- “Just as my esteemed mother once did, I must train to perfection and lead others along my path!”
- ―Air Groove
Air Groove (エアグルーヴ, Ea Gurūvu) is a character in the Umamusume franchise, introduced in the Umamusume: Pretty Derby mobile game. She is a student at Tracen Academy serving as the school's student council vice-president. She is a member of Team Rigil training under Hana Toujou.
Because of her top class abilities, she is praised with the title "Empress," an Umamusume who strives to fulfill every one of her responsibilities perfectly.
Profile[]
The vice president of Tracen Academy's student council, known to the other students as the "Empress." The daughter of an accomplished racer, she constantly strives to live up to her mother's racing prowess and ability to guide others. To this end, she has joined her friend and confidant, Symboli Rudolf, in the student council. Despite her tight schedule, she still makes time to tend the flowers in the garden.
Personality[]
Air Groove is recognized as a strict, responsible, and reliable Umamusume by the other students of Tracen Academy. She is as hard on others as she is on herself, and often has a sharp and formal manner of speaking. However, Air Groove is friendly and lighthearted when the situation allows her to be. She's secretly somewhat of a romantic and is flustered when the softer sides of her are noticed. She takes holidays very seriously and will insist that the trainer take a break to celebrate properly. She can be blunt and dry when handling silly nonsense, but is attentive and tactful when addressing vulnerability or earnestness.
Air Groove is strongly empathetic and sacrifices her time without hesitation for the sake of the entire student body, even while carrying an immense number of responsibilities and the weight of pursuing her career. She's deeply compassionate and devotes herself wholeheartedly to caring for others, both through her generosity and her will to show that no goal is unreachable for those who are truly determined to succeed. She has never been known to lose her patience as the student council's vice president, and will dutifully set time aside to help others resolve unexpected situations. She additionally goes out of her way to observe and humbly advise other students whom she sees struggling.
She enters her career fully aware of the expectations she bears and is undaunted by the knowledge that she will only be under more pressure as her school years go on. She "turns her anxieties into responsibility" and enters every race with unwavering confidence. She doesn't allow herself to be too terribly caught up in victories, and borders on punishing herself too severely for defeats. Still, with or without the encouragement of others, she picks herself up again for the sake of her dazzling, selfless ideal.
Air Groove acknowledges that her ideal is a lofty one, but after having been shaped by the admiration and respect she has for her mother, she strives to be someone who can inspire and guide every other Umamusume to succeed the same way that she herself has been.
Appearance[]
Air Groove has short and sleek brown hair that is parted to her right, with one strand of hair falling between her eyes. The inside of her ears are pink, and the tips of her ears fade into black, with two distinct tufts of fur at the tips. On her left ear, she wears a gold ribbon that is adorned with gold chains. She has pale blue irises, and she wears the same red eyeliner that her mother does.
In her race outfit, she wears a yellow and black cropped sailor uniform-esque top with a yellow bow in the center. On her arms, she wears two black short and flowing open black sleeves, with a yellow underside. She wears a large plume of dark purple feathers on her left shoulder. Underneath her top is a black harness connected to a choker. She wears a black shirt underneath her top that flows over a royal blue pleated skirt with white frills. Atop of her shirt is a blue belt with gold adornments, and a dark blue cape draped down her right side. She wears two belts around her right leg, and on her left is a black thigh-high stocking with gold adornments. She wears short white boots that have a blue and yellow cusp around the top, and down the center of the shoes is a black stripe with gold buttons in the center.
This design may be interpreted as a "shooting star", or themed after the "guiding light" that Air Groove aspires to be.
Relationships[]
- Duramente: Childhood friend
- IRL: Grandson.
- Fine Motion: Roommate and friend
- IRL: Pilsudski, Fine Motion's brother, had an incident related to Air Groove.
- Mejiro Dober: Slight apprentice figure within Air Groove's career. To Dober, Air Groove is her ideal.
- Narita Brian: Student council co-member.
- Silence Suzuka: Close friend and rival.
- Symboli Rudolf: Close friend as well as team and student council co-member.
- Admire Groove: Dotes on her like a little sister.
- IRL: Daughter.
- Tony Bianca:
- IRL: Father
Songs[]
- EMPRESS GAME (Solo song)
- Daisuki No Takarabako
- Make Debut!
- Grow Up Shine!
- Special Record!
- GIRLS' LEGEND U
- Ring Ring Diary
- Irodori Phantasia
- NEXT FRONTIER
- Never Looking Back
- Transforming
- We are DREAMERS!!
- Ms. VICTORIA
- Bright Melody
- KIRARI MAGIC SHOW
- DRAMATIC JOURNEY
- Umapyoi Densetsu
Special commentary[]
- Requirement: Winning senior Tenno Sho Autumn
- Reference: 1997 Tenno Sho Autumn, by Masaharu Miyake (Fuji TV)
| Umamusume | Real life |
|---|---|
| エアグルーヴ！ これは恐ろしいウマ娘です！
女帝が並み居る強豪を蹴散らしました！ |
エアグルーヴ！ 恐ろしい馬です！ 恐ろしい馬だ！
バブルガムフェローを躱した！ 15頭の男馬を蹴散らした！ エアグルーヴと武豊！ |
| Air Groove! She is a terrifying umamusume!
The Empress defeated the powerhouses! |
Air Groove! She is a terrifying horse! A terrifying horse!
She overtook Bubble Gum Fellow! She defeated fifteen male horses! Air Groove and Yutaka Take! |
Notes[]
- In real life, Air Groove was the first mare to win the Tenno Sho in 17 years.
Trivia[]
- She hates things that flash or move suddenly. This is based on a real-life incident in which the horse Air Groove was startled and frightened by flash photography before a race, leading to a leg injury and causing her to lose.
- She hates all bugs, except for ladybugs.
- Her voice actor - Ruriko Aoki, was originally going to be cast as an unnamed and scrapped Umamusume that was speculated to be Deep Impact. Due to Deep Impact never making it into the game, Ruriko was recast as Air Groove instead.