10-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Fast Company
The internet is obsessed with ‘Umamusume: Pretty Derby'
The internet's latest obsession: training and cheering on anthropomorphized anime horses as they race around a track.
First released in 2021 as a mobile game for iOS and Android, Umamusume: Pretty Derby is both a racing simulator and a gacha game. In the game world, iconic racehorses of the past are reborn as 'horse girls' (umamusume)—anime humanoids with horse ears and tails.
The characters get the chance to race again for prizes and glory. Players don't directly control their horse girls; instead, they train them and cheer them on.
The game was already a hit in Japan following its early 2021 release, even inspiring a multi-season anime adaptation. But it remained largely under the radar for U.S. audiences—until this summer.
なぜかウララさんの今年の誕生日の時のティアラのが昨日からまた更に1万くらいイイネが増えてて通知止まらんし海外アカで昨日から400人くらいフォロワー増えてるじゃん
海外ニキネキ達に伝わるかわからないけど、ハルウララさんはとても元気で過ごしてるし、むしろ私より健康で元気なくらいだよ😆👍 — もつご (@animal_love_kaz) July 3, 2025
Whatever you do, don't look up the backstory of the racehorse Rice Shower.
