Uma Musume Pretty Derby - is that world pretty?

So there is Uma Musume Pretty Derby and there is a recent Q&A translation making the rounds on Discord:

In case any of you missed the live program that happened yesterday, there was a Q&A on it. Q: What is Uma Musume?

A: A race like elf, physically superior to human.

Q: Does Uma Musume do other sports?

A: Possible, but not mixed with human.

Q: Does Uma Musume do other jobs?

A: Yes, like office worker.

Q: Can Uma Musume marry human?

A: POSSIBLE.

Q: Does Uma Musume have father?

A: Secret.

Q: Will Uma Musume's daughter be Uma Musume?

A: Secret.

Q: Is there any real horse in Uma Musume universe?

A: No.

Q: Is there any Uma Musuko (horse boy)?

A: No.

Q: Why sing?

A: Winnig live is like gala exhibition of figure skating. "Twinkle Series" is a sport event, not for gambling. Uma Musumes show their gratitude for fans with their performance.

This got very interesting. A world with horsegirls... and without horses. A world where no horse riding exists (ridind a girl would give you too high center of gravity and you can easily be tipped). Heavy goods can be transported by oxen. but all the famous riders are now not riders, including Samurai.

On perhaps the most positive note, horse girls have to have create postal networks in this workd. "Pony express" means something different now.

On the other hand... Genghis-chan?! Without their horses the Mongols would never have their empire, so perhaps that empire was created and ruled by horse girls?

A lot to speculate about in that kind of world! Also, of course there is the issue of how they reproduce (but let us please keep this SFW; in fact, the reason I start the speculation thread here and not on /a/ is to avoid descent into NSFW semi-spam).

Opinions welcome :)

edited 30th Apr '18 8:14:40 PM by MikhailR

This is awesome, thanks for sharing.

God, why is this show so cute?!

Some more suggestions in addition to Genghis-chan and Pony Express:

- Cowhorsegirls. No they are not "also cows", they are the equivalent of cowboys (I do think cows exist in that world as in RL). Without horses, humans are not able to handle large cattle herds by riding around them. So instead, horse girls got hired in the Wild West. They presubably still wear those big hats, have lassos and shoot guns.

- Horse girls are known as strong scouts and messengers at war, and a unit of horse girls is a mobile attacking unit combining the best of infantry and cavalry (can move fast, attack at speed, but can also dig in and work in strict formation). But expensive to raise as they are probably somewhat rare; these units would somewhat resemble real-life dragoons (for Rule of Cool perhaps they were called dragoons anyway). Horse girls possibly pulled artillery too, though canon does not have draft horse girls, and racers are not well adjusted to the task.

- ...this is where this gets dark. In Texas, horse girls are likely to be hired and paid, the plantation slavery system does not work well with herds. But I do suspect that earlier in history in the Old World there sadly was slavery. (Yes, people watch sports of the direct descendants or slaves. This happens in RL, anyway). Ages-old racism against horse girls must exist and racism is a good background for slavery.

- Incitatus was a favored racing horse girl of Caligula's and when he brought her into the Senate, she was possibly not the only horse girl in the building, as some may have distinguished themselves in wars. But she did not, she was just a favourite, probably with rumours of more than just racing.

There is a movie in that world called "Silver, the Lone Ranger".

I think it's weird that regular horses don't exist (even though horse girls are all named after them) and I would have assumed horse girls just have horse girl mothers and regular human fathers (unless they reproduce asexually or through magical gay offspring?)

But, I really love Uma Musume. It's so good and many of the characters are really easy to like. I realize that the concept is A Lot with how it's trying to be a sports anime, an idol anime, and a fanservice anime, but they do it so well. It's really charming, at least most of the time. (I sometimes get annoyed with the main character being a prodigy, but that's to be expected in anime.)

The main character is not even the biggest prodigy around, that would be Suzuka followed by El Condor Pasa.

They are surprisingly light on fan service compared to their own trailer. I mean, just look at the Special Week and Suzuka scene in Episode 6, with fireworks. They managed to pack a lot of warmth and also outright yuri undertones... without skinshipping. Also in the same episode, they, I think, outrighht parodied the mandatory Beach Episode - putting the beach into a one-minute montage with generic swimsuits that are far les fanservice-y than some other outfits in this anime, and with a girl outright lampshading it as "why do we have to do this on the beach?!"

It's a waifu anime, yes, but it's not ecchi-feeling, despite the somewhat creepy original premise. (Yet it also does not fall into the Love Live direction of a "chick flick").

I do agree that "a union of a human male and a horse girl can produce a human boy or a horse girl" (or perhaps a human boy or human girl or horse girl) is a likely setup. My only question is that case is "where is Spe's father". Was he such a bastard that he simply ignored his own daughter, leaving the adoptive mother to raise her alone and never even showing up? Unless, of course, Spe's mothers were married and Spe was conceived using donor material.

Also, I have a theory why human men are not all pursuing the wonderful pretty and strong horsegirls. (Many in the school are, of course, obviously kids; but why no millionaire suitors around the famous Rudolf, who has obviously come of age even if she hangs around the school?).

There might be a drawback if their sexuality is the horse type, not the human type. A mare has zero interest in sex outside "estrus", a period of a few days a month when she can get pregnant. Of course she is still an emotional and affectionate creature, but her idea of love most of the time will be more about the "watching fireworks together" kind of feelings. And "just do it for him", Lie Back and Think of England (or Japan) style, does not compute for a horsegirl, just like it would not compute for a horse.

One fun part of this theory is the yurilicious implication. Most men will not take this notion kindly but many women will. Or two horsegirls can be together and perhaps their periods gradually come in sync.

Also: I do think many horse girls were enslaved in many places earlier in history. It's just too darn enticing for the slave-driver mentality, they are strong and yet vulnerable to weapons, and they can do things like pull chariots; or they can also race, in that world's Rome horsegirl-racing might have been another form of entertainment similar to gladiator battles, and gladiators were slaves.

But somehow it seems to me that while working for survival could happen, they would prefer death to sex slavery. Perhaps it's just the pure way they come across in the anime. That purity is of course an idol trope, which started in Takarazuka Revue - the mother of all idol troupes. But it's just played very darn well.

edited 2nd May '18 4:53:13 AM by MikhailR

There isn't a lot of ecchi, but I think it's just how tropey and "anime" it feels that makes it seem like a fanservice anime. Also the simple premise of horse girls. Then again, my mind makes no sense.

I'm assuming Spe-chan's moms were together, unless the show says otherwise. Seems to be the implication though.

I think my biggest gripe is how long they stretch out "the last 400 meters." Human sprinters run faster than that. Like, a lot faster. A three-legged pug could run faster. I don't know how they manage it since they aren't running in slow motion at all.

Show makes up for it with lol moments though. And gosh, the characters. I want to joke and say Trainer is the best horse girl, but it's a tie between like half the cast.

There are comparison videos with actual races for Episodes 2 and 3 (you can find the links on Uma Musume Pretty Derby), but ZIN has not yet made them for Episodes 5 and 6, and Episode 5 simply breaks with history anyway (El Condor Pasa was not there). So it's quite possible they time-stretched the final moments without slow-mo effects. They are always the most interesting in a race, of course, so slow-mo can well be advisable, but they could have gone "no obvious slow-mo" for the drama.

EDIT: I got expert confirmation that they did just that. Yes, it's unrealistic, but come on. They have a race (Arima Kinen 1988) represented as an eating contest :)

edited 2nd May '18 4:52:23 AM by MikhailR

And now I'm gonna sit in the corner and cry.

Well done, animators. I saw a link for the video of the real race this episode was based on, and it's incredible how they recreated it. When I was reading on the horses the characters were based on, I had a feeling things were going to follow history. At least they aren't totally screwed the way real horses are, when that kind of thing happens.

edited 6th May '18 6:32:24 PM by harostar

I suggest you put a spoiler tag around this but I do agree with you. Moreover they seem to have played it as "defeating Fate with Power Of Friendship" (or Love, whatever one reads it as).

edited 6th May '18 5:48:59 PM by MikhailR

Ah, right. Is that better?

And yeah, I think that's quite possible. (I vote love, personally?)

Oh man, so I saw a blurb from an old interview with a jockey about the real life version of this episode. Horses typically fall with that sort of injury. But Silence Suzuka kept going, because he was always very attentive/concerned about his jockey. So I guess we got a reversal of that here, with Special Week protecting Suzuka like the real Suzuka protected his jockey.

edited 8th May '18 12:25:39 AM by harostar

Just finished episode 5, and man, this is such a surprisingly fun and comfy show. I've found myself actually quite tense a few times over the first few episodes, and Spe is honestly just precious. I laughed out loud with the montage of Gold Ship hitting herself in the eye with things, too.

I have to say, though, the special race outfits are kind of silly. I know they're meant to keep the idolish theme and call to mind the colors and outfits jockeys wear at the same time, but I couldn't help but think that Condor probably would have beaten Spe outright if her outfit didn't involve wearing a giant wind sock to slow her down.

No kidding. The outfits really are Impossibly Cool Clothes, or rather incredibly impractical. Even assuming there are differences in the running mechanics, heeled shoes are a terrible idea.

But it really is such a surprisingly fun show, and the amount of detail they throw into it is really incredibly. I had no idea that Horse Racing was such a big thing in Japan, but it's a really interesting combination of two things that have an enormous niche market.

It's really cool reading about the actual horses, and how much of their personalities were translated to the characters. Gold Ship is actually a huge pain in the ass that sometimes just did whatever he wanted, and Silence Suzuka was a very gentle, friendly horse (for example).

I don't understand Japanese so I can only go by what experts on Discord say. I was told once that Suzuka was not always friendly, though posthumously, Take did describe him that way. But on the track, Silence Suzuka was determined... too determined :( They reflected that part in the anime really well, apparently.

Yes, much (possibly "most") of the fun in this anime is in the real life links. Which is why I am collating all I can, including video links, into its ShoutOut page. If you know things that are not there, please add!

The world building is better than I thought, but still not really complete. I'm actually aiming at fanfic-writing to play with the holes in it, especially since it gives a huge world for fanfic writers - a world without horses, but with horse girls. Nearly any equine activity (excluding carrying a rider) can be "translated" :)

On the other hand they avoid some of the darker parts of the real world. Not just Suzuka's real-life fate but what happens to the Thoroughbreds who do not make it (and are not Haru). It seems like that is not pretty. Sometimes dog-food-grade not pretty.

edited 9th May '18 5:13:05 PM by MikhailR

I do wonder about some stuff, like Gold Ship's Rubik's Cube, but she's enough of an odd duck already that it barely even registers.

That said, I liked the bit during the stairs training when Trainer is focused on Suzuka and Spe and the rest of the girls just get distracted and start picking at the grass.

They don't just start picking at the grass like actual horses. They are looking for a four-leaf clover! Mejiro ultimately found one and it's given to Spe for the Derby. Then to Suzuka for Tenno Sho.

edited 9th May '18 5:50:17 PM by MikhailR

That is a good point, concerning how important the Horse was to human history and civilization. Without horses, there'd be some prominent changes or adjustments that I doubt the series would touch on. I suppose in terms of beasts of burden, other animals would fill those voids the same way they do in regions that didn't always have horses. Camels, Oxen, Donkeys, and other such creatures would probably replace horses for a lot of those tasks.

And Horse girls, as previously theorized, could probably fill some of the voids in terms of replacing both horse and rider. Calvary made of charging Horse Girls? Pony Express is long-distance running Horse girl messengers. Mongol Hordes are clearly led by a great Horse Girl warrior.

Oh damn, I didn't even realize that was what they were doing! I thought they were just being goofy.

^I am here for badass lady horse conquerors.

edited 9th May '18 6:11:35 PM by RedSavant

You and me both. I mean, who wouldn't be intimidated by a team of Horse girls charging full speed at you? Even if they were cute, anything humanoid moving that fast is kind of instant Uncanny Valley.

I mean, think of how much of human history was decided by the military, to say nothing of daily life, light-year advancement that was mounted combat. This world would be incredibly different - think of how different things would be if the incredibly mobile combat forces were self-aware and self-interested.

The forces as a whole are, anyway, but here horse and rider are combined, making things considerably different.

Just imagine the recent blockbuster movie in that world: "Silver, the Lone Ranger".

And the Western genre in general. And, by the way, the reality of that world behind the genre. The cow-horsegirls of the Wild West, fast as the wind, tough as a rock, and excellent with a gun.

I guess some of them even ended up fighting for the Confederacy, like General Virginia Stuart. (Real Life Virginia was the horse of J.E.B.Stuart).

Man, the fanfic potential is incredible. o_o Well done, mad geniuses that came up with this entire franchise. Well done.

Considering how powerful an individual horse girl can be and how normal horses don't exist, I can probably see a less sexist society considering how necessary horse girls would be for civilization to grow, unless they discriminate against non-horse girls, though racism probably would be a bigger issue. Not to mention religion where horse girls get treated as demigods or messengers of gods or something.

I suspect significant racism against horse girls, actually. Not as pronounced in Japan where there's a huge entertainment industry around them, probably.

Man. I knew it was coming, especially after all those many, many flags in episode 6, but that was almost hard to watch. Especially after reading about the real Silence Suzuka carrying on so he wouldn't hurt his rider by falling...