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Top Gun: Maverick Distributes Uma Musume Collab Card To Theatergoers in Japan

The Top Gun: Maverick action film starring Tom Cruise—and its tie-in collaboration with Uma Musume Pretty Derby—has been successful in Japan since its May 27 release. The Uma Musume Project's official Twitter account announced that for the film's third weekend in cinemas, theaters will distribute a card showing the Uma Musume visual to Top Gun: Maverick ticketholders.

Theaters will distribute up to 300,000 cards in total, starting from June 10.

Fittingly for the nature of the collab, horse girl Mayano Top Gun is the "promotional pilot" who replicates Tom Cruise's pose in the film's poster. The horse girls of Uma Musume Pretty Derby are said to possess the spirits of (and share names with) famed racehorses, but aside from her namesake, Mayano Top Gun's character design is also heavily inspired by the Top Gun film. The horse girl wears an aviator jacket and parachute harness, speaks lines such as "You copy?", and her skill animation even sees her parachuting off a plane.

Top Gun's official Twitter account has acknowledged this special connection to their franchise, and even posted a tweet celebrating the birthday of the character's namesake racehorse last year. The collaboration was first announced last September, ahead of Top Gun: Maverick's planned premiere in Japan on November 19, 2021. However, the film's release was delayed to May 27 in both Japan and the U.S. due to COVID-19.

[Via Otakomu]