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Gundam Are Jockeying for 1st Place at This Year's Arima Kinen Horse Racing Grand Prix
posted on by Victor Chaves
The organization for horse racing in Japan, the JRA, announced a joint promotion with Sunrise for the 63rd Arima Kinen G1 Grand Prix, where fans of the classic Mobile Suit Gundam series can see various aspects of their series fused into the world of horse racing.
The main attraction is a specially-made website that has various characters from the Mobile Suit Gundam anime series interacting with horse racing in interesting ways. The main attraction are the new videos where the original voice actors dub over horse races like they are participating in a mobile suit battle.
Another part of the site includes a game starring titular character Char as he raises horses and learns the finer points of what is involved in horse racing. Finally, the site also includes a gacha-style Haro horse racing ticket dispenser, where users can print out randomly generated Mobile Suit Gundam-themed tickets. In addition, if the user clicks the Twitter link below the resulting ticket, they will be entered into a contest to get an A.I. Haro figure or one of the five 100,000 yen (US$900) gift cards.
Beyond the website, at Sanagi Shinjuku and the Tokyo Race Grounds, various events will be taking place. Amuro voice actor Tōru Furuya will participate in a talk show and a Kitasan Black-themed Gundam Model will be on display to admire. Kitasan Black is famous Japanese racehorse known for setting the record for prize money wins.
The 63rd Arima Kinen G1 Horse Race Grand Prix kicks off on December 23 at the Nakayama Racecourse in Funabashi, Chiba.