Finished the February 25 VOD show!
The beginning of this one announced Touga’s debut match, and she said, “楽しみな気持ちもあって緊張もあるのですが、先輩の胸を借りるつもりで全力で頑張ります.” I think I got this okay, though I was just unsure enough about 胸を借りる, I thought I’d double-check 
.
Touga: “I’m looking forward to it and I’m also nervous, but I will do my best and fight with the intention of learning from my senpai.”
As far as the actual show goes, the main thing happening here was the first preview match for Rika vs Miu. It was Miu, Yuki Aino, and Raku vs Rika, Suzume and Mahiro.
I checked to see if shupro had Mahiro’s apology, and sure enough! There’s a fun pun in here: 桐生はボディースラムから「“睡魔”に負けて“すいま”せんでした」とシャレの効いた謝罪。I’d like to try including this if I can, just for fun, but I’ve been trying to puzzle out if there’s any possible way to translate the joke without needing to basically just explain the entire thing in a translator’s note, haha.
Mahiro’s apology: “I’m suima-sen for my ‘suima.’”
The post-match promo at the end of the match made me laugh, haha. Here’s how it started:
Aino: “I think with this white color here, Raku is even cuter and brighter.”
Raku: “This is a little awkward. Please stop.”
Aino: “Miu, how was it?”
Miu starts with, “未詩は…白いなぁって。そっちじゃない？” Is she asking if Yuki was asking her what she thought about the color? haha.
Miu: “For me… the white? Not that, right? Well, I faced Rika-san in a preview match, and I felt how amazing she is. I also felt her craziness. There’s less than a month until Ariake, so I wanted to get fired up here and work even harder as we head toward Ariake. Since there’s less than a month, I hope everyone will be waiting with their tickets in hand, ready to cheer. Thank you so much for today!”
The post-match comments were pretty funny. I don’t think I had any trouble with Rika’s:
Tatsumi: “Well… that’s not good. It was really not good, and I think I’m a little out of shape. Miu really has the dignity of a champion, and since I don’t have the time before Ariake, how can I recover my former strength and challenge her in good condition? I think that’s the question now… I’m anxious.”
(It has been a while since you’ve gotten spun by the Giant Swing)
“It’s still a bit of a hazard. I’m not very good with getting spun around, so I was very much on guard there, but she has so many ways of transitioning into the Giant Swing… If you leave her any opening at all, you’ll get swung. So not letting her swing you, it’s exhausting. I have to take countermeasures.”
(Is it difficult to face her?)
“Yes, it is. When you are beside your partner, it’s very reassuring, and the stronger they are, the more support they’re able to give, so it’s like having the strength of a hundred people. But standing on opposite corners, it’s the worst. She becomes like a devil. She’s a demon. A demon!”
I think I got the first part of Miu’s:
Miu: “Today was our first proper preview match. It has been a long time since I’ve experienced Rika-san’s amazing strength and greatness… I really felt the power that only Rika Tatsumi has. It’s hard to put it in words, but I feel it even when I’m beside her. But when we stand on opposite corners, I can feel Rika-san from a different angle, face to face. I thought she was really scary. When I was at her side, I wanted to be strong like Rika-san, so this is my chance to beat her. When she challenged last week, I was surprised, but it doesn’t matter how it happened; Rika-san came forward now, so I think now is the time for me to beat her. I’m going to work as hard as I can in the month before Ariake so that I can beat Rika-san.”
I think I got the second part, too?
(Tatsumi said that she’s not in good condition)
“It has been a long time since I have properly faced Rika-san, and I feel like since our singles match two years ago, she has just been continuously growing and getting faster… If this is her in poor condition, then she’s going to get stronger and stronger… I’m scared! Rika-san is scary. What should I do? I’ll do my best!”
(Was it difficult to face her?)
“Yes. Naturally, I like teaming up with Rika-san more than fighting her because it’s easier and more fun. Seeing Rika’s face for the first time from the opposite side of the ring, seeing her like that… Frankly, I got nervous because she’s scary.”
(Can you manage your fear by Ariake?)
“Yes, I think so. I have to get a hold of myself there. But I’ve held the International belt for half a year, and for the past several months, I’ve been fighting with the force of surging waves as I’ve faced international wrestlers for the first time. I’ve learned to change my fear into fun, so when the month is up, I think I’ll be fighting Rika-san in a happy state.”
I got almost all of the third part, I think:
(Tatsumi compared you to a demon.)
“What, me?? No!” (laughs) “I don’t think so! If I’m a demon to Rika-san, then she’s… something like… hmm… a yokai? Not a demon or a devil or anything trendy like that. They’ve been passed down since ancient Japan.”
(She’s a yokai, then?)
“Yokai? But that might make her angry.” (laughs) “Be careful!”
I wanted to make sure that I got the last couple sentences correct: “白昼夢が組んだら正統派、王道派アイドルタッグなので。そこは誤解しないように、お互い高め合ってこのシングルに清く正しくかわいく臨みたいと思います.”
(Daydream is made up of a yokai and a demon?)
“No! No it’s not! When we’re together as Daydream, we’re a real orthodox, King’s Road style idol tag team. To ensure that there’s no misunderstanding, I want to approach our singles match nobly, justly, and cutely, and raise both of us up.”
Miu explicitly mentioning 王道 caught my attention, after all the TJPW twitter discourse in the past year. Sadly, I don’t think any of the people making the King’s Road comparisons with TJPW follow my account or read/listen to the comments on their own, so I guess they’ll have to miss out on this one . It amused me that the word came up in a truly TJPW context.
This is the last of the February content! We’re finally into March! I have one more presser and two shows left to finish before the 18th. Hopefully I can get the Night Before GRAND PRINCESS '23 show done before, uh, the literal night before Grand Princess…