Two episodes in one day? One would think that this is an April Fool’s joke, but it’s not. With that, it’s time to share my impressions for both episodes of Uma Musume.
Episode 1
First off, let’s focus on the first episode, which focuses on Special Week, the heroine of this show. She is heading to Tokyo to attend an academy for horse girls. Of course, she is clumsy and cheerful. At the arena, she sees a horse girl race.
However, there is a man who touches her thighs without permission. He apparently doesn’t have a name. I have to admit that he looks like Tarou from Shirobako since one of the side of his head is shaved. Thankfully, Special kicked him away for being a pervert and he deserved it.
As for the race, Silent Suzuka is the big contender at the race. She wins the race, which causes Special to become infatuated with her. She gains the desire to become like her. After the race, she eventually stays to see the concert before realizing she passed her curfew. Opps!
The rest of the episode focuses on Special introducing herself to the class and the try outs. Special wants to be on the same team as Suzuka. It’s quite funny how the girls laughed at her when she shared her goal of becoming the top horse girl in Japan. It’s obvious that Special’s peers see her as naïve or too idealistic.
While Special was behind when the race started, she managed to win. Sadly, she didn’t win first place, but second. El Condor Pasa was the winner. It’s funny how she simply stood at the finish line while the others were still running. It’s definitely got Special’s hope up too much. However, that guy Special saw in the first half speculated the match. Special’s running amazed him that he wants Special on his team. It’s obvious what this means? He wants to recruit her and he have the bait to lure her in.
While Special was disappointed that she lost, on her way to the dorm, she sees a sign to join Team Spica. I have to admit that it’s hilarious how Vodka, Gold Ship and Daiwa Scarlet kidnaps Special to make her join their team. Apparently, Suzuka was there too. She decided to leave her former team to join Team Spica. This can explain why there was a tryout earlier.
Either way, Special seems happy. Do I sense a Suzuka and Special pairing? It’s stronger in the next episode.
Episode 2
After the big surprise from the first episode, there is more good news for Special. She and Suzuka are roommates at the dorm. It’s obvious that the pairing is strong. It’s not surprising Fuji Kiseki made a promise with Suzuka to have her look after Special. Special also shares her story with Suzuka how she was raised by another mom close to her birth mother. Her birth mother apparently died shortly after birth. She made a promise with her friend to make Special a wonderful horse girl. With that, her second mother tried her best to raise and train her.
To prepare for Special’s debut race, the trainer decides to give his team members special training without a clear strategy. Thankfully, the student council members who are Triple Crown Horse Girl helped her out. They are Symboli Rudolf who is the student council president and Teio, who shows Special around the school. I have to admit that the training the Trainer gave is kind of ridiculous. How does a game of Twister improve Special’s running skills?
On the day of the actual race, Special’s introduction didn’t go so well. She couldn’t throw her jacket. Instead, she fell. Not only that, she forgot her bib. Thankfully, Shizuka brought it to her. From there, Suzuka mentions that the race is Special’s first step towards reaching the goal set by both of her mothers. With that, Suzuka encourages Special to have fun with the race. Not only that, she starts calling Special by her nickname as well. As expected, the pairing between Special and Suzuka is strong.
With that, Special at the starting gates excited for the race. Of course, the horse girl next to her, Queen-Berry scares her. Because of that, Special passed the starting line late.
During the race, Queen-Berry plays dirty and tries to sabotage Special. Thankfully, it didn’t work as Special manages to win first place. There is one problem, the trainer did not give any practice to Special for the concert. I have to admit that it’s funny to see Special just standing there clueless. It’s understandable since she doesn’t know what to do.
Overall, the first two episodes are fun to watch. While the premise is ridiculous, it works. While I have mixed feelings about the Trainer, he doesn’t seem to have any love interest for any of the girls so far. I think that bodes well for the Special and Suzuka pairing.
Special Week X Silence Suzuka FTW!
Trainer Guy didn’t make a good first impression but he doesn’t seem like a bad guy.
Yay for two moms! Boo that one passed away. The dead parent(s) trope needs to go away.
Promising start. Looking forward to more.
Thankfully, the guy seems harmless after the second episode, although that twister game.
While it’s sad that one of Special’s mom died, the idea if two moms reminds me of Tama’s two grandmothers.
But yes, hopefully the next few episodes continue to be enjoyable.