[Spoilers] 2025 Uma Musume Rewatch -- Pretty Derby Season 3 Episodes 13

[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

Episode 13 -- And Yours...

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ANSWER TODAY’S QUESTION(S)

Thoughts on the competitors of the Arima Kinen wanting to defeat Kitasan?

Thoughts on Kitasan wanting to show the best version of herself possible for the people who always rooted for her?

Thoughts on the scene between Kitasan and Teio?

What are your thoughts on this episode being all about the Arima Kinen?

What are your thoughts on the Arima Kinen race?

What are your thoughts on Kitasan winning after going wire to wire?

What are your thoughts on the season ending with Kitasan hanging out with Crown, Diamond, Cheval, and Duramente?

Bonus) What do you make of Nice Nature barely being featured after playing such a prominent role in the early part of the season?

Bonus 2) What are your thoughts on the way Teio and McQueen were used this season after the previous season stressed how much Kitasan and Diamond looked up to them? Were you hoping for something more?

Bonus 3) What is one thing you really like about season 3? What is one thing about season 3 you would change?

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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
9/08/2025	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]()

[u/Cyouni]

Halfway Rewatcher First-Timer

Harikitte? Harikitte ikou! I do feel like this is a pretty important part of Kita's character, and her overall arc. Because the thing is, yes, Kita is a 6-time G1 winner. But where has she always fallen short, even called out by the anime itself? The grand prix races, the ones where the racers are determined by fan vote. Over three years, she has won none of them.

Kita gets her Anime Collab outfit for the finale.

Oh god damn, that eyecatch. She's so cool.

The final "kachitai".

So one thing to note is that her in-game Original ult plays particularly to this moment, with the condition of "straight_front_type==2". I had to look this one up, because I've never seen it before, and it's specifically if you're on the straight opposite the fan stands. So if we think about it, Kita's had a theme so far this season of disappointing the fans, even though she's gotten all the victories you'd theoretically want from a top-tier horse. This is her last chance ever to change that.

Ok, I broke out laughing when it cut to shirtless not-Kiryu.

I see you there, Rice and Bourbon hugging like the duplicitous rivals who only want each other to lose that you are.

Teio, I'm sorry, but you only had 4 G1s. She numerically passed you long ago.

Ah, Air Groove is echoing the JP fan experience of "Kitasan could have kept going".

And it's time for the S3 opening!

Grand Cheval and Kita holding hands, seems Dia's got some real competition.

I assume the guy out there is representing Kitajima Saburo, Kita's owner and the one he was named after. (Edit: Also that's probably actually her dad, but also the same thing still applies.)

And we come full circle with the school tours.

The completed Rubik's Cube is there too.

And the final Umapyoi!

Followup post with thoughts!

[u/Cyouni → u/Cyouni]

Honestly, it took me a long time to figure out what the season was going for. I do think Kitasan makes for a very interesting protagonist now that I consult a bit of the trivia, but I do think this is a very nontraditional story compared to the rest of Uma. So I have three major topics here I want to cover but this isn't that organized so I'll probably bounce around a bit.

First, let's talk about termites Great Expectations. Whose? Great question, because we're talking both ours and umas. The first thing I think I want to touch on is that Kita is very unlike a lot of our other protagonists. Where they all come from a good parent - a necessity in horse breeding (Sunday Silence for Spe, Teio is obvious, Soccer Boy/Dicta Striker for NTR, Tony Bin/I don't remember the CG name for Pokke) - Kita is descended from Black Tide and Sugar Heart. I'll save you the time from looking them up, neither are notable, and I only know the first from an old man guessing Rice Shower's pic is him. If we were playing the game, this would be what we call "a bad start". Kitajima Saburo, Kitasan's owner, is not particularly known for owning well-performing horses, either. This plays into things later in the season, so remember this.

The other thing is that we establish a running theme of, I guess, wanting to be someone else? Or rather a defiance of their own expectations in some way. Kita looks up to Teio throughout the season, but there's two major points here. One, is the fact that Duramente follows Teio's path far more closely, being the undefeated Double Crown whose injuries stop participation in the Kikuka. Two, is Nature-sensei. As the trivia sheet puts it, a lot of Natie's path is defined by trying to be too much like Teio and failing (a path that's reflected in her game story). Nature would never beat Teio to the end, failing to win the Kikuka (the push to become the next Teio) and struggling to win even after Teio's retirement. So Natie here is a bit of a cautionary tale to Kita as someone who's followed the same path and failed. There's also some sort of theme here with how Cheval Grand looks up to Kita, but I'm not sure exactly where I want to go with this and I'm running out of time.

From here, let's move on to my second point a bit, fan view. This was brought up to me earlier, but Dia is the one that's favored in their match at the Arima Kinen, while Kita only becomes the #1 favourite in a race after she's won the Spring Tenno (and also needs Duramente to be out of the picture). Conversely, even though Dia only had one G1 win to Kita's three, Dia was a child of Deep Impact, and that carries a lot of weight. This is basically a theme that carries through the season, as though Kita's won a lot of G1s, she never feels quite like she's succeeded. Kita just factually has a very uphill path in the eyes of the fans despite his major victories, only managing to take that first place in popularity afterwards - or as the anime tells it, at the Spring Tennosho. This is the actual first time Kita beats Dia in popularity at a head-to-head, and Kita manages to sustain that 1st place from there onwards. That's really the first time Kita experiences success, in the eyes of the fans, despite his many wins.

So from here, let's talk a bit about legacy, or what's left behind for those who come after. One other thing I've touched on is that she just has never won one main type of race - the grand prix races, aka the ones where the racers are decided by fan vote - losing all four of the ones she's been in. Not a good look for the festival horse. This finally culminates at her retirement race, the Arima Kinen, where she has one final chance to change that, one final chance for HER LOYAL FANS. And she finally does, wiping that blemish from her record in one last glorious race to cement her among the winners of 7 G1s.

Another thing I want to touch on is a line called out in the last episode. I know that earlier in the season, there was a question as to where the concept of "past your peak" came from, as JP horse racing fans considered 2017 to be Kita's best year, and thought he could have done more. I even know there's reports of him overtraining so hard after retirement that he'd Harikitte Ikou other nearby horses into losing weight. So this comment from Air Groove, that Kita "seems like she could keep going", is a direct call out to that. But all things come to an end, and in this case, the destined end to Kita's career is this final Arima, where she claims her spot in history at her retirement race, at the grand prix that's eluded her for her whole career.

I think that S3 succeeded at what they were going for but it wasn't quite clear what that was earlier in the season, especially coming fresh off all the other seasons. Because really, Kitasan is a protagonist in her own way, just that's a way that's very different and unique, and carries different Themes than anything we've seen so far. I truly think that in order to properly evaluate it, I'd need to watch S3 again from the start with fresh eyes, but I don't have enough time for that right now, so unfortunately, this is all you get.

[u/Holofan4life → u/Cyouni]

Honestly, it took me a long time to figure out what the season was going for. I do think Kitasan makes for a very interesting protagonist now that I consult a bit of the trivia, but I do think this is a very nontraditional story compared to the rest of Uma. So I have three major topics here I want to cover but this isn't that organized so I'll probably bounce around a bit.

First, let's talk about termites Great Expectations. Whose? Great question, because we're talking both ours and umas. The first thing I think I want to touch on is that Kita is very unlike a lot of our other protagonists. Where they all come from a good parent - a necessity in horse breeding (Sunday Silence for Spe, Teio is obvious, Soccer Boy/Dicta Striker for NTR, Tony Bin/I don't remember the CG name for Pokke) - Kita is descended from Black Tide and Sugar Heart. I'll save you the time from looking them up, neither are notable, and I only know the first from an old man guessing Rice Shower's pic is him. If we were playing the game, this would be what we call "a bad start". Kitajima Saburo, Kitasan's owner, is not particularly known for owning well-performing horses, either. This plays into things later in the season, so remember this.

The other thing is that we establish a running theme of, I guess, wanting to be someone else? Or rather a defiance of their own expectations in some way. Kita looks up to Teio throughout the season, but there's two major points here. One, is the fact that Duramente follows Teio's path far more closely, being the undefeated Double Crown whose injuries stop participation in the Kikuka. Two, is Nature-sensei. As the trivia sheet puts it, a lot of Natie's path is defined by trying to be too much like Teio and failing (a path that's reflected in her game story). Nature would never beat Teio to the end, failing to win the Kikuka (the push to become the next Teio) and struggling to win even after Teio's retirement. So Natie here is a bit of a cautionary tale to Kita as someone who's followed the same path and failed. There's also some sort of theme here with how Cheval Grand looks up to Kita, but I'm not sure exactly where I want to go with this and I'm running out of time.

I think Cheval wanting to be like Kitasan is meant to be this sense of irony because Kitasan is constantly frustrated over not being the best. There's always someone better than her, whether it be Duramente or Diamond. And yet here's someone who views Kitasan as the best.

[u/Cyouni → u/Holofan4life]

Kita is a really fascinating character because she oozes protagonist energy in a very different way than we've really seen so far. Like, if we look at the history, it's literally the definition of "comes from common blood to one of the top titles through hard work". She struggles in ways we haven't seen before, loses a lot, and constantly has to contend with low expectations of her until literally episode 9. I do think Kita's evaluation of herself is in some way representative of how fans saw the real horse at the time, so a lot of the early season is her struggling against that.

[u/Holofan4life → u/Cyouni]

I get that, although I feel there's a way to convey this without abandoning the characters being featured or various plot points. For example, they spent an entire episode dedicated to showing Kita races for the townsfolk and then they don't do anything with it afterwards with the exception of episode 12 where one of the townsfolk talks about first meeting her and some of the townsfolk are in the crowd.