Tokyo is the home of national-level horse girls and the next generation of running prodigies. Jou Kitahara, a rookie trainer with big dreams and modest expectations, does not expect to find talent in the quiet town of Kasamatsu—until he meets an ash-gray-haired girl with a wild, unconventional stride.
As a child with bad knees, Oguri Cap spent much of her early life in pain, struggling to stand. But through relentless perseverance, she overcame her limits and found liberation in the very thing that once seemed impossible: running. While the other horse girls at Kasamatsu chase victory and fame, Oguri runs without ambition, driven only by the joy of movement.
Fujimasa March, a rising regional star, commands attention with her discipline, talent, and tenacity. For her, running is a matter of pride. But when a school-organized race brings her face-to-face with Oguri's raw, unpolished stride, March's confidence begins to waver. In turn, something in Oguri shifts after racing March. For the first time, a spark of ambition ignites within her—a desire to win that will take her beyond the confines of her hometown to the grand stages waiting on the horizon.
[Written by MAL Rewrite]
Nenhum episódio encontrado.
Comentários
KANLen09
Uma Musume: Cinderella Grey — Finally, something that's off the usual trodden path of the field...that's even better than the mainline series itself? Horse Girls, make them female and give them a demihuman representation, and you have quite the double trouble awaiting you on the racetrack. Since Spring 2018, with the arrival of P.A. Works's adaptation of Uma Musume: Pretty Derby, one of a handful of IPs from one of the best modern game companies, CyGames, the series may have started in Japan all those years ago. But with every new iteration of the anime series, which has now brought about a large franchise, fans of UmaMusume are going bonkers left and right, with the latest development being the official English version of the game that has been recently released for smartphones on June 26 of this year (2025) (it's fairly new as of this review) so that international fans are not left out of the Uma Musume craze.
Most importantly, in the context of the anime mentioned above, is a manga series that's part of the Uma Musume franchise but one that has its deep roots within the Japanese racehorse history books. This is the spin-off series of Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray, which features Oguri Cap and her claim to fame in Japan that's situated between the time of the late Showa era and the early years of the Heisei era, from 1987 through 1990, produced by Junnosuke Ito, illustrated by Taiyo Kuzumi, and written by Masafumi Sugiura, scriptwriter for Season 1 of the mainline series that has been serializing since June 2020.
While I'm not going to do an overview about the real horse reference in question (you can read that for yourself on Wikipedia), the criticality of Cinderella Gray is where the series lies in the many veins of the Uma Musume universe. To be specific (as a pseudo-spoiler alert), you will recognize some of the horse girls who appear in this anime as the generation before the mainline series, but if it's in the vein of Oguri Cap, it's pretty much a prequel to the mainline series, being somewhat way back before Uma Musume's Tracen Academy was even a blip in the eyes of others.
The story starts off at Kasamatsu Academy with its own home of horse girls, though if they were to compete competitively, it would only be on a regional level as compared to Tracen Academy aiming for the national and international levels. If you need a direct comparison to how Oguri Cap is like in this spin-off series, think of her similarly towards Season 2 of the mainline series where Tokai Teio takes centerstage, and the talented horsegirl that has a goal to make herself big, at least on a national stage. In Cinderella Gray's case, Oguri Cap has only one important mission to do: run as fast as possible and outdo her competitors, even if the country bumpkin herself doesn't see favour with the rest of the Kasamatsu Academy's horse girls. Namely, their version of the BNW girls of Biwa Hayahide, Narita Taishin, and Winning Ticket, through the likes of Norn Ace, Mini the Lady, and Rudy Lemono, alongside her good horsegirl buddy friend Belno Light and the trainer that makes all of her dreams possible: Joe Kitahara.
As with every Uma Musume iteration, trying to push your limits towards the likes of national horse girls is a very tall order, but much like Tokai Teio's spirit, Oguri Cap does things the same, keeping her mother's dreams in mind as she makes it out to the local Kasamatsu Academy to refine her steps, one race at a time. And though she comes off as aloof (which gives some comedy space to her character), even under the pressure of the group of bullies who would try and sully her, she only has her ardent supporter of Belno Light help bail her out of trouble and take care of her everyday needs, like a helpless mother figure to her otherwise monotonous horse girl daughter. But still, the heart of Uma Musume is readily there, as Oguri Cap soon proves herself under the training of Joe and amasses local wins enough to make it to the famed Graded races in Japan, eventually meeting with her generation's bigwig rivals of Tamamo Cross, Super Creek, and Inari One (though they too appeared briefly in Season 1 of the mainline series). It's classic Uma Musume through and through.
No doubt that with a CyGames IP, both P.A. Works and Studio Kai have experimented much with the mainline series, and they did an admirable job, considering that their animation arm was established but not ready for full-time anime production at the time. And come 5 years later, with PriConne's adaptation being the very first primetime anime production back in Spring 2020, after the mainline series' Road to the Top movie, CyGamesPictures is back with a vengeance, tackling their own IP franchise, and Cinderella Gray defintely benefits from an in-house, home-ground playing field of an immense production and great animation. No doubt that the studio has done well with the underrated hit of Apocalypse Hotel this Spring season as well, so it shouldn't really come as a surprise when the interconnected IP gets pretty much the same treatment as well. Really some great work that continues to seed the great image of CyGames and their animation division.
The OST, I think, is top-notch, but given the work records of music composer Kenji Kawai, that's pretty much a given. And while I find that [Alexandros]'s OP here was decent, knowing their track record on Ao Ashi's 1st OP makes me feel that there's something holding the rock band back that feels incomplete. But not a bad effort at all. Even Oguri Cap's VA's ED performance is alright; there's not much to say about that as an above-average song.
As the first spin-off in a rather huge franchise, Cinderella Gray just adds another layer to the Uma Musume complexity that's to be expected from the stories of real-life Japanese horses, but given CyGames and its flair that just makes the marriage of history and modernization all that powerful. And yet, this is only the 1st half of the split-cour adaptation, so expect more things to come when the anime comes back in Fall.
Uma Musume: Never doubt the competition, because you ARE the competition.
itsdreo
"You there! What's your name?'' ''Oguri Cap.'' '' ''Cap''... As in ''Peak''...'' Truer words have never been spoken. Uma Musume: CInderella Gray takes the franchise to the next level when it comes to the series. While not as over the top as last years Beginning of a new era, it provides a ton of excitement and enthusiasm leaving you at the edge of your seat during every race, but it also gives us heartwarming and emotional moments and backstories. Cinderella Gray gives us cool cool rivals and shows us all the adorable and quirky sides of Oguri Cap. So come and join our ashen haired Uma musume asshe race towards the peak of Japan!
DonDagda
Cinderellaman Grey is peak, plain and simple. In the spotlight is Oguri Cap, a lovable dunce from the boonies who is as adorable as she is gluttonous. Past seasons of Uma Musume are a great watch and this series builds on their foundation, however it’s a whole different beast compared to them. There’s more of an edge, more insight into what’s going on behind the scenes, and a more competitive feel to it in general. Part of this added grittiness stems from the fact there is just one MC to focus on- season one had Special Week and Silence Suzuka, season two wasToukai Teiou and Mejiro McQueen, Kitisan Black and Satono Diamond in season three. Oguri Cap stands alone.
The animation and color pallet is superb, and the opening and closing songs are as well. The biggest downside to this anime is how much I now feel the need to purchase the Oguri Cap plushie shown for sale a few times.
DoktorCZ
I was never really into the Uma Musume universe, even though I’ve always loved sports anime like Haikyuu!!, Kuroko no Basket, Run with the Wind, and others. So when I started Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray, I had mixed feelings and a good dose of skepticism. But oh boy... this show came charging in like a raging beast, demanding my attention, and it got it, instantly. From the very first episode, I was completely hooked. Out of all the anime I’ve watched this season (and I’ve seen almost all of them), nothing has hit me this hard, well, maybe The Apothecary Diaries comes close, but Cinderella Gray stillstands on top for me. This show is truly the embodiment of “peak” , peak emotion, peak storytelling, peak characters.
I can’t even count how many times I cried, shouted at the screen to support Oguri, felt overwhelming joy when the ashen beast won, and shared her sorrow when she didn’t. Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray didn’t just entertain me, it left a mark on my soul.
Thank you, Uma Verse.
Thank you, Oguri Cap.
And thank you, Cygames, for creating this unforgettable journey.
I bow to you all.
10/10 No hesitation.
TanSri
Anime horse girls racing against each other as if their lives depended on it. What more could you ask for? While the premise is simple, it seems like Cygames has been going hard with the animation, making sure that despite how many UmaMusume is packed together in the middle, you can still clearly see what's going on, and focus on the important moment that heavily impacted the race results. The character designs are amazing, and their faces ranges between "aha so cute" to "are they about to kill each other?". The UmaMusume you see in the class isn't necessarily the same UmaMusume as they run theirheart out. It's such a thrill to watch as they run the course, each with their own motivation, building up your anxiety as they approach the finish line
Whenever Oguri Cap spurts towards her opponent and that kickass soundtrack kicks in, you know it's gonna be the showdown of the century. This shit is in fact THAT SERIOUS. And I'll be here to witness the continuation when the fall of 2025 hits us.
josephsl
A standout season not only for the Uma Musume series but for sports anime in general. The story buildup throughout the season is fantastically done. And unlike some of the shorter spinoffs in the series this show gives us time with the characters to get emotionally invested, all while never dragging down the pace too much. Getting to experience the journey was incredible. I particularly liked the more grounded art design. It's still unmistakably Uma Musume, but this time the cartoony vibes have been substituted for something with a bit more specificity, from the stronger sense of place in each location to the more realistic colorpalette and subtle film effect. It makes the whole thing feel just a bit closer to taking place in the real world, which is a funny direction for this series but it works really well here. Add to that great animation for the races themselves and it's really fun to watch.
You could argue that the main character's lack of personability is a slight weakness, but I do enjoy how the show tells the story of someone who's so strong that their goals struggle to keep up with their skill, instead of the other way around like we usually get in sports stories. Despite her rarely saying directly how she feels about it, you can feel the struggles yourself as you're taken through her story. It's an interesting angle to take that sets this season apart from each of the other parts of the overall series.
This was one of my top shows for the year and would be a solid recommendation to just about anyone. I'd love to see it get more attention over time.
voledae
Cinderella Gray is a really solid entry to the Uma Musume world that is good blend of light hearted jokes and intense racing. Oguri Cap is a lovable protagonist to root for and the side characters have good personalities that was previously a side character in the other animes, mostly as a gag in the background chowing down on ridiculous amounts of food. She continues that character trait but we finally get to see what Oguri Cap's racing is like and it's simply fun. The animations are great, the races are exciting, and the flow of the story is easy to follow. The pacing ofthe show is definitely a lot smoother than Road to the Top as there is a good amount of time for training and racing that you feel Oguri Cap's growth into the monster of a racing horse she is.
Overall it's a thoroughly enjoyable show from start to finish and it's a good entry into the franchise.
SkyBlue1012
An anime where girls become horses? I didn’t expect much going in, but it turned out to be a surprisingly fun ride. The main character, Oguri Cap, has a really likeable personality—it’s easy to root for her throughout. Each episode kept me entertained, and I never found it boring, even though I’m not into sports anime since they often follow the same cliché formula. The animation is solid, and the pacing is great. They managed to fit a lot into just 12 episodes without making it feel rushed or overloaded. Overall, it was a fun and enjoyable watch. If you're looking for something light and fast-paced, I’d definitelyrecommend giving this a try.
llHakull
Ingles "HORSE GIRLS, BROOO! Hahahaha, fantastic. I started this series because I had already heard about its game and the main show, but I didn’t really see the point. Like I said at the beginning: “horse girls”. But when I realized this story can be enjoyed without needing to know all the previous ones from the main plot, I gave it a chance and… waooow! A pure spokon, full of passion, with very fun and emotional stories. With this series I cleared my doubts, and now I’ll watch the main story because… HORSE GIRLSSS! OGURI CAP, MY QUEEN! 👑" Español "¡CHICAS CABALLO, BROOO! Jajajajaja, fantástico. Comencé esta serie porqueya había escuchado sobre su juego y la serie principal, pero no le veía mucho sentido. Como dije al comienzo: “chicas caballo”. Pero al descubrir que esta historia se puede ver sin necesidad de conocer todas las anteriores de la trama principal, le di una oportunidad y ¡waooo!
Un spokon puro, con muchísima pasión e historias muy divertidas y emotivas. Con esta serie salí de dudas y ahora veré la historia principal porque… ¡CHICAAAS CABALLLOOO! ¡OGURI CAP, MY QUEEN! 👑"
SatoruSho
Boy oh boy, Uma Musume just keeps delivering. Cinderella Gray is the latest addition to the Uma Musume franchise, and it tackles the world of horse racing in a slightly more action-packed and intense way than we're used to. This time, we get plenty of hype moments and an overall tone that feels more grounded and serious—yet it still fits well within the usually cheerful universe Uma Musume takes place in. To start off: you don’t need any prior knowledge to enjoy this show. You can pretty much jump in blind and still have nearly the same experience as someone who has watched the earlier entries.Sure, a few technical terms might trip you up here and there—the franchise does assume some familiarity with the game—but honestly, that’s true for any Uma Musume show.
The story itself is fairly straightforward: we follow our underdog, Oguri Cap, as she climbs her way from the bottom to the top—making new friends, facing fierce rivals, and overcoming all kinds of challenges along the way. It’s nothing revolutionary on paper, sure—but where Cinderella Gray truly shines is in how it brings its characters to life. The chemistry between them, the balance of high-stakes action and genuinely emotional moments, all come together to create a surprisingly compelling and enjoyable experience.
I already mentioned Oguri Cap in the story recap, but of course, there are many more characters who appear throughout the series. And let’s be honest: since Uma Musume is based on a gacha game, characters are pretty much the core selling point of the entire franchise. So how did Cinderella Gray handle that? Honestly—I fell in love with most of the girls. Each of them comes with her own story, personality, and ambitions. Watching them chase their dreams is genuinely captivating and adds a lot of emotional weight to the narrative.
That said, we have to be realistic: with more than 30 girls appearing in Cinderella Gray, there’s simply no way they can all get meaningful screen time. Some of them barely show up, and a few are just there to fill out the brackets during races. But honestly? I think that’s for the better. I’d rather have a tight focus on a handful of well-developed characters than see the runtime stretched thin trying to give everyone a moment in the spotlight.
I’ve praised this show a lot, but there are a few minor things that didn’t quite hit the mark for me. For one, the use of CGI becomes more noticeable towards the end—especially during some of the race scenes. It’s not terrible by any means, but it can be a little distracting once you notice it.
Another issue lies in how the show explains the Twinkle Series (the racing system within the Uma Musume universe). There are moments where characters have to choose between different races in their careers, and I found myself wondering: Why choose? Can’t they just run both? If you're unfamiliar with how the Twinkle Series works—as I was—you might feel a bit lost when technical terms or racing structures are thrown around without much explanation. The significance of certain races isn’t always clear either. It's hard to describe without spoiling, but you’ll probably understand what I mean once you watch the show yourself.
Let’s end this review with some well-deserved praise. The soundtrack is genuinely solid and does a great job capturing the aesthetic and emotional tone of the show. The animation, too, is above average—fluid, dynamic, and a real treat to watch, which is especially important for a sports-centered story like this.
All in all, I can wholeheartedly recommend Uma Musume as a franchise—and Cinderella Gray in particular. Once you connect with its unique charm and emotional appeal, there’s really no escaping it.
Otaku_Senpai
Only in anime can you get this show. I cant imagine a live action adaptation of this ever. This anime is about Uma Musumes (girls with horse ears and horse tails) who race competitively on horse racing tracks. I haven't seen the prequel shows so I am guessing in this world maybe there are no real horses. This is a spinoff anime and not the main series so the not everything is explained about the lore. Because the whole world and concept is weird. There are no male racing horse-men, or rather any male Uma Musumes. I haven't noticed any. The racing is well animated, theidol dancing is well animated too but there is not much of it. I am happy with the overall quality of the anime. This seems to be a niche genre anime and I am surprised to see it get this kind of production. If you can overlook the fact the weird premise racers "horse girls", its a good racing/sports anime. This anime doesn't dive into the personal lives of the characters much. Its very much focused on winning races and reaching the Finals in Tokyo Derby.
There are not many surprises in the anime. Story is predictable for the most part. The racers have no racing uniform and wear whatever they want, With any disregard for aerodynamics, racers wear colorful clothes that would totally be unacceptable in a real racing scenario as it would slow you down.
After watching some episodes I watched a Youtuber playing Uma Musume Pretty Derby, a game available on Steam. The game was unique and looked fun and it is about anime-horse-girls racing on racetracks. Yes the concept is a bit weird but the game looked fun. One of racers in the game was Oguri Cap. And I guess they decided to make her the main character in this anime. I did find it interesting Cygame decided to use the profit from their game to make a polished anime that fleshes out the world in ways its not possible in the game. The game racers don't dress in sensible racing uniform. Why is that? Cuz in the game they all have different clothes. I guess its possible you can buy or unlock dresses for the racers. Probably to make the girls look cuter and milk money from gamers by doing so? That's where the unreasonable dress code, or rather no lack of dress code on racetrack comes from, I think.
My biggest issue with the show is the Coach. Why is Oguri Cap grateful or is fond of the Coach? If they spent more time on what the Coach did to train the racers it would have been nice. He just looked incompetent.
The OP/ED is decent, with OP being better.
MrKessler
THis ended up being much more enjoyable than I first thought it would be. Horsegirl racing is a very silly concept. So I didn't think I'd get anything besides some fun well animated races out of this. Instead, not only do we get some really well animated races, but also a really compelling story about a promising talent from a small town rising through the ranks. Now sure, this story as been told to death, and it's a very simple one, but it has so much heart in it and it's so much fun to watch. Oguri herself is a really funny and compelling protagonist. Iwill say that the show does get a little repetitive around the mid point, but its nothing that would make me stop watching or anything, but I don't see this story having enogh fuel for more than 2 cours, so I hope it wraps up nicely in the next season.
7.5/10. Really fun
Aethern
Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray is the most recent addition to CygamesPictures’ catalogue of productions, alongside the recently aired Apocalypse Hotel, in this Spring 2025 season. It follows the studio’s adaptation of a previous installment in its parent series, Uma Musume: Pretty Derby. Fortunately, Cinderella Gray is functionally a standalone spinoff, and there is no need to watch any of its predecessors. I personally never heard of Uma Musume before watching Cinderella Gray. Apparently, its production is based on a hugely successful Uma Musume gacha game also made by Cygames, so you can imagine what the impetus for this series is. Preamble aside, Cinderella Grayis an exhilarating show, through and through, and has been one of my personal favorites for this Spring season. It follows an anthropomorphic horse girl, Oguri Cap, as she strives to become the greatest racer in Japan’s horse-girl Derby. She competes against other horse girls, most of whom are based on real Japanese racehorses throughout history.
Herein lies the show’s largest barrier to entry. The idea of watching a show about horse girl racing seems an alien concept for most, and will certainly turn away many western viewers from watching. In conjunction with the idea that Cinderella Gray appears on its surface to be a sequential follow-up to an already well-established series of works, it doesn’t exactly seem that the series postures itself to amass great popularity (at least, not in the West). That’s a great shame, because abandoning those preconceptions will reveal what is, at heart, a fantastic, standalone sports show and at the very least, a novel experience for most viewers. Paired with this experience is an injection of pureform shonen-esque adrenaline directly into the audience’s veins as Oguri manages to dig her heels into the track and spurt past every racer in each episode.
Oguri Cap’s ascension to stardom begins in Kasamatsu Academy, where she gains her footing in various regional races alongside her trainer, Jou Kitahara, and classmate, Belno Light. Her accomplishments in the regionals soon capture the attention of Tracen Academy, an elite school of horsegirls all vying for the national Derby spotlight, who recruit Oguri and Belno, transferring them from the humble regional races of the Kasamatsu countryside to the graded races of Japan’s national Derby. Oguri herself presents as a detached and unsociable protagonist, certainly fitting a common character archetype, albeit with an inhumanly gluttonous appetite. Her initial reason for running is similarly shallow: simply because she can. Although this motivation eventually transforms into her competitive drive, Cinderella Gray certainly does not spin a complex narrative fabric. Does it matter? No.
What Cinderella Gray lacks in narrative depth, it compensates for in its races. Each race is a crucible of different personalities, racing strategies, and beautifully crafted animation sequences, energizing a sensation of exhilaration that you would never expect from an anime about horsegirls. In this manner, Cinderella Gray temporarily transcends its own concept, acquiring its substance by raising your heartrate and kicking in your fight-or-flight response.
Despite its relative infancy as an animation studio, CygamesPictures manages to deliver a surprisingly impressive visual experience. Both art style and animation are strong points for Cinderella Gray, which greatly complement the action-like race sequences and the interludial slice of life/drama bits. It is neither a cerebral nor thought-provoking work, but a series about anthropomorphic horse-girls was never going to fit that bill anyways. Just turn your brain off and watch one of the best shows of Spring 2025.
epicninjask123
Cygames has quietly become an underappreciated powerhouse in the anime, video game, and multimedia zeitgeist. While I couldn't tell you how many intellectual properties they have under their umbrella nor otherwise how wide of a net they cast, I've seen enough of their handiwork to trust their company logo with a good, often great, and sometimes downright exceptional experience: GranBlue Fantasy Relink, Shadowverse, and Princess Connect being some of their finest. And in short, Umamusume Cinderella Gray is another notch on their ever-expanding belt. But, it could have been more. (Edit: I wrote that part about Shadowverse before learning about its monetization changes. Oops.) I started watching thisanime as it was airing, partly based on my own confidence in Cygames's handling of their IPs, plus all the incredibly positive reception it had been getting. And its first impressions genuinely meet those expectations. This anime has some solid production value, it's clear that a lot of time and energy was spent into spotlighting the Umamusume brand and making it shine, literally and figuratively. The protagonist they chose to center the story on, Oguri Cap, is cute, quirky, and endearing, a perfectly solid choice as this iteration's gacha waifu heroine. The first episode hooks you with its world and characters and primes you for a rags-to-riches story with a character we all genuinely want to succeed and be happy.
And Cinderella Gray wastes no time in telling this story. Oguri Cap goes from race to race, with minimal downtime in between. This... isn't exactly a good thing in this case. The near-episodic formula of Oguri learning about the race and her opponent, only to go on and win said race, simply doesn't have enough meaningful divergence. By the midpoint of the series, the episodes become a muddy slurry analogous to a horse race track on a rainy day. And as this doesn't stop the horses from trudging forward, so too will the anime. It's rushed. It goes by too quickly, and it doesn't feel like Oguri herself has climbed a huge mountain, but instead played through a retro game with fast-forward constantly enabled.
Unbeknownst to me when I started this anime, Cinderella Gray is a two-part story, dividing the show at the 2/3s mark. This was not a good decision. This anime desperately needs another element in the background to support and enhance its main character and her struggle, because as it is, it feels like Oguri Cap - and by extension, the anime as a whole - is simply going through the motions. There were so many opportunities to slow down, explore parts of the Umamusume world and characters between major races, to set up and build up to a final climactic race. In some respects, this is what the second part of the story does, and it has a suitably bombastic and powerful payoff, but the overall anime needed more of this, especially during the midsection.
I feel like this would be a weird point of comparison in most other animes, but I genuinely believe Cinderella Gray should have leaned more heavily into its gacha origins to have a better impact. These games ride or die on the strengths of their waifus, and how endearing they can be. By putting all of the focus onto Oguri Cap, Cinderella Gray cheapens her victories, because we don't know the full weight of her individual victories and rivalries. New characters are repeatedly introduced as potential rivals only to be curbstomped in a race within 15 minutes, so it just begs the question, why should we care? It's frequently established just how capable Oguri is, but there's only so many times we can see her finish in first before it becomes blasè. Supposedly each new race brings higher stakes and stronger opponents, but with how little Oguri struggles, this doesn't reflect itself to the viewer. Most of these one-off rivals aren't shown to have any real personalities or motivations - we're simply told that they won a race or two before racing Oguri, but we have to take the narrative at face value here because Oguri almost always trounces them. There's very little drama or tension in any of these individual races. This could have be mitigated if Oguri had character development throughout the show - and she does, albeit very subtly, yet it's not enough to completely offset the disappointment.
By the end of this anime, I couldn't help but make all the comparisons to another anime based on a Cygames property, and possible candidate for the best anime based on a gacha game: Princess Connect. Princess Connect splits its main character focus between multiple characters, the four members of the Gourmet Guild, but by treating them as a collective it keeps the story focused, as Cinderella Gray does on Oguri, except with added variety because of the guild members' divergent personalities. But then each episode shares its focus with another character or group from the gacha, telling a vignette that lets them shine and gives their relationship to the Gourmet Guild more depth, even if it's fleeting. This comes at the cost of a slow-ish story progression, taking two seasons to tell a fantasy plot that could have fit into one if the focus wasn't on the wide cast of characters, but this plays more to the strengths of the world and characters established by the gacha game, and the overall anime itself is better for it.
This distinction ultimately exacerbates Cinderella Gray's biggest flaw: by rushing past the worldbuilding and diverse cast of characters established by the gacha, it leaves behind a hollow plotline that feels like it could have been so much more extravagant and colorful. I say this as someone who had zero experience with either franchise's gacha game before watching their respective anime. Princess Connect showed me everything I needed to feel invested as if I had. Cinderella Gray dashed past all of that in its dogged pursuit of the finish line. Perhaps fitting for an anime themed after horse racing. Much less so for one based off a gacha game.
Now, I have a soft spot for animes based on video games, gacha or otherwise, and I'll continue to seek them out despite their less-than-stellar quality. These are shows where I know I'll rate them higher than the average - an average that's admittedly deserved - based purely on my own enjoyment. Umamusume Cinderella Gray shares a lot of faults with all of those adaptations, I'm rating it the same accordingly, yet somehow I'm falling on the opposite side of the MAL score average this time. Don't misconstrue anything I've said here, this show is still good, Oguri Cap herself is good, and if you want a nice fluffy story or are already a part of the Umamusume fanbase, then you will like this show. But it's multiple lengths shy of the Cygames Triple Crown I was hoping to witness.
