{"id":50483,"date":"2025-07-29T22:00:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/?p=50483"},"modified":"2025-07-29T11:23:29","modified_gmt":"2025-07-29T02:23:29","slug":"japanese-legendary-horse-grandpa-gains-worldwide-audience-thanks-to-umamusume-pretty-derbys-global-release","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-legendary-horse-grandpa-gains-worldwide-audience-thanks-to-umamusume-pretty-derbys-global-release\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese \u201clegendary horse grandpa\u201d gains worldwide audience thanks to Umamusume: Pretty Derby\u2019s global release\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Several <strong>Umamusume: Pretty Derby<\/strong> character designs are directly inspired by their real-life counterparts. As demonstrated by elderly <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@old-man-show\/featured\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">YouTuber Matchan<\/a> through his now viral Umamusume guessing videos, even a non-Umamusume fan can figure out the namesakes of the horse girls, provided they are well-versed in Japan\u2019s horse racing scene. According to his channel, Matchan has 40 years of horse racing experience, and the extent of his knowledge has left Umamusume fans in awe.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u3010\u30a6\u30de\u5a18\u3011\u7af6\u99ac\u6b7440\u5e74\u306e\u723a\u306f\u99ac\u540d\u3092\u5f53\u3066\u3089\u308c\u308b\u306e\u304b\uff01\uff1f\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/InjyoN-vxsw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>While Matchan uses the Umamusumes\u2019 defining physical features (such as their hair color and racing outfits) to figure out their names, the winning clues are the hints he receives regarding the real horse counterpart\u2019s history. From the death of the real Special Week\u2019s mother during childbirth to the real Rice Shower\u2019s unfortunate leg injury during the 1995 Takarazuka Kinen, Matchan\u2019s knowledge of Japanese race horses would impress any Umamusume fan.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Posted in 2021, roughly four months after Umamusume: Pretty Derby\u2019s Japan release, Matchan\u2019s first Umamusume guessing video has garnered over 4 million views to date. This is thanks in no small part to the game\u2019s global release last month, as indicated by the flood of new comments in English.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"\u5b9f\u88c5\u524d\u306b\u307e\u3063\u3061\u3083\u3093\u304c\u63cf\u3044\u305f\u30a6\u30de\u5a18 1\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/F_QsJb4bXIw?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Matchan has since expanded his love for Umamusume in various ways, such as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=NtZolWplESY\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">watching the anime<\/a>, playing <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/lm9v9vOnjvA?si=loM69snHjVuOOYD4\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Umamusume: Pretty Derby<\/a>, and, of course, <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/Hv0T48ApByQ?feature=shared\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">doing more guessing videos<\/a>. Given the number of Japanese racehorses and Umamusumes, Matchan has a wealth of content to explore and share with his viewers. While his channel features other topics as well, his Umamusume videos seem to be the heavy hitters.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube wp-embed-aspect-16-9 wp-has-aspect-ratio\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"legend\u306a\u30a6\u30de\u723a\u306flegends\u306e\u30a6\u30de\u5a18\u3092\u5f53\u3066\u3089\u308c\u308b\u306e\u304b\uff1f\" width=\"1160\" height=\"653\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-Qm3l1dNvEY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>From recreating historic races in the anime to establishing <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/why-does-umamusume-pretty-derby-have-specific-rules-against-sexual-or-violent-fanart\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">strict guidelines for derivative works<\/a>, Cygames puts a lot of effort into ensuring <a href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/umamusume-pretty-derby-fans-send-a-retired-japanese-racehorse-hundreds-of-kilograms-of-ryegrass-to-eat-crash-donation-site-servers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">the horses that inspired Umamusume<\/a> are well-represented and recognizable.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Umamusume: Pretty Derby is available for iOS, Android, and PC (<a href=\"https:\/\/store.steampowered.com\/app\/3224770\/Umamusume_Pretty_Derby\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Steam<\/a>).&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Matchan, a 72-year-old horse racing veteran, is blowing up for his Umamusume: Pretty Derby content on YouTube.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":67,"featured_media":50485,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[17],"class_list":["post-50483","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-japan-related-news"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Japanese \u201clegendary horse grandpa\u201d gains worldwide audience thanks to Umamusume: Pretty Derby\u2019s global release\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Matchan, a 72-year-old horse racing veteran, is blowing up for his Umamusume: Pretty Derby content on YouTube.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-legendary-horse-grandpa-gains-worldwide-audience-thanks-to-umamusume-pretty-derbys-global-release\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japanese \u201clegendary horse grandpa\u201d gains worldwide audience thanks to Umamusume: Pretty Derby\u2019s global release\u00a0 - AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Matchan, a 72-year-old horse racing veteran, is blowing up for his Umamusume: Pretty Derby content on YouTube.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/news\/japanese-legendary-horse-grandpa-gains-worldwide-audience-thanks-to-umamusume-pretty-derbys-global-release\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"AUTOMATON WEST\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-07-29T13:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/automaton-media.com\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/20250729-50483-header.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1275\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"705\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@AUTOMATON_ENG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Carlos &quot;Zoto&quot; Zotomayor\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Japanese \u201clegendary horse grandpa\u201d gains worldwide audience thanks to Umamusume: Pretty Derby\u2019s global release\u00a0 - 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