Time passed week by week, and the anime "Uma Musume" consistently maintained the highest popularity among the April series.
As the main character, Special Week naturally enjoyed great popularity, but the second lead, Silence Suzuka, was no less popular.
Silence Suzuka didn't appear in many races in the first few episodes, but being the person the protagonist aspired to be already added a lot to her character.
Additionally, she had plenty of daily life scenes and often encouraged the protagonist before races.
In the protagonist's debut race, it was she who guided the protagonist and helped her regain her composure.
In the Derby, the protagonist encountered El Condor Pasa, who was undefeated in five races, and Seiun Sky, who had defeated her once before. Although she successfully overtook Seiun Sky midway and led the other horse girls, she was overtaken by El Condor Pasa with only 200 meters left, nearly losing the race.
It was only in the final 50 meters, upon seeing Silence Suzuka cheering for her, that she unleashed her inner potential, quickly caught up to El Condor Pasa, and ultimately crossed the finish line simultaneously with her, tying for first place in the Derby.
Then comes Episode 6. Although a large part of it is daily life at the school festival, everything outside of the festival portion is almost entirely about how invincible Silence Suzuka is.
El Condor Pasa and Grass Wonder from Team Rigil are both very popular and strong competitors; the former won the Derby alongside the main character, while the latter is an undefeated Junior Stakes champion.
However, from the very beginning of this race, Silence Suzuka takes the lead and just keeps running faster and faster. Even when El Condor Pasa and Grass Wonder unleash their bursts of speed midway through and overtake one horse after another, they still can't catch up to her at all.
In the end, as the announcer puts it: "The runner from another dimension, Silence Suzuka, crosses the finish line in first place!"
After crossing the line, Silence Suzuka keeps on running, completely unaware that she has already won.
By the time she realizes it and stops, she isn't even out of breath.
As for the horse girls behind her, whether it's El Condor Pasa or Grass Wonder, they all trail by a significant margin and are more or less disheartened.
In short, although she doesn't appear in many races, the impression she gives the audience is one of invincibility.
On top of that, as the second female lead, she's very gentle in her day-to-day life and has a hint of a stoic personality, which really strikes a chord with the audience.
Before this, there wasn't much discussion about Silence Suzuka, but by the sixth episode, which focused on her, her popularity exploded, and her fan base grew rapidly, leading to a surge in online discussion:
"Silence Suzuka is so strong, and so gentle too. I really love her so much."
"The sixth episode had me so excited, my heart was racing!"
"'Leading by a length, leaving everyone else in the dark.' That's the perfect way to describe Silence Suzuka."
"I want to see more of Silence Suzuka's races. The feeling of total dominance is so satisfying. Even though Special Week is the main character, she's often trailing at the start and only catches up in the mid-to-late stages. While it's great that she wins in the end, it just doesn't feel as satisfying."
"Silence Suzuka: 'Go ahead and chase me; if you can catch me, it's my loss.'"
"I've liked Silence Suzuka since she first appeared in episode one, and after episode six, I like her even more."
"She is truly invincible."
"From the moment Silence Suzuka appeared in episode one, I've loved her, and after episode six, I love her even more."
"She's truly invincible."
A group of people were expressing their love for the character Silence Suzuka.
Then, episode seven aired.
The first half mainly focused on the daily training routine and touched upon Silence Suzuka's plans—she intended to go to America to compete after the Japan Cup, and she had promised the protagonist that they would race together before then.
The second half was about the Tenno Sho, the race Silence Suzuka was participating in.
In this race, Silence Suzuka started in the number one gate and was the crowd favorite.
However, in the corridor leading to the track before the race began, her shoelace suddenly came undone, which gave people a bad feeling.
But apart from those who knew horse racing very well, most people didn't think much of it, assuming at worst she might just have a bad day and not take first place.
When the race officially started, Silence Suzuka was in the lead right from the beginning.
El Condor Pasa, who usually started catching up only in the middle or late stages, quickly moved into second place, running right behind Silence Suzuka.
However, not long after the race started, Silence Suzuka ran faster and faster, leaving El Condor Pasa far behind in no time, and the gap between her and the horse girls behind her kept widening.
In previous races, she had at least given other horse girls a chance to challenge her one-on-one, but this time, she didn't even give them that chance.
In the spectator stands, the entire crowd was in an uproar.
The trainer and the horse girls who came to watch the race were all stunned, and even the horse girls participating in the race were incredibly surprised, to the point of feeling a sense of despair.
In the spectator stands, the entire crowd was in an uproar.
The trainers and the horse girls who had come to watch were stunned, and even the horse girls participating in the race on the track were incomparably shocked, some even to the point of despair.
When Silence Suzuka finished the first 1000 meters, the speed clock showed she had taken only 57.4 seconds.
The two commentators said:
"Silence Suzuka is racing like the wind!"
"I have never seen any horse girl run at this speed before."
"She has already opened up a lead of several horse lengths; the venue has reached the peak of excitement today."
It was absurdly strong.
On the track, Silence Suzuka thought as she ran: "Whether it's power or stamina, I'm in prime condition right now. I can... run even faster!"
Then, she accelerated once more.
This time, the commentators were even more astonished: "She's accelerated again!"
The atmosphere of the entire stadium became even more heated.
Even the audience in front of their televisions was mostly stirred to excitement, and some viewers who didn't know much about horse racing were preparing to witness the legend of Silence Suzuka.
"Point Guard Is Here"
Just then, the camera suddenly zoomed in on Silence Suzuka's foot.
A tree blocked the view for a moment. When Silence Suzuka ran past it and reappeared in the audience's line of sight, her speed gradually slowed, becoming slower and slower, and her running form became a bit strange.
The racecourse, which had just been incredibly lively and filled with cheers, suddenly fell silent.
The trainers and the Uma Musume who had come to watch the race were, some with mouths agape, others covering their mouths, their eyes filled with shock.
In the end, it was El Condor Pasa who won the championship.
Silence Suzuka had sprained her leg, nearly fell, and was in a life-threatening situation. It was the main character, Special Week, who was the first to rush onto the track, support Silence Suzuka, hold her left foot, and help her lie down.
Then, an ambulance arrived, took Silence Suzuka to the hospital, where she was ultimately diagnosed with a fracture.
The more invincible Silence Suzuka seemed before, the more heart-wrenching this fracture scene was.
However, although this project was directed by Lin Zhiyan and even used his name for promotion before it aired, this anime was different from the heart-wrenching shows Lin Zhiyan had produced in the past.
It is not that there was no criticism; quite a few people complained about how painful it was. However, after the seventh episode aired, more people gave it positive reviews—one could even say it was met with overwhelming acclaim. Many viewers even thanked Lin Zhiyan and the animation production team for their creative changes to Silence Suzuka's fate.
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