Uma Musume: Title Holder Joins the Roster, Fans Honor the Real Horse

Japanese fan reactions (excerpted from 293)

• I mean, he was racing at his peak right when Uma Musume itself was blowing up — so a ton of people have a real personal attachment to him.

  てかウマ娘が盛り上がってる時期にちょうど活躍してた馬だから思い入れある人多そう

  — @ぬっこここ12376 likes

• Honestly though, Taiho is surprisingly small. I still remember seeing him in the paddock at the Nikkei Sho in person and being shocked he was smaller than I'd pictured.

  いや、タイホ君意外と小さいのよ。 日経賞の時のパドックを現地で見て思っていたより小さくてびっくりした記憶

  — @藤黄色121 likes

• He's "way bigger than his sister" and nothing more — by racehorse standards he's just average size, right?

  「姉よりははるかに大きい」だけで競走馬としては平均的ですよね。

  — @イサムフジ41 likes

• Apparently his body weight as a foal was only slightly more than his sister, who was born at just 20kg (the average is 50kg). Honestly it's more like "wow, look how big he managed to grow!"

  産まれた時、20kgだった姉(平均は50kgです)に毛が生えたような馬体重だったそうですから むしろよく大きくなったな！て感じ

  — @Sera-or318 likes

• Taiho worked hard to grow big, okay.

  タイホも頑張って大きくしたんだよ

  — @tonbotokiki19 likes

• If a guy who looks like this still can't say no to his tiny older sister, that's delicious gap-moe material.

  この見目でちっちゃい姉には頭が上がらないとかだとギャップ萌え的には美味しい

  — @Amagi_Erika3 likes

• He went through a slump, his father and his younger brother both have accomplishments, and he finally broke through thanks to a "sun-like" kid… that's the kind of Trainer he is.

  迷走したことがあって、お父さんも弟も実績があって、太陽みたいな子の活躍で一皮剥けて……そんなトレーナー。

  — @荒城の月57 likes

• Note: he announced himself at the Yayoi Sho just two weeks after the Uma Musume game launched, and won the Kikuka Sho that same year. A huge number of us launch-day Trainers got our brains fried by this guy.

  ※ゲームウマ娘リリースの2週間後の弥生賞で名乗りをあげた同年の菊花賞馬です 初期勢トレーナーは相当数が脳を焼かれています

  — @schatz877089 likes

• I still vividly remember the internet's reaction the moment he won the Kikuka Sho…

  未だに菊花賞勝った時のネットでの反応は強烈に覚えてる…

  — @ほいける-i6e9 likes

• That year was honestly so much fun… (getting sentimental)

  あの年マジで楽しかったなぁ（しみじみ）

  — @pheno-xenon23375 likes

• Us app players are cursed: the moment the 2021 generation shows up, our brains get fried, no exceptions.

  アプリ組は21世代が参戦すると無条件で脳が焼かれる呪いにかかっているんだよ

  — @saitoua51917 likes

• At first I figured a horse literally named "Title Holder" had to be some joke horse — then he actually went and became a title holder, and I remember being floored 😅

  当初は、名前にタイトルホルダーと付けてるギャグ馬かな？と思ってたら、本当にタイトルホルダーになったから驚いた思い出😅

  — @羽菜たろう17 likes

• I love his "soul of the escape" front-running run at the 2023 Arima Kinen way too much. I genuinely want the game to recreate that race, so please add the other horses from it too…

  23有馬記念魂の逃げが好きすぎるんだ あのレースの再現が本当に見たいので周辺の馬たちも是非・・

  — @st-yi1by69 likes

• All 16 horses bunch up tight! No — it's 15, one is out front!! It's Title Holder!!!

  16頭がギュッと固まる！ いや15頭だ1頭前を行っている！！ タイトルホルダーだ！！！

  — @百合仙人_2g8 likes

• I loved the owner's speech at his retirement ceremony, so I hope they work that into his character too.

  引退式のオーナーの語りが好きだったからそっちの要素も取り入れてくれたらいいな

  — @malkyrie516 likes

• This means Efforia and Shahryar are coming too… right?! I'm allowed to hope for Equinox, Do Deuce and Panthalassa too… right?! And Contrail, please come too!!

  エフフォーリアとシャフリヤールも来るってことだよね…！？ イクイノックスとドウデュースとパンサラッサにも期待していいんですよね…！？ コントレイルも来てくれー！

  — @toarukengou5254130 likes

• I never expected them to have her speak the tagline from his "Hero Chronicles" feature word-for-word as her intro line. And now that Taiho's here, Efforia, Shahryar and Equinox suddenly feel a lot closer too.

  ヒーロー列伝のキャッチコピーをそのまま紹介台詞で喋るとは思わんかった　 そしてタイホが来たならエフフォーリアやシャフリヤール　イクイノックスも近くなってきたな

  — @2マリー-g1v40 likes

• Efforia, Do Deuce, Panthalassa, and his big sister too — come on!!! This kid's Trainer has some connection to Sky's and Ryan's Trainer, doesn't he??

  エフフォ、おドウ、パンサ、そしてお姉ちゃんもきて！！！ この子のトレーナーはスカイとライアンのトレーナーと縁があるな？？

  — @kantannguuusu386736 likes

• I want to meet Melody Lane (his sister) so badly 🤩

  メロディーレーンに逢いたい🤩

  — @恵那桔梗28 likes

• If Taiho's here, then they HAVE to bring his little sister Lane along too……… (sense of duty)

  タイホくん来たならレーンちゃんも連れてこないと………(使命感)

  — @平仲徹-s8s78 likes

• If Taiho's here, his big sister Lane has to be just around the corner too, right? Which means another of Orfevre's daughters joins the roster.

  タイホくん来たならお姉ちゃんのレーンちゃんも秒読みやろか？だとしたらオルの娘がまた増えるのか

  — @naoyoshi-zero36 likes

• If Equinox and Do Deuce actually show up my brain is going to melt.

  イクイとおドウが来ちゃったら脳が焼ける

  — @overblue164038 likes

• Yokayoka! Add Yokayoka too!! I'm begging you!!!!

  ヨカヨカ！ヨカヨカも来てくれ！！頼む！！！！

  — @Georges_jp22 likes

• I figured they were due to drop a surprise reveal, but this one's way too huge.

  隠し玉そろそろ来ると思ったらでかすぎるだろこれは

  — @楓月-r6k17 likes

• Silver Sonic: "If you're doing the Spring Tenno Sho, then it's not just little Lane — add me too, the one running right behind him who gave him a real run for his money."

  シルヴァーソニック「春天やるならレーンちゃんだけじゃなくて後ろ走っていい勝負した私も」

  — @akateganinasu59 likes

• That was… the race where your jockey was riding with everything he had, right? And you proudly stood in the frame during Taiho's photo shoot afterward, too.

  君それ…騎手が魂の騎乗してた時だよね？ しかもタイホくんの写真撮影でその姿を堂々としてたよね

  — @シライヌ-v7r19 likes

• If they lean hard into the Kazuo flavor, his Trainer could be one of the most ideal-prince-charming Trainers in all of Uma Musume. The second they win the Nikkei Sho, you just know he'd hug Title Holder shouting "WE DID IT!!"

  和生成分強めだとウマ娘史上最強クラスのスパダリトレーナーになりそう。 日経賞勝ったら『やったぞー！！』って言いながらタイトルホルダーに抱きつきそう。

  — @モブのおっさん29 likes

• Seeing that her build resembles Sei's, I started to think there's a thematic link in how they both front-run the Kikuka Sho.

  体格がセイちゃんと似てるのを見て、菊花賞の逃げ方繋がりがあるのかと思った

  — @bulletyou321644 likes

• After all, their jockeys are a real father-and-son pair.

  騎手も親子ですからね。

  — @東ミハル9 likes

• Nori-san himself is a Yokoyama Jr., so in a way the Yokoyama family is racing's own royal family.

  ノリさん自体も横山Jr.だし横山家はある意味ロイヤルファミリー

  — @tonbotokiki5 likes

• Duramente also gave off a cool-type impression when she first appeared in the anime, but once her in-game model dropped and you actually raised her, she showed off her cute side too — maybe this design follows that same lineage.

  ドゥラメンテもアニメ初登場の時にかっこいい系印象受けたけどアプリでモデル出て育成されたらかわいい所も出して来たしその流れ汲んだデザインかな

  — @きょうが-g8w11 likes

• This era of racehorses is probably a direct bullseye for anyone who got into the hobby through Uma Musume itself.

  このあたりの競走馬はおそらくウマ娘からハマった人にストライクすぎる

  — @蛍丸-z1o1 likes

• While his peers' offspring are debuting and other peers are becoming Uma Musume characters, the Deep Monster has reached his awakening and still keeps on running to this day.

  同期の産駒がデビューし、別の同期がウマ娘になる中、覚醒の時を迎え今も尚走り続けるディープモンスター

  — @たま-h7n1m5 likes

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