In the dominant spirit of the horse in 2026, Umamusume: Cinderella Gray has been crowned Anime of the Year at the 12th Anime Trending Awards. The anime garnered a grand total of 11,721 votes to take the top spot among 21 nominees, beating The Apothecary Diaries Season 2, which placed second with 10,243 votes.
Congratulations to Umamusume: Cinderella Gray for winning ANIME OF THE YEAR at the 12th Anime Trending Awards!
Umamusume becomes the first Sports anime to win the biggest prize!
The series won 8 awards tonight, alongside 5 additional podium finishes. This achievement ties the… pic.twitter.com/ZzsXFmwXQs
— Anime Trending (@AniTrendz) March 22, 2026
Other categories the anime won at the 12th Anime Trending Awards include the following:
- • Oguri Cap — Girl of the Year
- • Jo Kitahara — Supporting Boy of the Year
- • Belno Light — Supporting Girl of the Year
- • Best in Adapted Screenplay
- • Best in Animation
- • Best in Character Design
- • Sports Anime of the Year
Umamusume: Cinderella Gray’s first cour debuted in Anime Trending’s Spring 2025 seasonal anime chart rankings at a modest 26th place during the first week of voting. It rose slightly to 21st place in weeks 2 and 3, before dropping to 23rd place during week 4 last May. The anime then made a big improvement in week 5, rising to 9th place on the chart rankings and entering 5th place in week 6. From weeks 7 through 12, the anime ranked 1st and held its position through July.
The anime’s second cour had an even stronger debut and performance throughout the Fall 2025 season. For the first three weeks of voting, the series placed 2nd on the weekly chart rankings before retaking first place in weeks 5 and 6. It placed 2nd again in week 8, then finished on top from week 9 onward. Interestingly, the second cour had no episode broadcast during weeks 4 and 7.
As a result of its strong performance and showing, the first and second cours of Umamusume: Cinderella Gray were voted as Anime of the Season for the Spring 2025 and Fall 2025 seasons. The series was also voted as Favorite Drama in both seasons.
Oguri Cap and Belno Light were honored as the respective Favorite Female Character and Favorite Supporting Female Character for the Spring 2025 and Fall 2025 seasonal awards.
For the Spring 2025 season, the first cour honored Jo Kitahara as the Favorite Supporting Male Character, while the ending theme “∞” by Oguri Cap voice actress Tomoyo Takayanagi was voted as the Favorite Ending Theme Song.
The second cour opening theme “Spurt Syndromer” by Japanese rock band 10-Feet was also voted as Favorite Opening Theme Song at the Fall 2025 seasonal awards.
The ranking and breakdown for the results of Anime of the Year are listed below:
Rank
Anime of the Year Nominees
Votes
%
1
Umamusume: Cinderella Gray
11,721
13.56%
2
The Apothecary Diaries S2
10,243
11.85%
3
Re:ZERO -Starting Life in Another World- S3: Counterattack Arc
7,486
8.66%
4
My Hero Academia FINAL SEASON
7,146
8.27%
5
Takopi’s Original Sin
6,559
7.59%
6
My Dress-Up Darling S2
5,495
6.36%
7
Orb: On The Movements of the Earth
5,238
6.06%
8
GACHIAKUTA
4,967
5.75%
9
The Fragrant Flower Blooms with Dignity
4,512
5.22%
10
DAN DA DAN S2
3,965
4.59%
11
Secrets of the Silent Witch
3,565
4.12%
12
Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun S2
2,576
2.98%
13
This Monster Wants To Eat Me
2,468
2.86%
14
SPY x FAMILY S3
2,325
2.69%
15
DanMachi V: Goddess of Fertility Arc
1,648
1.91%
16
Blue Box
1,415
1.64%
17
WITCH WATCH
1,381
1.60%
18
Solo Leveling S2 -Arise from the Shadow-
1,267
1.47%
19
WIND BREAKER S2
1,038
1.20%
20
The Shiunji Family Children
808
0.93%
21
SANDA
606
0.70%
The full results of the 12th Anime Trending Awards can be found here.
Umamusume: Cinderella Gray ran for two cours in 2025, totaling 23 episodes. The first cour aired for 13 episodes and were released from April 2025 to June 2025. A second cour consisting of 10 episodes was released from October 2025 to December 2025.
©Taiyou Kuzumi, Masafumi Sugiura & Pita, Junnosuke Itoh/SHUEISHA, UCG Partners
Yuki Ito (takt op.Destiny) was the director of the first cour of Umamusume: Cinderella Gray, with Takehiro Shimizu as assistant director, Aki Kindaichi as series composer, Takuya Miyahara (Frederica opening movie) and Keigo Sasaki (Blue Exorcist) as character designers, and Kenji Kawai (Ghost in the Shell) as music composer.
Takehiro Miura directed the anime’s second cour, with Shimizu, Kindaichi, Miyahara, Sasaki, and Kawai returning to their respective roles. Yosuke Fukumoto joined the staff for the second cour as co-character designer, while Kengo Matsumoto served as action supervisor. CygamesPictures was in charge of the animation production for both cours.
Meanwhile, some of the anime’s voice cast includes:
- • Tomoyo Takayanagi as Oguri Cap
- • Momoko Seto as Belno Light
- • Katsuyuki Konishi as Jo Kitahara
- • Naomi Ozora as Tamamo Cross
- • Ruriko Noguchi as Sakura Chiyono O
- • Saya Aizawa as Mejiro Ardan
- • Mariya Ise as Fujimasa March
- • Yuko Kaida as Toni Bianca
- • Shizuka Ishigami as Obey Your Master
- • Ayahi Takagaki as Michelle My Baby
- • Akira Sekine as Moon Light Lunacy
- • Miyu Tomita as Ellerslie Pride
The Umamusume: Cinderella Gray manga series is a spinoff of Cygames’ popular Umamusume: Pretty Derby franchise, which is centered on the character Oguri Cap. It was written by Masafumi Sugiura and illustrated by Taiyo Kuzumi, beginning its serialization in Shueisha’s Weekly Young Jump on June 11, 2020 and ending on December 25, 2025. A total of 23 tankobon volumes have been published in Japan as of March 18, 2026.
REMOW licensed the anime series for release in select countries and territories. It is currently streaming on Samsung TV Plus, Amazon Prime Video, and the It’s Anime YouTube channel.
The Umamusume: Pretty Derby mixed-media franchise includes a popular mobile game that became available in English on June 26. The previous anime adaptations include a 2018 P.A.Works-produced TV anime series, its 2021 second season (produced by Studio KAI with assistance from P.A.Works), the 2023 Studio KAI-produced third season, the web anime Umamusume: Pretty Derby — Road to the Top, and the Umamusume: Pretty Derby — Beginning of a New Era anime film. The latter two were produced by CygamesPictures, with the Beginning of a New Era film premiering in Japan on May 24, 2024, and in North America on February 27, 2026.
©Taiyou Kuzumi, Masafumi Sugiura & Pita, Junnosuke Itoh/SHUEISHA, UCG Partners
Prime Video describes the main premise of the Umamusume: Cinderella Gray anime as:
Umamusume are racers who inherit the names and spirits of legendary racehorses from another world. Among them is Oguri Cap, a countryside-born Umamusume with an insatiable appetite! Unbeknownst to those around her, the potential of this ashen-haired “Beast” will soon propel her to the national stage and lead her down a legendary path. Follow her journey in this hot-blooded Cinderella story!
