My job interview went… alright, I think? I hope 
? But more importantly (笑) I finished the next 2/3 of the translation! Fully half of the text was the last three matches, and just under a third of it was the last match alone, haha. That’ll keep me busy for at least a few more days.
We left off with Rika, Aino, and Max the Impaler vs Aja Kong, Raku, and Pom. Really, really fun match, haha. The comments on this one were also hysterical, so I highly recommend watching the video at least for Team Aja.
Team Max’s comments didn’t give me too much trouble. Here’s the first chunk:
Tatsumi: (in English) “We are victorious, my friends.” (in Japanese) “We deepened our bond…”
Aino: “It’s not very deep at all. Rika-san, you dropkicked them in the back."
Tatsumi: "Yes but, I was still able to end Pom without a problem. Happy ending!”
Aino: (in English) “We are victorious! Happy ending!”
Impaler: “Aja…”
Then Yuki said, “もうやめてくれ。止められないんだぞ.” I struggled a bit with translating the first part, since I’d never seen くれ before. Here was the rest:
Aino: “Please stop. I can’t stop them.”
Tatsumi: “You can’t do it. You’ll get banned from the venue! But that was great, wasn’t it? It was a big kaiju battle.”
Aino: “It was my first time facing Aja-sama, but I couldn’t do anything.”
Tatsumi: “I know. I wanted to hit her again and again.”
Aino: “Yeah, a lot more. But you know, today, all the seats were sold out, at such a big venue. I truly, really couldn’t be happier.”
Tatsumi: “I hope everyone in the audience was happy, too.”
Aino: “That’s what I really want. We were a bit chaotic, but thank you so much.”
Tatsumi: “We protected the venue; TDC is safe. A happy ending.”
Aino: “I’m not mad.”
Tatsumi: “Happy, good, good.”
Here are the comments from Team Aja. The video seems to start part of the way through Aja’s “クソ…クソ…クソー！” if the shupro transcript is correct, haha. I had a bit of trouble figuring out the subject of some of Aja’s sentences here, but think I chose alright? In any case, it fully made me laugh, haha.
Aja: "Shit… fuck… dammit! Huh. I thought TJPW was just fun, but that was more than fun; they got beneath my skin and made my blood boil. Max the Impaler? Today was just a taste, really. I was really going to destroy everything. I came to this venue right here, and they said I really mustn’t demolish it and all that. What a pain in the ass! Get me a venue I can tear down next time! I’ll tell you what: get us a venue where we can do whatever we want. Then Pom will fight them to the end.”
Pom: “UH WAIT WHAT?”
Aja: “You can do it, right?”
Pom: “Y-yes. I can do it thanks to you.”
Aja: “Raku-chan also failed to put them to sleep today, but you can put them to sleep next time, right?”
Raku: “Y-yes!”
Aja: “The lullaby didn’t work. Let’s practice it properly, okay? Pom, you’re going next.”
The match after that was Miyu & Itoh vs Hikari & Riho. I had a bit of a hard time focusing on this one after the shenanigans of the previous match, haha.
Itoh and Miyu’s backstage comments start off with a confusing line from Miyu, haha. She says, “東女の試合自体も久しぶりで、声出しＯＫでしょ.” I couldn’t make sense of what she was talking about in the first part of that sentence. My first thought was that she was referring to Itoh and Miyu wrestling in TJPW instead of in other companies, which they’d both been doing a lot of this year, but I wasn’t quite sure. In any case, here’s what I had:
Yamashita: "It’s been a long time since we were in a proper TJPW match, and where cheering was allowed. And against Hikari and Riho-san, huh? I think it was quite the challenge, but we were able to win, so that’s good.”
Itoh: "Well, I wanted to hit Riho a little bit more. You were hogging her all to yourself, weren’t you?”
Yamashita: “I was, huh? Well, I hadn’t fought her since the mixed match I did in 2019 when Anton-san and I tagged against Kenny-san and Riho-san. I thought she was someone who never stopped evolving, and she had speed and power. I got thrown and pushed around at the end, so that was part of my frustration.”
Itoh: “She didn’t break a sweat, did she?”
(Kenny makes his debut in my translations haha)
Then Miyu said, “そうね。そこがすごく悔しいし、また里歩さんのすごさを知れたからこそもっともっと先で、どうなるか分かんないですけど、私は独り占めしたいかな、いつかって思いましたね.” That big sentence there was a little tricky. Maybe I got it?
Yamashita: “Nope. It was really frustrating. Riho’s brilliance goes without saying, and precisely because of that, I don’t know how it would happen, but I’d like to have her all to myself in a match someday.”
Then Itoh says, “伊藤も…２回か。シングルマッチをやったことがあるんだけど、まぁでも前回がたしか去年の３月くらいにＡＥＷでやったやつなんだけど。どうだろう、あんまり当たってないから分かんないかな.” The part that confused me was the どうだろう sentence.
Itoh: “I would, too. For the… second time? We’ve had a singles match—Well, the last time was last year around March at AEW, I think. I dunno how it would go because we haven’t faced each other much. But I think I fought her with more confidence than I had last time, so I want to do it again. Hikari, too, when she hit me with a Thrust Kick to the back of my head, I truly thought I was going to die, but I’m alive so it’s all good.”
Yamashita: “Well, we won today. So let’s do our best!”
Hikari and Riho’s comments were cute because Hikari says a lot of self-depreciating stuff and Riho just shakes her head.
Hikari: “This year, Riho-san has been in a lot of TJPW matches. I thought I’d never be able to face her. She has a lot of talent that I don’t have, and I think she does the kind of pro wrestling that everyone admires. I really wanted to team up with someone like that and win together. Even though you helped me so, so much, I showed my disappointing, pathetic side, and I’m really sorry.”
Riho’s comments seemed straightforward for the most part, but I struggled a lot with this line here: “今日、山下選手という新しい試合して楽しいなと思う選手を見つけてしまったので.”
Riho: “I was really looking forward to tagging with Hikari-chan today because we’re the same age. She was also someone I hadn’t fought or teamed up with in my time at TJPW before, so I was really looking forward to that, and I’m really sorry we couldn’t win. Today I found in Yamashita someone I enjoy facing in a fresh match. If we get another chance, Yamashita-san… Of course, Itoh-san is also interesting, but I already knew that. Next time, if there’s another opportunity, I want to do it again. Thank you very much!”
After that was the first of three title matches: Miu vs Alex Windsor for the International belt. I was thrilled to see Miu win! After the match, Miu said:
Miu: “I got the belt! Check it out! This summer was so intense, and even though I was able to get momentum from that point on, truthfully I’d been wanting to get results ever since I won the tag belt. But I’ve felt that even though I’ve been ascending the staircase step by step, it hasn’t brought me at all closer to winning a belt.”
Then she said, “シングルのベルトを取っていないという点で、比べられることとか多いなっていうのはあったんですけど.” This was a bit confusing, haha .
“I hadn’t ever won a singles belt, and I’d competed for one so many times. But now, surpassing that summer, being able to win this belt, it feels like fate. From this point on, this belt will allow me to see the view and gain the experience that I didn’t have enough of when I faced my senpais.”
This line also threw me off: “それ以上のものをさせていけらるるように…いけられるるように、いけられるように頑張りたいと思うので.”
"So that I can go even beyond that… I want to do my best so that I can do even more than that. I hope I can grow alongside this belt for a long time.”
In the next chunk, Miu starts off with: “あと個人的に私の事務所の山田社長の『いつかプロレスラーとして一人前になったら、アイドルとしても一人前になれるよ』って言葉を信じて…プロレス嫌だった時もやってきたんですけど…（涙）” It was that last part that gave me a bit of trouble, or at least I wanted to make sure I was correct because it seemed like a prime candidate for someone to take out of context .
“Also, I personally believe in the words of President Yamada from my agency, who said, ‘When you come into your own someday as a pro wrestler, you will come into your own as an idol as well.’ Even when I hated pro wrestling, I’ve kept going…" (cries)
Then she says, “なかなかアイドルとしては一人前になれない点が多いので。もっと新曲が欲しいとか、ライブしたいとかも思ってるので。いちおうこのベルトを取ったという形はあるので、新メンバーも入るし、アプガプロレスとしてももっと東京女子プロレスを盛り上げていける存在になりたいなって思います.” That last sentence was the tricky one for me .
“There are many things that prevent me from being able to truly stand on my own as an idol. I want more new songs, more live performances. For the time being, I have this belt, so I want us to get new members, and I want to be able to liven up TJPW even more as the Up Up Girls.”
The next question had several bits I wasn’t sure about: “（かなりの体格差があったが？）やっぱり、なかなか大きい選手とやることがないので。でもジャイアントスイングはきっと回せると信じていた点もありつつ、普段から試合では１回もやったことなかったんですけど、体格が大きい選手ということでドロップキックとかを試行錯誤してみたんですけど。なんか練習よりも大丈夫だったかな？って気はするんですけど…自分なりにそういうのは経験としてこれからもっと強くなっていけたらなと思います.” Everything after it I think was fine, though?
(There was a considerable size difference between the two of you)
“I don’t often have the chance to work with large wrestlers. But while I believed I’d be able to do the Giant Swing, I’d never done it in a regular match before, so because she’s a bigger wrestler, I tried out some drop kicks and such. I feel like it went better than it did when I practiced it, but… I think I can use the experience to become stronger in my own way going forward.”
(Do you want to defend the belt overseas?)
“Yes. Up until this point, when adults have asked me about going overseas, I always dodged the question. But after winning this belt, I’ve changed my mind. Now I want to go overseas, too!”
The part where Miu talked about wrestling and being an idol seemed to especially hit because last year (I think? Or maybe it was 2020), she had a bit of a breakdown on twitter over what seemed to be her frustration that she couldn’t really move up in the idol world no matter how hard she worked. Her frustration seemed to be over idol stuff, not wrestling, though of course with a career like hers, I’m sure she’s felt frustration toward both. She’s always said in shows that she loves wrestling and she loves idols, but it seemed like at least at that point, her love for idols was shaken a bit.
A lot of fans were really worried about her at the time, and my friends and I were trying to translate her messages as best as we could to try and figure out what was going on. She eventually deleted all of the tweets and seemed to have recovered from whatever she was feeling, but I still think about that a lot when watching her, especially this year. I think it’s a lot of pressure to try and straddle two different worlds like she’s doing, and I hope she knows just how legitimately special she is as a wrestler, even if the idol stuff ultimately doesn’t work out maybe how she would have hoped.
Alex’s comments were in English! Hooray! The funniest part was her yelling at Mr. Haku for not getting the delivery of saying her name quite right:
Windsor: “I know what just happened! I was bloody IN there! But hey, I’m not about looking in the past. I’m looking in the future, okay? And if you really want to go back, before I came to Tokyo Joshi Pro, I was a fucking STAR. And guess what? When I leave Tokyo Joshi Pro, I’m still going to be a star! Go on, go ahead.” (Mr. Haku translates) “Alex Windsor! Is that it?”
Mr. Haku: “Alex Windsor!”
Windsor: “You know, you’re fired.”
The semi-main was the tag title match, featuring Yuki Arai and Saki Akai vs Rhia O’Reilly and Nightshade from EVE. It was a bit of an unusual match for TJPW, with The Uprising playing a very overt heel role, especially by bullying Arai. The audience didn’t quite know how to respond to it, though they did get some boos. AA Cannon managed to retain the belts, though!
(sidenote: I’m thinking of changing how I translate/romanize their name haha because I don’t really like including the “no” in “Reiwa no AA Cannon”. “Reiwa AA Cannon” feels more true to conveying the actual Japanese name in English, since の is really just a particle. But I keep changing my mind on it haha)
The first part of Saki and Arai’s comments was a little tricky . Saki said: “どうなることかと思ったんですけど、私自身も海外の選手とやるのすごい久しぶりだったんですけど、言葉が通じなくても肉体言語で語り合うって、リングの上でこういうことだなって思いました。やっぱり日本の選手よりもパワーも大きさもありましたし、重さもありましたし、未知なところがたくさんあったんですけど、本当に一個一個、階段はお互い上がっていってるなっていうのはやってて感じます.”
Akai: "I was wondering how it would go. It had been a long time since I had faced foreign wrestlers. Even though we can’t understand each other’s words, we communicate physically, that’s how it is in the ring. They’re bigger and have more power and weight than Japanese wrestlers, and there were a lot of unknowns, but I really feel like we’re both moving up the staircase one step at a time.
The next sentence also confused me: “自分自身も自分のことで精いっぱいだったのであまり試合中、助けに入れなかったんですけど、それでもすごく頼もしくて、優希ちゃんは。最後も自分でやられた分、ちゃんとやり返せたんでそこも含めて一歩一歩、すごい大きな段の階段を上っているように感じました.” The part I got particularly confused about was the やり返す. I think I got the rest, though?
"I was too busy watching out for my own self to lend my aid during the match, but Yuki-chan was really dependable despite that. In the end, she was able to do it on her own. She fired back, and with that, I feel like she’s going up that great big staircase step by step.”
Arai: “This was my first time facing wrestlers from overseas, and I had only worked with TJPW wrestlers until now, so I was suddenly exposed to moves that I had never seen before, and I felt really out of my depth. However, it was truly a happy ending because the belts are still with us here and now, so I think it was a good experience, and I want to get even stronger from here.”
For some reason, shupro had fully transcribed questions from the interviewers for this one haha. In the next part, the interviewer asks, “What was it about those two wrestlers in particular that scared you the most?”
Saki answered: “やっぱり重さが全然違うので、私の体感で言うと東京女子でいう瑞希選手の8人分ぐらいあったように感じました。なのでいつもやろうと思って根性でどうにかなる技ができなかったりとか、そういう意味では今後、こういう大きい選手とやるときにあたって、やっぱかけ方もいつもと違ったので、そういう今後の対策にはなったかな。一つ一つが重たかったよね.” I think every line except for maybe the last one was confusing to me, haha.
Akai: “They weigh a lot more, so it felt like the equivalent of facing eight Mizukis in TJPW. Since we couldn’t do the moves that relied on willpower like we had always done, that means that from now on, whenever we face bigger wrestlers like this, we also have to adopt a different style, so I think it has given us a strategy for dealing with opponents like this in the future. Each blow was heavy, wasn’t it?”
Then Arai said, “私もやっぱりエルボーだったりしても本当にレベルが違くて同じ人なんだなとすごい不思議な気持ちになりました.” The part I was confused over was the 同じ人 haha . I think I got the rest, though?
Arai: “For me, it was also their elbow strikes, which were at a different level, and it was really strange to face someone similar to me.”
(Both of you have mentioned that you want to finish the year with the belts still in your hands. That’s coming up quite soon.)
Akai: “Yes. I don’t know how many title defenses we have left this year, or who will come challenge us next, but for the time being, our plans are to spend Christmas together, New Year’s Eve together, New Year’s Day together, make our first shrine visit of the year together, and for Valentine’s, I want us to exchange these belts with each other.”
Arai: “That sounds good.”
I was deeply amused by Saki’s last response, haha, because she listed, well, all of the most romantic holidays, lol. Arai seemed like she got flustered part of the way through it and she can barely get out that “いいですね” there at the end hahaha. I wondered what was the best way to convey it in English, but ultimately couldn’t really decide, so I went with the uncreative option .
Nightshade and Rhia’s comments were all in English! Nice!
O’Reilly: “I underestimated the power of Arai. I won’t lie, she’s really tough, despite her size.”
Nightshade: “Next time, she will NOT kick me in the head.”
O’Reilly: “Arai and Akai are a formidable team. They deserve to be your champions. But don’t think I’m not still hungry for those belts.”
Nightshade: “And don’t think we won’t be back! The Uprising!”
And that’s as far as I’ve gotten! Gonna keep chipping away at the last match over the next few days!
).
”
), but 語源 is a good one to know for googling “X 語源” to find the etymology of words! I feel like the majority of my Japanese google searches are “X とは” or “Y 語源” or “Z 試合結果”…
), but I’m just going to chip away at it until I get it done. I’ll try to split it into several posts so that it’s not nearly as overwhelming here haha.
).