April 16th, a little past 11 PM.
Keiichiro Ohara finally finished his work-related socializing and returned home, reeking of alcohol.
The living room lights were on, and the sound of the TV could be heard.
"Stupid kid, staying up late and watching anime again," Keiichiro Ohara muttered to himself.
His wife had to get up early tomorrow to cook, so she must be asleep already. At this hour, the only person still watching TV, other than his own otaku son, Yugo Ohara, couldn't be anyone else.
Though he grumbled inwardly, Keiichiro Ohara wasn't actually that angry. After all, his son was already in high school, and it wasn't as if he was in the middle of entrance exam preparations; he had only just started his first year of high school, so it wouldn't be right to forbid him from watching.
Besides, kids these days all have smartphones. Even if he didn't let him watch TV, he could just use his phone instead. There were even many who would play on their phones all night and sleep through their classes the next day.
As long as it wasn't too excessive, there was no need to manage it that much.
Still, if possible, he would prefer it if his son spent his time and energy on his studies rather than staying up late to watch anime.
Thinking this, he sighed and said, "I'm home."
After changing into his indoor shoes and entering the living room, he took a glance and sure enough, his son was watching anime.
"Welcome back, Dad," Yugo Ohara said perfunctorily, his eyes barely leaving the television.
Keiichiro Ohara didn't say anything.
He went to the kitchen, grabbed a glass, poured himself some water, and then sat down on the living room sofa.
He had intended to just have a drink to quench his thirst and take a quick rest before going to take a shower, but suddenly, the subtitles on the anime caught his attention.
"Special Week?"
"Vodka?"
"Daiwa Scarlet, Gold Ship, Silence Suzuka?"
"Aren't these all the names of racehorses?"
Keiichiro Ohara couldn't help but feel puzzled.
Beside him, his son Yugo Ohara nodded: "Yeah, this anime is called 'Uma Musume', it's a story where real-life racehorses are turned into girls."
"Turning real-life racehorses into girls? What kind of twisted idea is that? What kind of bastard company produced this anime?" Keiichiro Ohara's first reaction was that he couldn't accept it.
However, he soon heard his son, Yugo Ohara, say: "It was produced by LSP, the animation studio founded by Hayashi Tomohiko, the director of Your Name. This anime is licensed by the Horse Racing Association, and it's very professional. It's not some devilish thing like you think."
"The production company behind Your Name..."
Although Keiichiro Ohara hadn't watched the anime, he had heard of it, knew of Hayashi Tomohiko as an animation director, and was aware that he was a very talented and remarkable person.
Since it was produced by Hayashi Tomohiko's studio and licensed by the Horse Racing Association, he didn't say anything further.
However...
"Very professional?"
He was suddenly a bit curious. Could it really maintain its professionalism after turning racehorses into beautiful girls?
Is that for real?
He took a sip of water, placed the cup on the table, and began to watch it seriously with his son.
Seeing this, Yugo Ohara couldn't focus on the anime anymore; instead, he watched it while helping to explain the plot of the first two episodes.
The first episode is about the main character, Special Week, coming to Tokyo from the countryside to transfer to Tracen Academy. However, on her way there, she gets confused and gets off the train one stop early.
She had originally intended to go straight to school, but since there happened to be a race nearby, she decided to visit the racetrack first.
Watching a race for the first time, she became captivated by Silence Suzuka, who won the race with an overwhelming lead.
Upon arriving at the school, she learned from her classmates that Silence Suzuka was a horse girl on Team Rigil, so she decided to take the team's entrance test, hoping to join them.
However, the team only had room for one more horse girl, and only the one who finished first in the test would be eligible to join.
Lacking any racing experience, Special Week was a beat slow at the start. Although she managed to surge forward in the latter half, overtaking one horse girl after another, she ultimately failed to take first place, which went to a horse girl named "El Condor Pasa."
After the test, as the main character, Special Week, was feeling dejected, she was suddenly hooded, abducted to Team Spica, and invited to join them.
As it turned out, Silence Suzuka wasn't satisfied with her time on Team Rigil and had transferred to Team Spica, so the protagonist joined the team as well.
Later, upon returning to the dormitory, she discovered that she was actually roommates with Silence Suzuka.
The second episode tells the story of the main character, Special Week's, debut race. Although she was nervous and anxious before the race, she regained her composure after receiving guidance from Silence Suzuka. Once the race officially began, she started off slower than the other horse girls, but just like the test with Team Rigil, she quickly overtook one horse girl after another, eventually winning the championship and receiving cheers from the entire crowd.
And then there is the third episode tonight.
The first half of this episode recounts the Satsuki Sho, a race that can only be entered after achieving three consecutive wins.
Her opponents included the most popular "King Halo" and the third most popular "Seiun Sky," while the main character's popularity ranked second.
King Halo was full of confidence: "Let me show you a running style worthy of the name King."
Seiun Sky, however, had a laid-back attitude: "Sorry to disappoint your expectations, but I'll just run leisurely today."
"Special Week and Seiun Sky, huh? Rivals for life," Keiichiro Ohara suddenly said in front of the television.
The race began. For once, the main character, Special Week, didn't get off to a slow start, but she was quickly overtaken by Seiun Sky, who had said she would "just run leisurely." Furthermore, Seiun Sky ran faster and faster, soon taking the lead over all the other horse girls. In contrast, the main character, Special Week, only made it to third place by the final straight.
Then, there happened to be an uphill section on the straight track.
After all, as a horse girl from the countryside, uphill terrain was her forte. Far from slowing down, she accelerated and surged forward, quickly overtaking the runner-up and giving chase to the leader, Seiun Sky.
With only 100 meters left, Seiun Sky ran for all she was worth, but the main character's momentum was simply too strong. In the final stretch, she successfully overtook Seiun Sky and clinched the championship.
The whole arena erupted in cheers!
"She actually won?" Yugo Ohara was somewhat surprised.
The main character hadn't lost a single race since her debut. With Seiun Sky's incredibly strong start this time, and having just heard his father, Keiichiro Ohara, call the two "lifelong rivals," he had assumed she would lose to Seiun Sky. He hadn't expected her to win.
Keiichiro Ohara didn't say anything, but inwardly he muttered, "This animation is actually pretty good... it gives me the same feeling I had when I used to watch horse racing."
More importantly, he seemed to recognize this race from reality; aside from the fact that the racehorses were now horse girls, it was quite faithful to the original.
No wonder the Horse Racing Association was willing to grant the license.
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