is a Japanese manga series written by Masafumi Sugiura and illustrated by Taiyou Kuzumi. It is a spinoff entry in the wider Umamusume: Pretty Derby franchise created by Cygames, and is based on the career of Oguri Cap. The series was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump from June 2020 to December 2025, with its chapters having been collected in 23 volumes. An anime television series adaptation produced by CygamesPictures ran from April to December 2025.
Both the anime and manga received strong reviews from critics, with the anime winning, amongst other awards, the Anime Trending Awards' Anime of the Year. In Japan, a collaboration event between the series and Kasamatsu Racecourse, the real Oguri Cap's hometown course, led to a record number of visitors visiting the track, and the series being credited with the racecourse's revitalisation after its reputation had been tarnished from a race-fixing scandal the year prior.
Plot
Oguri Cap is a young racer with an insatiable appetite who starts as a regional racer in her hometown of Kasamatsu. She catches the attention of up-and-coming Umamusume trainer Jo Kitahara, and he aims to train her to the best of her abilities with the help of her friend Belno Light. Oguri Cap eventually transitions to the high-profile Twinkle Series races, where she makes her mark as a national idol while competing against the best domestic and international Umamusume of her generation.
Media Manga Written by Masafumi Sugiura, produced by Junnosuke Itō, and illustrated by Taiyō Kuzumi, the series was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Young Jump from 11 June 2020, to 25 December 2025. The first collected volume was released on 19 January 2021. , twenty-three volumes have been released.
Volumes
Anime An anime television series adaptation was announced on 23 August 2024. It is produced by Cypic and directed by Yūki Itō and Takehiro Miura, with Aki Kindaichi handling series composition, Takuya Miyahara and Keigo Sasaki designing the characters, and Kenji Kawai composing the music. The series aired in two split cours on TBS and its affiliates, with the first cours airing from 6 April to 29 June 2025, and the second cours airing from 5 October to 21 December 2025. For the first cours, the opening theme is , performed by Alexandros, while the ending theme is "∞" (Infinity), performed by Oguri Cap (Tomoyo Takayanagi). For the second cours, the opening theme is , performed by 10-Feet, while the ending theme is , performed by Oguri Cap (Tomoyo Takayanagi) and Tamamo Cross (Naomi Ōzora). Remow licensed the series for streaming on Amazon Prime Video (North America), the It's Anime YouTube channel (select regions), Anime Onegai (Latin America) and ADN (Europe). Netflix is streaming the series in Asia-Pacific.
Episodes
Reception The manga series was nominated in the seventh Next Manga Awards for the Best Print Manga category and placed second of 50 nominees after Oshi no Ko.
Between April and June 2025, the anime series was ranked number one in the world in the AniLab Global Weekly Anime Rankings a total of four times. In the spring 2025 season, it took first place in the weekly rankings of Anime Trending, a major voting site for overseas anime fans, in its seventh week, beating out Weekly Shonen Jump's Witch Watch, and continued to hold the top spot until the final episode. Uma Musume Cinderella Gray took first place in the weekly rankings of Anime Trending for the fall 2025 season, and won the Best Anime of 2025.
The series later won the Spring Anime Award on Anime Corner. It was described as a "true Cinderella story" as the first time in history that a series topped the final ranking despite not having topped the weekly rankings. Overseas fans and viewers commented on the series' late-stage comeback, saying it was "just like Oguri Cap (from the series)".
Awards and nominations Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result 2026 12th Anime Trending Awards Anime of the Year Umamusume: Cinderella Gray rowspan="7" Girl of the Year Oguri Cap Supporting Boy of the Year Jo Kitahara Supporting Girl of the Year Belno Light Best in Adapted Screenplay Umamusume: Cinderella Gray Best in Animation Best in Character Design Ending Song of the Year "∞" rowspan="4" Best in Soundtrack Umamusume: Cinderella Gray Best Voice Acting Performance — Female Tomoyo Takayanagi Drama Anime of the Year Umamusume: Cinderella Gray Sports Anime of the Year Japan Expo Awards Daruma for Best Anime rowspan="3" Daruma for Best Action Anime Daruma for Best Opening "Koeru"
Notes
References
External links