yapping about uma musume season 2

#1-2

REALLY good first showing already!! I am glad I watched season 1 first, because even if that season itself didn't live up to its potential, the values it instilled in the cast of characters is kind of what's carrying this first arc. With Teio going through a similar rehab situation that Suzuka did, seeing the ways everyone's doing everything they can to support her—most notably refusing to slow themselves down for her sake, and letting them running at full speed serve as a goal for Teio to work towards. Her "image training", where she pictured what she would have done had she been able to participate, ended up developing into something really great at the end. With one of my all-time favorite star animators Kosuke Yoshida's bouncy and emotive acting, we see that image of her hypothetical self disappear as Teio sees the passion in display in front of her; while it's unfortunate that she couldn't participate, getting caught up in that would not only be self-centered, it would ignore the passion and effort her opponents and peers have been putting into their races as well. Just like how everyone supported Teio by trying their best themselves, Teio can rest assured that she tried her best as well.

Now that she made her decision, she takes the missed opportunity for what it is, and instead of needlessly comparing herself to them, she allows herself to unabashedly cheer for her rivals, letting their abilities to speak for themselves.

I won't let anyone wonder about how this would've turned out if Teio was running!

I'm not gonna lose to Teio!

Seeing everyone running at their full capacity, Teio knew that it wouldn't be fair to them for her to enter the race while she was still recovering. Just think about what would've happened had she entered. Even if she wouldn't have hurt herself in the process, if she'd lost, not only would it have been a defeat on her record, I don't think it would've been a satisfying victory for her opponents either: the thought that the only reason they won was because of Teio's injury, and not because they overcame their genuine test of skill would be inescapable.

I've realized something, you know. I couldn't win the Triple Crown... but I haven't lost. So I can still be undefeated, can't I?

Teio's goal of being "undefeated" is something that's definitely gonna get expanded upon later on, but already Teio being able to willingly forfeit from the match and not see that as a defeat—that already says a lot about the kind of season this will be. Let's hope it can keep up this momentum! I'm already enjoying this more than the first season

#7

beautiful episode, seamlessly integrating Rice's story into the current dichotomy between Teio and McQueen. this is what I wanted from this show, and is proof that it is possible to turn this gacha-trash story with far too many characters into an actual compelling story. All it takes is to not needlessly tack on side-characters that have nothing to do with the main characters' stories, and actually think about how they can meaningfully influence the characters we've come to love.

Teio herself should have every reason to blame McQueen for brutally tearing the last piece of her dream away from her. And yet, she still finds herself yearning for victory, even if her previous dream ended in failure. In fact, even if she hadn't realized it yet, that failure only fanned those flames even more. That's the sign of a good athlete, to have the mindset to use each loss as extra motivation to improve. The way Rice's relationship with Bourbon mirrored McQueen's with Teio's, and contrasted the bold and prideful mindset of McQueen's against Rice's (understandably) timid and guilty mindset made for the most compelling episode of the series so far.

I'll admit the show had a slow start, so I don't think I'll like it just as much as the diehard fans. Though if the season continues to have highlight episodes like this through this second half, I will be more than pleased that I continued after the disappointing first season.

#8

Very cathartic episode for Rice to unashamedly take the victory, but what's very cool to think about is McQueen's

whole response to the loss. Upon some reflection, she realized that she was racing for Teio's sake. Her worries of stealing Teio's dream from her, of now tying her own growth to Teio's--through this race, she wanted to serve as a goal for Teio to run towards. But in a sport like this, she shouldn't be focused on what's behind her, the only thing that should be on her mind when racing is the goal in front of her.

Rice won because she was able to push all those external factors out and harness that pure desire for victory and nothing else. Having less time to train, she knew that she couldn't build up those physical strengths to beat McQueen. We saw her training this episode, jogging for hours on end. For her, she wasn't training her body, but her mind. To immerse herself on the field for hours on end, it forces her to think only about the track ahead of her, so when she's finally on the racetrack for real, she's able to push through those internal & external doubts and unashamedly take the victory.

Bringing it back to McQueen, it was amazing to see the whole stadium malding for her loss, while McQueen herself was the first one in the whole stadium to start clapping for Rice's sake. Not only did she take her loss with stride, she was nothing but encouraging the whole time for Rice to do her best, because being able to beat Rice at her best condition would only make victory taste all the sweeter, while making her loss all the more of a motivation to improve. That's what she should've been focusing on--not on Teio, who was lagging behind her, but on the opponent running ahead of her. It's only by focusing on her own goal and serving by example can she truly be a goal to Teio. And in a way, her coming to that realization herself is the perfect lesson she could have taught to Teio in that moment, who had just come off her own bitter loss as well. Seeing her whole response, to actively encourage her rivals to be in their best condition and having a fair race, and being the first to congratulate Rice...The stakes are so high for these racers, and they should be more frustrated than anyone -- so for McQueen to turn that frustration into a catalyst for self-improvement, never shedding a single tear during her whole loss...it's a perfect way to lead into her rematch with Teio. McQueen, no longer looking behind her to Teio, and Teio, looking in front of her to McQueen's back, seeing her learning that lesson, and taking her experience to heart. McQueen doesn't need to look back to see how Teio's doing, because she has faith that Teio is looking at her, studying her every move and learning from her; and that will make their eventual rematch all the sweeter when Teio catches up with her and they can run by each other sides, knowing that they're both in their top forms.

Whether they win or lose, at the end of it, all they can do is to keep running. Should Teio have achieved her dream back then, I really think she would've ran into a very similar problem anyways. She achieved her dream. Great. But what next? No matter the result, she's going to be left without a dream, no more goal, and no more reason to keep running. It's up to Teio and Teio alone to create her own reason for running. And that goal has to come from within -- yeah, her immediate goal can be to reach McQueen, it can be to eventually reach the President who she always looked up to; but in the long term, her real goal should always be to reach her own ideal self. Her self who can always run just that little bit faster, and faster, and faster. The road to reach that ideal never ends, and that's the only way for Teio to continue to run. It's a cruel dilemma, because it's a dream that is literally impossible to reach, there is always going to be room for improvement -- but it's a curse that's a blessing in disguise. There's no point in running if there isn't a goal to run towards, and having that unreachable goal will ensure that Teio will never have to worry about losing that reason again.

All this, coming from Rice's own journey to find her own confidence. To learn to block out all the moans and booing from the crowd, and only focus on the track ahead of her and the goal at the end. Just really incredible the way the show uses the track in all these different ways, while keeping its core meaning very simple. The first to reach the end wins. That's it. It's the way these runners respond to that fact that will determine their fate as athletes, and it's awesome to see the different responses through these characters' journeys

#9-13

wow....these last five episodes were INCREDIBLY dense, almost too dense, but i suppose that makes up for the rest of the series kinda dragging its feet. and even with the sheer quantity of character moments, there's not much i can explain here. as with most great pieces of art, especially sports shows, it's a very visceral appeal that can only be understood through the experience of watching it.

For #9-11, we start the season's climax with Teio's own injury, and to see her truly pushed to her limits was heartbreaking. And in a way, seeing all of her peers and fans put all their faith in her, when she herself doesn't have that faith in herself....the obvious character to look at here is McQueen, and she actually had the fewest lines out of all of Spica. I love how sparingly they utilized her, with that being an extension of her continuing to run regardless of what Teio decides to do. It not only expands on what it conveyed earlier in the series--with McQueen serving as that goal for Teio to run towards--it also serves as the perfect setup for when McQueen falls into the same scenario in the last two episodes. The support of others was absolutely monumental for Teio to start running again, but that motivation had to come from within Teio in the first place.

Teio was still recovering from her own injury when McQueen falls into her own, so it's not the exact same kinda nuance as what McQueen just did for her--but for their situations to be so similar...McQueen showed her absolute faith in Teio--and it was that faith that ended up picking her back up. And now, it's that faith that carries her to race for McQueen's sake, as now it's Teio's turn to show that same faith she has in McQueen.

"If your faith in me is enough to bring me this far, then let my faith do the same for you." Just....an absolutely beautiful dichotomy between them, and probably the best depiction of a healthy rivalry in all of anime