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Uma Musume Pretty Derbyis a media franchise based on the mobile game of the same name. The series centers around real-life racehorses being depicted as cute, anthropomorphic horse girls called Uma Musume, with whom the player, or “Trainer”, must bond to help them win races against friends and rivals.
There are countless Japanese mobile games where the main appeal is collecting cute girls who obsess over the player, and for the most part,Uma Musumeis no different from its contemporaries in that regard. Surprisingly, though, the series does have plenty of substance in and out of the original game, and by the time of its global launch in 2025,Uma Musume Pretty Derbyhas quickly risen to become one of the biggest anime franchises in the world. It’s almost impossible to avoid it right now, and fortunately, there’s plenty of great content to go along with it.
Uma Musume Pretty Derby’s Main Gimmick Is Why It’s A Global Phenomenon
Why Uma Musume Is Such A Popular Franchise
Overall, it’s fairly easy to see whyUma Musume Pretty Derbyhas taken off so fast. Even though it’s hardly the first Japanese mobile game where you collect cute and quirky girls, the wide variety in the Uma Musume’s appearances and personalities gives the game far more appeal than some of its contemporaries, and it’s been a major success for years because of that.
Another point is the surprising depth that goes into the writing. It’s one thing for a Japanese mobile game to be filled with cute and quirky girls, butUma Musumefully commits to its premise by having the girls’ personalities and character arcs explicitly based on the histories of the horses they were based on, and that added depth makes it all the more fun to play with them.
Uma Musumefully commits to its premise by having the girls’ personalities and character arcs explicitly based on the histories of the horses they were based on.
That factor has led to the emergence of one of the franchise’s biggest icons, Haru Urara. Originally a joke character who had a running gag of never winning races, Haru immediately became a fan favorite for how sympathetic she was, and because of that,Uma Musumefans donated over 2.5 metric tons of grass to the real-life Haru Uraraout of their love for the character.
The World Of Uma Musume Is Just As Great In Anime As It Is In The Games
What Makes The Uma Musume Anime So Great
There’s plenty of fun to be had in theUma Musumegames, and that can also be seen in its anime spinoffs. From 2018 to 2023, an anime from P.A. Works and Studio Kai streamed on Crunchyroll, and while it wasn’t the best show, it still did a good job of working the game into a more linear narrative, and it especially helped that it was the only way English fans could enjoy the franchise at the time.
Everything changed after the end of the original anime, though. Starting in 2023, Cygames, the company that ownsUma Musume, started animating in-house through CygamesPictures, and every product has been filled with far better writing, animation, and overall direction, all of which highlights how much the franchise has grown over the years.
Nowhere is that growth more apparent than with the latest anime,Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray. Not only does the show have incredible artwork and animation from start to finish, butUma Musume: Cinderella Grayhas the best writing of anyUma Musumeanime for how it takes itself so seriously without abandoning any of the franchise’s charm. It’s one of thebest sports anime to watch, and it coming out just as the game had its global launch was perfect synergy.
Why Uma Musume Pretty Derby Took So Long To Catch On
Why Is Uma Musume Only Now Becoming A Phenomenon?
Uma Musume Pretty Derbyis an undeniable hit, and that begs the question of why it took so long. While the game was originally scheduled for a 2018 release, various issues delayed its launch until 2021, so for many years, the only way people could experience the franchise was through the tie-in anime, which probably wasn’t ideal.
What also didn’t help was how long it took for the game to come out in English; the official English release wasn’t until June 2025, and with it coming out around the same time asthePersona 5spinoff,The Phantom X, it seemed like it was doomed to become another mobile game that would be largely irrelevant outside of Japan.
That ended up being the furthest from the truth, of course. WhenUma Musumefinally launched in English, it became an instant hit for its combination of cute characters, fun gameplay, and general goofiness, just like in Japan, and with it coming out around the same timeCinderella Graytook off, there was incredible synergy to help the series have as big a global launch as possible.
Not sinceFate/Grand Orderhas a mobile game had such an explosion of popularity, and with how fun and memetic the game and the larger franchise are,Uma Musume Pretty Derbyhas more than earned its incredible popularityfrom how much work has been done to make it as fun as possible. The series is unlikely to die down anytime soon, and ifUma Musume Pretty Derbykeeps delivering great content, that will be great to see.
