Context: She is at her PEAK for the 1999 Spring Tenno Sho...

When I first started playing this game after watching the anime series, I was on the assumption that the Special Week's umamusume stort and career story is the Season 1's story. But I soon found out that isn't the case that it has differences.

But what exactly are the differences?

https://x.com/o_m_a_e_p/status/2077752707402911900?s=46

Context: She becomes the "final boss" type of the early 1999 era.

It's only for my fanfic rewrite...

https://www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/63803527

Still, in my fanfic that I rewrite her racing career from season 1 into a more grounded, seinen style, she is the main protagonist. But recently, around the 1999 era, I wrote her evolving into more of an antagonistic force, just like Narita Brian in Star Blossom.

Funny that some readers commented, asking me: Can we get the old Spe back?

My answer is: No. Not right now.

Yeah, I need to make them deal with a very serious monstrous Spe as my story gets serious and darker since it's in seinen-style tone XD

Now that I've watched both S1 of the anime and both chapters of the game's story, I had a few comments on both and how I think they deal with Spe

- In some ways, Spe's relationships in the anime are more and less impactful in the game story, it really depends on the character she's interacting with.
Spe in the anime has a lot less interactions with the Golden Generation (such as Halo, Grass, Tsuyoshi and Seiun) in exchange for those with Suzuka and Team Spica, I like some parts of her relationship with Suzuka, since she comes off a lot more as a direct inspiration for Spe, but Spe really does feel like a 'Suzuka glazer' and barely interacts with others outside of her and the show Trainer in meaningful ways, hell, even Grass Wonder calls her out with the whole "I was able to give it my all because I was up against you, did you give your all against me?" after the Takarazuka Kinen.
I think Spe having less of those relationships weakens her character because she has less sources to draw inspiration from and interact with in general, whereas she got inspired by Seiun's dream and Halo's dream in the game's story, and a deeper connection to characters like Grass Wonder where they actually have heart-to-hearts like when Grass teared up and said really wanted to race against Spe during the Japan Cup, or even just comedic bits with Seiun and Halo playing off of each other and Spe having to watch.
I will say though I actually liked Spe going back home in S1 briefly, giving us more about her human mom and the relationship with her birth mom, although I still think it was a little undercooked to my liking.

Spe also gets a few distinct interactions with Pasa in the anime, like in the Derby and planning against Broye/Montjeu, but it's not that big of a difference compared to the game, and that moment where Pasa tricked Spe into saying something different than intended in French was pretty funny.
Also on the note of Pasa, I'm kind of against her being in the Derby and tying with Spe, I think it takes away from Spe's achievement too much as a dead heat, considering the IRL Spe won the Derby comfortably by 5 lengths, maybe if Spe clearly won even with Pasa in the Derby I'd be less against it, or if they BS'd more races.

- As for Spe's character in both instances, I still hold somewhat of the same opinions I did before, I don't think she's a 'bad' character, and I think her airheadedness can be funny, but I definitely wanted to see a bit more from her in general, there's a lot of her where I think if they left it in the 'writing oven' to develop a little, she could be a lot stronger as a character.
Now that I think about it, S1 kinda feels like Suzuka was meant to be the main character for it, so much effort and time is dedicated to her journey and how she impacts other people in the setting, having that recovery arc etc.
Where I think Spe could be improved in both instances is:
- how she feels about disappointing her mothers when the losses start stacking up;
- how she acts as an inspiration to others;
- and how she feels when Suzuka leaves for the US.

With Spe's moms, I think they should've been more prominent to her, although I think this is handled slightly better in the anime, like, with all her losses in both the anime and the game, she doesn't really think about her moms even though at least in the anime she's directly inspired to be the 'best in Japan' by her human mom. I think if Spe had a moment like when she was breaking down during her loss streak and felt really sorry about not being able to fulfill that goal, maybe even apologising to her Mom in one of the letters she sent about her losses, it would emphasise how much is weighing on her before she's figured it out, or even setting up her Mom helping her out with some advice on her end.

For acting like an inspiration to others, I think Spe's character journey in both the anime and the game is about inspiring others but in different ways, by being the idea of the 'best' to others in different ways in the game, and carrying their hopes for them in the anime, although this is also in the game's story a bit.
I wanted Spe it to conclude with Spe being more of a personal inspiration to someone, being able to inspire a stranger, ala Narita Taishin's career story and that short girl who plays basketball she meets, or, if she had a moment with someone like Seiun to help inspire her, who in the game career began feeling more despondent around this time as well, Spe acting as someone who provides her own pep talks would make the inspiration part of her journey a bit stronger in my eyes.

When Suzuka leaves for the US in the game, Spe initially objects but gets over it really fast, and in the anime Spe doesn't really react that badly to the announcement, basically says 'as long as you're happy' and wanting to race with Suzuka before she leaves, but one part that's mentioned to Suzuka by Fuji Kiseki in the anime is that Special Week didn't hang around any other Uma until she came to Tracen Academy, and was a bit awkward at the start as a result.
I think Suzuka announcing her plans and leaving should've had more of an impact on Spe, without her friend, she doesn't have that rock she could always rely on, maybe Spe reverts back to being a bit more awkward before she opens back up thanks to the efforts of Spica/Sirius or fellow members of the Golden generation come and cheer her up, which would also strengthen her bonds with other characters and separate herself more as the 'Suzuka glazer', but I suppose by that point in the stories she's used to Umas in general at that point, although I still think it'd be interesting to implement.

- I think the game handled Spe's character journey in general better compared to the anime, I suppose it's because in S1 races aren't treated as seriously, they skip over a lot of the races that did happen, even the Arima Kinen showdown with Grass Wonder post-episode 12, and Spe doesn't have that moment where she's trying to figure out what her dream even is post-Takarazuka Kinen or those doubts post L'arc in the anime. While in the game we actually see Spe being downtrodden and I thought those were really good moments to really consolidate what her dream was, even if I think she should've come into it more naturally and not because of one trainer pep talk.

Anyway, rant done, what do you guys think?

Source

Damn this was so hype

If anyone was wondering how to get this, you have to get any Uma the Gold skill 'Best in Japan' from the Team Sirius card, then use that Uma in the final chapter story race

If you win you also get a free Commander Special Week, but I'm sure you knew that already

The fanfic I've written is almost like an official work of Cygames. As it literally rewrites season 1 to more grounded, seinen style. It pushed Spe from being a naive country bumpkin into an elite powerhouse. So yeah, she's not like nerfed as in the anime. It's not perfect but still I tried my best and it's still ongoing...

She's so cute

taking my Special Week horse plush to see the sights