Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray

This series is like the ultimate confirmation, that any unserious-seeming plot-device can be made into a great story! Let me explain: The premise of horse girls may seem very foreign, but nothing new in the world of online games in Japan. Ship girls, sword boys, and of course horse girls! There is another Umamusume series but for this one, but watching the other is not necessary and I would dare to say, that they are completely different series altogether.

I have no idea how this came to be. But the truth is this...this is a series about an actual horse from the 80s as a ... cute horsegirl sports anime.

Cinderella Gray grips from the beginning with a endearingly "natural" but talented protagonist, who only cares about running. While the focus is sports, it has some comedy elements as well, which makes the series more lighthearted.

The first episode serves as a great introduction to any sports series. It starts of with the creme de la creme umamusume running a championship. The animations lure the viewer in from the beginning, speed and the power behind the strides is conveyed masterfully with the animation and sound effects. That is what this series is going to be at heart, a pure sports series. What I appreciate especially is, that the characters don't seem to be sexualized unnecessarily thus far, which is something I have seldom seen from sports series with female characters.

After the character introduction we get our first fateful encounter with a potential coach and the goal of the series: to become really great at racing. There are side-characters with good designs and also antagonists from the start as well as a rival.

The art style is fitting and the character designs are great. And still, during the sports scenes they don't shy away to show the athletes grit their teeth.

The sound is what actually drew me in in the first place, the cool Opening by Alexandros. Sound design is solid as well, and works well with the sports elements.

The characters are not really anything new, but they don't have to be. They work very well with the setting. Our protag Oguri Cap is super interesting, because her motivations are nothing I would have anticipated and which are incorporated very well. They characters seem to have their own motivations and don't feel like cardboard cutouts of character archetypes.

My enjoyment thus far is great and I would not have thought so in the beginning because cute girls doing cute things is not a genre I'd usually enjoy. But this is not that, this is a pure sports series with great writing so far, so I can only recommend it, especially if you didn't think this could be your cup of tea.

A must-watch for enjoyers of sports anime filled with drama, hype, character development, and emotion. This is enhanced by its gorgeous animation, soundtrack/voice acting, and a solid cast of characters.
(No previous Uma Musume entry/background is needed at all, as this is a prequel spinoff! In fact, I am writing this review with Cinderella Gray as my first exposure to the Uma Musume franchise.)

Story:
The setting is 1987 in Gifu, Japan where our protagonist, Oguri Cap sets foot onto the Kasamatsu Racecourse to begin her path to becoming a legendary racer. Through the story, we see Oguri Cap take on various races, and strive to become ... the best version of herself. This is a simple story that is easy to follow. It is fleshed out by both the drama and its cast of characters, specifically Oguri, so this story may be hard to enjoy if you are not a fan/actively dislike Oguri.

Character:
Oguri Cap begins as a relatively one-dimensional character who is focused on running because she is just happy whenever she has the opportunity to run. Throughout the story, we see her develop beyond that dimension as she grows to establish her own goals, as well as cherish the relationships around her.

Our cast of supporting characters surrounding Oguri is solid. I particularly like Berno who is Oguri's best supporter - always having her back, and is just an all-around great girl.

Animation:
CygamesPictures has continued to impress me with its gorgeous visuals and fluid animation sequences. To get some insight into the animation, just take a look at the 1:30 opening theme of Cinderella Gray that's available on YouTube. The portrayal of the Kasamatsu area via the beautiful background frames is cool to see.

Sound/Voice Acting:
One of the things to note for people unfamiliar with the Uma Musume franchise is that after a race, the winning Uma Musume has a "winning live" performance where they dance to a song. While this feels more secondary in Cinderella Gray, I have heard that other entries have more of a focus on that.

The soundtrack and voice acting are solid. I would like to give a shoutout to Ise Mariya's Fujimasa March voice acting performance, which I find to be excellent in portraying Oguri's headstrong but passionate rival who struggles with expressing her emotions honestly.