The December 24 TJPW show was a small one, as far as translation work goes, but I got really distracted this weekend trying to work on translating stuff for the BJW Shakespeare shows, since the DVDs I ordered just arrived! I’ll make a separate post about those later! I have a non-WK friend helping me track down some of the people on the cast list whom I couldn’t identify from the back of the DVD, haha. We’re trying to get the card/cast for each show translated, and Romeo vs Juliet also came with what appears to be the original program. It’s way more work than I can handle, at this point, but my friend has been translating that, too!
For TJPW, I had some help from Mr. Haku’s live translations again. The main event was an 8 women preview tag match (Yuka, Mizuki, Shoko, Suzume vs Miyu, Itoh, Misao, Moka), which Yuka’s team won.
She started out with, “…３人とも、ありがとう。最高すぎた。助かった。いや、お前（山下）とか大っ嫌いだけどさ、仕方ないから。年末最後だし、上がってこいよ。お前以外なら快く、なんだけど.” I had a bit of trouble with that last sentence there, haha! I cheated by more or less using what Mr. Haku had 
.
Sakazaki: “To the three of you, thank you. That was too good! You saved me! Well, I really hate you (Yamashita) and all, but that can’t be helped. It’s the end of the year, so come on up. The rest of you, I have nothing against. Yes, this December 24 was our last show of the year. Lots and lots of people came, and truly thank you all so much! We haven’t said ‘Merry Christmas’, have we?”
Then she said, “今日はな、イブだから浮かれパンチですが。わしさ、ちょっと今日マイクダメだ…” I couldn’t exactly make sense of the line, but Mr. Haku had, “I’m too high off of Christmas I can’t speak Mizuki,” which did seem to be the sentiment. I also wasn’t sure about Mizuki’s part, but then he had more or less what I had, haha, so maybe it’s just a bit of a strange thing for her to say?
Today is Christmas Eve, so it’s a big festive punch. I’m not so great on the mic today…"
Mizuki: “Wait, I’m also not particularly… I got it! Everyone wants Santa to come, right? I’ve been a good girl, so please be my Santa. Please! Watching Mii-chan and Yuka-chi fight made me think ‘Wow!’ so can I give the mic (to Yamashita) for a bit?”
Yamashita: “I absolutely will not lose next time, at Ittenyon. Today is the last show of the year. Merry Christmas! It’s a day for everyone to get together. So come on in!” (all of the wrestlers gather in the ring)
Sakazaki: “Do you have any regrets this year? Everyone, do you still have work to do? Forget about work!” (laughs) “It makes me happy to see you all on a day like this.”
She closed with: “Thank you all for your support in 2022, and I look forward to seeing you again in 2023!” And the last show of the year came to an end with a shout of encouragement and then a single synchronized clap.
Yuka’s team’s comments weren’t too bad, though I went down a romanization rabbit hole trying to remember how to romanize “マジラビあんず”, haha.
Nakajima: “Last show of the year! Merry Christmas! We won! It was a hard-fought win, as you’d expect.”
Sakazaki: “No, no, it was really the power of having someone to help you out when you’re in a pinch.”
Nakajima: “Today, I really felt the champion’s strength… I say that because I’m the one who lost (the belt) to her, but I once again experienced the strength of the champion. It made me want to do my best, too, in all sorts of ways from now on. It feels like the year is ending on a good note.”
Sakazaki: “I hope happiness is delivered to everyone.”
Nakajima: “Please deliver it!”
Suzume: “I’m so happy to be part of the MagiRabbiAns. I tried my best not to drag them down.”
Sakazaki: “Good assist!”
Suzume: “You helped me so much, and were really dependable.”
Sakazaki: “Promising, promising.”
Then Mizuki said, “今年いっぱい試合みんなでできて、また来年ってみんなに言えてすごい嬉しいなって思うし.” I couldn’t figure out exactly what she meant by this, so I wasn’t confident in my translation, haha.
Mizuki: “I’m really happy that we were able to have so many matches with everyone this year, and that we’re able to tell everyone that we’re doing it again next year. Next year, Yuka-chi will be gone for a bit, so I won’t be in the tag team tournament. But in the meantime, I’ll do my best to shine brighter than anyone else. Good luck! But you have to defend your title first, huh?”
Sakazaki: “Yes!”
(This was the last preview match)
“It’s been a while since I’ve felt this while fighting, and suddenly… that was the moment I realized that this was going to be an even more heated match than the first CyberFight Fest. So with that expectation, please look forward to Ittenyon!”
In Miyu’s team’s comments, I think there was only one main thing that gave me pause. Things started off alright:
Yamashita: “It was really fun teaming up with the three of you in the last match of the year. But we lost the match, so I also have some frustration, personally. There’s a part of me that knows everything about fighting Yuka-chan, and she’s so strong. But I was so fired up! I will definitely defeat her at Ittenyon. I want to win the PoP belt and aim for three titles!”
Misao: "I also have an opponent at Ittenyon… it’s become an annual tradition. I’ll be having a singles match with Nakajima-san. Today was supposed to be our one and only preview match, but my first strategy was a bit… I don’t want to say it was a failure, but…
Then Misao said, “まぁイッテンヨンは今日の中島さんの乗りやすさを見て考えられることがあったので”, and I wasn’t quite sure what to do with 乗り!
“Well, concerning Ittenyon, I had some things to think about after seeing Nakajima-san’s incredible energy today. I want to win!”
Miyamoto: “I’m really disappointed that I lost. I’m going to do my best to get stronger next year. Ittenyon is Uehara-san’s debut match, so I will try my hardest to bring out the best in her.”
Itoh: “I still have GCW left this year, so it’s a bit hard, but I’m going to do my best. Itoh will leave her claw marks in the US and come back to Japan and do (Ittenyon’s) rumble, for the PoP. Well, Itoh is determined to win, but so is Yamashita. So, let’s do it. Let’s make a pact!”
Yamashita: “OK”
Itoh: “That’s what I’m talking about.”
And that’s it! That’s the last show of the year! I’m fully expecting them to do a press conference before イッテンヨン, so when that happens, I’ll try to jump on that as soon as possible, haha.
Oh, also, for anyone who has been watching TJPW this year, they’re collecting fan votes on twitter for the best matches of the year. Since I have a public account for once, I’m thinking of suggesting things for the first time, haha. Here’s what I’m currently leaning toward:
- Miu vs Miyu in the Tokyo Princess Cup
- Misao vs Sanshiro Takagi at Grand Princess
- Rika, Aino, Max the Impaler vs Aja Kong, Raku, Pom at Wrestle Princess
I still haven’t committed to my third choice yet, though, which is why I haven’t submitted anything . I have a hard time making decisions like this, so we’ll see if I actually manage to get any sort of vote in on time…
I’m really looking forward to the week of shows at the beginning of January! Lots of exciting stuff happening! 