Umamusume: Pretty Derby — Beginning of a New Era has been voted as the Anime Movie of the Year at the 12th Anime Trending Awards. The film earned a total of 15,269 votes, surpassing two other massively popular films in the category, Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc, which finished second with 14,000 votes, and Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – Infinity Castle, which placed third with 12,387 votes. Look Back and The Colors Within also placed fourth and fifth, and the films received 10,988 and 7,252 votes, respectively.
Congratulations to Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Beginning of a New Era for winning ANIME MOVIE OF THE YEAR at the 12th Anime Trending Awards! pic.twitter.com/VXPz2RUpWK
— Anime Trending (@AniTrendz) March 22, 2026
Here are the full results for Anime Movie of the Year:
RankAnime Movie of the YearVotes1Umamusume: Pretty Derby – Beginning of a New Era 15,2692Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc14,0003Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Infinity Castle12,3874Look Back10,9885The Colors Within7,2526Mononoke the Movie: The Phantom in the Rain5,7187Haikyu!! The Dumpster Battle4,0518Trapezium3,6699A Few Moments of Cheers3,23310Given The Movie: To The Sea2,08211Ghost Cat Anzu880
The full results of the 12th Anime Trending Awards can be found here.
Premiering in Japan on May 24, 2024, Umamusume: Pretty Derby — Beginning of a New Era treated fans to the first feature film of the franchise, combining dynamic horse girl racing action with emotional storytelling. The movie follows Jungle Pocket and her journey to become a champion on the horse racing track fueled by her rivalry with Agnes Tachyon.
The film was produced by Cygames Pictures, the same studio behind the Umamusume: Cinderella Gray TV anime series. Beginning of a New Era is directed by Ken Yamamoto (Pokémon: Hisuian Snow director, Princess Connect Re: Dive Season 2 opening storyboard artist and director) with Tetsuya Kobari (Umamusume: Pretty Derby Season 3 co-series composer) as scenario director and story composer, Jun Yamazaki (Umamusume: Pretty Derby — Road to the Top) as character designer and chief animation director, and Kan Mizoguchi as animation producer.
Umamusume: Pretty Derby — Beginning of a New Era received strong box office performance in Japan, crossing the 1.2 billion yen (~US$ 8 million) mark within weeks of release and earned $1.27 million with its North American release this last February.
The voice cast featured a few competitive Umamusume, including:
- • Yuri Fujimoto as Jungle Pocket
- • Sumire Uesaka as Agnes Tachyon
- • Yui Ogura as Manhattan Cafe
- • Haruna Fukushima as Dantsu Flame
• Sora Tokui as T.M. Opera
The Umamusume: Pretty Derby multimedia franchise began with the mobile game and anime series launched in 2018 and became known for its blend of sports drama and idol culture.
Officially distributed by GAGA for North America, the film’s synopsis reads as follows:
Jungle Pocket, known to her close friends as “Pokke,” is a free-spirited Umamusume who has proven her dominance in the freestyle racing scene. Overwhelmed by Fuji Kiseki’s majestic performance at a graded Twinkle Series race, she resolves to take on the Twinkle Series herself.
Shortly after joining the Umamusume training school Tracen Academy, Pokke comes under the wing of Tanabe, a veteran trainer who fostered Fuji Kiseki’s talent. Together, they aspire to dominate the Triple Crown series, a set of three races that can only be attempted once in a lifetime. Awaiting them are formidable rivals of Pokke’s generation, whose talents surpass even her own.
There’s Dantsu Flame, whose diligence and determination to win are second to none; Manhattan Cafe, who chases the shadowy silhouette of a “friend” that only she can see; and Agnes Tachyon, a veritable mad scientist seeking to push the very boundaries of what is possible for Umamusume.
