Yeah, this one is a tad too obvious after the last one, huh?
Tazuna at least was based on a horse from the literal black and white era that requires extra steps to find the racing colors of and whose motif didn’t become evident until she had more screentime.
But the chairman? If her hair wasn’t an indicator that she’s not a human, and the cat didn’t give it away, the way that her dress matches Northern Taste’s coat (not coat as in fur, coat as in literal coat for the cold) might do it.
Has anyone ever noticed how, even if her shoes don’t match the white spots in the rear legs of the real one, she holds her fan on the same hand that would be the real one’s front leg with a white spot? I always thought that was cool.
Kinda like how her cat has a horseshoe-shaped spot.
The idea of making Northern Taste the chairman of the academy is such an elegant move too.
Thematically, Northern Taste was the first time that Japanese horse racing had a leading sire that remained with the title for as long as it did, really giving it the impression of a horse that was quietly looking over the next generations. This actually aligns with the Chairman, who not only is willing to even sacrifice her own funds to help other girls, but apparently also got the role relatively young, mirroring how Northern Taste was basically thrown into the Leading Sire role from very early on.
In practical terms, it means that you don’t create this single all-consuming and ever-present Senpai. By making her an authority figure she’s looked up to or deferred to by default, and by being the Chairman, her presence is naturally limited.
The Chairman is, funnily enough despite her limited screentime, one of my favorite characters in the franchise.
I already have a soft spot for that sort of free-spirited character, but the thing is that the moment that you wonder how someone like that gets and remains in a position of power (in a broadly ideallistic world like Uma Musume’s at least) she gets a moment that shows you why that is.
The Chairman has two really strong qualities on her side. I mean, technically three if you count her free-spiritedness, but that’s more of a character trait.
The first is her passion to help other girls achieve her dreams. She’s as hands-on as she can be in her position, as seen by how every single trainer apparently gets to talk to her after being accepted, where she asks them what their dream is. You also see it as early as the first training scenario, the URA Finals are her own creation, with the idea being broadly to create a very flashy final showdown for all the girls no matter their path in training, one last challenge to prove they’re the best of the best amongst their peers and motivate them in whatever training path they choose to undertake.
And the second one is her skill in reading people and judging character. While this shows in many ways big and small, the biggest is probably how in the second scenario (Aoharu Cup), when she had to leave overseas, she appointed Riko Kashimoto Riko-chan as the deputy Chairman in her absence. In the process, Riko-chan stirs controversy and finally moves on from her failures to go back into becoming a trainer. You get the distinct impression that the chairman chose her on purpose for this reason.
Oh by the way, the chairman is voiced by Kaori Mizuhashi, who has been everything from Laharl in Disgaea, to Mami in Madoka, to Yagyu in Senran Kagura, to… you get the idea. She’s been around for a while.
You gotta wonder how they would handle a horse with even more descendants though, let alone DIRECT descendants.
Like, can you imagine if there was a horse with 27 out of the 105 current girls related to it? Some really prolific horse that 12 girls out of 105 would in theory call father in real life?
In the business… we call this “foreshadowing”.