Uma Musume – Episode 8 – Special’s Suzuka Obsession

Given that Suzuka injured herself, Special looked after her ever since. Is Special forgetting something?

After a few months, Suzuka is still recovering. However, Special Week lost the Japan Cup, only placing in 3^rd place. After celebrating New Years, several months have passed while the girls work on their new goals. Eventually, Suzuka is able to run again, but not in a race yet. During that time, Suzuka looked after her.

During the days before the Takarazuka Kinen, Grass Wonder becomes worried about Special. Special won’t eat lunch with her friends and only want to spend time with Suzuka. She eventually recieve Special’s attention after class and takes her and Suzuka to lunch with Seiun Sky. Suzuka eventually shares her experiences recovering so far and Grass Wonder gives her some tips. Eventually, Special reveals that she wants to become cool like Suzuka, which surprises Grass Wonder.

At the day of the Takarazuka Kinen, Grass Wonder is in a completely different mood. While Special manages to take the lead, Grass Wonder eventually outpaced her. Special couldn’t catch up as if she doesn’t have any real drive. In the end, Special only got second place and lost. She becomes upset and headed to the sadness well until Trainer confronted her. He asked about her goals and Special said she wants to run with Suzuka. The trainer has her think about the promise and Special soon realizes it.

As expected, the drama continues. Surprisingly, it’s not about Suzuka, but Special instead. While it’s nice to see Suzuka recover, Special’s behavior is somewhat strange. Ever since Suzuka injured herself, Special forgot about her actual goal. It’s obvious that she has a crush on Suzuka and it’s understandable that she wants to help her recover. However, Special’s obsession for Suzuka is going to become detrimental  since she will lose sight on her goals.

It’s interesting how Special makes forgetting her actual goal apparent when she interacts with Grass Wonder. She basically skips lunch with her to be with Suzuka. Of course, Grass Wonder bound to find out sooner than later and use it to her advantage to win. Still, it’s interesting to see Grass Wonder share her disappointment towards Special for not putting in all her effort into the race. This is obviously a wakeup call for Special.

While the Trainer wasn’t harsh on her, he points out this fact. It’s interesting to see Special’s reaction when she realizes that she forgot about her mother’s promise. She started crying shortly after.

It’s understandable that Special wants Suzuka to recover so she can race with her. However, this can’t just be her main goal since she won’t win races. If she wants to win, she needs to focus on her goal and not have her mind focused only on Suzuka. It’s okay to obsess about her on her free time, but Special needs to give everything she got to reach her actual goal. Hopefully she will realize this next time. ¶