The official live-streamed Poka Live TV Vol. 2 program for Cygames‘ Uma Musume Pretty Derby franchise debuted the full promotional video and new key visual for the second season of the main Uma Musume Pretty Derby television anime on Saturday. The program and video revealed the season’s updated main cast and staff, theme song information, and January 4 premiere.
Saturday’s program also announced with a commercial that the franchise‘s smartphone game, delayed since 2018, will launch on February 24, 2021.
The web preview video for the new season’s first episode debuted on Saturday:
Most of the previous cast is returning for the new season, but Yuka Aisaka is stepping down from her role as Narita Brian in the overall franchise. Rika Kinugawa is replacing Aisaka due to timing schedule issues from Aisaka’s hiatus from voice acting and singing in 2018, as well as other circumstances. (Aisaka eventually returned from her hiatus in February 2019.)
The newly announced main cast members include:
Kei Oikawa is once again directing the anime, but Studio KAI is animating, replacing the previous season’s P.A. Works. (P.A. Works is still credited for collaborating on production.) Takumi Narita is replacing Tomoaki Ohta as assistant director. Yousuke Kabashima is returning to serve as co-character designer and a chief animation director, as is co-character designer Tomoko Tsuji. Satoru Fujimoto joins the staff as a chief animation director.
The main animators are Yukiyoshi Shikiji, Ken Obata, Jun Nakajima, and Yūsuke Sōen. Hotaka Okamoto replaces Hiroshi Ito as art director. Naomi Nakano and Tomo Namiki return as the color key artist and compositing director of photography, respectively. Masanari Kira replaces Motonari Ichikawa as the 3D director. Ayumu Takahashi remains as editor. Yūichi Morita, Taro Iwashiro, and Utamaro movement return as the sound director, music producer, and music composer, respectively.
The characters Special Week, Silence Suzuka, Tōkai Teiō, Vodka, Daiwa Scarle, Gold Ship, and Mejiro McQueen (as voiced by their respective cast members) sing the opening “Yume o Kakeru!” and Tōkai Teiō and Mejiro McQueen sing the ending theme song “Komorebi no Yell!”
The series will premiere on the Tokyo MX and BS11 channels on January 4 at 24:00 (effectively, January 5 at midnight). It will also run on Kansai TV, AT-X, and Saga TV.
The first season has been replaying in Japan on the Tokyo MX and BS11 channels since October 4. The Poka Live TV program will return with “Vol. 3” on January 16.
The Uma Musume Pretty Derby franchise‘s spinoff manga series Umayon also inspired its own television anime that premiered in July and ended on September 22.
Cygames is also publishing several other spinoff manga for the franchise on Cycomi, including Uma Musume Pretty Derby: Haru Urara Ganbaru! and Starting Gate: Uma Musume Pretty Derby.
Sources:Poka Live TV Vol. 2 program
