Chapinator_X Posted April 29, 2018 Share Posted April 29, 2018 (edited) I didn't get around to making this earlier, but over the weekend, Special Week passed away. Or rather, the real life horse, Special Week. The horse-girls of Uma Musume are based on real life horses, some alive and some deceased, but Special Week was the horse selected to be the main character of this season's premiere horse-racing anime. Before Episode 06 came out though, the real horse Special Week was named after died of old age. From May 2nd, 1995 to last Friday, Special Week has made enough of a name to become an anime girl. He's been put out to pasture, but at least we have half a season of Uma Musume left to give him life beyond passing. Stay golden, Spe-chan. Edited April 30, 2018 by imchapp.in 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1gairon Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 I been following this show and I wouldn't know anything about this horse at all if I hadn't. It's not one of the most popular shows this season, and the premise is very odd (it's based on an unreleased game, which makes a lot of sense), but I know there are people who care after horses, and value them deeply, so I can't imagine that fans of Special Week could be feeling right now. I don't know how often he's been in races, nor when his last race was, but it's unfortunate that he had to pass away right in the middle of an anime that made him the star, in spirit. I wonder if the producers will include a short tribute to Special Week in the show. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Szanboti Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 Old age? From what I could gather via googletrans, it seems like he crashed in the pasture and injured his hip, and when they later went to check on him, he'd died. The tweets seem to understand it as due to this accident rather than age. 23 isn't all that old these days, at least for horses well-cared for. He could've lived another decade easily. When you think about the premise of the series, it's kind of weird to be using still-living horses as namesakes. This just kinda highlights that weirdness. It's like Spe-chan prematurely sucked out his soul or something. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chapinator_X Posted April 30, 2018 Author Share Posted April 30, 2018 6 hours ago, Gina Szanboti said: Old age? From what I could gather via googletrans, it seems like he crashed in the pasture and injured his hip, and when they later went to check on him, he'd died. The tweets seem to understand it as due to this accident rather than age. 23 isn't all that old these days, at least for horses well-cared for. He could've lived another decade easily. When you think about the premise of the series, it's kind of weird to be using still-living horses as namesakes. This just kinda highlights that weirdness. It's like Spe-chan prematurely sucked out his soul or something. Ah, when I checked the day of, someone said old age on the wiki page, but this article translated said it was because of an injury he received while grazing on the 23rd. http://jra.jp/news/201804/042706.html It is strange though since only some of the series' horses died in real life, so a good chunk of the cast could easily fall into what happened with Special Week. Vodka, Grass Wonder, Taiki Shuttle, and Gold Ship are a few of the many still around, but the surviving horses are the same age as Special Week while those that died were born a decade later. Even weirder is how many of the horses chosen are offspring of one another, so the student council president is the real life father of the pupil who idolizes her, and Gold Ship selects a frenemy who in real life is her grandpa. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1gairon Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 7 hours ago, Gina Szanboti said: Old age? From what I could gather via googletrans, it seems like he crashed in the pasture and injured his hip, and when they later went to check on him, he'd died. The tweets seem to understand it as due to this accident rather than age. 23 isn't all that old these days, at least for horses well-cared for. He could've lived another decade easily. When you think about the premise of the series, it's kind of weird to be using still-living horses as namesakes. This just kinda highlights that weirdness. It's like Spe-chan prematurely sucked out his soul or something. A LOT of the horses featured in Uma Musume are based on dead ones, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Szanboti Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) And Special Week and Silence Suzuka were half brothers of the same sire (Sunday Silence). I wonder if Suzuka is going to break her leg in the Tennoshou... If so...will she be put down? Who's the one who dresses like a bellhop? No one ever seems to call her by name, and I don't want to go back to watch the beginning again. @ Elfie: Well, they're all real horses, and I don't know the ratio of living namesakes to dead ones, but I think they should've stuck with all being the latter. Edited April 30, 2018 by Gina Szanboti Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1gairon Posted April 30, 2018 Share Posted April 30, 2018 (edited) 21 minutes ago, Gina Szanboti said: And Special Week and Silence Suzuka were half brothers of the same sire (Sunday Silence). I wonder if Suzuka is going to break her leg in the Tennoshou... If so...will she be put down? Who's the one who dresses like a bellhop? No one ever seems to call her by name, and I don't want to go back to watch the beginning again. @ Elfie: Well, they're all real horses, and I don't know the ratio of living namesakes to dead ones, but I think they should've stuck with all being the latter. Twist will be they'll discover they are all related. ... bell hop. R you talking about Gold Ship? I wonder just how INTO race horses Japan is! R there really that many people on all the islands to make this game a success?? I barely even follow AMERICAN race horses! Man, their anime with niche interests made into cute girls... Edited April 30, 2018 by elfie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Szanboti Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 Yes, Gold Ship. I dunno, she just reminds me of a bell hop or a 30s cigarette girl. It doesn't matter if people follow racing, they just like horse girls, just like they like cat girls and monster girls. Kentucky Derby this Saturday! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1gairon Posted May 1, 2018 Share Posted May 1, 2018 (edited) 11 minutes ago, Gina Szanboti said: Yes, Gold Ship. I dunno, she just reminds me of a bell hop or a 30s cigarette girl. It doesn't matter if people follow racing, they just like horse girls, just like they like cat girls and monster girls. Kentucky Derby this Saturday! Gold Ship looks weird to be. Could be the lack of side bangs and the contraption doohickey whatzits on her head. But she does have a quirky personality and is entertaining to watch. Oh is the Kentucky Derby soon?? I had no idea. I usually just brush it aside because its become overblown corporate, much like how the Academy Awards have gotten. ... the fuck do they not SWEAT profusely after running like that!?!? They're wearing uniforms! Some of them are wearing heavy layers with loose parts that can easily catch onto something! World-building accuracy! Edited May 1, 2018 by elfie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Szanboti Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 I know, I love the phones. Episode 7 So they don't shoot horse girls, do they. It was interesting how closely they adhered to the actual race. In the video I saw, Suzuka was just booking it and leaving everyone else way back in the dust, then on that last turn he stumbled, and you could see his jockey fighting to pull him up asap because he still really wanted to run. Very sad. He barely got him off the track before the other horses caught up and nearly ran over him. Had he not had such a commanding lead, it could easily have turned into one ugly pileup. I thought they might do an end card for Special Week, but they didn't. Maybe too much rl sadness for one episode to carry. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1gairon Posted May 6, 2018 Share Posted May 6, 2018 Looks like this became a general discussion thread. Ep 7 gave us a much-needed but still heart-breaking twist- the best horse girl in the academy gets a broken fracture in the middle of the race. I wonder if this relates to the real Silence Suzuka's career? *reads* so they DO?? And its beat for beat?? Amazing. ... I can't believe how good this show is. By all accounts it doesn't sound like this kind of premise should be this engaging! Maybe they'll do an end card for him at the very end of the show. The turn-arounds for anime can be very short. I still have hope. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1gairon Posted May 8, 2018 Share Posted May 8, 2018 God dammit. ;_______; Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gina Szanboti Posted May 9, 2018 Share Posted May 9, 2018 Here's all of Suzuka's races. The last one is first, starting about a min in. I don't know why the start of the race is so foggy! Watch full screen, because they do horizontal split screens while they're focusing on the pack, and you'll want to see the whole field up top. They finally come back to him full screen just as he comes out from behind that tree and bam. I watched some of the other races. I've never seen a horse race run clockwise before, and it's really weird. Also, at about 29-30 min in, apparently one of the horses lost his jockey right out of the gate and ran the whole race alone. You gotta watch that one. It's the only one I really, really wanted subtitles for! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The1gairon Posted May 20, 2018 Share Posted May 20, 2018 Ep 9 in which they have a training camp themed on "no friendships" in order to strengthen competitiveness, Suzuka and Spe-chan have confidence issues resulting in them winning dead last among their entire Spi team until Coach tells them "nut up!", and El Condor breaks down. Another intense episode! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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