On a Pale Horse (Umamusume/Youjo Senki)

[NerdLord]

Both her grandparents gradually stopped talking about retirement

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So was recently rereading this story and found it kinda of adorable/amusing that atleast part of the reason Shiro is trying to advance so quickly early on is to make sure her grandparents have that chance at her most iconic dream, that of a comfortable retirement.

 

[Critian Caceorte]

I have to wonder how other racers (particularly those would-be rivals to Shiro) will react if/when they hear Shiro speak to them mid-race. Not just in the moment, but how will they internalize it later? That Shiro had the energy and breath control to speak, when they have to focus all their air on the race.

Don't know a whole lot about UmaMusume, so maybe there's moments in the extended media where there is dialogue, but I imagine Shiro's endless stamina and phenomenal breath control will result in a lot of seething.

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Off the top of my head, the only examples I can think of is the first Japan Cup and Arima Kinen in Cinderella Gray (it's the reason for Oguri's "I can't understand English!" Meme), so presumably it's rare, but does happen. Every other instance of dialogue is mostly internal.

 

[Ace98]

Shiro might normally choose silence for lack of anything to say, but on those rare occasions, I can see more than one Uma stumbling and eating shit because they weren't expecting her to speak

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Others might shit-talk all the time in the gates, But Shirogane saves her breath...for a few measured words, at just the right moment

 

[Neo3932156]

Snip

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Surprisingly enough, that actually happen several time in the manga. Though usually before the final sprint, iirc.

 

[Tonyloco]

I think people focus too much on a bad Image for Shirogane, from what I see Uma-musume is a more relaxed and nice universe than most.
Magic also exist here with their goddess and while a lot of the Umas are very competitive they do know about reincarnation, so I do think that some might take their defeats ina bad way, but I also think most of teem would try and learn from it rather than just blame Shirogane and hate her.

I can see misunderstandings going on and some hatred in low level races, bit the higher the quality of the race and racers the more likely they would use it as a lesson to become better and learn how to handle nor only the psychical pressure but also the mental one.

I think with time everyone would understand that Shirogane is a freak of nature, she's very different from the usual racer, she's not really fast compared to others but her stamina, guts and control are crazy high, but not only that the intensity she can bring to a race can intimidate Umas, she's small and doll-like looking but also strong and doesn't mind using her body to displace others in races.

I think one of the reasons that some would call her a gatekeeper is because most of her races would be more chaotic than usual, but also she would push some racers to go beyond their limits. with some even finding some kind of revelation or unlocking a new skill in the middle of a race.

As I said it before the reason why some would call her the gatekeeper is because for many beating her would be more than just a race, some would really think that she's a test from the goddess or something similar, some would think that she's thee to race them for a reason, so rather than think about the broken and destroyed Umas I would rather think about those who rise above the rest and those who learn something from their races.

Right now she's still at low level races and will probably take a while to get to the better ones or do well in them, but if she plans to race every week she will have plenty of time for many opponents.