Review: Electrifying animation marks an exciting Beginning of a New Era

I've had only a perfunctory awareness of Umamusume, the multimedia franchise about horse-girls who are born to run. I think I first heard about it because of a mobile game, which I promptly downloaded, but still haven't played. But of course, a movie releasing in theaters is the exact way to get me to jump into something, and jump I have. I have now officially been baptized into the fandom with the US theatrical release of Umamusume: Pretty Derby -- Beginning of a New Era.

I (obviously) still can't pretend to be well-versed in this world, but I at least have a bit more knowledge under my belt. In this world, the Umamusume ("horse daughters" in Japanese) are girls who have horse ears and tails, and who are born to run. The film introduces this drive as the core of these characters: they have an almost supernatural ability to run fast, and they do. Sonic the Hedgehog can relate. In this world, Umamusume racing is one of the most popular sports, and the standout racers are international stars. Interestingly, these characters are inspired by real-world racehorses, and the way those actual horses' actual careers played out influence the way these stories unfold. 

For Beginning of a New Era, we meet Jungle Pocket, a spunky young Umamusume who witnesses a killer race featuring a decisive win by Fuji Kiseki. The energy in the crowd is electric, intoxicating. Long after the race has ended, Jungle Pocket (or Pokke, to her friends) is still transfixed. In that moment, she decides she wants to become a racer.

And she does. Over the course of the fantastic opening credits/theme song, Pokke starts her racing career, taken under the wing of Fuji's trainer, the legendary Tanabe, who has longed to coach a racer all the way to a Japan Derby victory. Pokke seems like a prime candidate to do just that -- in her league, she's undefeated, guided by a competitive spirit and a natural instinct for when to pounce. She seems unbeatable until she faces off with Agnes Tachyon, a wild competitor who seems more interested in the data of racing than in the sport itself. She wonders how far she can push her body, how far past the understood limits of athleticism she can go, before everything breaks down.

If the film sounds a little bit like last year's fantastic 100 Meters, it is a little bit. It's about running, and about a rivalry, but here, there's a wrinkle to the latter. While Pokke is driven by her rivalry with Tachyon, it seems like an afterthought (if it's a thought at all) to Tachyon, who simply wants more data to dig into and study. It's a bit of a maddening arrangement for Pokke, who wants to constantly be pushing up against the best to prove that she really is the best of the best. Ultimately, it becomes a deeper, more internal struggle: can she push past the specter of past losses and the fear or future failures to tap into her full potential?

Going into this, and knowing just a little bit about the premise, I wondered how silly this movie would seem. It's a pretty goofy set-up if you just take a glance at it, but the film treats its characters and their story earnestly, giving the proceedings a lot of weight. It's still a lot of fun, but I like how grounded the story feels, keeping stride with classic sports movies in the way it presents its characters and showcases their face-offs.

And the races are a true highlight here. The whole movie is full of gorgeous animation, and never more so than when the characters are on the racetrack. Once they're running, everything becomes so electrifying, lines getting jagged with effort, bursts of color and light emphasizing how the racers are tapping into their energy reserves, slo-motion moments and dynamic camera movements putting you right in the thick of the competition. You can feel the sweat beads flying off the Umamusume, watch the clods of dirt flying past as they dig in a little deeper. Like 100 Meters, this movie really gets how to present running in an exciting cinematic way.

Which makes the non-race scenes comparatively a bit drab at times. For being a movie about running, the pacing here is a bit off. Sometimes, it feels like this is a compilation film with a bunch of episodes strung together, rather than something that was conceived as a movie from the beginning (as far as I'm aware, the latter is the case). I wouldn't say I was ever bored, but there were times where I felt a bit restless, wondering where the movie was going, because the narrative arc feels a little rough, even unfocused.

But at the end of the day, Beginning of a New Era is still a thrilling introduction to this world (or, I imagine, a welcome return to it). Between its incredible racing scenes, wonderful character designs, gorgeous score (punctuated with great songs), and beautiful animation, this made me eager to explore more of this franchise.