In fact, there were still a few minutes of content after the race ended.
The entire audience was chanting "Teio," with many crying tears of joy as they cheered.
Silence Suzuka, who had been "absent" for almost the entire season, also appeared in the spectator stands to congratulate Tokai Teio, saying she had flown in from North America to cheer for her in person.
Then there was Mejiro McQueen's touching reaction, and the congratulations from the other horse girls who had raced alongside them.
After that came the winner's performance. With no shortage of budget, the production team went straight for a minute-long 2D hand-drawn live segment.
Finally, the ending: Tokai Teio's little fan, Kitasan Black, and Mejiro McQueen's little fan, Satono Diamond, had both grown up and were accepted into Tracen Academy.
In the season of falling cherry blossoms, on the school's training racetrack, Tokai Teio and Mejiro McQueen were finally able to have a proper race. Although it was just a two-person race, and the ED started playing as soon as they began, no one knew who actually won.
At 12:30, the entire final episode concluded.
In front of the TV, Yugo Ohara let out a long sigh: "Truly a masterpiece."
Because it was based on the story of real-life racehorses, he could have guessed the general plot even before the final episode aired. But even so, the quality of the final episode far exceeded his expectations; it was undoubtedly a "divine episode."
The key is that there were already several "divine episodes" before this one; it's not as if this was the only one in the entire series.
I don't know how long it's been since an anime of such high quality has appeared.
Considering how good-looking and adorable all the Uma Musume in this anime are, along with the popularity boost brought by Lin Zhiyan and the "King's Power" of the game, it's no surprise that so many people would pre-order the BDs.
Even Yugo Ohara, after calming down, took out his phone, found the pre-order page for the Uma Musume Season 2 anime BDs, and pre-ordered the entire set.
After placing his pre-order, he went online to check the discussions about this anime.
Because the anime had just finished airing, there were a lot of people discussing it at the moment:
"The final episode of Uma Musume 2 was so moving, it had me in tears."
"I couldn't stop the tears from falling."
"If this plot development were in any other anime, some might think it's cliché, but because it's adapted from the real-life story of Tokai Teio, there's nothing one can say against it."
"It's both heart-pounding and touching, a rare gem."
"I absolutely love this anime; it's the number one masterpiece of 2021, and I won't accept any counterarguments."
"Looking forward to Season 3."
"I've already pre-ordered the full BD set. It's really hard not to support an anime of such high quality."
From the scattered discussions, one can see the level of audience satisfaction with this anime.
On major rating websites, this anime has also received rave reviews:
"I've finished watching all of the second season. Right now, I feel just as excited and moved as the audience did when Tokai Teio won the Arima Kinen in the anime.
I've been watching anime for over a decade, and I've become less and less interested in the newer shows lately. Even with 'Demon Slayer', despite its explosive success, I didn't find it that outstanding. I was actually considering whether I should quit being an otaku, but I never expected to see such an excellent and moving anime.
Highly recommended! Lin Zhiyan is a god!"
"I didn't follow the first season when it aired in '18; the title didn't interest me. It was only when I learned this year that Lin Zhiyan intended to break the average sales record of 'EVA' with this anime that I caught up on the first season and then started following the second.
Watching the first season, I just felt it was very good, but the second season... I can only say that this anime is truly a masterpiece. It's been way too long since such an excellent TV anime has appeared."
"Looking forward to the third season."
"The complete Blu-ray set has already been pre-ordered. It's really hard not to support an anime of such high quality."
"Love it!
Absolutely love it!
Because of this anime, I went on a spree to learn everything about horse racing. After catching up, watching the anime again gave me a completely different experience. The production team is very respectful of reality, and every detail is..."
"Love it! Super love it! Because of this anime, I went and frantically caught up on horse racing knowledge. After learning everything and rewatching the anime, I had a completely different experience. The production team truly respects reality; every detail is meticulously handled, and you can see the effort put in by the production staff in every aspect. It really is a fantastic anime."
"It's top-tier in every way.
The plot itself is quite good, and because it's adapted from the real-life stories of the characters' prototypes—and Tokai Teio herself was legendary in real life—the whole story is cloaked in an aura that makes it easy to give it a perfect score without hesitation.
The animation is also top-notch. The animation for the running scenes, as well as the 2D hand-drawn live performances in the first and last episodes, are all incredibly strong. The animation for the slice-of-life scenes is also quite good, capturing the cuteness of each character perfectly. Plus, the race scenes—every single audience member is unique, with no cutting corners; it's super conscientious."
"When watching the first season, I just felt it was very good, but the second season...
I can only say, this anime is truly a masterpiece. It's been too long since such an excellent TV anime has appeared."
"As for the music, I wouldn't call any of it legendary BGM or legendary insert songs, but the songs in the anime fit the plot very well. The ED in episode 12 also shows how much the production team cares about this aspect."
As for the music, I wouldn't say there are any "god-tier" BGM or insert songs, but the songs that appear in the anime fit the plot perfectly, and you can really see the production team's attention to this in the ending theme of the 12th episode.
Another thing worth mentioning is the details. There are so many details in this anime. Just take the final Arima Kinen race, for example; while everyone's focus might be on the protagonist, Tokai Teio, or the horse girls in the lead, if you look closely, you can see that the positions of the horse girls running in the back are also constantly changing.
There are even more details in the character designs. Not a single character was designed on a whim; they were all meticulously crafted based on their real-life counterparts. Even the placement of their hair accessories is deliberate, with differences between colts and fillies, and between left and right sides.
Looking at the series as a whole, you can't find anything that feels perfunctory. You could say that as long as you can accept the concept of "Uma Musume," you are bound to love this anime. It's just that simple and straightforward.
The praise is overwhelming.
Of course, this is mainly because the anime is explosively popular, and, coupled with the fact that it is genuinely well-made and excellent, it naturally leads people to leave glowing reviews one after another.
After casually browsing through a few and taking a look, Yugo Ohara couldn't help but leave a positive review for the anime on a popular rating site himself:
"I was too busy with my studies at first to watch it, so I binge-watched all twelve episodes yesterday, followed by the final episode at night. I was moved to tears several times by the plot in the anime (I'm a guy, don't laugh), and I was genuinely overjoyed that Tokai Teio was able to win the championship in the end.
I've already started playing the game, and I've pre-ordered the entire Blu-ray set of the anime. I hope a third season comes out soon.
I heard that Lin Zhiyan intended for this anime to break the average sales record per volume held by 'EVA'. I checked while I was placing my pre-order, and the pre-order count for the first volume alone has already exceeded 100,000 copies and is still climbing. Following this trend, I feel like it really might break the record.
I wish Lin Zhiyan success in achieving his final goal as a producer, and I look forward to the birth of a new sales legend in the field of TV animation."