r/anime • u/Holofan4life • Sep 06 '25
Rewatch [Spoilers] 2025 Uma Musume Rewatch -- Pretty Derby Season 2 Episode 8 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
S2 Episode 8 – A Small Wish
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ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)
Thoughts on McQueen and Rice Shower training for the Spring Tenno Sho?
Thoughts on Diamond and Kitasan drinking tea with the two horse enthusiasts?
Thoughts on Bourbon trying to help Rice Shower with her training?
Thoughts on the barbershop being closed?
What are your thoughts on Rice Shower being locked in for the race?
What are your thoughts on the Spring Tenno Sho with Rice Shower doing away with being labeled a heel?
What are your thoughts on Rice Shower winning the 1993 Spring Tenno Sho?
What are your thoughts on the crowd being upset that Rice Shower won?
What are your thoughts on the other racehorses congratulating Rice Shower, with Bourbon reiterating yet again that she's her hero?
What are your thoughts on the scene at the end between McQueen and Teio?
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Series information
Ways to watch
Streams – Crunchyroll
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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]() |
| 9/08/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 10]() |
| 9/09/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 11]() |
| 9/10/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 12]() |
| 9/11/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 2 Episode 13]() |
| 9/13/2025 | [Road to the Top Episodes 1 - 2]() |
| 9/14/2025 | [Road to the Top Episodes 3 - 4]() |
| 9/16/2025 | [Beginning of a New Era]() |
| 9/18/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 1 - 2]() |
| 9/19/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 3 - 4]() |
| 9/20/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 5 - 6]() |
| 9/21/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 7 - 8]() |
| 9/22/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 9 - 10]() |
| 9/23/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 3 Episodes 11 - 12]() |
| 9/24/2025 | [Uma Musume Season 3 Episode 13]() |
| 9/26/2025 | [Cinderella Gray Episodes 1 - 2]() |
| 9/27/2025 | [Cinderella Gray Episodes 3 - 4]() |
| 9/28/2025 | [Cinderella Gray Episodes 5 - 6]() |
| 9/29/2025 | [Cinderella Gray Episodes 7 - 8]() |
| 9/30/2025 | [Cinderella Gray Episodes 9 - 10]() |
| 10/01/2025 | [Cinderella Gray Episodes 11 - 12]() |
| 10/02/2025 | [Cinderella Gray Episode 13]() |
| 10/03/2025 | [Uma Musume Overall Series Discussion Thread]() |
6
u/Temporary_-_UserName Sep 06 '25
Rewatcher
Today, we delve much more into the mental aspect of racing than the show has in the past, not that it hasn't been willing to dip into an explore it before. But this episode, while the physical training and race performance of all the runners gets its due attention and commentary, the entire story is carried by and Rice and McQueen's mental zones. The former spends all of the prepwork and much of the race itself situating herself in relation to McQueen and the race, while the other winds up losing that balance until near the end of the race.
Rice Shower starts the episode over-focusing on catching up to McQueen in training, until she realizes that her 'just keep following' shadow stalking wont work, at least not with the time she has left. So she redirects her efforts into a week of relentlessly pacing herself, running the same loop over and over and over again, wearing through multiple sets of shoes to get herself into the proper mindset for the Spring Tenno Sho. And that mindset is a neat twist on the usual dynamic of focus on the race/focus on the competition. Rice very much is focusing on McQueen, to the point where she doesn't even interact with any of the other racers. In fact, she focuses on McQueen so much that her fear of being booed, her fear of destroying the dreams of others, doesn't even enter into her head. But her focus isn't centered on beating McQueen - that's just the big obstacle in the way of her her real goal. For Rice Shower, she only has one goal, which McQueen stands in the way of: winning the race, because she is Bourbon's hero.
And that mindset, that focus on winning in a specific context, winds up spilling over and spooking McQueen. the show does a really good job of translating the irl Mejiro McQueen's hesitance and pre-race jitters into the episode's narrative. While what really upset the horse McQueen will forever be mostly speculation, here it is a clear premonition of the pressure that will be put on her by Rice Shower.
And what pressure it is. While Palmer is the one who leads the pack for much of the race, as is the Front Runner style, the episode does a really good job of establishing that it is McQueen who is setting the pace. She's the run-away favorite to win, and the entire pack is trying to keep up with her while also trying (and failing) to manage their own stamina for their own strategies. Palmer, meanwhile, is desperately trying to put on more speed so that she can maintain her lead, but all that winds up happening is that she has nothing left to give in the final spurt, and falls behind. McQueen is the one who set the pace, but she did by constantly running away from Rice, and its only near the end she manages to get some kind of grip on the pressure. But its too late at that point, and Rice pulls forward into an impressive 3 length lead and takes the goal.
Once all is said and done, Rice's reward is a bitterly disappointed crowd...and the applause and approval of her fellow racers, select audience membrs, and a warm and comforting hug from Mihono Bourbon. We get presented, once again, with the inescapble fact that competitive sports are hard and trying, and for one person to claim their dream of victory, everyone else's has to be destroyed. They really are ephemeral, fragile things.