The "Umamusume" Challenge! Smart Falcon Edition] Falco's Hot Umadoru Activity Begins! (Part 1) "Turf, Dirt, and the Scale of Idol Activities"

Some time after the Haruurara Arima Kinen Challenge. New Uma Musume Smart Falcon appeared like a flash in the "Uma Musume Pretty Derby" Pretty Derby Gacha.
⇒ Click here to read the article about Haru Ulala Arima Kinen Challenge!

Some of you may or may not have been able to welcome Smart Falcon, but many of you may have seen her appear from time to time in other Uma Musume training stories and wondered how she was doing her best in her Umadoru activities (=Uma Musume idol activities). Even for this writer, who usually focuses on 2- to 2.5-dimensional idol content, she was something I could not miss.

There is a tradition in "Uma Musume" that the Uma Musume who participate in races go up on stage and perform a winning live. The winner of the race stands at the center of the shining stage. The Twinkle Series is also a race to select the Umamusume who will stand at the center of the Winning Live.

However, in past works and scenarios, the main and main road of "Uma Musume" was often considered to be a race. This is past tense. Yes, in the content of "Uma Musume," the story of Smart Falcon is to draw the relationship between the Uma Musume, who are impatient with the brilliance of the stage, and the fans beyond it, as the main theme, and to depict it head-on. The first half of Smart Falcon's Uma Musume story (episodes 1-4) depicts the encounter with Smart Falcon = Falco, who performs a lonely live concert on an empty riverbed, and how Falco, who longed for turf racing for which she had no aptitude, discovers that there are also hot battles and shining stages on dirt tracks. Smart Falcon's scenario structure is excellent.

What is wonderful about Smart Falcon's scenario is that it compares the relationship between the high-profile world of turf racing, represented by the Classic Triple Crown and Arima Kinen, and the rather humble world of dirt racing, which includes many local races, to the relationship between top idols and local idols who are sometimes referred to as "underground. The relationship between the world of turf racing and the world of dirt racing, which is a rather humble world with many local races.

There is something wonderful about a live performance on a scale where you can make eye contact with each audience member, or a live performance on the street where you can communicate closely with the audience. However, there are probably few people who, having become idols (umadoru), have never wished to one day sing in front of tens of thousands of fans.

On the other hand, if you are familiar with horse racing, you may understand that dirt racing does not attract as much attention as turf racing, and that local racetracks have a complicated view of the glamorous world of the "central" racecourse. The temperature between the central and the local races in the "Uma Musume" world is well depicted in the comic "Uma Musume Cinderella Gray," serialized in "Young Jump" (published by Shueisha).

By linking the two gazes of local idol to top idol and dirt to turf, the structure allows both people familiar with idols and horse racing to deepen their understanding.

Editor A: If you are going to write that much, shouldn't you also do an article on Smart Falcon?

Nakazato: Well, you know, it's all a matter of fate, isn't it? I'd like to do it if I could, but I'd like to ...... (somewhat turns 10 gachas in a row).

Falco: Thanks for your support! Please call me Falko.

Nakazato: I got out... ......?

Editor A: DO it (do it).

So, here we go, me and Falco's hot Umadoru activity, Falkatsu!　is about to begin. Please note that I will be spoiling almost the entire story.

The "first fan" trainer produces Falco!

The first encounter takes place at an independent Umadoru live performance, where there is no audience today. I was the first fan to take notice of Falko. When she meets me again at the training school, she is delighted to find out that the first fan was a trainer, and asks me to be her trainer.

Smart Falcon's dirt aptitude is A. She is one of the best horses in the school with a natural aptitude for dirt. In contrast, Smart Falcon's turf aptitude is E. Even so, she insists on racing on turf, which she is not suited for. The reason for this is that she is an Umadoru, and her dream was to be on the glamorous turf world of Winning Live.

However, after competing on a dirt racetrack covered in mud, and seeing the sparkling Uma Musume at the subsequent Winning Live, Falco vows to make her own stage debut on the dirt world, and to make the dirt world shine as bright as the turf world with her own brilliance.

She won her debut race, the Make Debut, with a great victory, but missed the top spot in the next race, the Platanus Award. What came to light was that her "Kirakira☆STARDOM" skill is one that is activated when she is about to lose the lead. Once she takes the lead, she has the groundwork to win the race by outpacing the pursuing horses with her explosive running ability. Conversely, it is also a double-edged sword, because if you fail to get off to a good start, you may be swallowed by the pack of horses. By focusing on "tips for running away" at the beginning, she was able to stabilize her start and win the Nadeshiko Award and the Oxalis Award consecutively.

What swayed her mind once she had set her sights on the dirt was a comment from one of the audience members, "I would like to see Faruko sing 'winning the soul' on stage. If there was even a 1% chance, there was no stopping her from challenging for Satsuki-sho. She finished 9th in Satsuki-sho. She could not reach the board, but she was not out of the race at all. This exquisite distribution of qualities may make us dream of a cruel 1% chance.

Once standing on the Satsuki-sho stage (even Umamusume who lost off the board can stand on the stage as a back-up dancer), Falco, who has become puffed up, concentrated on the dirt track. She won the Japan Dirt Derby, JBC Classic, and Tokyo Grand Prix in succession, showing that she was the strongest dirt horse girl of the Classic generation.

However, since watching Arimakinen at the end of the year, something has been wrong with Falco. perhaps the Arimakinen, which attracted more than 100,000 spectators, and the enthusiasm of the Satsuki-sho Winning Live she once experienced made her feel that the top of the dirt world was somehow fading away.

Determined to bring customers to the dirt by continuing to win himself, Falco and Smart Falcon declared that he would win all major dirt G1 races. Amidst growing attention and pressure, he wins the Februrary Stakes, the Teio-sho, and the JBC Classic in succession. Even though her mind was somewhat impatient, she continued to win races overwhelmingly on her own ground, and her dirt aptitude had reached the "S" level. She has enlivened the entire dirt world by winning every race she entered, and even the student council president, Simbolildorf, the "Seven Crown Uma Musume," praised her for this.

However, the smile on Faruko's face as she continues to win seems somewhat forced. Once more, they talk by the river to face each other and discuss whether what she was aiming for was to win a race, and what her true dream was. She performs once again at the place where they met, a street live concert with only one spectator. There, she recalls the days when she sang and danced alone, rain or shine, even when no one was watching.

Smart Falcon's and Falco's dream is to shine as bright as the spotlight. To shout with all your might that you are here. Falco realizes that she has lost sight of the people to whom she is supposed to send her heart, and decides to run with all her might once again, this time for the sake of the people to whom she is supposed to send her heart. Falko showed us a fierce run in the "Champions Cup," as if she was ready to give it her all.

Before the big year-end event, the Tokyo Grand Prize, a Christmas fan event was held. There, the Umamusume, who were grateful for Falco's efforts to enliven the world of dirt racing, volunteered to help with the event. After realizing that she was surrounded by the warm light of her fans at the handshake event, Falco entered the day of her final goal, the Tokyo Grand Prize, in top condition.

The second Tokyo Grand Prize race, held as a senior, was overflowing with spectators like I had never seen before. The excitement was as great as that of the biggest event in the turf world, Arimakinen. Fans who had received Falco's wishes at the Christmas event had helped promote and encourage the Tokyo Grand Prize at the grassroots. Above all, the record-breaking capacity of the Oi Racecourse was proof that Falco's efforts were not mistaken.

What kind of sight did Falco see and what did she think as she ran across the finish line of the Tokyo Grand Prix as fast as she could? I hope you will be able to witness the ending for yourself.

Editor A: You spoke almost everything like Jun Hamamura in his prime.

Nakazato: It's a super digest, so if you actually produce ...... or even train them, you will be 100 times more impressed!

After that, Falco won the URA final, went to a hot spring, and had a good ending. ...... However, there was something that I personally was slightly bothered by. The only time you can run in the Satsuki-sho is once in your life as an Uma Musume. That's why Falco chose the path to enhance the dirt world to the top despite her worries. But there must have been another path for Falco. The way she won Satsuki-sho and followed her umadoru path without breaking. What will she see when she runs through the turf of Satsuki-sho first? And most of all, I (I) also want to see Falco singing "winning the soul"!

So next time, I would like to produce Falco once again.

To be continued!

(Text by Kiri Nakazato)