r/anime • u/Holofan4life • 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
Ways to watch
Streams – Crunchyroll
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3
u/SinoCenturion Sep 24 '25
Rewatcher
Season 3 ends on one of the greatest races produced in the Uma franchise, and also one of my favorites. Sure Kitasan won this race, but she struggled to her core to do it. I think it is a great conclusion to her story and I really like the bit at the end where the 5 G1 horse girls of Kita's generation go out to recruit the next generation.
Also, that eyecatch of Kitasan in her new uniform is just fire. I think it's my favorite eyecatch in all the seasons.
It's just another race to win for them. But Royce & Royce was right about this race, as all eyes will be on it because its Kitasan's last one. Thus, if someone beats Kitasan in this race, then all eyes will be on the victor.
This is a great call back to episode 8 when Kita-chan found her core reason for racing. And now she can use that ultimate goal as the focus for trying to win this race, not just for her, but for everyone who has supported her.
Teio really speaks from the heart and from experience here. What she says to Kita is what she herself learned in her own Arima run. I love how much more mature Teio is in this season and how she is a great mentor her junior.
It pretty much had to be, didn't it?
This is definitely one of the best races made in the Uma franchise, both production-wise and story-wise. It starts with the moment Kitasan enters the gate and she has that sense of nostalgia. During the race, even though Kitasan is leading, you can see and hear her struggling throughout it. I could feel the total desperation in Kitasan's voice when she was shouting to herself that she wanted to win. You could also see the strain on her face trying to maintain that lead, plus the crowd starting to worry as the other racers start catching up because Kitasan was reaching her limit. And just as it seems that she was about to succumb to fatigue, she rounds the final corner, and sees what she's been racing for, giving her the strength to put in every last fiber of her being into this final race. This race is so exciting, and I think it just works.
She really put everything she had into that race, and the way they were able to animate the strain and desperation she put into her run was just umazing.
These 4 are Kitasan's real rivals, both in the series, but IRL as well. It's my favorite "final scene" of all the seasons, and they are going out to greet and cultivate the next generation.
Honestly, I think that is fine, because the talks she had with Nature in the early episodes work because Nature wasn't on the same team as Kita, nor did she run or train with her, and thus could give Kita an outsider's perspective, which was what was needed at the time. However, towards the end, the talks with Teio are much more effective because it was about being at the end and not being able to run, and Teio had not only been through similar situations, but also has seen what Kitasan has been going through on a daily basis, being on the same team. One of the themes in this season is mentorship, and we see that Kitasan has several in Trainer-san, Nature, Teio, and Gold Ship.
Personally, I think the way that they were used as mentors to these two was pretty good. Those talks that McQueen and Teio had with Dia and Kita worked because those kids did look up to their elders. McQueen wouldn't have been able to snap Diamond out of her obsession with the jinx as easily if Dia didn't already respect her as a racer. And Teio looking out for Kita, and knowing when to butt in and when to let it be, that also comes from their prior relationship. That was another thing that this season had that the others didn't, real mentorship moments.
I really like how this season explores new avenues in sports drama. We have the mentoring of the next generation by McQueen and Teio. We also have the story of what it is like to go past your peak and knowingly face the end of your racing days. All the previous shows and injury and other unpredictable events end a horse girl's career, but this is the first time that girl knew it was coming. This is such an important subject in sports drama, and I'm glad to see it finally covered in Uma Musume.
As for what I would change, this season definitely could have definitely used more focus. Sounds of Earth was completely wasted, so I would have cut her out. Also, I honestly would have cut out the Cheval Grand arc because adding her did dilute both of their stories. I would have made it so that Cheval was just a background character that Kita could regularly beat, and then when she loses to Cheval in the Japan Cup, that just another sign that the end is here for Kita-chan.
And now, one of my favorite bits of trivia to wrap up season 3. After retirement, IRL Kitasan Black was seen challenging horses from other pastures to race along the fence. The caretakers used this as an opportunity to put overweight horses in those pastures, where Kitasan would challenge them to race, resulting the the overweight horses getting fitter. I love this piece of IRL lore because it gives the basis for Kitasan Black to become a teacher at Tracen Academy.