The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere - REVIEW

An Ode to never giving up and always trying!

Imagine this: It is 2003. Your country’s economy is barely stable. People all around are suffering from unemployment, illnesses and what not. In these perilous times, whom do you look towards for hope? A superhero. A philanthropist. A leader, who could guide you out of the darkness, right? Well, for Japan, it was a horse. Specifically, a horse who lost every race she raced in. A Hello Kitty masked racehorse, who used to pose for cameras, named Haru Urara.

The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere, directed by Micky Duzyj, is a deeply engaging documentary about a racehorse which lost 113 times and never won any of the races she participated in. But she did become a beacon of hope during a time when the country and its people were going through financial and social difficulties.

Running at a crisp 18 minutes, the documentary starts off with a shot of horses walking around the racecourse, as the crowd cheers on, with excerpts of voice-overs by pertinent characters who have been helped by Haru Urara’s resilience and strength.

After a beautiful title card, whose artwork was also made by Micky Duzyj, the documentary informs us about a Japan in 2003, where unemployment and stagnant growth ruled rampant amongst a number of cities, with Kochi being one.

On the verge of shutting down due to financial reasons, Koji Hashiguchi, the Kochi race course’s track announcer, tells the viewers of how the entire story and legend around Haru Urara came about. WIth a much needed boost to entice people to come to the racecourse, the tracks’s PR manager, Masashi Yoshida, tried to find stories everywhere, but alas, could not. On talking to Hashiguchi, he was informed of a horse which had lost every race it had participated in; Haru Urara.

Debuting in 1998, Haru Urara lost every single race since, with Hashiguchi waiting for the day Haru won, so that he could tell everyone that it took Haru these many races to finally win a race. After losing 60-70 races continuously, Hashiguchi decided to contact Ken Ishii, a local journalist, who realized the sentiment and importance of this racecourse and how it needs to be saved.

On publishing his first article about Haru, she had lost 88 times. Ishii’s article, sprinkled with emotion and a message of the value of keeping on trying even when no one is looking, struck the hearts of the Japanese people and garnered national attention, even appearing on the front page of a well renowned national newspaper, and getting a piece on national television.

This led to a spike in the number of people who came to watch Haru race and win, as well as helped the racecourse stay afloat. It was ironically beautiful to see the survival of a racecourse track depend on a horse which lost every single time. Slowly, people started backing Haru to win and even made shirts and merchandise based on her. Even one of the greatest horse racers, Yutaka Take, tried to win a race with Haru, but nonetheless, lost. The day was March 22, 2004, when almost a million dollars were bet on Haru to win. She lost, but by losing, she helped the racecourse win and stay open. Even though Haru may not race now, she is still sought out by some Japanese people and still inspires some of them to keep on trying.

The Shining Star of Losers Everywhere is a brilliant piece of documenting how the spirit of resilience and hope can be found even in the darkest times, at the most unexpected places. With beautiful artwork by the director themselves, as well as quirky animations elevating the storytelling elements, accompanied by a deeply engaging, yet quirky background score, the documentary never shies away from its focal point of showing the value of never giving up, beautifully structured with the portrayal of the socioeconomic situation of Japan at that time.

Haru Urara means ‘Glorious Spring’ in Japanese. Her timidness and liking for being photographed did not help her win races, but her resilience and strength to keep on trying, inspired millions of people and gave them hope during a dark period of their lives. Haru truly became the star of losers, but albeit, a star, who keeps on trying till the end!