OF HORSES AND GIRLS AND WORK ETHIC

WAI KWAN WU - Writer, 2nd Year, Molecular Cell Biology

Run horse girl run

SPOILERS FOR UMA MUSUME!

In the opening scene of Uma Musume’s second season, the legendary “Triple Crown” runner Symboli Rudolf is asked what exactly is needed in order to become an athlete of her caliber. To this, the answer is given as, “To be like Rudolf, you’re going to need talent, effort, and luck. And you can’t afford to miss a single one.” This statement is interesting to me because of how straightforward it presents the idea of sports, and it’s not a particularly idealized one at that, but at the same time it manages to get at the more intriguing aspects behind sports as a narrative. In particular, the unpredictability, and that of the against-all-odds.

Racing, which Uma Musume depicts, kind of stands out against most other sports in that it’s really more about the competition that the athlete has with themself, rather than with their other competitors. This is something that is repeated many times, but for good reason: here, success primarily comes from self-discipline. Yet, at the same time, there’s always that one tiny little factor that crops up, that athletes always have to compete against: luck. Even if one is in the best condition, one unpredictable slip-up and mean the difference between being the winner and the forgotten, or worse, the end of a career.

Going back to the three aforementioned factors, Tokai Teio, the season’s lead character, has the first two in spades: her natural form and body lends herself to a gift in running, and she backs that up with tireless practice. The fact that Teio isn’t lacking in one or the other is what makes her immediately stand out: she doesn’t dismiss the importance of effort even in the presence of talent (arguably working harder than any of her less talented peers) yet natural talent being a key determinant to success isn’t denied with Teio at all, contrasting with the swaths of hard-working leads for shows dealing with similar topics. Talent and effort is of equal importance, and that isn’t downplayed. Yet, the third factor, luck, is weighed equally as well. And just as luck would have it, Teio discovers that she has a potentially career-ending injury in her leg, one bad enough to cause her quick hospitalization. She puts on a smile and asserts that she will just work that much harder to get back on the field again, but it’s clear that the possibility of retirement looms over the approaching times of her career. From her talent to her personality to her approach, Teio seemed to have all the cards stacked up on her side, well-destined for all time success. But, just one little unforeseen development threatens to bring an end to it all, and even if not, she will never reach the same heights again. It’s not in her control. It’s not fair

Silence Suzuka, from the previous season, suffers a similar injury to her foot late into the series, but in the grand scheme of things, it’s treated as more of a speed bump, a last-minute hurdle, to her story. Here, Teio’s injury takes center stage to become the crux of the conflict through the series. Teio is forced to watch from the sidelines, left in the dust as all her friends and rivals continue to pursue their dreams without her. She can’t live up to others’ expectations, nor her own. She wants to retire. She can’t stand it anymore.

But still, Teio loves running. She loves the competition, the cheers from the crowd. And where she falls, she will pick herself back up. She will continue to work little by little to get better. Maybe she won’t be as good as what she could’ve been, but she can still run. This conflict is so fundamentally interesting to me because it doesn’t shy away from being overly idealistic about the sport, but it doesn’t come across as cynical in any way either. The struggles that Teio faces are difficult and not pretty to watch, but it’s still a story of optimism and passion that makes it so engaging.

In the final race of the show, Teio takes to the race once again, and in an unlikely miracle, she manages to win again for the first time. Because, just as luck shall taketh, it shall also giveth.