Uma Musume Pretty Derby Global Server - Starter Quick Guide

Even after pledging myself not to touch Uma Musume anymore, turns out curiosity got the best of me! As Uma Musume feed kept flooding into my personal Social Media, I decided to wear my Torena badge once again and give Uma Musume Global version a try. Turns out I still have what it takes to be an Uma Musume Trainer!

Long story short, I picked Oguri Cap as my starter Uma Musume and managed to clear URA Finals within 2 Runs with subpar Support Deck. Back then It took me about 10+ runs just to clear URA, probably due to language limitation but the muscle memory really does carry over which let me to breeze through the game and even clear Urara route in 1 try.

Given the gameplay nature of Uma Musume which will present immense roadblock unless the player understands the rules to properly to raise Uma Musume, I am making a quick short guide to help new players acclimated to Uma Musume in the best and efficient manner. Therefore In this Article, I will try to provide an advice for some Fundamentals of Uma Musume core gameplay along with SSR Char and Support card to look after as Uma Musume JP server player for one year.

Bang Bang Bravern The Gattai DX Bang Bravern

 During its short season run, Bang Bravern, The Obari Mecha series that was ruined by excessive dose of Bara fanservice did get some decent Merchandise during its run for what it matters. Apart from the Moderoid stuff, they do get some cool Robot Toy product for Bang Bravern under the Gattai Lineup which had been churning out the definitive stuff for Yuusha series. What catches my attention from this particular product for Bang Bravern under the name of The Gattai DX is the unusually cheap price for this sort of product. Scheduled for January 2025 release. The gattai DX Bang Bravern will be sold for 16800 Yen.

For this price tag, You got yourself 20 cm tall Bang Bravern toy with decent articulation. On top of that DX Bang Bravern comes with 3 Melee weapons ranging from the short sword, Axe Polearm and large Energy Sword that serves as Bang Bravern's equivalent of SRX Hi-Zol Sword. Personally I am not too amused with Bang Bravern's silly storyline which necessitates the condition for the sufficient budget to be aired. Seriously with such market condition there will be virtually no New Mecha series made from Japan that are likely capable of becoming long term success with Bang Bravern added into the batch of newest victims.

Regardless I still appreciate the Bang Bravern inherent mecha design for what its worth who is still worthy of being the young step sibling of Yuushas and Obari still kept the essence of the mecha very well. I will still be looking for the Bang Dragon which literally turns Bravern into God Gravion. Despite the Super Robot is the primary focus of Bang Bravern, I am very willing to wait for Non Model Kit merchandise for XM3 Rising Orthos and M2 Exceed Rhinos which are definitely some cool looking Real Robot.

Yuuki Bakuhatsu Bang Brave Bravern

 One of the Mecha Anime from the latest Season that I paid attention recently as the Mecha Designs are quite cool but this one came short and not even Obari could even save this one. Bang Brave Bravern is 12-Episode Mecha anime backed by Cygames which features unlikely buddy duo who fight against typical Alien invasion with a sentient unusually Hotblooded mecha who called himself Bravern. If you want to see a glimpse how veteran Male Seiyuus like Kenichi Suzumura and Tomokazu Sugita perform as Yuusha, then Bang Bravern might fulfill the need

 I paid Bang Bravern a visit for my Super Robot Mecha fix but what I got is a Mecha series ruined by overkill amount of homoerotic Bara fanservice which is very evident on the Ending song itself. I can't really blame on production team for this one because anime nowadays especially the Mecha ones cannot get proper funding without catering to particular demographics with excessive fanservice which just kills off the interest of the Mecha Fans. 

 In the end due to the forced deviation that Bang Bravern have to take in order to get airing, this series will just end up like one of those many anime that will be forgotten soon after it finished its airing and ended up as wasted potential, It is such a shame that Bang Bravern had really good mix of Real Robot and Super Robot mecha designs that won't be used to full potential given the state of the end products. However Bang Bravern do get into SRW DD quite early which is a redeeming feature from the Bara BS and probably one of the reason why Obari do decide to lend some help despite the bleak outlook of the series. If Bang Bravern somehow get another season, hopefully they cut some slack on the Bara fanservice.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby Figma Nice Nature

 It has been more than a year since I quitted playing Uma Musume since it is one of the more grindy Gacha game and I simply just didn't have time to play this sort of game anymore. In any case while Bandai had kinda stopped releasing SHF for Uma Musume, GSC still continued despite somewhat slower pace. After almost 1 year gap with Goldship, the next Uma Musume that is coming out is Nice Nature! not the best race champion, but definitely some of the best waifu that came out of Uma Musume series. Figma Nice Nature is scheduled for May 2024 release with 11800 Yen Price tag.

 In the Uma Musume Gacha Game, Nice Nature is a starter 1* Uma Musume character who specialize in Debuff skill for her default form and when I still played the game, I managed to raise her until 5* and got her Cheerleader costume version too. In the game Nice Nature is depicted as easy going Uma Musume who had penchants for Dad jokes which would make her good banter partner with Symboli Rudolf. Despite her nonchalant demeanor, deep inside Nice Nature has strong drive to win just like any other Uma Musume and it is up to the Trainer to realize her dream. Popular among shopkeepers in the shopping district she frequented, Nice Nature is designed to be great housewife material.

  From what I see Uma Musume is still making nice profit in Japan but due to the heavy oversight by the Stakeholders, this game never really have any big presence on International Market. Thus Cygames never bothered to make this game to appeal for Global players at all and I wonder if they are able to sustain this series in long run considering even Nikke is already losing momentum despite having tons of Fanservice. Nevertheless Nice Nature Figma Sculpt really look superb and still hoping Grass Wonder could make it someday. Though Nice Nature could use some Hetare face expression instead of having to snatch it from Figma Gold Ship.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby SHF Tokai Teio

 Uma Musume Pretty Derby was a huge hit in Japan last year and recently had celebrated its 1st Anniversary with generous gifts for the players. Since early this year the merchandise for the series had picked up its momentum and around this time Bandai finally joined in with SHF lineup. For the initial release, Bandai is releasing SHF for Tokai Teio and Rice Shower while GSC probably got license for Goldship and Mcqueen. SHF Tokai Teio is scheduled for July 2022 release with 6300 yen Price tag.

  Bandai's SHF lineup tend to fall on affordable price range especially for main kamen rider characters, but Uma Musume's pricing is slightly higher since i think Bandai try to focus the face sculpt quality to match up to Figma Standard considering bishoujo character had been a long term weakness for Bandai. For its 6300 Yen Price Tag Tokai Teio comes with generous amount of expression face plates sufficient enough to replicate poses for Umapyoi Densetsu, one of the most memorable song from the series.

Tokai Teio herself is one of the Uma Musume that was given the main heroine spot in the Pretty Derby along with Special Week and Silence Suzuka during the initial release. Prior to the game itself, Teio already had some major role in the anime series even becoming the lead heroine along with Mcqueen in the Second Season. Teio's character is basically an energetic young Uma Musume who possess great potential and aspire to reach the same fame of her idolized mentor, Symboli Rudolf. In the anime series, Teio ultimately fails to follow her Mentor footsteps but reached her own height of fame through her own path. In the fanbase Teio is sometimes depicted as Yandere due to some of her interaction in the game. 

Personally i think Teio's SHF would be quite decent since Bandai seems to be determined to improvise their sculpt for this lineup considering they are also getting license to make SHF for Special Week and Silence Suzuka to complete the starter trio.

Uma Musume Pop Up Parade Goldship - Uniform ver

  Just like the Nendoroid series, Goldship also spearheading the Uma Musume lineup for Pop Up Parade series. Pop Up Parade Goldship is scheduled for July 2022 Release with 3900 Yen Price tag. From what i see, the School Uniform version of Uma Musume are based on the R* Support Cards from Uma Musume game. I have the feeling that the Uma Musumes Racing uniform will be reserved for Premium PVC like Kotobukiya's Prototype for Teio thus the Prize Figures will be getting the School Uniform only. 

On the other hand the affordability of Figure lineup of Uma Musume will allow non-main Uma Musume like Urara or Mejiro Ryan to have an opportunity for getting a Physical representation. I will be keeping close watch with Banpresto since they have some plan of releasing some Uma Musume figure in their School Uniform versions.

Uma Musume Nendoroid 1783 Goldship

 Uma Musume Pretty Derby made a really strong entry in Japan Gacha market early this year as such the merchandise will obviously follow suit, After a hiatus for more than three years since Special Week, Uma Musume got a new entry for Nendoroid continuing the lineup and it is no other than Goldship making the second entry for Uma Musume Nendoroids. Nendoroid Goldship is scheduled for July 2022 release with 5800 Yen Price tag.

 Goldship is one of the Uma Musume that made appearance in the anime series serving as supporting role as part of Spica team member. Among many horsegirls in the series, Goldship stands out the most since she is one of the wackiest character in Uma Musume by far margin so far and will even dropkick the trainer in the game if she wins any G1 races as the winning pose. Despite her crazy antics, Goldship is capable to act like a proper lady at times, catching players off guard which contribute to the reasons of her popularity,

IRL Goldship is male stallion that had illustrious yet polarising race career in early 2010s Japan Horseracing scene and particularly excelled at long distance races. While Goldship's career as not illustrious as any of the Triple Crown horses, his comical behaviour and capability when serious easily wins the heart of many fans. Goldship's Grandsire is Mejiro Mcqueen which is the reason why Goldship is quite clingy toward the latter in the anime. I think Goldship Nendoroid will be quite well received in Japan but personally i will still wait for Grass Wonder or Symboli Rudolf.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby

 Making myself dig even deeper toward the Gacha Hell as i gave Uma Musume Pretty a try, it seems that i should consider quitting as Shikikan. The Second Season of Uma Musume is really good that it manage to make me bother to give the game a try which is still in Japanese until this time. Uma Musume Pretty Derby turns out to live up to its hype as the game dominates the Japanese gaming market by the storm after Cygames released the game early this year. To put it simply Uma Musume is a Hybrid Simulation Bishoujo game which mixes Moefied Horserace, Idols and training simulator which works out quite well somehow and not to mention the production value is Top Tier for a Gacha game. 

 In this post i will try to give some general guide to make the game easier to comprehend with the language barrier, but the game is easy enough to comprehend if you have basic knowledge of Japanese.

Uma Musume Pretty Derby Second Season

  I had expected Uma Musume second season would capitalize the momentum made by the first season and made improvements from it, but for once this is one of the few that exceeds expectation. For the second season, Toukai Teio and Mejiro Mcqueen took the lead as the starring heroine role and create even more touching story of friendship and rivalry. With the success of First Season,  Cygames probably had more liberty for the story formula of second season and certainly make something good out of it to match the initial release of the game that had been delayed for quite a long time.

Unmei ni Ijiwaru (Fate is a jerk) - Tokai Teio

 With Teio who is a highly gifted Horsegirl as the Main Heroine, you would expect her story to reach the top would be a breeze but it was the opposite. With the high expectation to live up to and a Promise to fulfill with her rival Mejiro Mcqueen, Teio faced setbacks for the majority part of the 2nd Season. Compared to Silence Suzuka in season 1, Teio's struggle struck harder as faced consecutive hardships that crush her both physically and mentally to the brink that makes her almost retire. And things are not even easier for Mcqueen as she faced possibly even worse hardship. However both persevere in the end and Teio showed a miracle from her perseverance.

 Personally i am not that fond of Racehorse for anime theme as the activity are associated with shadier conduct of Elites to impoverish the lower class. While Uma Musume Pretty Derby probably overglossing certain aspect of the Entertainment, the second season could make a very touching story that resonates to many people to persevere through hard times like the current pandemic. In any case Uma Musume Pretty Derby second season is good enough to goad me trying the Gacha game which still only comes in Japanese version. As long as they keep the writer team of Uma Musume 2nd season, I think the third season should be well received and I think it is likely Daiwa Scarlet and Vodka getting the spotlight by that time. 

Uma Musume Pretty Derby Season 1

 

 Japanese animation had a knack of turning literally anything into cute girls. If they can turn Cosmic Horrors into cute anime girls, then racehorse is an easy task. Early this year Cygames gacha game, Uma Musume Pretty Derby stole the the spotlight featuring Horsegirls named after famous Race Horses as collectable waifus. Curious with the series, i gave the anime a try which was actually released back in 2018. Overall Pretty Derby is your typical Sports flavored cute kemonomimi girls doing cute things anime but the production value is high nonetheless and the take on Racehorses turned into cute girls works out surprisingly well. Uma Musume storyline follows the standard formula of the typical Japanese Sports Battle Manga where the gifted main protagonist which is Special Week for this one aims to be at the top of the sport, complete with overseas rival to be beaten, reflecting the collective unfulfilled wish.

 While i find Uma Musume fusing Idol business with Horserace to be rather weird combo, i do actually enjoy the race part since the passion is well conveyed. The first season probably took a safe route as the creator focus abit too much on main heroine, Special Week and her relationship with her best friend Silence Suzuka. As Special Week feels too vanilla due to her main heroine role, Personally i root for Mejiro Mcqueen, Grass Wonder and Teio which the last one really reminds me of Grani from Arknights. As of now i am moving on the second season which apparently feature Mcqueen and Teio in the spotlight and i think i could expect better with more liberty given from the 1st season success. If will definitely give a try if Uma Musume Gacha Game ever got official translation.