Finished the translation for TJPW’s November 19 show!
I was so sad this one was a VOD! I did manage to remain fairly unspoiled, then I had the Next Generation tournament final spoiled for me by TJPW announcing the card for Korakuen 
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It was still fun, though! The first tournament match was Himawari vs Shino, and it was not to be Shino’s day quite yet, unfortunately (rip to the possibility of a Shino vs Toga final)! Her arc reminds me a bit of Raku’s; it took Raku I believe 2.5 years to get her first win. I wonder if Shino will challenge her record… I feel like I understand Shino a bit better after the last show, though, and it seems like she’s probably going to have to work a lot harder than her peers to reach their same level…
HIMAWARI: “I made it to the finals! Today was my first singles match with Shino-san in six months, so we both put our feelings into it, but I couldn’t lose here, so I somehow managed to win. Today was my first time winning by pinfall.”
I wasn’t quite sure about this: “やっぱり志乃さんだったから、感情をブチあげられた試合だったなと思いました.”
“Since I was facing Shino-san, I think it was a match where emotions were high. Wakana-san moved up in the other block, so that will also be our first singles match in more than six months. I had my first singles match with Wakana-san two months after my debut, and at that time, I had the frustrating experience of tapping out in her sleeper hold. I haven’t been able to beat Wakana-san in a singles match ever since, so I’d like to get my revenge in the Next Generation Tournament.”
Shino: “I lost the tournament… I feel like I’ve been falling behind my peers ever since my debut…” (cries)
These lines were a bit tricky: “『志乃は厳しい』とか週プロにも書かれていたけど、全部ハネのけて志乃は勝ちたかったですけど、勝てなかったです。今までの志乃がダメだったのなら、これからだと思います。志乃はここからなので.”
“It said ‘Shino is tough’ in ShuPro, and I wanted to put it all behind me and get the win, but I wasn’t able to. If I haven’t been any good so far, I think that’ll change going forward. I’ll start from here. I’m going to do my best from now on, so I definitely won’t lose to HIMAWARI-san in the next one, and I’m not going to lose to any more of my peers.”
Next up was Wakana vs Toga! It was a fun match, though I wish I hadn’t seen the results already, because it took some of the tension out of it for me…
Uehara: “I had a singles match with Toga in the semifinals of the Next Generation Tournament. I’m closest to Toga thanks to training with her regularly, and since we spend so much time together, I have seen how hard my opponent works and how strong she is, so I was a bit scared leading up to the match today. But as soon as I stepped into the ring, I felt like I had no choice but to advance to the finals, so I’m happy that I was able to win here. But I’ll be facing HIMAWARI-san very soon in the Next Generation Tournament final at the Korakuen Hall show on December 1.”
This last sentence took me a few tries, haha: “デビュー日も一緒ということで、やっぱり周りの方からも比べられることがすごい多い2人なので、価値ある第1回目というなかなかないチャンスなので優勝をしっかり掴みに全力で闘いたいと思います.”
“Since we debuted on the same day, people around us often compare us, so the first ever tournament is a valuable opportunity that doesn’t come around often, and I’m going to seize that chance and fight her with everything I have.”
Toga: “This tournament semifinal was my second singles match with Wakana-san, and I lost. But I gave it my all. In the end, though, I couldn’t hit the Rock Bottom, so if I’m able to get revenge, I’m going to bust that out and get the win. I received a lot of support, and some people said that they wanted to see me have a match with Wakana-san in the final, so even though it was just the semifinal, I fought as if it were the final, and I’d be happy if people thought it was the best match. Wakana-san, please do your best to win the tournament.”
After that was MagiRabbi vs Daydream, which was the match I was most interested in avoiding spoilers for! And I succeeded!! I was really, really curious what they were going to do for this one. I felt a lot of conflicted feelings myself, because some part of me wanted Miu to pin Yuka, but the rest of me wanted MagiRabbi to win because I think they’re a better team, and I didn’t really want Daydream to be the team to get that final victory over them in TJPW…
I had predicted that Miu would finally bring the Giant Swing back in this match after months of not using it, and I was correct!! There was so much tension between her and Yuka specifically, and the match was very good but overall left so many threads unresolved, which was so surprising to me, since I thought they’d be using this to try to wrap up some stories.
It ending in a draw was honestly such an interesting finish! I could see some people being really mad about that, haha, but I liked it because MagiRabbi got to remain unbeaten, and it also seemed to suggest that things weren’t finished yet, so maybe they’ll be picking this one up back down the road someday… It also was a fascinating choice considering that this match was supposed to be for the tag titles (where it would’ve had a longer time limit, presumably), so it asks the question of what would have happened in that situation? If it had been a title match, would one of them have won?
Tough first couple sentences from Yuka… I got stuck on “ドロドロ” and couldn’t really figure out how to translate it (even looked it up in my onomatopoeia dictionary, haha). “ホントに呪うほど思い描いていた白昼夢とマジラビのこの対決は、決着はつかなかったけど…なんか、ホントにドロドロした、負けたくないって気持ちが前面に出た試合だったね。こんなドロドロする？っていうくらい、この一戦に懸けてたなっていうのは感じました.”
Sakazaki: “This confrontation between Daydream and MagiRabbi, which I had been picturing in my head to the point of resenting it, didn’t have a conclusion… It was a really murky match, where the determination not to lose was at the forefront. I felt that I had so much pinned on this match, to the extent that I was like, ‘This messy?’ As it unfolded, I didn’t want to lose, I wanted to win, and I didn’t want it to end. I want to team with Mizuki again.”
Mizuki: “I’m glad. I’m really happy that we were able to do this match. I didn’t intend to fight by myself in Korakuen that day, but there’s a different sense of security having her beside me. I think Daydream’s feelings were greater than that time… But of course I’m frustrated because the match didn’t have a decisive end. Again… again.”
Sakazaki: “Yeah. I’m glad we were able to meet again in the ring. I don’t know if there will be a next time, but…”
Mizuki: “I think there should be! And when it happens, we’re winning…”
Sakazaki: “Yes!”
(Miu left a strong impression)
This was a bit tricky: “やっぱ、頭角を現してるというか、引っ張らなきゃって意志を感じられるくらい力強くて。やっぱ未詩がいると安心だなって感じました。なので、未詩のためにも倒れるわけにはいかないって思うし…だってここで未詩の到達点いってしまったらまた東京女子の見え方も変わってくるだろうし.”
“She was making sure she stood out, or rather she was so strong that I felt her will to lead the way. I felt relieved that Miu’s here. So I think the reason I couldn’t let myself be defeated was for Miu’s sake… I think when Miu has reached her destination, the way TJPW appears will probably also change. I hope she’ll continue to work hard, and become someone who can lead TJPW. I have high expectations.”
(You’ll fight as MagiRabbi at the next show in Nagoya)
I wasn’t 100% on this: “マジラビがある分にはいくらでも嬉しいので.”
“As long as I have MagiRabbi, I’m happy.”
Mizuki: “Yeah. It’ll be fun.”
Sakazaki: “Arai-chan and Moka, right? Those two will also be leading TJPW, so I’m looking forward to it.”
Rika: “It’s over…”
Miu: “I don’t like it. I hate it.”
Rika: “I had a lot of complicated feelings about it and didn’t want today to come, and even after it had started, my feelings were mixed. But after the bell sounded, I don’t remember anything.”
Miu: “I didn’t want today to come. I’m happy it did, but I didn’t want it to. I didn’t want it to happen because once it started, it would be over, but during the match, I enjoyed myself more or less like normal, and it was fun. I felt that there was no way this would be the last Daydream vs MagiRabbi, but in the end, Rika-san really tried her best, but we couldn’t finish it… I don’t know.”
Rika: "The fact that it didn’t have a decisive end means that there is still more to come. There will definitely be another MagiRabbi vs Daydream match someday. I don’t know if it will be in the distant future or in the near future, but we’ll do it again.”
This line was a bit tricky: “悔いの残らないマジラビvs白昼夢.”
Miu: “MagiRabbi vs Daydream, with no regrets.”
Rika: “We have to win!”
Miu: “We have to win!”
Rika: “We’ll do it until we win.”
(Since losing the chance to have a title match in June, how do you feel about MagiRabbi?)
“I tried not to think about it.”
This was a bit confusing: “時間はあったんですけど考えたくなくて今日まできちゃいました.”
“I had the time, but I didn’t want to think about it until today.”
Miu: “I thought it would definitely be after December. I thought we’d do it in the way, way distant future, so I was relieved that we had that pre-existing promise between us. And now we’ve lost that promise. I hate it. I want to have a promise.”
Miu’s lines there at the end kind of gutted me… I guess that’s sort of how I felt about it, too, without realizing it. Like it couldn’t be over until the MagiRabbi vs Daydream match finally happened, but then the match was announced much sooner than I expected, and just like that, it was done, and there are no more ties left…
The main event we just talked about a bit, haha! I liked the match a lot, but was a bit sad about the result, as much as I like Max and think they’re a great champ … Shoko will just have to get another title shot in a couple months and try again 
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Pom came out to do the post-match promo for Max, which I thought was cute:
Pom: “You were amazing. Amazing! Congrats! At this rate, we’ll win the tag title match, too, and the next time will be in Osaka, right? Let’s bring the tag belts with us to Osaka.” (while being scared by the Impaler growling) “Please come, everyone. Max is saying it, too. Thank you very much for today!”
Their backstage comments were also pretty funny, haha! I enjoyed Pom’s clearly perfectly accurate interpretation of what Max obviously would say if they could speak Japanese (and not just what Pom herself would say…) 
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Impaler: (growling) “Pom!”
Pom: “Huh? What? I’m h-here! Oh, they’re saying something like ‘Yay!’. Probably! They’re saying, ‘At this rate, we’re going to win the tag belts, too!’ Right?”
Impaler: (growling)
Pom: (screams and heads backstage at a run)
Nakajima: (sitting down) “…Amazing. I just saw the new Godzilla movie, and I realized how amazing monsters are.”
This sentence gave me so much trouble, haha: “その映画みたいな一言をマックス・ジ・インペイラーに言うなら『ヤツは殺しても死なない』って言葉がすごく似合うレスラーだなと今日実感しましたね.”
“I realized today that if you say something that sounds like it’s from that movie about Max The Impaler, they’re a wrestler who really fits the phrase ‘you couldn’t kill them if you tried.’”
(Did you feel a sense of expectation from the fans?)
Her answer was tough: “そうですね。ただ、みなさんの期待よりは…一辺倒にやられるかんじが情けないですね。情けないなって思います.”
“Yes, I did. But more than fans’ expectations… It’s pathetic that I was beaten so badly. I feel pathetic.”
(It was your first time challenging for the International Princess title)
“Yes, that’s true. More than that… I shouldn’t say it, but I was fighting a monster that was so amazing, the fact that it was a title match and all that totally slipped my mind. This was the first time I ever felt scared during a match…”
And that’s it for that one!