Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray Season 2

Episode 17

After a hiatus, Cinderella Gray is back! It worked well enough, since the show has been thus far all about driving up the anticipation for the Japan Cup. One more delay just ups the tension a bit more. It also lets the narrative soft reset a bit, with an episode that opens by soundly rounding back to Oguri Cap, focusing on her pursuit of victory and a second shot at overcoming Tamamo Cross. It's a nice reminder of who the star of this show is after the preceding ensemble introduction, even as this episode itself continues its full use of that extended stable of characters.

The noted length of the Japan Cup, that often-touted 2,400 meters, really lets Cinderella Gray play up the pacing to make this race feel like the event it is. The run's not over by the end of this episode, with multiple possible upsets looming, backed by a variety of mini-conflicts that occur out on the track. I know I've called this out before, but this part of Cinderella Gray really is Uma Musume in full-on sports-action shonen-tournament-arc mode, and that's genuinely great. The buildup and previous introduction of all those new faces continues that effect, with a focus that has broadened so far beyond Oguri at this point. But all the extra elements justify their place in the ballooned narrative and the higher, more complex stakes on display.

Take all the new overseas race horses, for instance. Yes, I'm still happy any time Michelle My Baby is on-screen, but also her first major action in the race is to start bullying poor Oguri out on the track. It feels like a pretty American move, to be sure (alongside Obey Your Master's obnoxious trolling), but the way Musaka confirms that it's a legitimate strategy speaks to the wider world of racing approaches that Japanese locals like Oguri and Tamamo might not be prepared for. Also, not for nothing, but Tama also puts up with this behavior from UK horse girl Moonlight Lunacy, so maybe it's just a western thing in general rather than being down to the attitudes of those obnoxious Americans.

Regardless, the rough play is here to up the intensity and show how established characters might be out of their depths at this new peak. This race's big shift for Oguri herself was that she switched her strategy to pace chasing specifically to better catch Tamamo, only for that plan not to survive contact with the race itself, as both of them find themselves under attack. The deeper irony is that, as Super Creek observes, Oguri's typical mid-pack approach might actually have been the better strategy for this race. It's like they say: never change horses mid-uh, wait a second, I might need to think of a less literal idiom.

The scuffles mid-race between the Japanese leads and the new international interlopers fuel those little interactions and conflicts that make this feel so shonen-tournament-coded. Better, the broader approach lets Cinderella Gray bring back a bit more of that humor that sometimes dips out of this series. I'm not going to complain about much of it coming from Michelle My Baby, such as the hilarious mid-race taunting she tries to heap on Oguri, only for the latter to point out that she can't speak English. And the face game this episode is just firing on all cylinders. After some of the previous episodes this season felt like they were holding back a bit in the stylization department, coming back this week really feels like Cygames Pictures is using all the colorful new characters in this big race as a reason to cut loose with the show.

That's seen in serious directorial touches like the potent POV shot from Oguri as she starts seeming to succumb to exhaustion. And it's obviously visible in more esoteric expressions, like the glass shattering in the back of Tamamo's psyche as she feels the very threatening, very American presence of Obey Your Master. It's a last-minute swerve while I was still wondering what Oguri's condition was and how she might be turning it around—that broadened playing field of characters means this is still an absolute nail-biter of a race. So yes, Cinderella Gray is absolutely earning its bigger cast and broader focus, while still keeping the audience's investment tethered to Oguri Cap, even as she's biding her time in the background in some places. I'm still rooting for her to pull off a win before this, after all.

Look, I just had to watch the Dodgers take the World Series from the Toronto Blue Jays this weekend, I don't need to see America win again.

Rating:

Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray Season 2 is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

Chris was backing the horse girls before they were cool, and he's so happy they've spurted off the way they have now. You can follow him reskeeting fanart of Vodka, Michelle My Baby, and the other cool ones over on his BlueSky.