The Umamusume: Pretty Derby Season 3 release date is confirmed for October 4, 2023. The 3rd season will have 13 episodes in total.
The third season is directed by Kei Oikawa and animated by Studio Kai. It has the same staff and cast as the previous two seasons.
On November 6, 2022, Umamusume Season 3 was confirmed to be in production by a short teaser trailer PV.
On February 22, 2023, a 2nd short teaser trailer PV was released:
The announcement of Uma Musume Season 3 is not a surprise since Cygames Pictures director Nobuhiro Takenaka was already talking about the Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 3 anime TV series back in 2021. What’s more, the Blu-Ray sales of the second season set a record in Japan.
But when will Uma Musume Season 3 come out? And what about the new web-only streaming series?
On May 4, 2022, the production of a new Umamusume: Pretty Derby anime series was announced with a teaser trailer. The new Umamusume anime will feature T.M. Opera O, Admire Vega, Narita Top Road, and several other Horse Girls competing to win the Classic.
On November, 6, 2022, the title of the web anime was announced as Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Road to the Top. The planned release date is during the Spring 2023 anime season. Road to the Top will be 4 episodes in total and will be released on a weekly basis starting on April 16, 2023.
The web anime is not considered to be Umamusume Season 3 since the announcement directly states that it is “different from the TV anime series”. The main difference is apparently the format since it will be a web streaming series rather than a TV show that is broadcast on Japanese TV channels.
On May 5, 2022, a new series of anime short episodes called Umayuru (Uma Yuru) was confirmed to be coming out in Fall 2022. It’s being animated by Studio SCOOTER FILMS.
The distinctions between these various projects were cleared up by further announcements. In the meantime, it’s definitely clear that the director desired to create Umamusume: Pretty Derby Season 3 at one point in time.
In May 2021, director Takenaka spoke about how anime has become important at Cygames, which is typically focused on iPhone/Android game apps like Granblue Fantasy, Princess Connect! Re:Dive, and, of course, the Uma Musume game itself.
“Back in the day, the animation department wasn’t very important to headquarters. Instead, the focus was on the video game production department. Recently, however, the animation department has gained more trust from the managers,” Takenaka said.
“Still, please do not put video game production aside. That’s because I want us to keep producing more seasons of the anime as long as the game goes on. I want to be able to meet the expectations of fans of the franchise.”
To put this comment in perspective, the Princess Connect! Re:Dive Season 2 anime TV series has already come out in Winter 2022.
In one interview with Famitsu, Takenaka was specifically asked, “Now that the game has become a hit, do you have any plans for Umamusume Season 3?”
In response, the director said that they not only wanted to continue Uma Musume, but he’d like to keep making more anime as long as the game continues.
The second season of the anime TV series was produced by Cygames Pictures and TOHO animation. The animation work was handled by Studio Kai, which is best known for Netflix’s Cagaster of an Insect Cage anime and the Super Cub anime TV series. They also co-developed 7 SEEDS Season 2 with Studio Gonzo.
In 2022, Studio Kai worked with Studio HORNETS on an isekai adventure called Skeleton Knight in Another World (Gaikotsu Kishi-sama, Tadaima Isekai e Odekakechuu).
This article provides everything that is known about Uma Musume Season 3 (Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 3/Umamusume Season 3) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Uma Musume Season 2 Blu-Ray sales skyrocket
Considering the financial success of the series it’s not surprising that Uma Musume Season 3 was greenlit for production. While the anime industry has largely shifted over to streaming revenue being the most important financial factor, Blue-Ray sales still can account for the success of certain anime.
In this case, the success of the Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 2 Blu-Ray box set was overwhelming. Uma Musume Season 2 Volume 1 sold an astounding 112,030 disc copies in the first week. In its second week, it sold 55,123 more copies, bringing the total to 167,153.
Volume 2 actually beat its own record. In late June 2021, the second BD volume sold an astounding 150,390 copies in its first week.
To put these numbers in perspective, Uma Musume 2 beat the previous record holder, Love Live! Season 2 Volume 1, which had sold 82,515 copies in its first week. The box set now has the Japanese Oricon record for the highest BD/DVD anime debut sales of all time. It’s also already number one for cumulative sales for a single Blu-Ray disc volume, which previously belonged to Neon Genesis Evangelion Volume 10 (131,166).
As a comparison, Princess Connect! Re:Dive Blu-Ray Volume 1 sold 28,518 copies in its first week.
Popular anime with multiple seasons don’t even compare. My Hero Academia topped out at 3,511 copies with its first season and My Hero Academia Season 6 is a certainty. The first season of Attack On Titan sold 52,078 copies in its first week, but more recent seasons have ranged from 7,410 down to 3,179 copies. Yet the Attack On Titan Season 4 Part 3 release date is confirmed to end that series in 2023.
With Blu-Ray sales numbers like these, it would be crazy for Cygames Pictures to not renew Uma Musume Season 3 quickly while the game is still popular in Japan.
Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 3 release date predictions: Is late 2023 likely?
As of the last update, Cygames Pictures or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the exact Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 3 release date. The director may have discussed how he desired to create a third season in 2022, but the production of a Uma Musume 3 sequel was only confirmed by November 2022. The general time frame of 2023 was announced in February 2023.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when the Uma Musume Season 3 premiere date will occur in the future.
The biggest factor is the choice of anime studio. The first season was animated by Studio P.A. Works and then switched to Studio Kai, which is a relatively new company.
Unfortunately for Studio Kai, they were not on the anime production committee which meant that the company did not benefit from the crazy-high BD revenue. Studio Kai actually lost money in fiscal year 2020 to the tune of 165 million yen.
Studios and the main staff are contractors. It’s possible Uma Musume 3 could switch to a new studio based on availability. After all, the anime industry as a whole is currently at over-production, and projects are scheduled years in advance.
Therefore, in the best-case scenario, since Uma Musume Season 3 was greenlit for production in 2022 the Uma Musume: Pretty Derby Season 3 release date could be scheduled for Summer or Fall 2023. Stay tuned!