Throughout Japan, there are more than 20 large racecourses with 100,000 people, hosting more than 15,000 races every year. Japan was also once the country with the highest total prize money and stakes in horse racing in the world.
It may be hard to imagine that in the suburbs of Japanese cities and even in the city, surrounded by residential office buildings, there can be a racecourse covering thousands of acres.
Funabashi Racecourse, Japan
Although horse racing is often associated with gambling, Japan's racecourse is not a miasma of paper drunkenness, but only gamblers like Maori Kogoro. Many Japanese people in reality have a childhood experience of being taken by their parents to the racecourse, which is not much different from going to an amusement park and an aquarium. Racecourse operators in Japan have also been working hard to create a family atmosphere.
This can be felt from the Chinese brochure of Zhongshan Racecourse
Looking around the world, there are not many modern countries that have preserved horse racing culture, but perhaps only Japan has developed it into a national cultural activity.
Knowing this, it may not be surprising that "Pretty Derby", a mobile game that seems to be an unpopular theme at first glance, can become a phenomenon-level product in Japan as soon as it is listed, with a revenue of more than 2 billion yen in the first week, which is unprecedented.
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Of course, "Horse Racing Lady" can be so successful, not just because it is a horse racing theme.
Although the horse racing genre is niche, there is no shortage of masterpieces. Glory's "Winning Post" series has reached its ninth title.
The latest in the series, Horse Racing Tycoon 9, was originally scheduled to be released in March this year
On mobile platforms, Cairo Games' "Racecourse Wrangling Story" is also popular.
"Although the ranch is still small, let's cultivate a triple-crowned horse together!"
In terms of core gameplay, most of the horse racing-themed games are simulated business games that focus on "breeding horses and then sending them to compete to win prize money", which is also the case with "Horse Racing Lady". But as soon as you open the game, you can feel that the overall atmosphere is very different.
The race session of "Horse Racing Lady" simulates a real-life horse racing broadcast
The starting gun sounded, accompanied by commentary, and it was not the horses that galloped out from behind the gates, but the young girls who chased after me on the runway, only their long swinging ears and the real ponytail behind them reminded the audience that this was not a regular track and field race.
In the worldview of "Horse Racing Lady", these girls inherit the soul of the famous foals in the history of Japanese horse racing, and run to continue the legend to reach the top of the world race. Not only that, after the winner and loser of each match, Ma Niang, who won the top three, will also take the stage to perform song and dance, bringing smiles and dreams to the audience.
The horse ladies wore singing costumes and sang and danced
The role played by the player is to accompany the horse girls in training and life on weekdays, and plan to hone their racing skills and acting standards as "trainers" and "producers".
To put it bluntly, this is a super smorgasbord stew of materials such as "feminization", "horse racing", "athletics", "idols" and "campus".
Logically, this kind of otaku culture setting will only make the game's audience more narrow. But in fact, the game quickly broke the circle as soon as it came out.
Japanese baseball star General Tanaka quickly became addicted to it, and in addition to his work content on social platforms, he exchanged yuma experience with netizens.
Masahira Taguchi, who used to be a sports announcer for TV Tokyo, was not satisfied with the game's own game broadcast, and personally went out to explain the game for his own horse girl.
The stables of the famous horse "Golden Ship", Imayagi Takari, also joined the game, training the golden ship in the game to win the Gao Yue Award, and lamented that the golden ship in the game is more difficult than in reality.
People can't help but feel that horse racing culture is deeply rooted in Japan.
Japan is not geographically the country of origin of a good foal. Although the introduction and cultivation of Western horses began as early as the Tokugawa shogunate, the industrialization of horse racing in Japan only began 40 years ago.
As a country that attaches great importance to animal husbandry, Japan shouted the slogan of "building a world-class strong horse" at the end of the 1970s, and began to introduce high-quality stallions and management experience from overseas, in an effort to cultivate its own top horse racing. It was in this context that the Japan Cup, a tournament founded in 1981, came into being.
The Japan Cup changed the protection policy of Marseille only for local horses in the past, opened the door of the country, and strived to become a stage for the exchange and display of the world's famous horses, and the Japan Cup, with a prize money of 300 million yen, is still one of the highest standard competitions in the world horse racing industry.
However, although the format and venue of the Japan Cup are more favorable to local horses, in the first 11 races, Japanese horses have only won the championship twice.
Following the victory of the "Emperor" in 1985, the ownership of the Japan Cup fell for six consecutive years
But these failures are not pointless.
The upstream influence of the Japan Cup has successfully led to the overall development of the local horse racing industry, and under the management of the Japan Central Horse Racing Association, horse racing events at all levels, large and small, have spread throughout the country. In addition, Japanese horse racing has a special reward system, as long as they can participate, even if they do not win the horse will receive a low-security bonus.
This made investing in horse farms to participate in horse breeding become a rather stable financial channel at that time, and even buying horse coupons was no longer regarded as a simple gambling act, and the general public would also buy a ticket to ask for luck, which was also considered to support the local good horse breeding cause. So the abundant funds flowed to Japan's horse farms and horse owners, giving them the strength to buy the world's top stallions, including the introduction of the legendary horse king "Sunday Tranquility" from the United States in 1991. At that time, the shock of the industry was probably no less than That of Drogba joining the Chinese Super League.
Sunday Tranquility left many excellent heirs in Japan, which completely changed the pattern of the Japanese horse racing industry
But the good times did not last long, and in the early 1990s, Japan's bubble economy burst, and all walks of life fell into a trough. However, The Japanese horse racing, which has a long breeding cycle and has fully absorbed the nutrients, blossoms and bears fruit at this time. After 7 years, the "Emperor of the East Sea" inherited the mantle of his father "Emperor" and finally won the Japan Cup back to his country, thus sounding the clarion call for counterattack. Homegrown horses defended most of the subsequent Japan Cups, proving that even Japan, which does not have an innate advantage, can also cultivate the world's first-class racing horses.
Perhaps inspired by these horses, in the so-called "lost decade", Japanese horse racing has gained unprecedented attention and ushered in a golden age. One touching story after another about horse racing spread throughout the streets: the undefeated "Emperor", the indomitable "Emperor of the East Sea", the star of the commoner "Little Chestnut Hat", the champion assassin "Rice Bath", the moving silence of the silent Suzuka, the "Spring Urala" that ran endlessly... These horses are really like idols, using their running figures to bring dreams and hopes to people in distress.
For a long time, for horse racers who cannot communicate directly, everyone can only imagine their inner world through their actions and actions - lazy when training, happy when winning games, painful when injured, unwilling to cry noses when losing... And now, "Horse Racing Lady" expresses these feelings through vivid and cute horse girls.
Perhaps it is precisely for this reason that the femaleization of the horse racers into idols not only does not make people feel abrupt, but also fits people's empathy for these horses.
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The horse girls have many details from the prototype, such as the iconic green ear protector of silent suzuka.
The ancestral star spot on the forehead of the East Sea Emperor turned into a bunch of white bangs.
The shape of a good opera is a combination of its name and the color of the costume that riders often wear.
In addition to their appearance, the personalities of these horse maidens are mostly inherited from prototypes.
For example, the difficult "golden boat" mentioned above is that in reality, it is obvious that it has excellent results, but it is known for its obedient personality, and it is common to make funny faces and make strange noises, and even inexplicably refuse to run and abandon the race after the starting gun sounds. This self-contained personality has gathered a lot of popularity for him.
The golden boat emoji collected by netizens
Ma Niang Golden Ship continues this funny personality, not only saying strange things and playing pranks on weekdays, but after winning the game, the way she shares her joy is to rush over and kick the trainer over.
She jumped up and it was a jio
In addition to the beauty of the above skins, "Horse Racing Lady" also has some more connotative expressions.
"Horse Racing Lady" is a large-scale cross-media project, although the game has only recently been released, but as early as 2018, there was already a season of animation, the protagonist is "Special Week".
Genki's special week took on the role of kanban lady throughout the project
In reality, Special Zhou's mother died five days after her birth, so it was brought up by farming horses. "The country girl came to the city to pursue her dream and successfully counterattacked", it is obviously this background that fits the background of the orthodox idol script, so that Ma Niang was chosen as the heroine of the special week.
The subsequent story development is also similar to the traditional idol animation: the special week of meeting Bo Le came to Ma Niang School, made many friends, and began to show his prominence in the competition. "Friendship, hard work, victory" are all available, and the course also coincides with the horse racing career of the special week in the current history.
It is precisely because of the recognition that the plot development of the animation corresponds to reality, and the audience is more concerned about the fate of another Ma Niang in the play, that is, the close friend and longing object of special Zhou's side - silent Suzuka.
The real-life silent Suzuka is one of the most famous horse racers in Japanese history, not only because it has achieved brilliant results, but also because it is good at the ornamental "big escape" running method - as the name suggests, it is to sprint from the beginning to escape the large troops, as far as possible to distance themselves from other horses, and win the victory happily. This offensive running method that can show absolute strength naturally mobilizes the emotions of the audience the most, and also makes silent Suzuka gain a high popularity, known as "Pegasus".
Riding the dust can be said to be the best description of the performance of the silent suzuka on the field
On November 1, 1998, Silent Suzuka competed in the Autumn Emperor's Awards. Starting from gate 1 in gear 1, it took the lead as always, and once opened up the advantage of more than ten positions with the second place. But just when there were only a few hundred meters left, wu it suddenly slowed down, was overtaken by other horses, and then stumbled off the track. The game was quickly decided, but at this point all eyes were focused on the silent Suzuka, who had been eliminated. After safely getting the jockey to the sidelines, silent Suzuka finally roared and paced in pain.
The silent suzuka touched the hearts of everyone present
The diagnosis was a comminuted fracture of the root bone of the left front foot of the silent suzuka. Unlike humans or other animals, fractures of this magnitude are fatal enough for horses. Rather than dying after suffering, humanity is usually a better option.
On the same day, silent Suzuka died through euthanasia.
The early death of silent Suzuka is a regret that many horse racing enthusiasts can hardly let go
The commentator on the scene, Tsuneo Shiobara, summed up the match with the phrase "Silent Sunday", which is not only the name of the father of silent Suzuka, the famous American horse (Sunday Tranquility), which was heavily imported, but also a portrayal of the sad scene of everyone in the arena on this day.
After 20 years, the silent Suzuka in the anime has also ushered in this fateful emperor reward.
As a result, from the process to the scene to the commentary, the animation faithfully restores the game.
Silent Suzuka dropped the race before the fourth turn
Whether or not they know about this history beforehand, the audience in front of the screen can once again feel the sadness of that silent Sunday.
But in the world of the horse racer, fractures no longer represent the end. This time, Silent Suzuka is accompanied by a partner like Special Week, with the encouragement of the audience and fans, and more importantly, the opportunity to ride the field again - the animation adaptation reverses the fate of Silent Suzuka, she is sent overseas for rehabilitation treatment, and agreed with her partners that she will return to the track.
After this episode aired, on the professional horse racing intelligence website netkeiba, the click heat of silent Suzuka rushed to the first place.
After twenty years, the silent Suzuka is back at the top of the list
Many people came to the official push of the horse racing lady to leave a message, thanking the animation production team for allowing silent Suzuka to continue to run in another world.
The most common messages are "look at crying" and "thank you"
Historically, a year after the death of Silent Suzuka, the Autumn Emperor Awards were held again as scheduled, with a special week of participation in this tournament.
Although their mother and upbringing were different, Sita and Silent Suzuka were actually the heirs of The Tranquility of Sunday, and the riders who participated in the Emperor's Reward were also Taketoshi. In the race, the special week that was behind the whole process suddenly had help in the last few hundred meters, and sprinted all the way to win the championship. Wu Feng said excitedly in the post-match interview: "The last moment felt like a silent Suzuka pushing us! Since then, many people have regarded the special week as a continuation of the spirit of silent Suzuka.
Knowing this story, we can understand why the production team will make special Zhou and silent Suzuka, who actually do not have much intersection in reality, become close friends in the drama.
Shortly after the first season of the anime began, the real 23-year-old Special Week also died. Fans held a commemorative event to pray that he and silent Suzuka would be able to run freely side by side in heaven as in the anime.
Horse Racing Lady is a highly commercial project, but it does convey the awe and love that the makers have for the sport. Whether it is a horse racing enthusiast who understands these histories, or a newcomer who is simply attracted by people, they can appreciate the charm of the horse racing project and its heavy sense of relying on reality.
This is probably why this project has finally received such social repercussions.
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This is already the tenth year since the creation of Cygames, the developer of "Horse Racing Lady". In this short and short decade, Cy, which has successfully operated works such as "Blue Fantasy", "Princess Link" and "Lost Dragon Covenant", has long become a mainstay in the Japanese and even world mobile game industry.
But looking back in 2016, Cy had just gained a foothold with "Turquoise Fantasy" and was preparing to do his best to build the company's next original IP.
The company hired Akihiro Ishihara, a producer who had escaped from Bandai Namco, and set up a cross-media project with the theme of "horse racing womanization". Akihiro Ishihara was once the lead producer of the "Idol Master" series, so the horse racing lady was pinned on high hopes. Cy is also sparing no effort, as soon as the project is announced, animation, games, and comics are launched together, and it is scheduled to be officially launched in two years.
Time passed quickly, and as mentioned above, the Horse Racing Lady animation did arrive in 2018. With the deep participation of Akihiro Ishihara, this well-made animation received good popularity and evaluation at the time, making people more and more look forward to the main dish on the table. The game also recruited Wufeng riders to shoot advertisements, and once the reservation was opened, it reached a high number of registrations.
Everyone is looking forward to Cy bringing another game that will disrupt the industry
However, under such expectations, the project suddenly stopped.
The game was delayed, and the official blog announced that the game would be postponed, and the dynamics became less and less, and the games announced later by Cy, such as "Lost Dragon Covenant" and "Princess Link", were opened one after another. In March 2019, news came that Akihiro Ishihara resigned as the producer of "Horse Racing Lady" and left Cygames.
There is a lot of speculation about the reason why the project was stranded.
It is said that Akihiro Ishihara is too involved in this project, including the details of the animation, although the overall quality of the project is guaranteed, but it slows down the production progress of the game, and it is difficult to agree with Cy in terms of product form, which is why he finally left.
It is also believed that Cygames was too rigid in obtaining the authorization of the horse owners, which led to the slow progress of the project. Although many of these real-life horses are still alive, unlike real sports stars, horses do not actually have portrait rights or copyrights, and game companies can completely wipe the edge ball to make them into their own games. But Cy is determined to make a realistic game, from the anthropomorphic image to the backstory to strive to win the approval of the horse owners, and even issued an announcement imploring fans not to carry out adult-oriented secondary creations, and jointly maintain the image of these horse girls and horses. This kind of tie-up approach almost dooms the project to be difficult to progress.
But none of these claims have been officially confirmed, and the only known fact is that it is getting farther and farther away from the day the appointment began, gradually exceeding a thousand days.
As early as the game was first released, some fans set up a theme website such as "Horse Racing Lady Raiders Express", but in this long wait, this website has never had the opportunity to play its real purpose. In order to continue to operate, bloggers can only reprint some real-life horse racing information.
"Today I will introduce the participating riders of this year's Gao Yue Awards"
As a result, the website has gradually transformed into a professional horse racing blog, and the bloggers themselves have studied more and more deeply, from regularly introducing famous horses, to personally planting carrots that horse girls love to eat, and even to some of the history that is quite unpopular in the horse racing circle, as well as running to take photos with Ulala.
But last June, the site was eventually shut down, and Horse Racing Lady was still not available.
Fans have come to accept the reality that most games will never be online. Everyone calls the "Horse Racing Lady" project the "Holy Family" in the mobile game industry, and often laughs at themselves: ""Horse Racing Lady" is the most fun game I have ever played, and it is good that it can only be played in dreams."
At the end of 2020, Cygames suddenly announced that the new season of the "Horse Racing Lady" animation will be broadcast the following spring, and the game will be launched at the same time.
This time, Cy didn't break his word.
On January 5 this year, the second season of the "Horse Racing Lady" animation began broadcasting, and the protagonist was unexpectedly replaced by the indomitable horse "Emperor of the East Sea", who had made a comeback three times in history, and the hand-drawn LIVE performance of the first episode was still amazing.
On February 24, the "Horse Racing Lady" mobile game was finally launched smoothly, and its quality did not disappoint players. The delicate models and scenes, the plot story of almost the whole dubbing, the quite immersive racing mode, each horse lady independently lip-synced LIVE performance... The finished products on all sides of the game are far better than the promo of that year, enough to convince players that the four-year wait is worth it.
Compared with the real camera of today's game, the comparison between the old version of the publicity (above) and the real camera of today's game can be said to be a qualitative leap
More importantly, in the game, players can cultivate Ma Niang by hand and help them achieve regrets that they have not achieved in reality, such as lifting the autumn emperor's award trophy with silent Suzuka, or leading Ulala, who has never won in reality, to win a victory of her own. This can be said to be the most in line with everyone's expectations of the gameplay.
However, to achieve these goals is not so simple, how to manage and cultivate can be said to be very exquisite.
As a result, the "Horse Lady Raiders Express" was also successfully revived under the call of everyone, and finally achieved his original wish.
From a certain point of view, from the expectations of the crowd, to the sinking of not being optimistic, and finally unyieldingly breaking through the finish line, the ill-fated experience of the game itself seems to have been inherited from the spirit of horse racing, which is lamentable.
epilogue
Real-life horse racing isn't just about the sunny side. Most of the horses that can't run out of performance are pulled into the slaughterhouse before they reach adulthood; and some champion horses are just horse owners who want to keep a good reputation so that they can sell a high price when breeding; there are more horses like "Rice Bath", which obviously have a great record, but because they are good at unpopular long-distance races, it is difficult to retire because they are not popular in the breeding market, and they can only keep running in the race with nostalgia, and finally they lose their feet and roll over on the final battle field, and die of fractures.
The real-life Miyu is known as the "Black Assassin" for defeating other famous horses many times to make them miss the Triple Crown.
As for how many families have been destroyed by off-site gambling, it is not to mention.
This cruel and dark side is even reflected in the game.
The character card and support card (similar to equipment or dressage) in Horse Racing Lady are separated in two prize pools, which is supposedly a humanized design that makes it easy for players to draw their favorite horse girl. However, because support cards can play an important role in the training process, in order to get a good rank, many players will be very utilitarian to give priority to drawing support cards, and then choose the right horse to cultivate.
Support cards are of course important, as well as unlocking the story. But it's strange to think about smoking this first than the favorite character
As a simulation business game with some roguelike elements, every round of training (three years in the game) will give birth to a molded ma niang card. These cards can be used as "stallions" in the next breed, but many times the results of breeding are not so ideal, so in most cases, these horse maidens who have accompanied the player through the "three years" will be ruthlessly deleted. Although this is essentially just virtual data, it always feels a bit ironic.
Finally, these topics are somewhat disappointing, but it is under the heavy pressure of reality, temporarily abandoning everything, watching simple horses running freely towards the finish line, which makes the sport of horse racing so attractive.
At night, people gather at the Tokyo Metropolitan Racecourse to get close to the horses