Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray Season 2 Episodes 14 to 16

Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray has earned a second cour of weekly reviews, and as a fan I am genuinely glad the show gets to keep running its race. After a nice bump in popularity tied to the mobile game’s English release, my hope was simply that the anime would live up to the high expectations built around it.

Episodes 14 through 16 are mostly about easing back in from the off season and widening the world. Oguri Cap herself has become more of a steady anchor in the background while the series fills in the people and rivals around her.

That focus makes sense. Cap’s loss to Tamamo Cross at the end of the first cour showed her there were still bigger goals to chase, and her simple, straightforward nature means she can see those targets clearly. Now it is not just Cross to beat, but a wave of international competitors arriving on the scene.

One of those newcomers is Michelle My Baby, a tall, athletic American horse girl with a real talent for basketball. She is exactly the kind of larger than life addition that shows how committed Uma Musume is to making its playful world feel full and alive.

The trade off is that this stretch can feel like setup, laying track for bigger races to come rather than delivering its own big payoff just yet. Uma Musume: Cinderella Gray is currently streaming on Amazon Prime.

My take: I have a real soft spot for how earnestly this show treats its playful premise. Even in a slower, table setting stretch, the care put into its world keeps me happily invested.