Umamusume: Pretty Derby took the internet by storm after its global launch in June last year, kicking off a whole new Western fanbase for the anime racing horse girl genre..I was amongst the crowd that got swept up in its surprisingly in-depth career mode, training my beloved Oguri Cap trained as hard as I possibly could. She never quite took home gold, but the sheer enthusiasm from everyone else playing kept me going despite my losses.
Welcome to Character Select, a weekly column where PC Gamer takes a look at the art and cosplay created by you. Each week, I’ll highlight a few of my favourite pieces, spotlight and interview creators and artists, or generally just chew your ear off about the talents of the gaming community.
In the wake of that popularity, it’s no surprise that avid cosplayers were quick to bring their favourite Umas to life. Haru Urara cosplays led the herd for a while, with Silence Suzuka and Special Week coming in a close second before Gold Ship stormed in. Eventually, each and every Uma got their time to shine, and fans were regularly coming together to create some really stellar group cosplays that nailed the vibe of the game.
For example, this post from Reddit user u/petra-fyed showcasing a variety of Umas in their uniforms was shared to the Umamusume subreddit three years ago, when the game was still only available in Japan and before it blew up globally. The costumes themselves are really impressive, but what elevates the cosplay is the locations the group chose for the photoshoot—the photos make it feel like they really went to Tracen Academy.
But one thing that I’ve felt was missing from everyone’s Umamusume cosplays was the racing. It’s understandable—I can’t imagine it’s particularly easy to run in the outfits, and especially the shoes the characters are always wearing in both the game and the anime, so you can see why most wouldn’t jump at the opportunity. As it turns out though, to my surprise, there actually are some horse-girl diehards out there taking that extra step.
There I was, scrolling through Tiktok one evening, when a video of a horse track popped up. I didn’t think much of it, but before I could move onto the next video, the doors of the starting stalls burst open and instead of horses, I saw people in cosplay. Pink wigs, purple outfits, white tracksuits, and most importantly: little pointy ears. Umamusume cosplayers in full force giving a race their absolute all. Just like watching your little horse girls run around the track in the game.
After a quick search, I discovered that this wasn’t the only “IRL race” for Umamusume cosplayers. In fact, they’d practically toured the globe by the time I’d even discovered that it was a thing. Soon I was viewing races and meet-ups at tracks like the Royal Bangkok Sports Club in Thailand, the Selangor Turf Club in Malaysia, Santa Anita Park in California, and the Hipódromo de Monterrico in Peru. Now my only question is, when’s the next one? I want to get involved!
To my dismay though, it seems like there isn’t any official schedule for when these races take place. For the most part, they’re organised by groups of willing participants in the area alongside their local racecourses, hence why a lot of them happen after actual horse races. Cygames doesn’t run any sort of official IRL races, but has partnered with the occasional location like the Santa Anita Park in California, which is probably why there is a little more lenience in letting a bunch of cosplayers loose on the track.
I couldn’t tell you why these groups are deciding to put not only themselves but the cosplays they’ve no doubt spent hours upon hours creating to the test in these races too. From the looks of it, there’s no prize, and certainly no idol concert at the end of it. They’re just competing for the love of the game and knowing their chosen Uma has won a race, at the very least.
In fact, I really admire the commitment to cosplay, and you can tell that it’s not easy at all getting this authentic to Umamusume—but it sure is entertaining. For a split second during that first video, I forgot I wasn’t just watching in-game footage. I hope fans continue to participate in events like this—it goes to show that there’s no reason all this fun should be confined only to conventions.
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