I’m roughly 1/3rd of the way through the Wrestle Princess translation, so I figured I’d share what I have so far! I may or may not be trying to distract myself from stressing about the job interview I have tomorrow. Here’s the official recap for posterity, though this is all undercard stuff that didn’t make it in haha.
First up, Juria and Moka vs Kaya and Arisu! I think I’ve mentioned before about how I really like these all rookie matches on the big shows because it’s a huge chance for someone to move up. This one was Juria’s time to shine. All of her and Moka’s attempts to get somewhere as a team finally paid off here, and she got her first win!
Most of Juria and Moka’s comments were pretty straightforward:
Miyamoto: “This time, I tagged with Juria-san again. We’ve teamed up many times, but we hadn’t won a match yet. This was truly Juria’s first win, so I’m happy we were able to win together.”
Juria: "Thank you. This was my first time winning on my own, and I won mostly with Moka-san’s help. I had been losing since my debut, and I’d been feeling frustrated, so I was really happy to win this time. I’ve had this karate tag team with Moka-san, and I’m happy that I won with her. I hope that from now on, I will become stronger by myself and also as a team with Moka-san. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt this emotional and excited.”
(It took you about six months)
“I won my first karate tournament in the Chugoku region, and I have always won medals, but I’d never lost like this. I was so frustrated, and I was wondering what I should do. I think this was partially the result of me studying pro wrestling techniques in my own way. I felt eagerness for my next victory come welling up.”
(What are your goals for the future?)
“I won a tag match by my own power, so now if I could win a singles match without my senpai’s help… Winning. That is my goal.”
The last chunk is where I ran into a bit of trouble: “（今日のフィニッシュは？）空手をベースにして、アクションとかカポエイラとかで使われる旋風脚って言われる技をひそかに練習してて。ただ、なかなか命中率が上がらなかったので、ずーっと隙があれば出してやろうと思って。で、いつもブラジリアン避けられてるんですけど、今回は決められたので。そこで出してやろうと思って、とっさに旋風脚をやって勝利をつかめたので。練習した成果が出てよかったです.”
I was a little confused by what she meant by アクション, though from context, it seemed like maybe she was talking about, like, action movies? Google seemed to back me up, but maybe there’s something I misinterpreted, haha. I was also confused over the sentence about the Brazilian kick. Here’s what I had:
(Your finishing move today?)
“I had been secretly practicing a move called ‘Senpukyaku’, which is based on karate, and which is used in action films and capoeira. But since I didn’t have good accuracy, I decided to use it whenever I saw an opening. So even though I put aside the Brazilian Kick that I always do, I was able to get the win this time. When I had the chance, I quickly used the Senpukyaku and got the victory. I’m glad that my practice paid off.”
Kaya and Arisu’s comments were pretty straightforward:
Endo: “We lost…”
Toribami: “I’m sorry…”
Endo: “I couldn’t help you at the end. But there were people cheering, and so many penlights.”
Toribami: “Everyone’s voices were so loud.”
Endo: “We heard you! It was so much fun. But I wanted to win. If we can have a match here again, we’ll do our best to win even more. Thank you so much!”
The next match was an interesting throwback that featured three wrestlers who were originally in Actwres girl’Z together, but who are now in TJPW (Nao) and GanPro (Yuna Manase and Yoshiko Hasegawa, or Yoppy). The Actwres team fought Kamiyu, Mahiro, and Neko in a winning effort.
Nao’s first comment was… more confusing to me than not, haha. I had a bit of a tricky time wrapping my head around the time jumps. I think maybe I managed to get there?
She said: “私ちょうど２年前のＴＤＣホールで東京女子参戦を発表させていただいて。その時に久々にゆうなさんに再会して、同じＴシャツを着て。そこから２年後、私がこのリングに立つのは初めてだったんですけど、ホントにすごいめぐりあわせだなって。今回、よろしくお願いしますって言った２年後にゆうなさんと並んで、ずっと一緒にやってきたよっぴーとここのビッグマッチで３人並んで勝てたことがホントに何より大きいので。ここから頑張って、もっともっと。コスチュームを変化させるだけじゃなくて、自分が進化していこうと思います.”
Kakuta:“I announced that I was joining TJPW at TDC Hall two years ago. On that day, I reunited with Yuna-san for the first time in a long time, and we were wearing the same T-shirt. It was my first time standing in this ring, but it really felt like fate.Today, two years after I said ‘I look forward to working with you’, being able to win a big match alongside Yuna-san and with Yoppy, who came up together with me, it’s really so amazing. I’m going to work hard from here, more and more. My costume isn’t the only thing that’s gonna change—I, myself, will evolve.”
The rest was easier:
Hasegawa: “As a former member of Actwres girl’Z, I was really happy for us to be together at a wonderful venue with a wonderful organization like TJPW. This was my first win today. Getting a win with my senpais is a big deal, so I’m going to work even harder and do my best.”
Manase: “I feel great. After I went to GanPro, I was able to participate in a one-off match at TJPW’s show at TDC. On that occasion I reunited with Nao-chan, and in a ring that’s very special to me. Yuki, Mahiro-chan, and Neko-chan are three people I fought over and over during my time in TJPW. I know that they’re capable of so much more. I think they’re feeling frustrated that we won. I’m always down to fight anyone, so I’ll do my best in the hope that the day will come when we can fight them again, and so that we can team up and fight together again. Nao Kakuta of TJPW won the match for us, so let’s do our best so that we won’t lose. GanPro, too. Let’s fight together again. Thank you, TDC! Thank you, TJPW!”
As usual, Kamiyu’s comments were both really funny and extra hard to understand, haha. The first part that threw me off was this line here: “ずっとタッグ組んでたのにふぁーっといなくなって、最終的に団体を移籍して.” I wasn’t quite sure what ふぁーっ meant 
. Here was my attempt:
Kamifuku: "We lost. To the team consisting of a stranger, an ordinary person, and Yuna Manase. The way I look at it, when I made my debut, Manase-san was the person who was always at my side. We were a tag team the whole time, and then she disappeared and ultimately turned up in a different organization. In the past, she used to persevere a bit more and be so full of energy, saying stuff like, ‘Yuki, let’s do it!’ Manase-san’s comments today were like those of a dignified enka singer. I almost thought it was Yuzo Kayama’s dinner theater.
Then this chunk was confusing: “なんか、吹っ切れてすごい自分を出すようになってから、平気で東京女子のリングも『まなせのための場所でしょ？』みたいなかんじにしてくるから。さすがにちょっとリスペクトしてたお姉ちゃん分でもそこは譲れないなって思ったので。『この負けは悔しいでしょ？』って言ってたけど、全然悔しくないよね？ あんなディナーショー女に負けてもね？”
“After her amazing self burst out and revealed itself, I cooly wondered if TJPW’s ring might also be ‘a place for Manase?’ I felt something like that. Naturally, I felt a little respect for an older sister, but I couldn’t give that away. ‘This loss is frustrating, isn’t it?’ she said, but you’re not frustrated at all, are you? Even though you lost to that dinner show woman?”
Kiryu: “I am frustrated…”
Kamifuku: “I’m never going to be a dinner theater person. I’m going to live like Ariana Grande from here on out so that I’ll never become like Yuzo Kayama, I will swear that right now. Do the two of you have any thoughts?”
In the last bit of their comments, Mahiro’s line here was tricky: “まなせさんの増し方に果たして私はついていけるのかと思うところもあって.” Here was my attempt at her comment:
Kiryu: “Well, I was somehow in a match with Manase-san three times this year. I feel like Manase-san’s intensity has increased throughout the year. I’ve wondered if I’ll be able to keep up with her increasing force. I thought I had to make sure that I wouldn’t lose to her intensity today. It was a losing effort, but if we fight again…”
I also wasn’t exactly sure who these comments were aimed at, haha:
Kamifuku: “Next time, let’s do Sachiko Kobayashi.”
Kiryu: “I’m going to become a forceful woman like Sachiko Kobayashi, and come back again.”
And finally, Neko’s second and third sentences here were a little tricky: “猫の力不足で今日も負けちゃったんですけど…はじめましての人の顔も引っかけたし。あとちょっとでいけるかなってところまでは行けたんだけど…いつかまたリベンジしたいなと思います.”
Neko: “I lost again today due to my weakness… but I scratched the face of someone I just met for the first time. I was almost there… I want to get revenge someday.”
The next match was Ryo Mizunami vs Suzume. Aniki is one of my favorite joshi freelancers and she’s super fun to watch, so I had a great time with this one!
Aniki was fired up in her comments as well:
Mizunami: "Yes, this is my second match in TJPW, but last time I fought Miu Watanabe. Today I faced Suzume. This is just my second match, but I feel myself becoming more and more addicted to TJPW’s charm. Your future potential, even if you lose now, even though you lost, that’s the result. It’s not worth worrying about. What matters is what happens from now on. From this point on, how do you assess this and apply it next time? I think that’s what’s important to do every day. In that sense, I think she’s going to do her best from here, and like I said last time, I must also continue to be stronger. I was reminded of this again today.”
In Suzume’s comments, her first sentence was the one I wasn’t quite sure about: “本当に東京女子にまた来てくださったので、すごく楽しんでもらいたいなと思ってたんですけど、私だと物足りなかったかもしれないですね.” I think the rest was mainly just trying to figure out the best way to word things in English, haha.
Suzume: “Since she came to TJPW again, I really wanted her to have a lot of fun, but maybe I wasn’t enough. Nevertheless, I gave it my all, so I hope I was able to leave an impression and get through to Mizunami-san even a little. I experienced Aniki’s awesome fired up world with my whole body, but I’m greedy and want more and more. I’m going to get strong enough that she won’t easily crush me, so I want to fight again.”
After that was Mizuki vs Hyper Misao, which was a blast! Misao brought out lots of stuff, including Shoko’s bag of kaiju toys, which was a nice touch, considering it was a match between the tag partners of the main event that night.
The only thing that really gave me pause in Mizuki’s comments was “食わらず” in the transcript, which I’m almost certain is a typo, haha. Listening seemed to confirm that. Here’s what she said:
Mizuki: “It hurts! When I thought about fighting on Pami-san’s turf like this, I thought it would be crazy. But it was even crazier than I’d imagined! I don’t know, but I don’t want to be crazy, so please keep calling me ‘cute.’ As a Pami-san countermeasure, I actually asked Big Boss Takagi to show me how to use the cooling spray, and he procured a ladder. I knew it would come to this, so I prepared for everything. I want to do it again next time. But it really hurts… Next time, I’m gonna try my best to win without taking any hits.”
In Misao’s comment, the main thing that threw me off was this line here at the end: “だけど、きっと勝ってくれるって信じてるから私が厄落とししときました.”
Misao: “What was that there at the end? Did you perhaps use an item from my old enemy, that Big Boss whom I also admire? I don’t remember all of the things that were out there at the end, but… I feel like I was enveloped in white smoke. That can’t be, right? In the end, not only was Mizu-pyon cute, but she was clever in all sorts of ways. It’s frustrating… I’m sorry, Nakajima san. However, I’m sure you’re going to win, so I exorcized the evil in advance. Ah, I wanted to win.”
I was really glad that I read the comments here because it didn’t occur to me when I was watching that Mizuki using the fire extinguisher was her borrowing a tactic specifically from one of Misao’s greatest rivals (Sanshiro Takagi)! That’s a really neat touch that helps connect some of the different pieces of Misao’s storyline this year.
The comments per match get exponentially longer as the show goes on, haha, so I’ll probably split the remaining 2/3rds of the show into at least two more posts.