The 🤼 プロレス thread! Learning Japanese through pro wrestling

Finished the MagiRabbi portion of the February 22 presser! I’d been looking forward to this one, but was also afraid :smiling_face_with_tear:. Here’s the video, and here’s the official transcript.

Right off the bat, Mizuki answers with an extremely long sentence which also contains what I believe is a typo in the transcript, haha, so I spent a long time getting puzzled over it :sweat_smile:.

This chunk here “その時点でユカッチが勝つ試合もある中で” was the part that lost me at first, but when I actually listened to the video, I think she said 可能性 instead of 試合, which makes more sense.

Mizuki: “I won the battle royale that determined this title match, and with the possibility of Yuka-chi also winning, I believed in her victory, but was also a bit undecided. But when I thought about which outcome was more fun, which was more exciting, I realized that I desperately needed her to win. My feelings about fighting her are complicated, but part of me was also really excited. I have so, so much respect for Yuka-chi, and she has opened up so many possibilities for me.” (cries) “I wanted to be like her, and I’ve been prepared to carry TJPW this whole time. I think I’ll be able to show everyone a new world, so this time, I will have a strong heart.”

I wasn’t quite sure about this part, either: “瑞希のキラキラは東京女子にあるので、ベルトをユカッチから取るのは瑞希じゃないと欲張りに思うので”.

"Since my sparkle is in TJPW, I greedily think that I have to be the one to take the belt from Yuka-chi, so I want to win it.

Sakazaki: “To be honest, I don’t want to do it, and I don’t want to do anything terrible to Mizuki, but we were born in the same era, met each other at TJPW, and are fighting in the same ring, so I’m prepared to do what I have to do.”

The part in this next chunk that tripped me up a bit was how exactly to translate 越える. I tried several different words, but none of them really felt quite right.

“When we went beyond TDC two and a half years ago, the bond we share changed. This match is our biggest test, and if I go beyond a title match with Mizuki at Ariake Coliseum, I think something within our bond will change. So I also want to go beyond our relationship.”

Interviewer: “So far, there have been no preview matches, though yesterday’s Tokyo Dome show became a preview. What kind of feelings did you fight each other with?”

Sakazaki: “I didn’t really feel like it was a preview match, but there was a certain tension when we faced each other. When we left the ring, though, we returned to our usual relationship. When we’re in the ring, space and time distort, and our feelings become complicated, or I should say there are emotions that we only feel at that time. It’s indescribable. I can’t put it into words.”

Mizuki: “I also felt like the match yesterday was about TJPW more than it was a preview match, but when we face each other, I really feel that she has become different from the Yuka-chi who’s always beside me. It’s unsettling, or it’s a strange feeling, at least. I thought, ‘Why is she in the opposite corner?’ Though I really tried not to think too much about it when we were fighting, and just fought with the feelings I had in the moment, but I couldn’t help but think that she’s so strong and cool.”

Interviewer: “Do you want to face each other in the lead-up to the title match, or do you not want to?”

Sakazaki: “I don’t want to do it. The most important thing for me is that I don’t want Mizuki to hate me, and I always want her to say, ‘I love Yuka-chi.’ So I don’t want to fight her.”

I wasn’t quite sure I understood this next line of Mizuki’s: “闘いたくはないけど、甘やかされてばかり(涙)…いるほうが…嫌です.”

Mizuki: “I don’t want to fight, but she spoils me all the time,” (cries) “and I hate being spoiled even more.”

Interviewer: “This is your first singles match since TDC. What has changed since then?”

Sakazaki: “I feel from being at her side that what was soft inside of Mizuki has become solid confidence. Her facial expressions during matches have sharpened, and her movements have become more nimble than before, and she has steadily been absorbing more and more things.”

In Mizuki’s next sentence, I didn’t feel like I had a good grasp of what she meant with ピリッと. And the first chunk of the next sentence was a bit confusing for me :sweat_smile:

Mizuki: “Yuka-chi makes the place brighter just by making her entrance, but during the match, she doesn’t let up. Yuka-chi carries too many things on her back, and she’s carrying all that and fighting, so she’s gotten so, so, so much bigger and stronger. I think everyone can see it.”

Interviewer: “Mizuki, how do you feel about this belt?”

Mizuki: “Well, it’s very special…” (cries) “It’s not something that’s easy to get.” (cries) That’s why I’m not going to give up, and because it’s a belt that has been worn by all of these people that I respect so much, I need to win the TJPW belt."

Interview: “Part of you won’t be able to know until you fight, but will MagiRabbi remain unchanged?”

Sakazaki: "Yes. That is a future that will never change.”

Mizuki: “I think our tag team will become even more exciting after we fight.”

I think those are all of my major questions! It’s interesting comparing where they are now to where they were two years ago. It seems like they both learned some lessons from that time…

The impression I’ve gotten, at least, is that last time, Mizuki tried to hate Yuka and was ultimately unable to do it and couldn’t win the match, whereas Yuka was able to win explicitly because she loves Mizuki, which was the driving force for her performance in that match. (Actually, I still have links to a bunch of Mr. Haku’s translations from their old feud. I’ll toss some of those up in the replies to this translation, I think.)

This time, both of them seem determined to go into the match with only love, or at least, they’re resistant to the thought of facing each other leading up to it (last time, Mizuki stopped wanting to tag with Yuka before their title match).

I think their last match truly did bring, like, the entire company to a whole new level because it had a completely different energy and intensity than anything else they’d done before, so I’m really, really looking forward to this next one.

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