(I'll probably do more of these as the story gets further, to keep information consistent.)
Hey guys! It's Sleepy here with a little bit of a different chapter for you guys, well, not really a chapter. I wanted to clarify a few things regarding the timeline of this story and information on other characters and players in the story. If you don't need clarification or don't really care, feel free to skip this.
Any questions you guys have throughout the story, please put them in the comments, and I'll do my best to address and correct anything.
First off, the timeline. Where the story is currently at would be 1982, with a few exceptions.
With Maruzensky being present, as her Classic Year would've been back in 1977. I've brought Maruzensky forward in time for a pair of reasons. Next, Maruzensky is the only Umamusume we have in the 70s currently in Global.
The Japanese version of the game has Haiseiko, Speed Symboli, and Saint Lite as NPCs, but none are playable or developed yet. Haiseiko and Speed would've been in the 70s and late 60s, with Saint Lite being in the 40s. Due to this, and a lack of information available to me for a lot of horses in the 70s, I decided to just put Maruzensky forward in the timeline. This not only makes it easier for me to write, but also brings up something I had been pondering.
Maruzensky is considered in the same tier as Rudolf due to her sheer dominance in her 8-0 record, but it lacks a lot of G1s and a chance at the Classic titles due to her being a foreign-bred horse. The distinction here is bred, as she was raised entirely in Japan. Not like the JRA cared at this time.
I've had many thoughts about the JRA, and this is definitely one thing I can say was not a good decision on their part, as their supposed decision to protect Japanese ranches and horses led to far too many problems and WHAT IF scenarios for these horses. This is not just exclusive to Maruzensky, but to other greats like Grass Wonder and El Condor Pasa of the Golden Generation.
Aside from that brief tangent, the timeline won't have a set year yet, and I don't know if I will have one due to the timeline fuckery that exists. I do plan on trying to continually have the date at least, and it will be accurate to when these races actually happen.
The races currently being displayed will be the 1982 debut year of Katsuragi Ace and Mr. CB, but also feature other names that it didn't before. For example, the Arima Kinen at the beginning of the story was actually from the 70s, with Tosho Boy and Ten Point, two members of the fabled TTG that happened during the 70s. I honestly don't know how these two will contend with Maruzensky, as no match between them has ever happened. My basis is partly biased on Maruzensky's part, and the belief people have that Maruzensky is on the same tier/path as Rudolf, the greatest horse Japan has produced until at least the 2000s.
(If anyone is curious, https://umamusu.wiki/Umamusume_by_Generation is what I'm using for my ages in the story and fact-checking. All the Umamusume displayed here are based on their Classic/3-year-old years. It's what I used to decide that Tamamo(1987) at this point would be 10 years old while turning 11, and Oguri(1988) 9, turning 10.)
Azuma Hunter was an impulsive decision to add, as they were the Satsuki Sho winner in 1982, but I hope I've written them decently well. Who knows what part they will play? They're essentially an OC.
Next would be aging. This is a hard topic to pin down in Umamusume, as these horses all come from different eras at different times, and it creates a big question in the series. We've been told that the Umamusume age like elves, where they suddenly have a growth spurt like some demi-humans do in shows like Shield Hero, but then take forever to age past that. Season two of the anime has Kitasan Black and Satono Diamond as children, but then, at the end, has them as teenagers/young adults attending the academy.
I'm going to try and keep it consistent in this story, with 16 being the age Uma will start their debut year, and 13 being the age they go through this development shift into their adult form. The three years between will be used to adjust to their bodies and prepare for their debut and Classic year of racing. I hope to stick to this the best I can, and if I make any mistakes, please point them out to me so I can fix them accordingly.
Due to my writing this in this manner, you won't have situations like you did in the anime, where a fully grown Gold Ship, Daiwa Scarlet, and Vodka, are interacting with Uma far older than they are, actively running. I love the characters, but it hurts my brain for the sake of the timeline and continuity.
Two big things I'd like to comment on as well are Injuries and Purpose.
What I mean by this is with purpose, meaning my purpose of writing this story. I've become a big fan of Umamusume and horse racing in general because of it. Due to falling face-first down the rabbit hole of this community, I've become aware of just how many WHAT IF stories are present. An example, my second favorite Uma, Silence Suzuka.
Suzuka was a horse that was just beginning to find his stride and died tragically from pushing his body too hard. Suzuka was a horse that Yutaka Take, the greatest jockey of all time, had the potential to beat Deep Impact. Deep Impact, for those unaware, is considered by many to be the greatest Japanese Horse of all time. Over other big names like Equinox, Almond Eye, and Symboli Rudolf.
I wrote this story to see what would happen if someone took out the JRA element that, with our hindsight now, caused so many problems that people wish were different. Maruzensky and Oguri's run in the Classics is an example. The purpose of the URA in this story is strictly to help the Umamusume reach the potential they could or couldn't have before.
The other big point of injuries is something I feel that is a part of life, but also for the sake of horse racing, just ruined so many different stories and legacies. It is very rare for any of these racehorses to retire with no injuries or something hindering their career, such as Gold Ship. Gold Ship, the creature, alien, or whatever you'd like to call him, is an anomaly. Horses don't generally retire with nothing wrong, like Gold Ship; he's an exception, not the rule.
It's very much fantasy, but I hope to see what could have happened had injuries not ruined the careers of these many horses/Uma. I hope I do it justice with my writing, with my bias in writing, hopefully not ruining it too much. Honestly, with my ADD/ADHD, whatever it is, I do lose my train of thought with stuff like this often. Hopefully I'm not forgetting anything, but next up is just an informational on the characters we've had in the story so far, and my thoughts.
Riku Yoshida - Our protagonist and the narrative tool to drive things forward. Riku is an interesting character for me to write, thinking of him as a passionate Umamusume fan like myself, but one with the agency to make change while being a short and insecure little spitfire of a man. Riku will be our main eyes in the story going forward, but who knows how things will change as the story develops.
Masayoshi Yoshida - The real JRA Board of Directors Chairman, pulled directly from their site. I wanted to have some real representation or faces people could refer to for his role. His character and actions are completely fictional/OC, and were probably inspired by many older characters you've seen in anime.
Tosho Boy/Ten Point/Green Grass - Actual top horses from the 70s, the fabled TTG. Their designs in the story are based on my observations of the horses and their jockeys.
Maruzensky - She needs no introduction and is the grandma of the student council in the Umamusume anime. She was one of the big reasons for writing this story, as I'm curious how she'd do when not denied entry into races due to her nationality, and how good could she really be? (Spoiler: THE GOATTT).
Vincent Nijinsky - His first name is completely original, but the man is based on Maruzensky's horse father, Nijinsky. Basically an OC and a blank slate, I'm trying to base him on what Maruzensky's trainer was said to be like if he were, you know, Canadian. (Kokichi Hashimoto - Who was said to have loved him like a son.)
Shill - Maruzensky's horse mother, and another blank slate. A USA-born horse that was sent to Japan.
Reiko Kyoko - Completely original/generated name, but this is the blonde woman seen in Cinderella Gray who heads the JRA. I liked her design and kept her as a member of the board. While I didn't agree with the decision to deny Oguri in the Classics, she was more of a stand-in for something that already happened.
Akira Ueki - A member of the real JRA Board as an Executive Director. His entire character is fictional/OC.
Yasuyuki Shimizu - A member of the real JRA Board, a Director. His character is also fictional/OC.
Hiromi Suto - Completely randomly generated OC, but will serve as Riku's consistent secretary throughout his time as the URA Chairman.
Buckshot - I looked up horse names by a random generator, and could not think of a more American name than this one. While thinking of her design, I thought of what a stereotypical Southern Belle would look like. She'll probably be Riku's consistent bodyguard due to my liking of her character and my laziness to constantly remember new Uma OCs I could make.
Opal - Another randomly generated horse, once I saw the name, her design popped up in my head. If you want to imagine Opal's appearance, it'd probably be a Silver-Eyed Echidna from Re-Zero. Except one that dresses more like Priscilla, with Emilia's color scheme. Needlessly complicated, I know. She is the more refined of the two and is actually the physically stronger one.
White Narubi and Green Chateau - The mothers of Oguri Cap and Tamamo Cross, respectively. Both are featured in Cinderella Gray, and I hope to show what would happen if they had actually interacted and possibly raised their children together.
Azuma Hunter - Winner of the Satsuki Sho in 1982. It was hard to find anything on this horse for me, and I based their design entirely on what I imagine a hunter in more modern times would look like, with some touches. A little bit of Casual Taiki Shuttle, Nakayama Festa, with that hunter aesthetic.
Mejiro Asama - The Mejiro family, in different things I've checked for the anime/game, has an unnamed matriarch present for the family. Upon looking around, specifically around Reddit, I saw mentions of Mejiro Asama, who is of a similar age to Speed Symboli. I don't think I went too far into their description, but the image in my mind is probably similar to Asama Miya, from Sekirei.
Vega and Sunday Vega - Vega is the mother of Admire Vega, who many will probably recognize from Road to the Top. Her story is filled with survivor's guilt for her sister's death, which was far out of her control. Vega is a prominent name and one I'm realizing might lead to issues later, as Vega ran in the same era as Tokai Teio, if I read correctly. We'll deal with it when we get to it. I'm interested to see how Admire Vega's sister will impact her both positively and negatively.
That's possibly all for now. I'm double-checking and probably missing some characters. Once again, feel free to fact-check me and ask any Q&A you want in the comments. Thanks for reading, guys, and thank you for liking my story this far.