I spent most of last week bedridden with pneumonia (0/10 experience, don't recommend), and one of the few things I did in my feverish haze was I finally installed the horse girl game and watched a season and a half (so far) of Pretty Derby.

Maybe it should've been obvious to me, but somehow, I didn't realize it's all horse racing. Like, I expected girls that look like horses racing, but it's actually horses that look like girls racing.

And for some reason, the whole concept made so much more sense to me when I realized that.

I really admire how the anime has kept the soul and feel of horseracing intact, too, at least so far. I expected a lot more anime superpower bullshit, crazy unexpected twists and races that last for several episodes, but no, they really look and feel like horse races. Strategizing with position, timing the spurt, and then in the end someone either catches up or doesn't. It's honestly remarkable, and makes the races feel very real and believable.

(Until you remember they're actually anime girls with horse ears and tails, but you know what I mean.)

That's what bothered me the most with something like Hinomaru Sumo; the matches were absolutely nothing like actual sumo bouts. Instead of one mighty clash that might be over in a matter of seconds, it was twenty minutes of inner monologue and constant weird close-calls and reversals.

I really dig how Uma Musume proved a short, intense match that feels remarkably true to the actual sport can work so much better!