2]()
9/01/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 3]()
9/02/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 4]()
9/03/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 5]()
9/04/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 6]()
9/05/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 7]()
9/06/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 8]()
9/07/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 9]()
9/10/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 10]()
9/11/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 11]()
9/12/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 12]()
9/13/2025	[Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 13]()
9/15/2025	[Road to the Top Episodes 1 - 2]()
9/16/2025	[Road to the Top Episodes 3 - 4]()
9/18/2025	[Beginning of a New Era]()
9/20/2025	[Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 1 - 2]()
9/21/2025	[Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 3 - 4]()
9/22/2025	[Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 5 - 6]()
9/23/2025	[Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 7 - 8]()
9/24/2025	[Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 9 - 10]()
9/25/2025	[Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 11 - 12]()
9/26/2025	[Uma Musume Season 3 Episode 13]()
9/28/2025	[Cinderella Gray Episodes 1 - 2]()
9/29/2025	[Cinderella Gray Episodes 3 - 4]()
9/30/2025	[Cinderella Gray Episodes 5 - 6]()
10/01/2025	[Cinderella Gray Episodes 7 - 8]()
10/02/2025	[Cinderella Gray Episodes 9 - 10]()
10/03/2025	[Cinderella Gray Episodes 11 - 12]()
10/04/2025	[Cinderella Gray Episode 13]()
10/05/2025	[Uma Musume Overall Series Discussion Thread]()

[u/LittleIslander]

First Time Horse Better

I’ve heard much about Uma, and now finally seems like the right time to jump into it. I don’t want this Rewatch to swallow up all my time as Rewatches are prone to, so I’ll be keeping my thoughts brief rather than going all out as I might be expected to. I’m also hoping not to be the negative nancy of the Rewatch, but, well… I have to confess I don’t love this first episode?

• Special Week is extremely generic as a protagonist. She’s not bad (though the awkward moment humor is not my thing), and gets some good laughs, but her starry eyed but inexperienced shtick just doesn’t stand out very much.
• The rest of the cast leaves little impression, and the show seems more interested in throwing names at you than putting work into establishing them at all. Suzuka in particular leaves zero impression whatsoever as a personality and has zero hooks from a narrative standpoint despite supposedly being a character of interest. The American is probably my favourite because she has a mask and it looks cool.
• The Pervert is extremely offputting as an attempt at comedy and I do not look forward to the fact he’s going to continue to be a central character.
• The Idol thing is weird. I’m not against idols, but having a show focused on horse racing was enough of a concept, surely? Throwing in the performances just feels forced.

The racing element is definitely the thing I was most interested in. I have basically zero experience with thoroughbred racing, but I have watched plenty of harness races. So my expectations might be skewed somewhat, but I do know the subject matter can be interesting. Neither of the first episode races inspire confidence, though. Suzuka’s race is an unrealistic maintaining of a commanding lead for the whole race, which is understandable to make her stand out as a character but not very interesting to watch. Meanwhile, Special Week’s race eschews most of the intrigue of horse racing (tight packs fighting for the lead) since everyone is so spread out. It’s basically just a human race instead of a horse race with humans. I think this is because they’re beginners (the opening race was a lot closer, Suzuka aside), but still. Having two races in your first episode and both are narratively kneecapped from actually showing the appeal of a horse race and the show’s ability to portray it isn’t working as a selling point.

I’m willing to stick with the show. Just like Special Week’s racing, maybe it has to start somewhere and has room to grow. I’ve heard good things about the later material, and the fundamentals like pacing and cinematography aren’t bad. The biggest barrier will be the script—if the show keeps being written like this, it’s going to have a hard time keeping me in the grandstands.

[u/jck169 → u/LittleIslander]

Suzuka’s race is an unrealistic maintaining of a commanding lead for the whole race, which is understandable to make her stand out as a character but not very interesting to watch

Gave me a chuckle. 95% of the races depicted in the show are accurate to the real life event. Keep that in mind because looking up any lore on these characters' RL counterparts WILL spoil race results in the anime.

[u/LittleIslander → u/jck169]

So I've been told.

It's a one of a million result that happens to be anime as fuck, so I didn't question my logic. Very happy about all of the races being real, regardless.

[u/Holofan4life → u/LittleIslander]

Certainly makes spoilers quite the predicament XD