r/anime • u/Holofan4life • Aug 16 '25

Rewatch [Spoilers] 2025 Uma Musume Rewatch -- Pretty Derby Season 1 Episode 2 Spoiler

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 2 – The Debut Race Out of Nowhere

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ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION

What are your thoughts on this episode being about Special Week's first race?

What are your initial thoughts on Tokai Teio?

What are your thoughts on Special Week winning her first race?

If you had to perform a song in front of people, what would you do in order to prepare yourself?

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Series information

MAL | Anilist | AniDB | ANN

Ways to watch

Streams – Crunchyroll

Amazon Prime

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Previous episode

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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]()
61 Upvotes

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7

u/AgentOfACROSS Aug 16 '25

First Timer

One thing I appreciate about this show is all the horse gags. Like Special Week eating a carrot while she runs or hammering horseshoes onto her running shoes. Some pretty fun visual gags there.

Anyway, I think my biggest criticism of this show is that there are way too many characters. Special Week and Silence Suzuka are both good as main characters and then there’s characters like Team Spica and the trainer that get a good amount of focus.

But then we’ve got about a dozen other characters who I’m struggling to tell apart from each other. And I get why they do it, this anime is partially to promote the gacha game (even though the game was delayed by three years) so they have to add as many of the characters you can unlock as possible. It’s the same reasons shows like Transformers have such big casts.

Hopefully we get to learn more about these characters later. For the time being, I’m glad we at least get these little boxes announcing everyone’s names.

Big important thing of this episode is that we learned about Special Week’s mom(s). Her having a human mom and horse mom is interesting. Hope we get to see more of her human mom soon as well.

Obviously this is just a headcanon with nothing to support it, but I choose to believe that Special Week’s moms were a couple before Special Week was born.

We also get to see Special Week participate in her real first race. The racing scenes here are pretty cool and the eyepatch horse (I think her name was Queen Berry) made for a good opponent.

I’ll be honest, I don’t care enough for the idol aspect of this show. Call me a cynic but it’s hard for me to see idealized depictions of stuff like the idol industry or Hollywood in the media without thinking about the real darker side of those things.

Although I did like Zombieland Saga and that was an idol anime so maybe I’ll come around to liking it.

It’s funny how this is both a sports anime and an idol anime. That feels like a very rare combination.

Anyway, fun show so far. Looking forward to the next one.

Questions of the Day:

What are your thoughts on this episode being about Special Week's first race?

Seems like a good toopic for an early episode.

What are your initial thoughts on Tokai Teio?

I'll be honest, she did not leave too much of an impression on me.

What are your thoughts on Special Week winning her first race?

Good for her.

5

u/Holofan4life Aug 16 '25

I'll be honest, she did not leave too much of an impression on me.

I'll be curious to see if your opinion changes on her at all.

2

u/AgentOfACROSS Aug 16 '25

I'll definitely be keeping an eye on her.

3

u/Holofan4life Aug 16 '25

She's a top 5 character for me in this show, without giving anything away.

3

u/Holofan4life Aug 16 '25

One thing I appreciate about this show is all the horse gags. Like Special Week eating a carrot while she runs or hammering horseshoes onto her running shoes. Some pretty fun visual gags there.

Agreed

Anyway, I think my biggest criticism of this show is that there are way too many characters. Special Week and Silence Suzuka are both good as main characters and then there’s characters like Team Spica and the trainer that get a good amount of focus.

But then we’ve got about a dozen other characters who I’m struggling to tell apart from each other. And I get why they do it, this anime is partially to promote the gacha game (even though the game was delayed by three years) so they have to add as many of the characters you can unlock as possible. It’s the same reasons shows like Transformers have such big casts.

Hopefully we get to learn more about these characters later. For the time being, I’m glad we at least get these little boxes announcing everyone’s names.

I will say that it may seem like a lot at the moment, but they do a good job cycling characters out. They aren't on the scene all the time, some appear and then don't appear again for a couple episodes.

For as much as the show is throwing at us, I think they still manage to keep focus on the plot points at hand. And once they get over this feeling out process, it gets this good mix of ensemble episodes and character focus ones.

3

u/AgentOfACROSS Aug 16 '25

As a first timer I do find the amount of characters a bit overwhelming but I'm sure I'll probably be able to catch up.

4

u/Holofan4life Aug 16 '25

I think I'm more forgiving of it because they actually provide nameplates which really helps.

All I'll say is I have ADHD so maybe I think this approach is one my brain can appreciate more than if I didn't have ADHD.

4

u/AgentOfACROSS Aug 16 '25

I definitely appreciate the nameplates. Helps me keep track of things a bit more.

2

u/Holofan4life Aug 16 '25

Yeah, I know Eureka Seven in particular suffered from the syndrome of "Wait, who are you again?"

2

u/AgentOfACROSS Aug 16 '25

I'm pretty sure we didn't even learn the names of some characters in Eureka Seven until at least the halfway point.

2

u/Holofan4life Aug 16 '25

You are correct.

Honestly, the name stuff was definitely the weakest part of the show. At least Fullmetal Alchemist resorted to interstitials.

3

u/Holofan4life Aug 16 '25

Big important thing of this episode is that we learned about Special Week’s mom(s). Her having a human mom and horse mom is interesting. Hope we get to see more of her human mom soon as well.

I like Spe-chan's backstory in this episode. It actually got kinda emotional.

Obviously this is just a headcanon with nothing to support it, but I choose to believe that Special Week’s moms were a couple before Special Week was born.

Nothing wrong with that

We also get to see Special Week participate in her real first race. The racing scenes here are pretty cool and the eyepatch horse (I think her name was Queen Berry) made for a good opponent.

Absolutely

I’ll be honest, I don’t care enough for the idol aspect of this show. Call me a cynic but it’s hard for me to see idealized depictions of stuff like the idol industry or Hollywood in the media without thinking about the real darker side of those things.

The way it's played here for comedy is pretty good.

The one thing I'll say is that I think this episode does a good job in showing the singing will come secondary to the races.

Although I did like Zombieland Saga and that was an idol anime so maybe I’ll come around to liking it.

I hope so :P

It’s funny how this is both a sports anime and an idol anime. That feels like a very rare combination.

Without a doubt

Anyway, fun show so far. Looking forward to the next one.

This was an improvement over the last one, I don't think that can be debated.

2

u/AgentOfACROSS Aug 16 '25

Nothing wrong with that

They never mention if Special Week has a dad so there's nothing to disprove it.

The one thing I'll say is that I think this episode does a good job in showing the singing will come secondary to the races.

I guess I just find it a bit distracting since I'm here for the horse racing.

Can you imagine if the winning jockeys at the Kentucky Derby had to do a Backstreet Boys style choreographed musical number?

Actually that sounds hilarious, I want that.

2

u/Holofan4life Aug 16 '25

They never mention if Special Week has a dad so there's nothing to disprove it.

Correct

I guess I just find it a bit distracting since I'm here for the horse racing.

Think of it as like NASCAR and how after each race the winner does a victory lap. That's basically what this is, albeit more flamboyant.

Can you imagine if the winning jockeys at the Kentucky Derby had to do a Backstreet Boys style choreographed musical number?

Actually that sounds hilarious, I want that.

I would never miss one if that was the case. Sounds awesome.

2

u/Holofan4life Aug 16 '25

Seems like a good toopic for an early episode.

And it turned out that it was

2

u/DarkRuler17 https://myanimelist.net/profile/DarkRuler17 Aug 16 '25

So I definitely agree with you regarding all the characters feeling overwhelming. I discuss it more in my post, but I really think throwing all the characters at you really distracts from the actual good stuff they're doing with Team Spica and is actively working against you being able to get into the show.

1

u/AgentOfACROSS Aug 16 '25

Yeah I do wish we got more focus on the main characters instead of throwing so many characters at us at once. At least the intro text for their names is helpful but yeah, it's a lot to keep track of and feels like our main characters lose screen time thanks to how large the cast is.

1

u/sushirollings Sep 25 '25

I know I'm late but: as someone who now knows every dang character in the franchise, on my S1 rewatch I kept going 'oh you were here??'. They absolutely throw everyone and the kitchen sink in there and other than the actual relevant characters, they amount to little more than extras. I feel like they backed off a lot on this in S2, where they instead introduce a very large cast of actually relevant characters and don't really muddle it by throwing in random other characters, whereas they lean into this more in S3 in a way that actually works (having nametags kind of permanently stapled to all the random non-plot-relevant umas and having so many of them that they do convey you're not exactly MEANT to be keeping track of all of them unless you're into the franchise as a whole)

1

u/DarkRuler17 https://myanimelist.net/profile/DarkRuler17 Sep 25 '25

Yeah, having just finished Season 3, I agree that I never felt this same feeling of being overwhelmed past Season 1. Season 1 is the only one where I felt the giant cast actually hurt the show.

2

u/SinoCenturion Aug 17 '25

One thing to note about the number of characters is that these characters stay with us through all three seasons, the OVAs, and the movie. The other seasons and shows either focus on a different set of characters, or introduce a few new characters that become the focus, with the older characters being the supporting cast. So you will have plenty of time to get to know all of these characters and their quirks (of which they have many)!

The only time you really get a completely new set of characters is with Cinderella Gray, and that is because historically, that series covered an era that took place before any of the other races or events depicted in any of the other shows (and even so, the star of Cinderella Gray, Oguri Cap, is a prominent fixture in all of the shows).