Umamusume: Fairly Derby took the web by storm after its world launch in June final yr, kicking off a complete new Western fanbase for the anime racing horse woman style..I used to be amongst the group that bought swept up in its surprisingly in-depth profession mode, coaching my beloved Oguri Cap skilled as onerous as I probably might. She by no means fairly took dwelling gold, however the sheer enthusiasm from everybody else taking part in saved me going regardless of my losses.
Character Choose
Welcome to Character Choose, a weekly column the place PC Gamer takes a take a look at the artwork and cosplay created by you. Every week, I am going to spotlight just a few of my favorite items, highlight and interview creators and artists, or usually simply chew your ear off in regards to the abilities of the gaming neighborhood.
Our Uma Musume Cosplay! from r/UmaMusume
For instance, this submit from Reddit person u/petra-fyed showcasing quite a lot of Umas of their uniforms was shared to the Umamusume subreddit three years in the past, when the sport was nonetheless solely obtainable in Japan and earlier than it blew up globally. The costumes themselves are actually spectacular, however what elevates the cosplay is the places the group selected for the photoshoot—the pictures make it really feel like they actually went to Tracen Academy.
Article continues under
However one factor that I’ve felt was lacking from everybody’s Umamusume cosplays was the racing. It is comprehensible—I can not think about it is notably straightforward to run within the outfits, and particularly the footwear the characters are at all times sporting in each the sport and the anime, so you’ll be able to see why most would not soar on the alternative. Because it seems although, to my shock, there truly are some horse-girl diehards on the market taking that further step.
There I used to be, scrolling by way of Tiktok one night, when a video of a horse monitor popped up. I did not assume a lot of it, however earlier than I might transfer onto the following video, the doorways of the beginning stalls burst open and as a substitute of horses, I noticed individuals in cosplay. Pink wigs, purple outfits, white tracksuits, and most significantly: little pointy ears. Umamusume cosplayers in full power giving a race their absolute all. Identical to watching your little horse ladies run across the monitor within the sport.
After a fast search, I found that this wasn’t the one “IRL race” for Umamusume cosplayers. The truth is, they’d virtually toured the globe by the point I would even found that it was a factor. Quickly I used to be viewing races and meet-ups at tracks just like the Royal Bangkok Sports activities Membership in Thailand, the Selangor Turf Membership in Malaysia, Santa Anita Park in California, and the Hipódromo de Monterrico in Peru. Now my solely query is, when’s the following one? I need to get entangled!
To my dismay although, it looks as if there is no official schedule for when these races happen. For probably the most half, they’re organised by teams of keen members within the space alongside their native racecourses, therefore why a number of them occur after precise horse races. Cygames does not run any form of official IRL races, however has partnered with the occasional location just like the Santa Anita Park in California, which might be why there is a bit more lenience in letting a bunch of cosplayers unfastened on the monitor.
I could not inform you why these teams are deciding to place not solely themselves however the cosplays they’ve little question spent hours upon hours creating to the check in these races too. From the seems to be of it, there isn’t any prize, and positively no idol live performance on the finish of it. They’re simply competing for the love of the sport and realizing their chosen Uma has gained a race, on the very least.
The truth is, I actually admire the dedication to cosplay, and you’ll inform that it is not straightforward in any respect getting this genuine to Umamusume—however it certain is entertaining. For a cut up second throughout that first video, I forgot I wasn’t simply watching in-game footage. I hope followers proceed to take part in occasions like this—it goes to point out that there isn’t any cause all this enjoyable must be confined solely to conventions.
