Past Seasons

I completed a bunch of top-tier anime over the past week.

Toradora

After holding it off for so long, I rewatched Toradora yet again so that I can give it a proper rating on AniList (instead of doing so based on vague memories of the show).

Even after so long, it is still peak drama. The animation quality from pre-2010s held up, as did its soundtrack and artstyle. But what made it stood the test of time is its character writing and story-telling.

I like how every character can simultaneously be immature and mature. I love how the drama put their relationships through the wringer.

There's no doubt that it is getting a score of 10 / 10 from me. Each episode got me hooked and wanting for more.

The harder test is whether it can enter my top favourites (i.e. top 10). For an anime to make it to my top favourites one vague criterion I have is rewatchability: it must leave a deep enough impression for me to want to rewatch it multiple times. Ultimately, I dropped Belle in favour of Toradora.

Link Click season 1

I heard that Link Click shares the same director as To Be Hero X. Apparently, he is a master of plot twists.

So I know I just had to check Link Click out. And boy, it certainly did not disappoint. I love the non-linear story-telling, as well as good it is at building suspense. The soundtrack Sign helped a lot.

Most importantly,

Also,

This is peak suspense, well-deserving of a 10 / 10. I will be picking season 2 up real soon.

Umamusume: Pretty Derby

With how good Cinderella Gray turned out, I thought I should give the series another chance after dropping season 1 - only one episode in - a while back. Shout-out to @selayar@ani.social for the movie recommendations.

Also, I inadvertently found out that the series is based on real-life race horses and ended up spoiling myself (probably like many others).

Road to the Top

Personally, I find that Road to the Top is quite a standard sports anime. It was a well-made movie. It knows how to get you to empathise with the protagonist's struggles.

Normally, there would be more that I would comment on, but it got completely overshadowed by the next one I watched. I actually can't remember some details of the show (e.g. I forgot Admire Vega's name and had to check the AniList characters page).

It's still really good though, so for now, I'm giving it a 9 / 10.

Season 2

This is it. Straight-up the best show I have watched all week. I don't think I will be able to find a 1-season(12/13 episodes)-long, standalone sports anime that can rival Umamusume: Pretty Derby - season 2.

I noticed that its rating is higher compared to season 1 and 3, and heard that each season can be watched as a standalone show, so I decided to give it a shot. Its rating was lower than that of Beginning of a New Era though, so I saved what is potentially the best for the last.

Cinderella Gray may have been the lure to get me hooked, but Season 2 is the powerhouse that truly reeled me into the series proper.

When it comes to sports anime, I would expect an underdog story - one of a protagonist who's constantly underestimated (and often ridiculed) by others, but eventually achieve their dream of being at the top through sheer will and effort.

Pretty Derby did not follow this formula. Instead, it gave us Tokai Teio, this cheery horse-girl who's in her prime and nigh-unstoppable (neigh-unstoppable? XD)

Her story reminded me of

I thought I couldn't draw parallels to any other characters till I realised there's no need to limit myself to sports anime (or even anime).

Notice that the previous paragraph applies to Tokai Teio too.

A meta similarity is that both are really just high quality commercials:

And you know what? It's working - on me, and on the numerous fans.

Also, the show-creators definitely knew what they were doing by portraying Teio as a happy-go-lucky, extra cheery girl. It is just like

In short, Pretty Derby S2 is the most moving show I have seen in the last few weeks. Also, I have lost count of the number of times that I have rewatched that legendary last race.

You know the score it's getting: 10 / 10, easily

Beginning of a New Era

After the peak that is Pretty Derby S2, I had superbly high expectations for Beginning of a New Era.

I can immediately see why it received such a high rating: its animation is on-par with the best animated shows of all time.

Unfortunately, I find that Tokai Teio's story set the bar too high for Jungle Pocket's to clear.

I can definitely see the similarity:

However, I prefer Teio's story.

It doesn't mean its not good. I just don't find it as good as Pretty Derby S2. 9 / 10

Now that I've went deep into the Umamusume rabbit hole, season 3 is next on my list. I may even try season 1 again for completion's sake.