When a franchise becomes very popular and is based on an original concept, it is possible to create practically infinite content from it. The problem is that due to contracts, partnerships, and other legal aspects, it is difficult to generate all the content that would be desired. Mainly because it is difficult to have more than one animation studio working on the same franchise at the same time, in many cases. That’s why a popular way to diversify content in anime is by making movies. Like in the case of Uma Musume Pretty Derby.
As announced last Thursday, the Uma Musume Pretty Derby franchise is going to have its first movie. With a release scheduled for May 24th in Japan, it will be called Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era. It will star Jungle Pocket with the intention of winning the Triple Crown Classic, a race that can only be participated in once in a lifetime.
Although the name leaves little room for deception, we understand that your Japanese is probably not so fluent. Uma Musume Pretty Derby is a series about a world where there are people who are hybrids between humans and horses, where young girls in particular fight to be the best possible runners to have a chance to succeed as idols. This premise, as crazy as it is eloquent for Japanese taste, comes from the homonymous video game, which is a success in Japan, and which has an anime series with three seasons already, available on Crunchyroll.
Part of the interest of the franchise is that all the girls are based on real horses, from whom they take their name. In fact, the protagonist of the movie, Jungle Pocket, was a purebred Japanese horse with an impressive personal record and was chosen as the Japanese horse of the year in 2001. Something that makes us suspect that if someone has a chance of winning that race, it’s Jungle Pocket.
