UMAMASUME: PRETTY DERBY AND HOW THE FIGHTING SPIRIT CAN LIVE ON

by Timo Reinecke

Raise your hand if you have seen the horse girl gacha game and have been confused as to why people seem to get really into it. I understand that for the average Western media enjoyer, anthropomorphized horse girls based on real race horses is a similar experience to smelling burned toast. From the moment they announced that the mobile game Uma Musume Pretty Derby would get an official English version, that this would take over, it is just too honest in what it is and what it’s about not to be successful.

Your opinion on gacha games, horse racing, and the culture around both may vary, but I want to highlight what I think makes this game and franchise so special. Keeping the stories of these animals and their careers alive and making them accessible to people who would’ve never connected with them otherwise.

Umamusume, both the game and the other adaptations, do an impressive job of characterizing the horses as larger-than-life personalities. If you have never been around horses, some of the game’s personifications might seem weird, but as someone who spent all their life around those animals, too much of it just checks out. The franchise usually characterizes the horses based on the accolades of their careers and the traits they displayed during races and weaves them into personalities that suit that career.

It’s undeniable that Umamusume had a positive impact on both horse racing and the culture around it. Fans go and watch the races of their favorites and their heirs, or visit the stables. It also helps to rewrite history a little and give credit to overlooked outstanding horses that were not appreciated back in the day or were all but forgotten now. So allow me to tell two stories that are kinda connected to each other, and how the franchise handles both those horses and their careers.

Oguri Cap was at one point the most famous horse in all of Japan; he and his fellow Heisei top three were the faces of the second Japanese horse racing boom. What makes Oguri Cap so special is that he came from the unlikeliest of places. A foal that could barely walk on its frail legs was born to an unimpressive lineage somewhere in the Gifu prefecture. Little did they know that Oguri Cap would turn out to be a horse version of Bryan Danielson. He dominated his local racing circuit in Kasamatsu so much that he was elevated to national races only to continue to show up the competition there and be named the “Ashen Beast of Kasamatsu.” The only reason why Oguri Cap didn’t reach further prestige in the world of horse racing was a rule that required signing up for the prestigious Classic Series of races a year ahead of time. This caused a lot of uproar among fans, and thanks to Oguri Cap’s continuous dominance, that rule was changed in 1992.

In the game and anime, Oguri Cap is a quiet, a bit dense, and easy-going woman who, just like her real-life counterpart, loves to eat a lot and run fast. She’s presented as a fish out of water who keeps being underestimated, only to be shown up on the track. In the game, she often worries about living up to the expectations her friends back home placed on her. The career of Oguri Cap is getting the dramatized biography treatment in the manga and its anime adaptation Umamusume Cinderella Gray. This not only shows the meteoric rise and triumphant victories but also the pressure of success and worrying about living up to everyone’s expectations. Even if you don’t have any interest in Umamusume, Cinderella Gray is still a damn good story on its own.

Which brings to TM Opera O. Remember that rule change I mentioned before that allowed horses to sign up for the Classics without extensive pre-registration? Opera O was the first horse who’d benefit from this rule change at the turn of the century. While initially not as impressive as his contemporaries, unable to capture the prestigious Triple Crown, which he would share with his rivals Narita Top Road and Admire Vega in 1999 (adapted in the anime OVA Umamusume: Road to the Top). After a so-so year, his owner thought about changing out young jockey Ryuji Wada unless he met one condition:  Win every race. Which began Wada and Opera O’s legendary season of 2000. They won every single one of their starts. If you have never seen any horse racing, I highly encourage you to look up the 2000 Arima Kinen. A boxed-in TM Opera O struggling to break out of the pack, as everyone was trying to prevent the centurial overlord’s perfect season from happening, only to burst ahead and win in the last possible moment.

Opera O is an interesting case. Despite being the winningest horse of his generation, he was never really that popular. Unlike his contemporaries, he wouldn’t even receive any fan letters. Yes, race horses received fan letters addressed to them! The lack of popularity bothered jockey Ryuki Wada, who believed that TM Opera O was a hard-working horse that earned every single one of his victories. It’s just that Opera O never won his races in a dominant fashion. It was always by the length of a nose, a neck, or maybe a length, so his popularity would never break out into the greater public consciousness. Something that has changed in recent years Umamusume encourages younger fans to revisit those races and careers.

His jockey, Ryuki Wada, always blamed himself for TM Opera O’s lack of popularity. In a twist of fate, just like Opera O benefited from the rule changes brought forth by Oguri Cap’s breakout success, Wada was inspired to become a jockey from watching Oguri Cap’s races. He vowed to only visit his old partner in retirement after he managed to win another Grade 1 race. TM Opera O would pass away on May 17, 2018, after suffering a heart attack. Ryuki Wada would win his first in 17 years a month later in the 59th Takarazuka Kinen with Mikki Rocket. In the interview after the race, on the verge of tears, he thanked Opera O for pushing him forward and felt he could finally go to him with his head held high.

The game and anime adaptations present TM Opera O as a dramatic theater kid who believes she is the ruler of her era. But she is never presented as cocky or arrogant, but just extremely confident. Her best friend is Meisho Doto, who in real life spent most of his career chasing and ultimately defeating the Opera O, is a shy girl who always keeps to Opera O’s shadow and always tries to encourage her to come out of her shell. She’s very encouraging towards her competition, the kind of “If you want to beat me, be better” attitude is similar to the real-life personas of pro wrestlers such as Kagetsu and Kazuchika Okada. A villain of circumstance. 

And then there is this one event in TM Opera O’s career where she receives a singular fan letter. It’s accompanied by a crude drawing of her in crayon. The horsegirl Opera O wastes no time praising the drawing, calling the child who made it a true prodigy for capturing her in such a befitting manner. Opera O vows that with support like that, nothing can stop her from reaching the highest pedigree of racing to make sure to be the kind of horse girl that the child drew her as.

And that is ultimately what Umamusume does. Honoring the legacies of those horses and telling their stories in a way that might be more accessible to people. Every single horsegirl is a fleshed-out character, and each of them has stories to tell that highlight their colorful personalities. It gives some of these horses a second chance to shine, and so far has been very impactful on the sport in Japan and in the world at large. Cygames frequently sponsors races in big events all across the world and encourages fans to donate to and support their favorites in retirement.

So even if the game and anime with the horse game are decidedly too Japanese for you, trust me, the fighting spirit will get to you eventually.

Special shoutout to @Kontenasan_bf and @lega235 on the bird site for documenting TM Opera O’s story and pointing me towards additional resources.