Uma Musume Cinderella Gray

Never in my life, had I ever thought I would read a biography of a horse through a horsegirl in manga format. And yet here I am. Laughing at its ups, and crying at its downs. Cinderella Gray, or CinGray for short, is roughly based on the racing career of Oguri Cap, a real life horse in Japan, told through an Umamusume (aka Horse-Girl) of the same name. Make no mistake, the creators have gone through meticulous efforts to add every tiny detail of their real life counterparts that they could find. The character's design, personality, habits, races, rivalries, and the nationwide effect its careercreated, all based on real life. The story and art has as much raw shonen energy, intensity and emotion as any other shonen out there. In terms of story, it feels very well written for what the subject matter it is about. The side-characters aren't forgotten, subtle foreshadowings skillfully integrated, each race more intense than even a shonen fight, meaningful character arcs, and above all, raw intensity and emotion. Conveyed through both, the story, as well as the art. To watch this you don't need to watch or read any other Umamusume series from the franchise, prior. You can go in blind. And I hope you have as much fun or even more, when reading it, as I did.