Cygames‘ horse-girl racing mobile game Uma Musume: Pretty Derby is finally available in Japan. After a round of delays so long that its planned multimedia extensions launched first, the game itself went live on February 24, 2021. Now Cygames is making up for lost time by uploading the full Uma Musume animated opening movie for all the world to see:
The Uma Musume: Pretty Derby opening features the song “Girls’ Legend U.” Coupled with the animation, it is designed to set player’s expectations. There are horse-girls, training, foot races, and idol-style musical performances. The video also features characters from the anime and the game’s story mode like Special Week, Silence Suzuka, and Tokai Teio.
One thing that isn’t quite communicated as clearly by the Uma Musume: Pretty Derby animated opening is the game’s oddball premise, which is outlined in the first season of the anime. Uma Musume takes place in an alternate world in which the souls of famous real-life racehorses are reincarnated as horse-girls. They live to compete in footraces and occasionally sing on stage.
Another, more comprehensive gameplay trailer covers most of the basics of Uma Musume‘s flow:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0URWn4RCLIM
And though it’s early days yet, the game seems to have drawn a lot of attention for its blending of horse racing aesthetics with more familiar cute characters and idol singing.
One former television announcer even tried recording live sportscast-style commentary for an in-game race. People can compare it to the game’s more robotic, AI-driven commentary system:
こんどはURAファイナルに実況つけたから見て#ウマ娘 pic.twitter.com/1mqJ34cP90
— 田口尚平/ Taguchi Shohei (@shohei_taguchi) February 27, 2021
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby is immediately available on iOS and Android devices in Japan. No overseas release has been announced. The localized anime adaptations can be viewed on streaming services like Crunchyroll.
