(panel from channel 1; most non-subtle foreshadowing of what's to come)

MangaDex link: https://mangadex.org/title/778b8438-af3a-4534-841c-adf923b55ee1/uma-musume-pretty-derby-star-blossom

Meta / Preface

I just binged this manga yesterday and can't stop thinking about it, keeping me distracted the whole of today. Rarely have stories got me so invested like this. Hopefully making a post about it would help me move on with the rest of my day / week.

Anyway, I've heard of Star Blossom ever since I got hooked on Umamusume, but for a while I thought it's best for wait for the anime adaptation. Unfortunately, my impatience won and once I got started on this manga, I couldn't put it down. That's how I ended up catching up to the latest chapter within just a few hours.

(But now I have to wait for the release of new chapters 😭)

Why you should read this

To Umamusume fans:

You've probably heard of Star Blossom by now. If you are still waiting for its anime adaptation, I'd say good choice; keep it up. I bet the anime would be peak.

If you are a fence-sitter for whatever reason, then come join the dark side and pick up this manga.

Among the Umamusume media released, Season 2 of the anime is my absolute favourite. Yes, the visuals can't compare to the newer works, but I put a significantly higher weightage on the story + its emotional impact. So as much as I enjoyed Cinderella Gray anime (and rated it a 10/10), I still can't put it above season 2. But...

Star Blossom has the potential to topple Season 2 from its throne. It has the emotional weight of Season 2, the underdog elements of Cinderella Gray, plus visuals / frames that are at least on par with Cinderella Gray. (Comparing its visuals to Beginning of a New Era would be a too much IMO, so I'm going to stop short of that.)

Basically, it's good in every aspect that likely drew you in to Umamusume. Oh, and just like every other major pieces of Umamusume media, Star Blossom too has CGDCT, slice-of-life moments and yuri undertones. Whatever you want from Umamusume, you should find in Star Blossom.

To non-Umamusume fans:

You'd probably enjoy Star Blossom a lot if you are into high-stakes drama and/or are an emotional masochist. Once the plot got going, it got me feeling like this the whole time:

Or maybe you just enjoy a good story. IMO its MangaDex's rating reflect the good-story aspect to a certain extent, sitting at 9.23 points (at the time of writing). I said to a certain extent because to me, such a score is an underrating. I bet if it garners more attention, it would move closer to Cinderella Gray's rating of 9.67.

Unfortunately, the only way to know if a story is good is to check it out yourself. (And if you are anything like me, you won't be able to put it down either.)

Edit: One more thing that stood out is the art, and I'm not referring to the hype scenes. The manga artist is simply too good at capturing the raw emotions on the characters' faces. Their expressions truly reach deep into the soul.

Here are a few examples:

::: spoiler out-of-context panels

:::

Closing Thoughts

It sucks that I won't be able to enjoy its anime adaptation in all its glory blind, but I don't regret picking this manga up this early. The plot so far is already so good, and who knows when an anime would ever be made.

But if one gets announced, you know I'd be there to follow it.