(i.e., the Unity Cup)

It's a new career scenario, which I've just played the first half-hour or so, and I don't want to be too spoilery about something that's brand new, but...

... a scenario in which Tracen Academy is taken over by an iron-fisted totalitarian feels WAY THE FUCK TOO ON THE NOSE RIGHT NOW to me. :/

Your mileage may, of course, vary. As may mine as I delve farther into it, as far as that goes. Right now, though, I feel like some counter-Earth Howard Carter, peering through the hole in the tunnel wall.

LORD CARNARVON
Can you see anything?

CARTER
Yes. Ominous things.

--G.
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Decided to try the Unity Cup and made the mistake of choosing Brian over Bakushin or another "easy" trainee. Tried to juggle her career which can be demanding on its own with all-new game mechanics that meant spending turns I could have been building her stats working on the team instead. Ran aground in a very familiar spot.

Overall first impressions are positive, but I should really run it a few times with someone less...frustrating before I test the limits of my blood pressure meds.

I just realized what the Unity Cup plotline reminds me of. It's been bugging be since I started to see how it was taking shape, and it just landed.

I'm not going to bother white-texting this, because I don't think it's a spoiler for anything that the introductory scenes aren't up-front about anyway, but don't read on if you haven't started Unity Cup yet and you want to go in totally cold.

Are they gone?

OK. Anyone else here ever read the novels of Gordon Korman? Unity Cup's setup is basically the premise of Korman's 1982 book The War with Mr. Wizzle. Macdonald Hall brings in an Efficiency Expert who ruins everyone's life until the students manage to drive him off.

Unfortunately, in the book they do that by matching him up with the equally loathed PE teacher at the girls' school across the road, so that they both get married and piss off, so that's probably not how this issue can be resolved. :)

Anyway, my personal psychology makes this scenario really stressful. I'm not built to be the only thing standing between umakind and fascism.

--G.
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Addendum: Why did I put this here and not right after the OP? You had one job, self.

--G.
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>Addendum: Why did I put this here and not right after the OP? You had
>one job, self.

No clue, but it is hilarious that you bring up the PE teacher, as Riko's notorious in the fandom...for being a total lightweight when it comes to physical activity. It's not mentioned in the Unity Cup story but in the later "Make A New Track" scenario that she can barely do a forward roll.

>Unfortunately, in the book they do that by matching him up with the equally loathed PE teacher at the girls' school across the road, so that they both get married and piss off, so that's probably not how this issue can be resolved. :)

I don't know what the Umamusume fanfic scene is like, but it wouldn't surprise me if someone goes for something similar anyway.

-IA.

(also i cannot type that name without it looking like an endless string of mumumumu to me)

I feel very bad for anyone who isn't opting to re-train a new ace in time for Leo Cup Finals or is but isn't getting lucky on the inherits they need.

My Oguri gained +400 overall stats from Unity Cup and it wasn't even an ideal result.

And to confirm, Leo Platinum, off the strength of a re-trained Unity Cup Uma. Better stats and added Turf S on top. Oguri barely won my finals race by a small enough distance that she would absolutely have lost if it had been the older her I played during the previous rounds.

Now I'm convinced that the game is reading my mind or something.

I was about to give up, but I thought, "I'll just go through all the free draws. Nothing interesting will happen, right?" And they drop Eishin Flash in my stable. Okay, fine, new uma with interesting mechanics, actually plays well.

And just as I'm getting bored of Flash, they make a new scenario? It's like they don't want to let me go.

Peter Eng
--
It's like The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was handled by designing a gacha game.

Neo Universe FuRyu

Taiki, did we just win the Unity Cup, save the school, sweep the URA Finale, and go to the hot springs?

Heck yeah we did.

--G.
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>Taiki, did we just win the Unity Cup, save the school, sweep the URA
>Finale, and go to the hot springs?
>
>Heck yeah we did.
>

She's so happy to visit the hot springs, too. Most of the other girls I've seen, you have to remind them about the ticket, but she was 100% proactive about going because she wants to experience this Japanese thing.

>Taiki, did we just win the Unity Cup, save the school, sweep the URA
>Finale, and go to the hot springs?
>
>Heck yeah we did.

Yesterday, I used the mechanics of the Unity Cup to finally propel Haru to a URA Finals Dirt Cup win after months of aggravation because she kept coming up short.

Today? Rice went to the Arima Kinen and stomped the competition, followed up by leading Blue Bloom to a Unity Cup trophy, then did the same in the URA Finals Medium Cup, before ending her career as only the second "A" ranked uma in my stable next to Bakushin.

*dabs eye* I'm so proud.

I love how Hishi Akebono's new-trainee screen depicts her as kaiju-size, stepping over the grandstand to crater the race course with her giant feet. :)

--G.
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>I love how Hishi Akebono's new-trainee screen depicts her as
>kaiju-size, stepping over the grandstand to crater the race course
>with her giant feet. :)

"Why does Akebono, the largest uma, not simply eat the other umas?"

Still amusing how the symbol of winning the Legends races is...shoes. That you then turn into a trophy.

"I've heard rumors about Digital, but how bad can she be?"

*One Career Later*

"..."

"There is something very wrong with this uma."

There are many things right with this uma, she is my spirit totem.

>"I've heard rumors about Digital, but how bad can she be?"
>
>"There is something very wrong with this uma."

Do you mean psychologically, or gameplay-wise?

Because I had her SR support card before her playable form released, and she is definitely on the irrational side of fandom.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

>Do you mean psychologically, or gameplay-wise?
>
>Because I had her SR support card before her playable form released,
>and she is definitely on the irrational side of fandom.

Oh, gameplay-wise she's good, though I have to rerun her career as I got confused by the QoL improvement that marks races that are part of existing events and wasted training time on races she could never win.

Psychologically? She just...comes on a little strong.

Long ago, Spectrum said:
>I don't understand why we need to spam click through Team race results
>and there's no "summarize all races" button.

This is fixed now! Quick Mode is available for team trials. I guess they implemented it as the same time as the "see all results for this round" button in the Unity Cup, which works the same way.

--G.
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I did it again... missed Hishi Akebono when her drop rate was up, and then pulled her on Agnes Digital's banner. What the heck, game?

Anyway, gosh, she's big and cheerful. Reminds me a bit of the late Derek Bacon, except he couldn't cook, and his sense of humor was weirder. :)

--G.
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With "Akebono" in her name, I'm not surprised she's big and cheerful.

>With "Akebono" in her name, I'm not surprised she's big and cheerful.

The only other Akebono I know of is a destroyer in Kancolle who is neither big nor cheerful. :)

--G.
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>>With "Akebono" in her name, I'm not surprised she's big and cheerful.
>
>The only other Akebono I know of is a destroyer in Kancolle who is
>neither big nor cheerful. :)

The RL Hishi Akebono was named in honor of Akebono Tarō, an American-born sumo wrestler who was popular at the time for being the first non-Japanese wrestler to reach the rank of yokozuna. Likewise, Hishi was American-born and weighed 560kg* when he won the Sprinters Stakes and remains the heaviest horse to win a G1 in JRA history.

*That's roughly 1235 lbs in freedom units
**The second-place runner in the same race, Biko Pegasus, only weighed 432kg by comparison. It's also why she shows up so much in Hishi's career.

As part of Rindependence, Rin Penrose continues her slow metamorphosis into an uma.

>As part of Rindependence,
>Rin Penrose continues her slow metamorphosis into an uma.

At some later point, she got that VRChat model recolored into her own scheme, completing the creation of TM Opera Rin.

--G.
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>>As part of Rindependence,
>>Rin Penrose continues her slow metamorphosis into an uma.
>
>At some later point, she got that VRChat model recolored into her own
>scheme, completing the creation of
>TM Opera Rin.

I didn't notice in the last one that she's got the Tracen Academy lobby too. (If you don't play the game, this is where the main screen happens.)

--G.
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I've only gotten the hot springs ticket three times, and two of them were with Silence Suzuka. Is it fate?

--G.
of course not, it's random chance. but still
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>I've only gotten the hot springs ticket three times, and two of them
>were with Silence Suzuka. Is it fate?
>
>--G.
>of course not, it's random chance. but still

Meanwhile, for the first time since I scouted her, I finally managed to complete Mihono's career and got the ticket...and then the Ticket Curse struck on the final race of the URA.

The dice giveth, the dice taketh away.

>>I've only gotten the hot springs ticket three times, and two of them
>>were with Silence Suzuka. Is it fate?
>
>Meanwhile, for the first time since I scouted her, I finally managed
>to complete Mihono's career and got the ticket...and then the Ticket
>Curse struck on the final race of the URA.
>
>The dice giveth, the dice taketh away.

Oh yeah, instead of "gotten" I should have said "gotten to". I've received the ticket but failed to reach the actual springs event a couple of times. In fact, the very first time I ever pulled the ticket during the raffle event?

Rice Shower. First attempt at her career.

Yeah, we, uh... we didn't make it. :/

--G.
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>Oh yeah, instead of "gotten" I should have said "gotten to". I've
>received the ticket but failed to reach the actual springs event a
>couple of times. In fact, the very first time I ever pulled the
>ticket during the raffle event?
>
>Rice Shower. First attempt at her career.
>
>Yeah, we, uh... we didn't make it. :/

Yeah, that was probably the one sore spot of the night. Needed five careers in 10 hours to meet the deadline for the latest "celebration" event.

First two were with Halloween Creek and Rice, won Unity Cup with the former and came close on the second.

Third was a Haru run that saw me finally win the Dirt URA Final cup, leaving me with only the Long cup to go.

Then I decided to roll the dice and retry two of my three* problem children, first running Mihono and coming up just short in the URA Finals but still beating her career with a B+.

For the final run of the night, decided to slam the "I'm Feelin' Lucky" button with the second problem child, Mayano Top Gun. Also came short in the URA Finals, but I still managed to beat her career and make her my third "A" uma along with the first** that managed a 2-star Speed finish.

It was...a good night.

*Third is Biwa Hayahide.
**Only topped earlier this evening by a Haru with 3-stars

O gods of game probability, I rarely come right out and ask you for anything--I have no tongue for it--but I beg you, I neeeeed vampire Rice Shower.

--G.
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>O gods of game probability, I rarely come right out and ask you for
>anything--I have no tongue for it--but I beg you, I neeeeed vampire
>Rice Shower.
>

After letting this brew in my head, I imagined Remilia talking about her fourth cousin, Rice Shower. Although now that I think about it, I suppose Rice could be the result of Count Victor's trip to Asia.

Either way, it's a bad idea.

Peter Eng
--
Bad idea! Bad idea!

>O gods of game probability, I rarely come right out and ask you for
>anything--I have no tongue for it--but I beg you, I neeeeed vampire
>Rice Shower.

I SAID VAMPIRE RICE SHOWER, NOT ENDLESS MUMMY PUNS SUPERFREAK

DAMMIT, GODS OF PROBABILITY, YOU HAD ONE JOB

--G.
super creek, super creek, she's super creeky
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I don't really have a ton of hope for Libra Cup because Long CMs are absolutely painful if you don't have a really good/whale deck, but I won't turn down this legacy/spark result in the process of training.

Not my first 9*, but diversity is good. :D

When my trainee is Sakura Bakushin O, and she's going full Bakushin, being told that my problem is a lack of speed is somewhat less than helpful.

Peter Eng
--
"Ach, the Uma canna go any faster, Trainer! If she pushes any harder, she'll collapse!"

>When my trainee is Sakura Bakushin O, and she's going full Bakushin,
>being told that my problem is a lack of speed is somewhat less than
>helpful.

My favorite "no shit, Sherlock" Tazuna message is when I'm running extracurricular races to build up skill points, my trainee gets rinsed, and Tazuna chimes in, "Your racer doesn't know many skills!" WHY DO YOU THINK I'M SCREWING AROUND WITH THE OPEN CLASS IN THE FIRST PLACE, TAZ?!

>"Ach, the Uma canna go any faster, Trainer! If she pushes any harder,
>she'll collapse!"

No no, that's Agnes Tachyon. (Who now has a Scottish accent in my head.)

--G.
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Flash and Falco's morning routine

>Flash and Falco's morning routine

On the subject of Tracen Academy dorm pairings, an Umamusume game blog went over all the known pairings as of Sept of this year.

Since it only goes to Sept, it missed the recent revelation of one of the enduring mysteries, which was who is Goldshi's roommate as it was assumed for the longest time that she roomed alone. But the mystery was recently solved: Her roommate is actually Stay Gold, a reference to how RL Gold Ship ended up inheriting his old man's paddock when he was retired to stud. Meanwhile, the reason why it seemed Goldshi was alone is because Steigo is supposed to be a Kino expie who's forever wandering.

And that also is because Stego is known for international races.

(Also memetic jokes about running away from the mares they're paired with)

LAST EDITED ON Nov-29-25 AT 03:26 PM (EST)
 
>And that also is because Stego is known for international races.
>
>(Also memetic jokes about running away from the mares they're paired
>with)

Personally love how quickly Stego went from "deadbeat dad who left to get milk" to "divorcee dad trying to get the kids back" after global fans learned just how abusive Point Flag really was.

>Flash and Falco's morning routine

Now I have Flash's theme song rattling around in my head.

--G.
she's just a mare with a mare's courage
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Maruzensky 1/7 Figure
Calstone Light O 1/7 Figure
Tokai Teio 1/4 Figure

Is Mihono Bourbon really a robot, or just a complete weirdo?

--G.
not that she'd be alone at Tracen if option 2; we all float down here
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I was re-reading an earlier Uma thread and came across this:

AIR GROOVE
Air Groove superior. Bakushin inferior.

While she's not in the line for Class President, I think that line might be Mihono Bourbon's.

Peter Eng
--
Insert humorous comment here.

Today's newest acquisition is...pink. Yegods, so much pink.

It's like King became so obsessed with the color after mothering Haru for 3 years that she said "Yes, I want my daughter to wear nothing but pink."

well, uh... thanks for that dupe of bikini Maruzensky, Manhattan Café banner. At least you didn't give me a new trainee I was actively not after, like Halloween Rice Shower's banner did...

--G.
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>well, uh... thanks for that dupe of bikini Maruzensky, Manhattan
>Café banner. At least you didn't give me a new trainee I was
>actively not after, like Halloween Rice Shower's banner did...

Spent weeks picking apart the New Trainer event, finally got the guaranteed 3★ coupon...and got bog-standard Maruzensky. Grandma, get out of my gacha pool, I'm trying to pull for Spe-chan!

LAST EDITED ON Dec-11-25 AT 02:22 AM (EST)
 
>Spent weeks picking apart the New Trainer event, finally got the
>guaranteed 3★ coupon...and got bog-standard Maruzensky. Grandma,
>get out of my gacha pool, I'm trying to pull for Spe-chan!

Maruzensky is such a troll. I watched Calli pull several hundred dollars' worth one night back when HoloEN members were streaming Uma, trying to get... I forget who... and in the course of not getting her target until the pity threshold, she pulled Maruzen something like five times.

--G.
many Tom & Jerry screams were uttered that night
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>Maruzensky is such a troll. I watched Calli pull several hundred
>dollars' worth one night back when HoloEN members were streaming
>Uma, trying to get... I forget who... and in the course of not getting
>her target until the pity threshold, she pulled Maruzen something like
>five times.

Maru is the Sendai of the Uma gacha pool.

>many Tom & Jerry screams were uttered that night

That's me on this new Half-Anniversary event that dropped the other day.

There is something about this game that punishes you if you try to aim for a specific target rather than just playing to max out stats and skills. Want the Triple Crown/Tiara? You'll lose one of the races. Going for a specific title? You'll fall short. And let's not forget the infamous Ticket Curse, which caused me to crash out yesterday when Haru came 2nd in the URA Finals.