Uma Musume Pretty Derby creator supports retired racehorses in Japan 

In the world of Uma Musume Pretty Derby, great racehorses have the opportunity to be reborn as cute horse girls. However, franchise creator Cygames’ support for former racehorses continues in the real world as well. On March 1, the Retired Horse Association of Japan issued an announcement thanking Cygames for their continued patronage of the charity, which looks after ex-racehorses. 

Uma Musume Pretty Derby started off as an anime that first aired in 2018. Since then, the horse-racing inspired franchise has spawned three anime seasons, a mobile game, a manga and a web anime. The movie Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Beginning of a New Era is due to be released in May 2024. Uma Musume Pretty Derby centers around the concept of top racehorses being reborn as cute anime-style horse girls, retaining their equine ears and tails, as well as their speed and endurance. Many of the characters are named after real-life Japanese racehorses, with their personalities and careers inspired by their namesakes.  

In their message to Cygames, the charity congratulated them on the 3-year anniversary of the mobile game. They thanked the company not only for their recent donation (unspecified amount) but also for their staunch support of the NPO in recent years and their efforts to raise awareness of the cause. 

One example is the ex-racehorse Nice Nature. The stallion’s anime namesake turned up in seasons 2 and 3 of Uma Musume Pretty Derby, however Cygames also helped the actual horse. Cygames raised awareness of the retired racehorse, leading fans to donate money to the animal’s annual Birthday Donation Drive. Nice Nature passed away in May 2023 at the age of 35. In their recent message, The Retired Horse Association thanked Cygames for providing significant support for a life-sized panel exhibition in honor of Nice Nature at the 6^th Horse Messe event in February 2024.  

The Uma Musume Pretty Derby anime is available to stream on Crunchyroll or Crunchyroll’s Amazon Prime channel (depending on your region).