It’s that time of year again, time for mai review of the top anime that I watched in 2025. Considering that mid last year I stopped writing seasonal anime reviews, now is only real time to put some thoughts into the shows that I watched and the state of anime in general but once again before we get to the actual list ranking, it’s worth noting several shows that I started watching/are probably good but stopped for one reason or another.
Notable shows that are probably good but stopped/didn’t have time for:
Sakamoto Days – This is a netflix show so there’s that minus already but for some online people were hyped that this would be the next big shonen thing like Chainsaw man or Jujusu Kaisen since the manga has lots of cool action and such but the animation and pacing of the show is just passable at best. The premise is good but it’s really slow and it would take a very long time to get to gud shit, so in the end, it’s not worth watching for longer. Too bad, it never lived up to the hype at all, it’s a shit show basically since it got like zero attraction or attention.
Aru Majo ga Shinu Made – This is a good show about a witch who was cursed and is going to die unless she collects 1000 tears from people she helped. Everything was in the cards for me to finish this but the timing in it’s season was not good, I think in summer which was packed with travel and other things so in the end it fell off. It’s one of those shows that I think is made only to sell the source material because there is no way in hell this show ends within only 12 episodes so it’s just to serve as a tool to sell manga/lightnovel originals. Regrettable that I did not finish but it’s ok, no strong anime culture impact either.
Ninja to Koroshiya no Futarigurashi – A Shaft studio slice of life comedy random about a runaway ninja girl who ends up staying with an assassination girl and hi-jinks ensues. The show has all of the signature editing and stylistic animation similar to works like Bakamontari series, and even older Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei but it just didn’t work here; the pacing was kinda slow and the gags didn’t really work well with Shaft’s signature style. In the end I stopped watching this too, probably also due to time and other things.
Rock wa Lady no Tashinami deshite – A cool show about rich girls in an all girl school who secret are rockers that play guitar and form a band or something. I only watched one episode but I am sure this is a good show, just that I didn’t have time to watch this as it was during a packed season so yea, notable but unfortunately another one that never even got started for me. Too bad.
Ruri no Houseki – Another cool show that I didn’t have time for but I didn’t get around to about a girl who ends up being interested in rocks and minerals and learns about them/mines them with her elder rock girl. Everything about this show is good, the topic is unique, it has cute girls drawn differently and the animation quality high. Unfortunately, time once again, too many good shows in a single season I just can’t keep up and this was in summer yea, I could not watch more of this.
Tsuihousha Shokudou e Youkoso! – A decent show about a former elite party member in a fantasy setting gets kicked out of the party and ends up becoming a great chef but ends up saving/adopting a bunch of outcast adventurer girls and shit because he is a hero at heart. The show’s premise is good but the budget and pacing could be better, they look a bit wonky at times so yea, in a slow season I would watch this for sure, but once again a victim of the seasons and timing.
City the Animation – The spiritual successor to Nichijou by the same author which I think was also a netflix production. The show just throws you in there and there is no real characters to introduce formally, shit just happens and then you just observe. The show itself is very high quality and very very thick lines and unique shading, too different actually to the point where it almost doesn’t feel like anime anymore which is somewhat problematic for me. The type of show is just skits and mini jokes shit which is fine but I dunno, something about it didn’t really compel me to watch anything more than episode 1, I had my fill so yea, probably good but then again who knows.
With that said, lets go over all the anime that I watched this past year, from worst to the best, who’s going to be the best anime of the year this time? I’ve watched 28 animes this year so I think more than usual and there’s an obvious reason why if you’ll notice.
Without further ado, let’s see how things stack up.
28. Devil May Cry (2025) Netflix Bastardized White people Edition
This is the worst animated show that I have seen in probably the last five years or so, maybe more. While not technically anime per say, it’s fake anime in the same lines as Avatar the last air bender and I do not like it. Everything about this adaptation is shit and actually does a disservice to the DMC franchise lore and history and for long time fans of the series. A compelling argument can also be made that this actually makes it worse for new people to get interested into the series because this story is absolute trash. While the story is a convoluted mash up of various concepts and elements from the series, it distorts them into some other thing and not in a good way, turning beloved characters into assholes and bitches, and for some reason the setting is in New York and there is an American political drama also being told in he background? What the hell were they thinking.
27. Lycoris Recoil – Friends are thieves of time.
A very short mini series like 5 min each of the girls in Lycoris Recoil’s cafe doing funny dumb shit. While it is good to see that this original anime series still has life, it is still sad that they don’t have a full blown S2, just little small shit like this. I think they have a movie in the works but yea, original anime is hard to create. By default one of the weakest shows this year due to it’s nature but it really shouldn’t count since its not a full show. Just sad that no real S2 announced.
26. Girumasu
The show about a guild receptionist that just wants a simple easy routine life but ends up accidentally gaining massive amounts of power but she doesn’t want it, she just wants a chill life so when adventurers fail their mission she ends up going herself to defeat the big monster or boss. The premise sounds good on paper but the execution of this show is horrendous, very bad pacing and after the first 2-3 episodes, slows to a crawl and ends up being a generic fantasy story with a party which is largely bullshit and forgetable. They could have played up upon more slice of life elements which would have made this show way better but no, it basically just became a generic fantasy show with a mild twist. Sad.
25. One-Punch Man S3
Well it was bound to be somewhere granted in infamy but one punch man S3 is basically one of the worst high profile full 12-episode anime this year by a considerable margin. Everything about this show is a downgrade from the already disappointing S2 a few years ago and a massive insult to S1 which aired over a decade ago that was iconic and amazing. Shit, has it really been that long? Getting fucking old man. Either way, this S3 has all the problems that S2 and then some with even worse animation and now AI use in it’s animation which is sometimes fairly apparent. Although I do give it some props to some decent fights and the garou hill slide meme, the core foundation of this show is just bullshit, you know saitama gonna kill shit in one punch so please just let him do that. The show focuses on largely forgettable characters that I don’t really care about and tries to flesh them out, but they have weak ass backstories to begin with so it’s kinda pointless. This is only the first cour so maybe things will turn around in the second half but not looking good at all.
24. Disney Twisted-Wonderland – Episode of Heartslabyul
A show that was watched because my sister requested it about Disney villeins turned into bishonen gayboys that are at what is essentially a Harry potter magic school, the main boi is a isekai sports kendo boi normie that ends up into this world because he got transported or so/died. Based off the popular mobile gacha game/manga adaptation of the same name. It was only like 8 episodes but it moved pretty slow and only focused on one of the main houses and their main leader/head. Imagine a series about Harry Potter but focused only on the leader of Ravenclaw but ignoring the 3 other houses, even tho they are around, it’s kind of like that. While I understand that they intend to do more anime focusing on other houses, shit moves too slow, this entire thing should have at max ended at 4 episodes with proper pacing. The quality of the animation is good, higher than most shows but it’s appeal is obviously not for me, but despite that, it is somehow still a better show than One Punch Man S3 and some others I watched this year.
23. Chanto Suenai Kyuuketsuki-chan
A cute slice of life mild comedy about a cute vampire girl who apparently is bad at sucking blood and ends up befriending main boi #1 because he’s main boy and because he’s so souless she has an easy ass time sucking blood from him, which is fully doesn’t mind. Despite the description the show lacks very little ecchi or fan service which is kind of incredible and focuses 100% on the main girl and her cuteness which they depict as a chibi form, which is not entirely clear but it seems like she actually grows smaller in size, to the size of a plushie. They never address it but it’s very odd. The show is a bit slow moving and lacks more humor but despite it’s shortcoming I still enjoyed a classic moeblob anime, just a mid one at that. Ok but could have been way better.
22. Zatsu Tabi – That’s Journey –
This is a show that I technically didn’t fully finish so I am breaking my own rules here but I’d say I don’t care fuck it, I think I only had like 3-4 episodes left anyways and that wouldn’t change the rating in any way. The show is a chill as travel show where the main girl just ends up travelling to different parts of Japan sometimes alone, sometimes with friends and they have a good time, fully a tourism bait show but I like this kind of shit. Not bad, even tho I didn’t fully finish it.
21. mono
This show is by the same author as Yuru Camp but focuses on a bunch of highschool students that just want to travel and visit places under the guise of “photography” which is largely bullshit and their supervisor or aid is a stay at home manga author for some reason which they chill at her house. Following the same formula as Yuru Camp it’s good but nowhere near as good as the former, the characters are just not as good and kinda forgettable and seem forced, at it’s core it’s basically another tourism travel show focusing on places in Japan, not about camping per say. They also have cameos of the Yuru Camp girls in one episode as well, just to make sure you know it’s the same author and world. Good but could have been way better.
20. Uma Musume: Road to the Top
So yea, I ended up watching all of the umamusme’s anime this year due to the hype of the mobile game in global and this movie/combined OVA series was one of them. This movie features the story of Narita Top Road and her journey of trying to win the a G1 major race while constantly being placed second and close being beaten by many other umas such as TM Opera O and Admire Vega and some of their backstories and lore which is cool. The movie itself is just standard quality as from what I understand, this is just a recombined OVA series that they released a few years back, so it looks and feels like the regular TV anime for the most part with a few exceptions during race moments.
19. Game Center Shoujo to Ibunka Kouryuu
Cute British white girl ends up living in Japan for reasons and ends up becoming a frequent arcade fanatic and crane game player who befriends a arcade employee who she ends up liking and hijinks ensues. Despite it’s premise on paper and appearance, the show is surprisingly very wholesome with no ecchi and very little fanservice, which is something they could have easily done but they didn’t. The main girl is British but is voiced by a Japanese American voice actor which makes it pretty interesting to say the least, she does a great job really. The show itself is classic moeblob with mild romantic comedy but the novelty of the show begins to wear a bit thin as you can only do so much in that setting. The show does a good job at fleshing out the characters and their backstories but it needs more laughs, less romance/drama especially since the main girl is in elementary schooler. Not bad, but could have been way better.
18. Dr. Stone S4
I can’t remember what cour this is or whatever but Dr Stone is nearing it’s end, with probably just another cour to end the entire series after this one and while the story of this one was alright, it was just a continuation of the Dr X arc and the end result basically was just a grand reset of everything, almost a pure clean slate with the ultimate goal basically to bring Dr X onto senku’s side. While very creative in it’s premise, it’s outcome certainly is questionable in how they ‘won’ and continue the story/journey. We’ll see how things turn out in the final season which airs this year I think, hope it doesn’t fail me.
17. Kowloon Generic Romance
A interesting drama mystery sci-fi show that is good in concept and theme but it’s ending was very disappointing to me, which can be attributed to the manga still being written and not finished yet. I don’t know how I feel about this show, it’s very unique but at the same time seemed dated and old, due to the character designs and style. The story told here is very interesting and not what I had originally thought it was going to be, very sci-fi twist shit going on but the ending kinda of ruins it for me. Sad. Perhaps one day they will do a movie of this when the entire manga is finished or something. Worth a watch but don’t get your hopes up for an ending that makes any sense or any real answers.
16. Hibi wa Sugiredo Meshi Umashi
I love my moeblob shows and there is increasingly less and less of them but this one is a solid good one. Similar in the veins of mono and zatsu tabi, this at it’s core is a travel tourism show but under the package of university students who run a cooking/eating club and struggle trying to make it a legit club. The formula has been done before but it just works with the characters in this show being visually appealing to me and with lots of unique memorable personalities, it’s a fun show with good pacing that feels more like a Yuru Camp spiritual successor than mono is, which is kind of funny really. Good shit.
15. Uma Musume S3
S3 of the tv anime was unfortunately was on weaker side, being the third and final mainline sequels before cygames decided to branch off and do different anime projects adapted from other materials/other uma stories. It follows Kitasan Black as the main character which is a great protagonist, way better than special week was in S1 back in 2018 but the show itself misses the mark on a few key story points which is questionable that indicate they never were going to make a continuation for Team Spica’s story, which started it all in S1. While very enjoyable, I wished they ended the show a bit more open ended, for once I actually wanted one of those cop out endings were “their journey will continue”. Good, but I think Kitasan black deserved better.
14. Sono Bisque Doll wa Koi wo Suru S2
The long awaited S2 of dress up doll arrives and it’s petty good shit. The animation quality has increased to the point where I am not even sure if it’s fully 2d anymore and looking sometimes 3d since it’s so crisp but who knows. This show just starts off right at the end of the first season with Marin and her doll boi at a party and they just do their usual planning for cosplay and the likes. There is actually very little other character development although they do introduce a number of interesting characters which spice of the world and relationships quite a bit. Overall a solid sequel but doesn’t really have anything for anyone who hasn’t watched S1, more of the same which is fine just not going to attract any new watchers.
13. Guilty Gear Strive – Dual Rulers
By and large this was a crazy ass show for anyone, even for guilty gear fans and you would only ever watch this show if you at least watched the guilty gear strive storymode. Once you get past that, it is a excellent sequel continuation of lore and story progression for the guilty gear world and shows a bright future for the franchise despite Sol Badguy’s story being basically done and resolved by the end of Strive. Lots of new characters added and it was cool seeing my boi Johnny and other doing cool shit. A full 3d show, it was not without it’s problems but it was still good shit.
12. Uma Musume S2
S2 of Uma Musame mainline team spica story is probably the best story out of the first 3 anime seaons since it focuses on Tokai Teio and her rise and fall and rise again comeback story which makes for a very good compelling sports anime story, or rather any sports story for that matter. Despite Teio and mcqueen rotate being more or less out of commission for like the majority of the show which in itself is kinda of laughable/sad the overall story and ending makes it worth it. They should make a movie out of teio’s story and spend lots of money on animation, it would be a super big hit since Teio is apparently like the most popular uma in Japan, both in real life horse and in anime form after all these years still. Good shit.
11. Ameku Takao no Suiri Karte
A nice mystery detective show featuring a youth girl doctor working at a hospital, the formula is similar to real life drama hospital shows but anime I suppose. Of course the main girl is basically a genius and she has a sidekick boi as well which also serves as a mild romantic interest in. The show runs it’s course and the cases they solve are interesting erring on the side more of human issues which is always a good formula instead of some simple shit like I killed this dude for money/revenge. The main girl is likeable and is voiced by Ayane Sakura, which I like as a voice actor and her various roles. Good show but nothing super outstanding, good for mild brain working.
10. Okinawa de Suki ni Natta Ko ga Hougen Sugite Tsurasugiru / Okitsura
An anime about everything to do with Okinawa through the eyes of a mainstream cityboi and cute dark/skinned tanned Okinawa girls guiding the way. The show is pretty good as it is essentially a slice of life with romance love triangle thing going on the side but it’s very light, so no real romance drama which is good. The flow of the show is very good and goes over alot of the regional quirks and culture of Okinawa such as food, customs and other funny shit that is pretty obscure. Overall a solid slice of life learn about show, would recommend if interested about Okinawa.
9. Toujima Tanzaburou wa Kamen Rider ni Naritai
This is something of a kamen rider meta anime show where the main character is a huge Kamen Rider fan from childhood and his dedication to becoming an actual Kamen rider has cost him dearly as he is outcast from society for his weird behavior and delusions and before he knows it he’s a 40 year old swole construction worker with no family/friends and further aspirations. When all hope is lost he gets rid of all of his merch that he has collected over the years and vows to turn over a new leaf, giving up his dream of becoming a kamen rider, that is until, he encounters Shocker, the bad guys are real and that changes everything along with meeting other fellow fans who want to fight Shocker. The show’s music is outstanding hype music and the action and style are very unique and well done. Well worth a watch for something different and over the top. Although this is probably a long running series so don’t expect anything to be resolved in the first cour.
8. Takopii no Genzai
A very sad depressing psychological drama show about Takopii a pink octopus alien thing that wants to spread joy and happiness to the world, he decides he wants to help a sad girl on the side of the road as his first step towards spreading happiness to the human world but ends up wrapped in a tangled tale of suicide, murder, bully and abuse that link the girl on the road and her bully. He has the power to turn back time to try and prevent the imminent tragedies and save the girls but in the long run things end up worst and having to try again and again. This is a time loop show but deal with some of the realist and saddest issues in modern society. It’s worth a watch if you want to check you are a normal human being with actual emotions but the resolution of the show leaves a more solid conclusion to be desired, it’s ok ending but definitely one that I wouldn’t really call a ideal or happy one.
7. Shuumatsu Touring
A chill journey show about a post-apocalyptic japan that takes place many years in the future, after the storm has calmed and it’s safe to out outside again, the main characters are Yuuko a seemingly normal girl that wants to see japan after following her sister’s instagram post history from a few years back to popular places in japan. Her travel companion is a robot girl, which just seems like a normal girl since it seems like she eats and sleep like a normal human but yea she’s a robot/android. They travel on motorcycle to various ruined places and compare them to how they were back in the day via old photo posts, aka our current time so in a weird way this is also a japan travel tourism show funnily enough. Despite it’s not unique premise the show is very well paced and never hesitates to drop clues and world lore that have you thinking, man what the fuck happened? The entire show never addresses what actually happened, nor do any of the characters, apparently the only sentient beings left aside from a a old robot or something so in a way it’s also a mystery show indirectly. The anime concludes fairly typical of journeying shows, like our journey will continue since the manga is still being written but I really enjoyed this show, good shit.
6. Uma Musume: Beginning of a new Era
Unlike Road to the Top movie which was a recombined ova series, this Umamusame title was from beginning to end was animated and designed to be a movie and it definitely shows it. The quality of the animation and character designs are probably the most different and diverge considerably from the anime series, which takes a bit of time to get used to, they just feel more sharper and shiny and perhaps younger? It’s kind of hard to describe just have to watch it. The story follows Jungle Pocket and her claim to win the Japan Derby and confront her greatest rival of her era, Agnes Tachyon, the crazed lab scientist uma. Without getting into too many story spoilers, the movie takes an interesting turn and provides some considerable depth for jungle pocket and the other characters which is a bit surprising due to their personalities but nevertheless delivers in awesome race animation and quality. Good shit, should watch if interested in the uma musame world but I am not so sure if it’s the best as the first introduction, it can be but I think there are better options for that.
5. Ballpark de Tsukamaete!
A surprisingly good and fun show about a girl working as a beer vendor/beer girl at a baseball park. The main girl is a gal but has no trouble attracting customers and gaining a loyal fans at the baseball park. The show itself is episodic in nature but they all interconnect to a greater in world lore for the characters and also the baseball players themselves and the stories they have to tell, mainly light hearted and fun/comedic. The pacing of this show is outstanding, I never have myself feeling this shit is slow it’s non-stop storytelling and the best type possible, the human kind that is. It also helps that the main girl is attractive and has on point voice acting, good shit. Watch if you want to have a fun chill time about Japanese baseball culture and overall sports themed fan culture in general. Good shit.
4. Gundam GQuuuuuuX
Another new gundam show which came out so soon after Witch from Mercury which at first glance has many similarities with the former but ends up being it’s own thing altogether for better or worse. The main thing about this series is that it takes place in the UC timeline, aka Amuro’s world but in an alternate timeline starting from the one year war, where basically Zeon won and Char get’s the white gundam instead of Amuro hence the outcome of the world is drastically different than the normal continuity. The first few episodes were also adapted into an introduction movie of the same name to kickstart the story and is pretty much a fan service love letter to oldschool classic gundam directed/produced by infamous evangelion creator, Hideaki Anno. For better or worse the show itself starts out fine, slowly introducing the characters and what they are about and the world but ends up basically becoming a love triangle kinda story with the political space opera backstory of any other gundam show, which is fine in itself but it does so at a breakneck speed that absolutely REQUIRES previous lore/gundam knowledge of past UC timeline stories to have full affect. Without this prerequisite knowledge most new viewers wouldn’t’ know what’s going on by the end of the show, hell even those with UC knowledge still would have a alot of trouble what is going on. However despite it’s questionably fast/rushed ending, the show does indeed end, although it is extremely surprising to me that they did indeed wrap up this show in only 12 episodes. Even witch from mercury went to like 24 episodes over two cours so it’s a bit baffling to my why they wanted it so short. They lost out on building cultural momentmum for a longer show and instead just ended it, wasting the potential of both the characters, world, mecha and futuure growth. It’s a shame really but it is what it is, regardless of the ending, this show brought new interest into Gundam’s UC timeline and most importantly the ending song was sung by star Hololive talent, Hoshimachi Suisei which was a lie in terms of story plot lines go however. Would I watch this over witch from mercury? I dunno, they are both their own things but I do say that witch from mercury is a standalone series is better, while GQuuuuuuX is more or less crash course gundam uc but not really. Regardless, an enjoyable show all round with well produced animation, story and mecha designs, although ending is still questionable.
3. Medalist
Medalist is a show that basically came out of nowhere early last year about young girls sports figure skating and for some reason was a big hit despite it’s seemingly generic and done before premise. We got Inori, a sad awkward girl who tries to get into competitive figure skating and be the best even though she is behind everyone else in skill and experience. Her coach is a newbie one that also struggles to give her the proper advice and get past his past trauma and insecurities as he used to be a competitive skater but never made it big for some reason or another. This is a tried and true formula that fits easily into sports shows but because they are cute girls it’s basically like idolmaster really, which is actually a good thing, since I like idolmaster and idol shows. The author of the manga has publicly said he is a huge idolmaster fan and has modelled the main character, Inori after one of the idolmaster girls, both in design and going so far as to hire the same voice actor as well, that’s commitment man. Outside of the appeal of cute girl figure skaters, the show itself is very well balanced between funney hijinks but also sports drama that comes with any sports show. The animation and art are excellent and I think some of the best 3d done for skating in recent memory. The introduction op song is excellent, BOW AND ARROW by Kenshi Yonezu, the Autist, famed super popular anime song creator for other shows like Chainsaw man and even Gundam GQuuuuuuX, all done by him. Apparently he wanted to sing the song for this anime adaption because he is a huge fan of the manga, he approached production team, not the other way around. All round excellent show, would recommend if you feeling the sports anime itch with cute girls to boot. S2 is currently airing right now so it has strong relevancy even now.
2. Chainsaw Man Movie: The Reze Arc
I had honestly forgotten about chainsaw man for the post part and it has been some time since the S1 aired and has fallen someone out of popular anime cultural fashion, but this movie of the Reze arc super catapulted the series back into the limelight into mainstream super stardom. Everything about this anime movie is excellent, having seen this movie in an actual IMAX theater I would say that this is probably the best anime movie that I saw in theaters, probably ever actually. This even includes gundam GQuuuuuuX which I also saw this year. The story picks up after some time after S1 and focuses in the titular character, Reze and her relationship with Denji and one thing leads to another as Reze is actually the Bomb Demon, one of the several bosses Chainsaw man/Denji has to kill. The action and pacing of this movie is outstanding and the cinematography/editing is excellent. Reze herself as a character and the voice actress that portrayed her are amazing, and provide a kind of bombastic over the top action and craziness that Chainsaw man is known for. The first half of the movie is basically just character building but once the action starts in this movie, it never stops all the way to the end of the movie, crazy shit. Of course this movie also has a opening song by our Autist by Kenshi Yonezu, IRIS OUT, which also become a mega hit in it’s own right but also through association with this movie. The success and popularity of this movie shows a bright future for anime movies in the west outside of Japan as even though it had a limited screening, turnout was great and people came out to seen anime at the movies. I was driving a week or so after the movie came out and the radio went over the top of the box office and they actually said The chainsaw man movie was the top grossing movie of the past week, which is kind of incredible really. I mean this year alone had this movie, gundam movie and Demon Slayers movies released in western theaters to good success. Anime truly is mainstream now and if they continue to put out movies of this quality, things are looking up for the industry at large. Good shit.
1. Uma Musume – Cinderella Gray
So Uma Musame was always this media franchise/series that was around popular in Japan but never seemed to get that big in the west, mainly because the game wasn’t released yet outside of asia, understandably so but when Cinderella Gray came out out roughly around the same time the global release of umamusame came out, shit caught on like wild fire. Cinderella Gray is a prequel of sorts to the original S1 anime and in many ways the first story scenario of the actual mobile game following Oguri Cap, a white haired uma Musume from Hokkaido who is kinda slow witted and a country bumpkin who loves running and through her amazing ability ends up going to a school out from the boonies to an elite school in the city Tracen Academy to train and join the twinkle series, the premiere uma racing league. Oguri Cap as a main character is very likable, she for a lack of a better comparison, is basically anime Forrest Gump, coming from a small town in the backwaters to achieve greatness and a commitment to running and her ideals/hard work, also a bit dim witted slow and eats alot too, both charming characteristics for any relatable protagonist. The story itself is well paced and structured, there is never a dull moment in this show and time passes quick, with supporting characters such as her Trainer Joe and the friends/rivals she meets are also interesting and likable. There isn’t a single character in this show I say is hate-able, everyone is alright or cool, even the rivals like Tamamo Cross and March are cool tool and becomes friends ultimately with Oguri. The animation is very well done and the entire tone of the show is drastically different that the original Uma Musame animes from S1-S3, focusing more on the sports training drama aspect of Oguri Cap’s story rather than the idol and fun/jokes elements that are trademark of the series. Being an adapted manga also helps the overall quality and pacing of the show as there is no filler or waste episodes, everything has meaning and you never feel like your time is being wasted. The storytelling in Cinderella Gray is outstanding and the best entry point show to watch for anyone to get into umamusame, regardless if there is interest in the mobile game or not. The story is timeless and a true underdog/diamond in the rough story that is elevated due to everything being based on real life Oguri Cap the horse’s racing career and story. In Japan Oguri Cap was massively popular during the late 80’s and 90’s which inspired the first ever uma horse plushies back in the day and it is somehow super fitting that this anime about Oguri Cap as a cute anime horse girl would usher in a new era of popularity outside of Japan and bring Japanese horse racing into the popular mindset of the anime sphere. Given all the factors above and being a excellent show that is not over yet, congratulations Uma Musame – Cinderella Gray, you are the best anime of 2025.