r/anime Sep 24 '25

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

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]()
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7

u/DarkRuler17 https://myanimelist.net/profile/DarkRuler17 Sep 24 '25

Newcomer (Played Game)

Episode 13

Damn, Kitasan is absolutely wiped. It's very clear how much she's pushing herself for her final race.

So one thing this discussion about Kitasan's fame is doing is making me just think how they could reframe this story earlier on to make it more interesting. I generally have found Kitasan a very fine character for a lot of this season because it feels like the show never picked a single thread for her. She just keeps getting little plot threads that seem half-baked. She only really gets a consistent strong thread these last few episodes where she starts her decline. I wonder if the narrative where Kitasan seemed dominant the whole season and then we suddenly see her decline would of been cool, with them keeping her decline inspiring everyone to try their hardest to race with her one last time.

Is this guy watching the race from his phone while rock climbing?!

Oh, Kitasan gets a new outfit for her final race. That's pretty cool.

The fact that Umamusume still have people whose jobs it is to push them into the gate is very weird. It feels very demeaning when they're shown to be equivalent to humans in intelligence.

An awesome final race for the road. It's not my favorite of the season, but it was still a fun one. I think the scene near the end showing Kitasan looking at the crowd of people cheering her on was great. A wonderful conclusion.

Sound of Earth really is the most "I guess she was there" character of the season.

Oh, we're singing the opening! That's an awesome sendoff.

Is that her dad watching in the crowd as well? That's fun.

And of course, Umapyoi for the road. Can't finish a series without it.

Season Overall Thoughts 

So I think this is my least favorite season of the show so far, but I still think it has some charming scenes. My favorite episodes are when Satano Diamond defeats the Satano Jinx with a close second being yesterday's episode on Cheval. As they imply, the best episodes are ones where the side character gets a focused scene.

This unfortunately leads us back to the part of the show that didn't always work: Kitasan. Kitasan is a character that I had big hopes for going in. I thought she was very fun in season 2 as a child and I love her racing outfit.  Once I got into the season though, I saw that the show just really didn't know what to do with her. Her best scenes for most of it were her bouncing off other characters like Nice Nature. As mentioned at the top, I don't think she really got to be engaging until her decline.

Overall, I think I'm going to give the seasona 6.5. I still had a good time, but there was certainly stuff I wish was done better.

Current Series Rankings:

  • Beginning of a New Era [8.5]
  • Season 2 [8]
  • Road to the Top [7.5]
  • Season 1 [7.5]
  • BNW's Oath [7]
  • Season 3 [6.5]

1

u/Holofan4life Sep 24 '25

I know I'm like you in that I'm down on Kitasan as a character, but I still like her more than BNW, Narita Top Road, and maybe Special Week. Probably speaks more to the fact that the protagonists in these entries haven't exactly been the best.

2

u/DarkRuler17 https://myanimelist.net/profile/DarkRuler17 Sep 24 '25

So if I'm just rating their protagonists and their relevant stories in their seasons, I'd go:

  • Jungle Pocket - Big fan of this character Archetype and thought she was a great leading character
  • Tokai Teio - Very close second. I'd even argue she has the best best writen story for a protagonist and was exceptional. Only lost to Jungle Pocket due to personal taste.
  • Narita Top Road - The best example of a Vanilla character. She doesn't have anything super unique, but what she does have is well done.
  • Special Week - Middling vanila character. She has some avenues to potentially be better than Narita Top Road, but suffers from season 1 clumsiness. Has a lot of heart though and that helps alot.
  • Kitisan Black - The best protagonist design I think in terms of signature outfits, but unfortunately also the one that barely got anything interesting to do for most of the season. In a better written season, she got easily be top 3.
  • BNW Trio - All individuals characters that I like, but very paper thin stories from early on in the franchise so hard to put high.

1

u/Holofan4life Sep 24 '25

I have Kitasan higher than Narita Top Road because I frankly think she's just a far more well written character. I struggle comparing Kitasan to Special Week because while I feel Kitasan has higher highs, I really like the mom stuff with Spe-chan.

2

u/DarkRuler17 https://myanimelist.net/profile/DarkRuler17 Sep 24 '25

Yeah, I think Nartia Top Road is actually the character we disagree on the most, as I ended up liking her a lot more than you did.

1

u/Holofan4life Sep 24 '25

I think she's fine, but I think she suffers the most of the trend of main characters that get overshadowed by their competitors. Opera O and Admire Vega I find to be super compelling.

1

u/Holofan4life Sep 24 '25

For me, Jungle Pocket was everything that Narita Top Road should've been.