Uma Musume 3.4: Hardcore Mare Training

No Sounds of Earth in this episode but it was still one of the best.

We continued the show to a familiar sight, sad Kita. Master Nice Nature once again gave her a hoof. Basically Kita’s sad she kept losing big races by a millisecond, as in every big race she competed in she always lost by a small margin. Always the bridesmaid but never the bride basically. Because she didn’t have Diamond’s prodigal talent or Duramente’s explosive power the anxiety of not being good enough continued to haunt her.

As Nice Nature offered to cheer Kita up with sweets a familiar side-couple were chased by a Goddess Tier horse Air Groove. Fortunately Kita’s strength and quick reflexes saved the day. Nice Nature was impressed by her calm power to which Kita explained she’d been strong and durable from an early age. NN suggested Kita apply for some tougher training to pump herself up. Coach Guy was hesitant but thanks to Silence Suzuka and Teio Cena explaining that sometimes taking risks was the best course of action he knew who to call to help with her training.

Speaking of training Diamond was hard at work herself preparing for her own Satsukishou debut. Both Kita and Satono Crown didn’t win theirs but maybe Diamond would be the lucky one. Kita remembered the race and felt bad she couldn’t be there to see it live but Diamond had a special gift. Her broach so she’d always be with Kita in spirit. Kita in turn gave her a horseshoe but it wasn’t given as much focus as the broach. As Kita had sweet banana dreams a blessed silhouette with familiar glowing hair ornaments carried her, bed and all, to the training grounds.

I can count the number of people on one hand who understood why this became the best episode of the season. I await my dear sister’s thoughts on the GOAT couple of the series blessing the unworthy with their presence.

So the person Coach Guy knew who could help Kita was Mihono Bourbon’s coach. she had a hardcore training routine she’d follow for a month with the goal of completing it in less than 3 hours. It looked like an impossible task but MB said they had a month to make it happen.

Besides running across rough terrain Kita had to drag a ridiculously heavy stack of tires, break through stacks of roof tiles with one punch and climb a mountain. In classic sports training montage style it’s rough at first but Kita got the hang of it slowly reaching her goal.

Her main motivation besides growing stronger was to reunite with her Diamond. However, one day she felt drained as if fatigue started to catch up with her. MB explained to CG that it’s to be expected. The real goal of the training was to strengthen Kita’s physical and mental fortitude, to achieve peak awesomeness and focus. As we saw last season despite her magnificence MB failed to achieve it but maybe Kita had what it took. One night as Kita looked at her new treasure and thought her soul mate probably already achieved peak awesomeness she realized what’s disrupting her focus. She needed her honey. She HAD to see Diamond compete in the Satsukishou.

The good news was she made it in time to see her honey compete. The bad news was the she fell victim to the infamous “Satono Curse” like her sister/cousin/whatever Satono Crown and fell short coming in 3rd. To Kita’s surprise despite the clear disappointment Diamond was undeterred, ensuring victory in the next big race. This was exactly what Kita needed to go back and finish her training with a classic “beat the score by 1 point” finish. Although not as clear as with Kita Diamond needed her honey to achieve greatness too, just like their predecessors.

Best episode so far by default.