On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[eager slacker]

It might be fun if something similar happens, either in a chapter or in an omake: there's an opening for something (an extracurricular activity, part-time job, volunteer project, supplementary class, etc.) intended for humans, but the admins get confused by Shirogane's name, mistake her for a human, and send her an email about the opportunity. Technically there's nothing preventing an uma for taking the opening, it's just that it's something they're not usually suited for or interested in. Only Shiro applies and does surprisingly well given her unique experiences. Any ideas on possible scenarios?

Click to shrink...

Shirogane becomes an Uma trainer that is handed problem cases of Umas that want to prove themselves but have an attitude problem. The failures get PTSD and a new fear of tiny Umas. The successful cases become completely unshakable from both crazy shakeups and weariness and gain discipline... and they also get PTSD and a new fear of tiny Umas.

 

[rx915]

I feel Shirogane would start a new kind of Uma racing course just from an offhand comment when asked why she seems to lack a sort of enthusiasm for the sport and then she says it's not challenging enough.

This leads to the special Uma obstacle racing course being added.

Then her hobby for shooting also leads to the Uma Triple Tap Course where Umas Run Around and start shooting targets in a record speed.

 

[xbox432]

Lil Shiro's biggest weakness is the race format itself. She's just waiting for some eccentric billionaire to announce a no rules cross-continent marathon for an absurd prize. Then we see who the real champion is.

Click to shrink...

The thing is, there ARE races like that. And they are actually quite famous. The problem is that the races in Umamusume just don't focus on them. Seriously, some of those races go anywhere from 20 miles to DAYS long runs.

 

[rx915]

And then comes the biggest challenge of an endurance race. Cross country running.

Don't think any Uma ever tried that.

 

[Pollyamorous]

Huh, so Shiro's in a weird place where her heart and lungs outpace her muscles to a comical degree. She can do a bajillion short sprints in a row with no sweat, but can never actually win any of them, and it looks like she's having a very hard time actually increasing her speed.

I wonder if she needs some sort of specialized training (which she really should ask her trainer about), or if it's an unfortunate inherent limitation she's going to constantly have to fight over, her stamina just continuing to rocket up in the meantime.

 

[macdjord]

I'm kind of hoping that Tanya will get involved in some sort of drama theater extracurricular - whether it's a part-time club or something that the school does for a cultural festival. Specifically a play that involves someone dying/getting killed. Because I can imagine Tanya correcting people on poorly imitating how you die from wounds or kill someone, and calmly explaining how it actually sounds/works. Kind of like this bit from the alternate history A Hippie in the House of Mouse:

Click to shrink...

Amusingly, that anecdote about Sir Christopher Lee correcting somebody about the sounds a man stabbed in the back should make? Actually happened. Early in LOTR: Return of the King, there's a scene where Greema Wormtongue stabs Saruman in the back. Peter Jackson initially told Christopher Lee (playing Saruman) to scream, but Lee gently but firmly corrected him, explaining that somebody who has just been stabbed in the back of the chest cannot scream, on account of the hole in their lung, but instead makes a sort of gasping sound. Lee, having been a British commando in WWII, knew this from personal experience.

 

[averagejoe32]

If Shirogane was born in Poland, or another country where cavalry was a bigger part of the cultural memory, they'd pick her out as being of a warhorse kind of uma much more quickly. Japan, however, does not have that strong of a cultural touchstone about cavalry, so it was mostly overlooked, not helped by her parents both being human, so some of her unusual mannerisms wasn't picked out as being unusual.

Click to shrink...

You might want to look at Yabusame. Horse archery has been practiced in Japan in one form or another for at least 800 years.


View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDDvSRCVq_g

 

[Cataquack Warrior]

The thing is, there ARE races like that. And they are actually quite famous. The problem is that the races in Umamusume just don't focus on them. Seriously, some of those races go anywhere from 20 miles to DAYS long runs.

Click to shrink...

And then comes the biggest challenge of an endurance race. Cross country running.

Don't think any Uma ever tried that.

Click to shrink...

You know, this gives me a great idea, building on my previous idea about admins accidentally sending Shirogane emails intended for human recipients. An email gets sent out informing trainers about a few other kinds of races happening, in case they're interested. Like perhaps a cross-country race that is primarily motorized, but still technically allows for umas - it's just that no uma would be able to stand being around all the noisy cars, nor keep up in a long-term race. Here, though Shiro might have good odds, maybe even better than on the uma track currently.

 

[rx915]

You know, this gives me a great idea, building on my previous idea about admins accidentally sending Shirogane emails intended for human recipients. An email gets sent out informing trainers about a few other kinds of races happening, in case they're interested. Like perhaps a cross-country race that is primarily motorized, but still technically allows for umas - it's just that no uma would be able to stand being around all the noisy cars, nor keep up in a long-term race. Here, though Shiro might have good odds, maybe even better than on the uma track currently.

Click to shrink...

It's something I think that would give even the legendary Emperor pause if asked to do a very long mile run where it's a whole different ball game.

There is speed and navigation true but because of it's setup, it's more of a matter of long term stamina as I do remember watching bits of it that there's opportunities of respite for a drink or just slowing down a bit in some paths before speeding up again.

I think for Umas it would be a nightmare for many as they'll need to find rest spots and probably pig out like a glutton before moving out again.

 

[reborn1303]

I don't play Umamusume, this is the first time I've read anything about it. Until now, my only contact with the series had been through the AI videos of Silent Suzuka singing heartbreak songs in Spanish, and now I'm eager to try the game

I don't know why, but I really want to see something from the game's Negaverse with Shirogane's ultimate.

I mean, instead of whatever usually happens in the ultimate animations, I want Shirogane's to be particularly disturbing, like:

It starts with a black screen, and you see the outlines of eyelids opening, revealing a devastated plain covered in mud and silhouettes of corpses everywhere (but with that style of multiple irregular lines often used to convey unease and perhaps as a form of censorship, all in a monochromatic grayscale). Shirogane's gaze moves erratically over all the passing details without focusing on any, making it very difficult to notice the details as the animation progresses. After a brief pause in the movement, there's an instant speed effect that shifts the first-person view to a light whose brightness increases as it approaches.

And the higher Shirogane's level progresses, the more of the animation becomes visible.

1) In the next level, the game switches to a third-person view from the front after repeating the first animation up to the stop. You see Shirogane's face (whose model is 3D and in full color, contrasting with the rest of the scene) frankly terrified, nothing like her usual calm and controlled nature. Behind her, we only see a bunch of featureless corpses holding her arms and legs, keeping her still. Before her face changes to one of determination, she sprints, freeing herself from the hands holding her and moving towards the light (back to first-person view).

2) In the next level, we see what's in the light, and perhaps it's all her friends and family.

 

[Jaertin]

You might want to go look up Samurai tbh. They were primarily mounted archers, then lancers with Naginata, and then pulled out the family blade only if they were out of other options or in honor duels or something.

But, well, the Samurai have been dead for a while I suppose.

Click to shrink...

IRL, the modern image of the samurai is a swordsman. If a samurai shows up in a movie or an anime 99% of the time they're rocking a katana and nothing else. How this translates to Uma-land is a good question. It may be that the military history of Japanese Uma has largely exited the popular consciousness as the samurai transitioned from being warriors to being officer-bureaucrats.