About

Uma Musume Pretty Derby or Umamusume is an anime, manga and gacha game series on PC and mobile devices about a group of famous Japanese racehorses reborn as "horse girls," who then train to be successful racers and idols. The video game was announced in 2016, and the anime series aired in 2018, with two more seasons airing in 2021 and 2023. The game saw a significant boost in virality online in June and July 2025 following its English-language release, becoming popularized with numerous streamers and Let's Players.

History

Anime Series

On March 25th, 2018, TOHO Animation uploaded a trailer for the Uma Musume Pretty Derby mixed media project, an anime and video game series about horse girls who also want to be Japanese idols.

That day, Crunchyroll^[1] released information about Uma Musume Pretty Derby. The anime is directed by Kei Oikawa and written by Akihiko Ishihara and Masafumi Sugiura. It is broadcast on Tokyo MX, BS11, KTV and STS.

The story follows a horse girl called Special Week who wants to conquer the "Twinkle Series" and be the Number 1 Horse Girl in Japan. The first season ran between April 2nd and June 18th, 2018.

A second season ran between January 5th, 2021, and February 22nd, 2022. A third season ran between October 5th and December 28th, 2023.

Between April 6th and June 29th, 2025, a spin-off series titled Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray aired.

Several other series ran between 2021 and 2025 as well, including Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Road to the Top, Umayuru and Umayon, the latter two being short series.^[2]

Video Games

Uma Musume Pretty Derby (PC, Mobile)

The Uma Musume Pretty Derby mobile and PC game was announced in 2016. The game was developed by Cygames and has players train and race a wide variety of horse girls. On February 24th, 2021, the game was released in Japan.

On April 27th, 2025, a trailer for the English release of the game was posted on YouTube,^[3] garnering over 55,000 views in three months.

On June 25th, 2025, the Uma Musume YouTube^[4] channel uploaded a release trailer for the game. On June 26th, the English version of the game was released.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Party Dash

On August 29th, 2024, Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Party Dash, a party video game based on the series, was released.

Reception

On MyAnimeList,^[5] the anime has a rating of 7.12/10 with votes from 3,300 users as of April 2018.

Online Presence

Uma Musume has grown a notable presence online since it emerged in 2018, particularly after the game and anime releases. There is also a Wiki^[4] for the show and a page on Anime News Network.^[6]

Both the game and anime series have inspired a variety of fan art, memes and fan content examples throughout the late 2010s and 2020s.

For instance, on July 13th, 2018, Redditor TBrandonM210 posted an Is This a Pigeon? meme to the /r/Animeme^[9] subreddit depicting the anime characters, receiving over 420 upvotes and 30 comments in seven years.

On December 21st, 2024, X^[10] / Twitter user @kanadeself posted a Most Important Events in History meme about season two of the anime's release, receiving over 25,000 views, 1,200 likes and 280 retweets in seven months.

2025 English Release Popularity

Following the official English-language release of Uma Musume Pretty Derby in late June 2025, the game became notably popularized among streamers and content creators, inspiring an increase in memes and discourse about the game online heading into early July 2025.

For example, on July 4th, 2025, Twitch streamer Northernlion uploaded a segment from his stream to his YouTube^[11] channel playing the game, which received over 148,000 views, 4,600 likes and 470 comments in three days.

On July 5th, 2025, X^[7] user @Nikolini_ posted a video of himself playing the game, writing, "least intense umamusume race," garnering over 111,000 likes in two days. Niko's performance in the video is seemingly a reference to the Guy Spanking Himself Watching Horse Racing viral video.

On July 6th, Twitch^[12] streamer PaymoneyWubby also played the game during a livestream, receiving over 94,000 views in 17 hours.

On July 7th, 2025, X^[8] user @MiyanEatWorld posted a My Body Is a Machine meme based on the game that gained over 20,000 likes in under a day.

Search Interest

External References