Line #127 WMG/UmaMusume


1	[[WMG: All domesticated hoofed mammals are musume]]
2	Not just horses, but other domesticated hoof species such as cattle, sheep, and goats are "musume" in this world. The ramifications this would have on the development in agriculture, trade, and warfare would be immense! They might have even been used as a slave race to provide the vital contributions hoofed animals served in human civilization.
3	* '''Jossed''' if we assume that the 2022 Yasuda Kinen illustration is canon. The Town Musicians of Bremen are featured on the illustration and the donkey is featured as it is in real life.
4
5	[[WMG: Genghis Khan was a uma musume]]
6	The Great Khan and the Golden Horde were a tribe of uma musume. Just as the real world counterpart, the Khan and her armies conquered Eurasia thanks to their unmatchable cavalry tactics.
7
8	[[WMG: Suzuka will run in the Winter Dream Trophy, probably in the finale]]
9
10	WDT is introduced in Episode 8. It is blatantly NOT linked to a RealLife race; some of the prototype horses could not have raced together for timing reasons.
11
12	There are no more RealLife races for Suzuka. But she needs to run for the anime, she promised Spe-chan. Perhaps this race is for her and Spe-chan? El Condor Pasa might also join, BackForTheFinale.
13
14	[[WMG: [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yutaka_Take Yutaka Take]] is a significant input for the anime, might even play some role in scripting, and much of it is a loose, somewhat embellished retelling of his old experience]]
15
16	Basically "tales of a jockey: the anime", but with girls. His cameo in Episode 5 prompts this speculation.
17
18	''Both'' main heroines are horses he rode to their spectacular victories, and he was in most, if not all, races that are animated. Moreover, the eating contest in Episode 6 is a reference to an earlier race where he got disqualified (a [[SelfDeprecation self-deprecating joke]] if this hypothesis is true).
19
20	Of course, this, if true, does not mean some part of the anime is a documentary. Rather it might be based on the kind of tale told at a table with a bottle of something good, not necessarily to be trusted in every word, but broadly true and extremely entertaining. Only with girls.
21
22	Equestrians are generally known to love telling "horse tales"...
23
24	* On the other hand, arguably most things referenced in the anime are out in the open anyway, and a good team could collect them all.
25
26	[[WMG: Something very scary is going to happen to Silence Suzuka at Tenno Sho]]
27
28	... because it happened to her real life prototype
29
30	https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silence_Suzuka
31
32	''In the same year [1998], his career and life were cut short by an injury suffered during the running of the 1998 Tenno Sho.''
33
34	And this is the very race that Trainer mentioned in Episode 4 in an obvious "foreshadowing" scene. But the real life horse was injured and ''put down''.
35
36	If the series turns dark, I guess it's at Tenno Sho. And the authors gave a hint (as of Episode 6 quite a few hints) to those who would look up the horse. However, they do not necessarily have to follow reality to the full grim conclusion. The horse had to be put down because there is no real way for a horse to heal from a bone fracture in the legs, nor to live with it. Humans (and therefore humanoid horsegirls) can have crutches or wheelchairs. It remains to be seen, as of Episode 5, what will actually happen.
37
38	If Yutaka Take is really involved, how they handle it becomes especially interesting, as he was the one on the back of Suzuka when the tragedy happened.
39
40	* Tehho Sho is Episode 7 and Yutaka Take does not appear. [[spoiler: The series did not turn dark. Suzuka was hurt and slowed down in a way strongly resembling the video of the real race, but, as we find out at the end of the episode, ''Spe-chan ran to her and supported her leg, which may have saved her from death''. Suzuka is in hospital at the end of the episode.]]
41
42	[[WMG: Grass Wonder is getting a character upgrade]]
43
44	She starts as an ill girl, which corresponds to the prototype's situation in 1998 - he missed out much of the season because of an injury. But he came back in late 1998 and then in 1999 rivaled Special Week in a number of races. It would be logical for the anime Grass Wonder to get a similar change and to occupy the "friendly rival" position that is, as of Episode 5, occupied by El Condor Pasa. Especially if El Condor Pasa leaves for France as her prototype did.
45
46	In Episode 6 she does get some attention as she comes back for Mainichi Okan [[spoiler: and, as in real life, fails to win]].
47
48	* With Episode 8, this one is confirmed.
49
50
51	[[WMG: Horsegirls are genetically engineered for research and public entertainment]]
52
53	There are no horseboys. And this is not a male-free universe. Trainer (Coach) is male. Special Week meets a man (!) walking his dog when she is out running in Episode 4. But no horseboys are present or hinted at. Nor fathers. (At least as far as Episode 4, when this is written)
54
55	A logical explanation seems to be that horsegirls are genetically engineered. The project is ongoing, and a horsegirl (Spe's mother has horse ears in the flashback in Episode 2) is artificially inseminated, in order to produce improved offspring. Perhaps Spe's second mother is actually a scientist who inseminated her birth mother?
56
57	The horsegirls live lives devoted to running. No other interests seem available to them; they are in a big cool school, but clubs don't seem to exist, except running teams. Moreover, the running is competitive. And the motto of the school is "Eclipse first, the rest nowhere". It is the motto of a real life racehorse, but it also means that losers are out.
58
59	That real life racehorse, Eclipse, is the progenitor of most Thoroughbred horses in existence today. It is logical to assume that the same happens with horsegirls. The best runners are bred. Perhaps their genes are even sliced together? (By the way, their propensity for yuri, played up in the trailer and hinted at with Spe/Suzuka, is especially logical if they never reproduce the natural human way).
60
61	A further guess is that the experiment is run by the {{Yakuza}} who originally controlled a segment of the idol industry. This would explain the weird "winning concert" tradition - someone right after a big run is usually not the best singer, but this might be a tribute to where this industry originated. (And now I want fan art of that female trainer in a swimsuit, with full irezumi (Yakuza tattoo).
62
63	Also, there don't seem to be any adult horsegirls in the races, it's all the schoolgirls, so where do they go? There is also that moment in Episode 4 around 07:50 when Trainer is talking to Suzuka about a few races. And he says "Once the fall Tennoshou is over, you'll..." then falls silent and we see a thoughtful and apparently sad Suzuka. And she is already an established horsegirl. So is that time the moment when she will finish her racing life, and either be bred - or else be eliminated, "sent to the glue factory"?!
64
65	According to https://www.raceadvisor.co.uk/happens-horse-retires/ there is a third option for real life racehorses when they are retired. They can be "retrained and rehomed", and so they become pets or are used for equestrian training. But there are no riders to train in Uma Musume world and pet horsegirls would veer into outright hentai territory, so I guess these options don't exist.
66
67	So... is this a CrapsaccharineWorld? There was a suggestion on a forum that the anime is a metaphor of idol life. That could be fitting.
68
69	However, after Episode 5, this scenario is looking very unlikely, as a connection to the real life horse racing industry was clearly established with Yutaka Take's cameo.
70
71	* {{Jossed}} (according to unconfirmed information on Discord) by a WordOfGod live event shortly before Episode 6 that included a Q&A:
72
73	->Q: What is Uma Musume?
74	->A: A race like elf, physically superior to human.
75	->Q: Does Uma Musume do other sports?
76	->A: Possible, but not mixed with human.
77	->Q: Does Uma Musume do other jobs?
78	->A: Yes, like office worker.
79	->Q: Can Uma Musume marry human?
80	->A: POSSIBLE.
81	->Q: Does Uma Musume have father?
82	->A: Secret.
83	->Q: Will Uma Musume's daughter be Uma Musume?
84	->A: Secret.
85	->Q: Is there any real horse in Uma Musume universe?
86	->A: No.
87	->Q: Is there any Uma Musuko (horse boy)?
88	->A: No.
89	->Q: Why sing?
90	->A: Winning live is like gala exhibition of figure skating.
91	->"Twinkle Series" is a sport event, not for gambling.
92	->Uma Musumes show their gratitude for fans with their performance.
93
94	While the history of a world without horses and with horsegirls might be significantly different from our reality, this may have been intentionally left to [[FanWank fanwanking]], especially with all the reproduction questions marked as "secret" (unless a reveal is planned in anime or manga or game).
95
96	[[WMG: The meaning of the school motto]]
97	"Eclipse in first place, the rest are nowhere" or whatever it is, I can't remember the exact wording but its meaning might be as follows: win by a huge margin so that second place is completely behind you and let your popularity/glory shine uncontested.
98	* This is a motto used by the owner of a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eclipse_(horse) real racehorse named Eclipse]], who is the progenitor of most modern Thoroughbreds.
99
100	[[WMG: Why Haru Urara stayed in this particular Tracen academy]]
101
102	Let's face it, Haru Urara has an abominable track record. However it was dressed, she just could not win. So why let her stay at all? It's because she is the only 'local' horsegirl left.
103
104	There are a lot of Tracen Academies in Japan, but their scales seems different. In ''Cinderella Gray'' we are shown the Kasamatsu Tracen Academy where Oguri Cap came from, and it looks like a stereotypical 'high school in the bonnies'. The facilities look pretty barebones, quite unlike the Tracen Academy where the series took place (let's call it Central Tracen). Central Tracen has a 800,000 sq.m campus (almost triple that of Kasamatsu), state of the art facilities, well-furnished dorms, and basically has a bustling town attached to it.
105
106	Thing is, the other Tracens seems to be attended only by local horsegirls, while Central Tracen seemed to be much more cosmopolitan. Special Week is definitely not a local since she hails from the equivalent of the Deep South. El Condor Pasa is even a foreigner.
107
108	The hypothesis here is that Central Tracen is a brand new, national-level facility. They might not have produced many alumni yet, and older horsegirls (Symboli Rudolf, Air Groove, etc.) might even be part of the original first class. This initial class might have included some mandated quota of local horsegirls, as the area Central Tracen now stand very probably has several of-age horsegirls in need of education. Haru Urara is one of these 'local quota' girls.
109
110	However, this 'local quota' policy is evidently not retained for long. Perhaps the quality of local horsegirls is just too poor to compete with talents from all over the country. Haru Urara might be the last of these 'local quota' girls, with the other girls already resigning from the program to pursue other occupations or flunked out. Haru Urara was retained simply because she is the only local horsegirl able to just barely keep up with standard.
111
112	[[WMG: The three unnamed horsegirls in Team Sirius will someday be revealed to be horsegirls Cygames haven't secured right to (yet?)]]
113
114	Doesn't it seem outright weird that aside from the named members in Team Sirius there are those three girls that have no specific traits other than those related to their (temporary?) monikers ingame? Moreover, unlike the regular "mob" horsegirls, they have no models whatsoever, making this idea quite likely. Plus they have distinctive voice actresses...
115
116	* There's more to that theory: the only other horsegirls depicted that way (as in, no model for them; these ones don't have a voice though) appear in named horsegirls' stories and are clearly based on IRL horses (see the Video Game section in the Shout-out page) and in case of at least one of them (Kurofune[[labelnote:explanation]]The owner, Kaneko Makoto (who also owns King Kamehameha, Deep Impact and the likes) is extremely protective about the rights to his horses. We'll leave it at that[[/labelnote]]) gaining rights for the name is, as of writing this, next to impossible. No wonder Cygames would decide to have some mob characters in the wild (as in, Team Sirius) kept as contingency in case any of those problematic owners ultimately changes their mind.
117
118	* With the reveal of the faces of the three horsegirls (albeit in a mob fashion, without the eyes) in [[https://safebooru.org/index.php?page=post&s=view&id=3912122 one of the main story's CGs]], this gains even more credibility. Pay attention to the leftmost one - [[https://www.jbis.jp/horse/0001106251/ doesn't that mark on her hair look familiar?]][[note]]Also of note is that Just a Way was a big friend of real-life Gold Ship and as such, the two being in a team together is very understandable.[[/note]]
119
120	[[WMG: Judging by the speed with which he came up with a borderline-illegal plan in S2 E10, his [[Main/RidiculouslyAverageGuy apparently-average]] talent as a horsegirl trainer, and his [[Main/BadassInANiceSuit sharp dressing]], Mr. Minamizaka, the Team Canopus trainer, is...]]
121	* ...a superspy undercover.
122	* ...a Phantom Thief.
123	* ...a [[VideoGame/MetalGear legendary mercenary.]]
124	* ...a Main/RetiredBadass who might be called into action for one last mission.
125	* ...a ninja.
126	* ...a terrorist on the run.
127	Lending credence to these theories is the fact that none of the Canopus members in the anime continuity (as in real life) have won a G1 race. After all, such a high-profile victory would draw unwanted attention to their trainer...
128
129	[[WMG: Manhattan Cafe's ghostly "friend" is the legendary Sunday Silence]]
130	This is a common fan theory, but for those who haven't heard it yet:
131	* The "friend" often appears as a {{Doppelganger}} of Cafe. Cafe's RL counterpart was said to greatly resemble his sire Sunday Silence, to the point where he played the role of his sire in at least one TV show.
132	* In an in-game scene, Cafe remarks on her "friend's" unusual running style, such as accelerating through the corners - a trademark of Sunday Silence.

Context WMG / UmaMusume