Finished the September 18 TJPW show! This was the one with the SKE48 concert and Reiwa AA Cannon’s final match 
.
It also featured Shiori Aoki guest refereeing again, which was fun! I enjoyed the fact that they once again put her in a match with some of the most absolutely chaotic wrestlers on the roster, hahaha.
This was the first match with comments. Here’s Rika/Miu/Himawari’s:
I had a bit of trouble translating Rika’s sentence here: “宣言通り、おしりんさんの目の前でかっこよく勝つところを見せられましたー！”
Tatsumi: “Just as I declared, I was able to get a cool victory under Oshirin-san’s watchful eye! Her refereeing was amazing.”
Miu: “She was able to properly read the situation from the get-go, and she did a proper 2-count. Her refereeing was cute and cool.”
Tatsumi: “I was happy to see her strict refereeing, for us too.”
Miu: “We’re happy to have you judge us.”
Tatsumi: “If you have the opportunity, please come not once, not twice, but three or four times. Please come over and over.”
Miu: “From now on, even forever.” (laughs)
Tatsumi: “Please work exclusively for us. Favor us.”
(There was an instance where you choked her)
“Huh?”
Miu: “It’s true.”
Tatsumi: “What” What are you talking about? Did that really happen?"
Miu: “Huh, was it a dream…?”
Tatsumi: “I have no recollection of it.”
Miu: “You wouldn’t strangle an active idol, would you?”
Tatsumi: “That’d make her angry.”
未詩「そんなわけないですよ。誰ですか、そんなこと言うの」
Miu: “There’s no way. Who would say that you’d do something like that?”
Tatsumi: “It’s not good. Please don’t do it.”
I think Miu was saying something there at the end that was similar to what she said in a recent comment for another show?
Raku/Pom/Misao’s comments:
Raku: “We lost.”
Pom: “No, our teamwork between the three of us was perfect, and Oshirin-san was perfect, too.”
Misao: “It was perfect. Huh, what happened? There was something in the middle of it, a rampaging dragon. If it weren’t for that…”
I wasn’t quite sure about this: “だってレフェリーのことを…あれ負けですよね？”
Pom: “But by the referee’s decision… it was a loss, wasn’t it?”
Misao: “There’s a chance that the decision will be overturned.”
Pom & HIMAWARI: “It’s possible.”
Pom: “Isn’t it a win?”
Misao: “Knocking out an idol, is that something you can even do? It’s ridiculous. It was an illusory victory, wasn’t it?”
Pom: “Let’s do it one more time.”
Misao: “The third time Shiori Aoki serves as the special referee, we’ll definitely win. I’ll protect her from Rika Tatsumi.”
Pom: “I also got to touch her hands. I won’t wash them anymore. They smell nice.” (as the two of them recoil) “Huh? We’re a team, right? We’re together, aren’t we?” (the two of them leave) “Wait, what does this mean?”
Aoki’s comments:
This line was a bit tough to figure out how to translate in a natural-sounding way: “前回よりも裁く人数が多かったので、すごく視野を広げないといけなかったのが大変だったのと、まさか自分が攻撃を食らうとは思わなかったのですごくビックリしました.”
Aoki-san: “There were more people to keep an eye on than last time, so I had to have a wider field of vision, which was difficult. I never expected to get attacked, so that was really frightening. I think the match was more difficult than the last one.”
(What have you tweaked since the last time?)
I wasn’t quite sure about this chunk: “木曽レフェリーにちょっと特訓してもらったんですけど、試合が盛り上がっていく終盤につれて、私の声とか仕草とかで盛り上げていかなきゃっていうのを新たに教えていただいたので。声の張り方とかを前よりも改善しました.” This part in particular threw me off: “声の張り方とか”
“I’ve received some special training from referee Kiso, and he taught me that as the excitement starts to build as the end of the match approaches, I should also liven up my voice and gestures. So I’ve adjusted my voice and such, and it’s better than before.”
(Do you want to continue refereeing in the future?)
“Yes.” (smiles) “If I have the opportunity, I want to do it.”
(Last time, there were suspicions of bribery…?)
“This time… there wasn’t any of that this time, either! There was nothing like that.”
Free WiFi + Wakana faced Toyo Mates + Toga in a nice little preview tag match!
Toyo Mates + Toga:
Kamifuku: “There’s nothing to be afraid of anymore. The fact that we’re standing here is proof that our bodies are strong. In this preview match with WiFi… I don’t know. I hate it, WiFi. What even is WiFi, anyway? They’ve been asserting something you can’t even see. Toyo University at least has a verifiable existence. Have you ever seen WiFi? Where is it flying off to? Saying such absurd things, where is it, you idiots? I absolutely won’t use it, WiFi.”
Kiryu: “You’re not going to use it?”
Kamifuku: “No. I won’t use it until I’ve beaten Nao Kakuta in a match.”
This next chunk was a bit tricky: “どんな時もね。ギガを払うので。私の意気込みは以上です。貴様ら、なんかある？” I wasn’t quite sure how to translate the first couple sentences, and then for the last bit, I wasn’t sure how to capture 貴様ら in a translation…
“No matter the time. I’ll pay for phone data. That’s all the enthusiasm I have. How about y’all?”
Kiryu: “If you connect to suspicious WiFi in the city, there’s a substantial risk of having your information stolen or something like that…” (at this point, something WiFi-like crosses in front of the camera)
Kamifuku: “Was that WiFi flying through here just now? There’s no way.”
Kiryu: “So please be careful of suspicious WiFi. There’s a possibility that they’ll extract your information.” (something crosses in front of the camera again)
Kamifuku: “WiFi is invisible, right?”
Kiryu: “I don’t think you can see it.”
Kamifuku: “Well, Toga, close with a few words.”
I wasn’t sure about Mahiro’s remark here: “いいよ、一言で.”
Kiryu: “Okay, with just a few words.”
Toga: “…Huh? Please be sure to win the belts.”
Kamifuku: “We’ll do our best.”
They really had fun filming that one, didn’t they? Hahaha
Free WiFi + Wakana:
Kakuta: “Well… our teamwork didn’t go so great today.”
The first chunk of this was a bit tricky:
ヒカリ「今日はちょっと焦っちゃいました、私も」
Hikari: “I was a bit anxious today, too.”
角田「なんだろう…あんまりよくなかったね、ちょっとね。何も別に言い訳もないので」
Kakuta: “I wonder what it was… it wasn’t good. We don’t have any excuse.”
ヒカリ「でも私はこうやって…どうなるかと思いましたけど、前哨戦が出来て、みんなが戻ってきてくれて」
Hikari: “It going like this… I wondered how it’d go, but we did the preview match, and everyone is back now.”
Kakuta: “That’s true. I apologize for troubling you. I’m sorry.”
Hikari: “It was a preview match, but…”
Kakuta: “I’m glad we were able to have a preview match in a big venue like this in Nagoya.”
Hikari: “The three of us have been teaming up a lot.”
Kakuta: “I’d like the three of us to get more powerful from here. And of course I also want Free WiFi to power up. Next time. We’ll get them in the next one.”
Hikari: “I think there’s a way to channel your frustration and become stronger. We can’t let our guard down.”
The next match was Yuka’s ex & Yuka’s current partner vs Mizuki’s ex & Mizuki’s ex’s current partner Shoko & Mizuki vs Itoh & Miyu! Nice fun match, unsurprisingly!
Shoko & Mizuki:
Nakajima: “Today I faced Itoh-chan for the first time in a while, and it was a preview match for Yamashita and Mizu-pyon.”
This line was a bit tricky: “やっぱり夏を制した山下の勢いも感じたし、色々あってユカッチとか休んでる、こういう東京女子を一番上で引っ張ってくれた瑞希の力も感じたし。2人のバチバチに引っ張られて…”
“I felt Yamashita’s momentum after she dominated this summer, and I felt Mizuki’s power after she has been leading TJPW at the top, amid Yuka-chi’s and others’ absences. The sparks of tension between the two of them led the way… My match hasn’t been decided yet for the big show, but I’m looking forward to it. I’m going to do my very best in my match, so please watch it.”
Mizuki’s whole answer here was a bit tricky: “休んだ分、元気になって帰ってこれたんですけど。やっぱりみいちゃんの勢いっていうのは常に感じ続けてて。最前線を走り続けてきた人ってこうなんだろうなってかんじとか。でもこうやって、ちょっと東京女子の変化があるところで私がチャンピオンになって支えてもらってるし…翔子さんとかみんなに.”
Mizuki: “I was able to go home and recover as much energy as I rested. Mii-chan’s momentum is something that I’ve always felt, as befitting of someone who has always been running at the forefront. But at this moment where there is change happening in TJPW, Shoko-san and everyone else have supported me as I’ve become the champion.”
Uh oh, my enemy くれる… “支えてくれてるよ.”
Nakajima: “Hey, you’ve supported me.”
This line was tricky: “ホントに支えられてるし、翔子さんの前で何回泣いたんだってくらい泣いてるんですけど.”
Mizuki: “I’ve truly received so much support, and I’ve cried so many times in front of Shoko-san. But I feel like that part of me is getting stronger, and I don’t think Mii-chan is someone I can’t beat. I will absolutely defend this belt, because there’s someone I still want to fight.”
Nakajima: (pointing at herself) “Oh!”
Mizuki: “I must defend it.”
This bit was tough, haha: “めっちゃマジで久しぶりのみいちゃんからの愛が重すぎて、めっちゃイヤだったー。ホントに嫌い”
“The love from Mii-chan for the first time in a while was seriously way too heavy, and I really didn’t like it. I truly hate it.”
(There’s still some time before the title match. Are there any more preview matches…?)
“No way. The less I encounter Yamashita, the better. Things that are really kind, I actually hate that. Does that make sense?”
Nakajima: “I get it!”
Mizuki: “After all, she likes everyone, and she loves me. She’s a good person. But I hate that. Even during matches, she’s like that. That’s why I don’t want to face her as much as possible.”
Itoh & Miyu:
Itoh: “Why did you lose?”
Yamashita: “I don’t know.”
Itoh: “You got rolled up?”
Yamashita: “I don’t know if it happened with a roll-up… It’s weird. I couldn’t see anything at the end there.”
伊藤「あーあ」
Itoh: “Oh boy.”
Itoh’s reaction there was a bit tough to figure out how to translate…
Yamashita: “But Itoh came back after a long time. We’d crossed paths, but we hadn’t met up in a while. Our tag team worked pretty well together, considering, didn’t we?”
Itoh: “Yes, we did.”
This was a bit tough to figure out: “距離を置いて合流した後が一番調子いいっていう…”
Yamashita: “After we’d been separated and had gotten back together, we were at our best…”
Itoh: “That’s true.”
Yamashita: “I feel like our confidence as a team was already secure. But Mizuki was still scary. But… there were a few points where I was about to win, too. It’s not that I was careless, but she really hit me with everything she had at the end there.”
This part was a bit tricky: “あの流れ…？ 流れもけっこう私に傾いてたと思うですよ。けど、それをおもいっきりいかれたので。そこをしっかり考えて、タイトルマッチ…もう前哨戦があるのか分かんないけど、ない方がいいな、私は.”
“The tide of the match…? I think the tide had started to turn toward me. But I got totally outdone. Mulling it over, I don’t know if there’s another preview before the title match, but I’d prefer not to have one.”
Itoh: “Well, it’ll be fine. I’m sure you’ll be okay.”
Yamashita: “That’s right. I have nothing but confidence. I’ll take the singles belt again, and from there, it seems the tag belts will be back in action, so how about we aim for those?”
Itoh: “I saw. I want to go for them.”
Yamashita: “First of all, do your best with whatever is right in front of you. (At Hachioji) you’re facing Nyla, right?”
Itoh: “Yes. And the week before that, I have a title match with Matt Cardona for the DDT Universal Championship. So I’ll do my best, too.”
I couldn’t quite figure this out: “山下だけ頑張れって空気出してたけど、割と大事なのが.”
Yamashita: “I’d established a feeling that only I have to do my best, but that’s rather important. If you win in DDT, then you have Nyla, right? You can put the belt on the line.”
Itoh: “You’re right.”
Yamashita: “Then it would get more interesting.”
Itoh: “Certainly. Well, then I’ll do my best, too. Let’s both do our best. Cheers.”
If only Itoh had won the DDT Universal belt… 
. I’m not the world’s biggest Matt Cardona hater, but I can’t exactly call myself a fan… Itoh did well in that match, but even though I saw the finish coming, it was still frustrating to watch. Ah well.
But getting back to TJPW, the main event of the show was AA Cannon’s last match: Akai & Arai vs Yuki Aino & Moka Miyamoto. I was distracted while watching this one because I was a bit worried about Yuki Arai coming back and having to do such a demanding performance (the small concert earlier in the show plus this match) right after she was out with covid… It looked like things went alright, but that’s basically the opposite of what you should do when recovering from covid… I’m really afraid that one day a wrestler will end up basically losing the rest of their career to long covid by pushing themselves too hard like this…
In any case, something a bit surprising happened in the post-match:
Akai: “Yuki-chan, Moka-chan, truly thank you for giving us AA Cannon’s last match in Nagoya!”
I tried like four different ways of translating the first part of this and was ultimately happy with none of them, haha: “自分の事情になるんですけども、私が11月でプロレスを引退することになりまして、今日がAA砲のラストマッチとなってしまいました.”
“This concerns just me, but I’m going to retire from pro wrestling in November, so today became AA Cannon’s last match. We haven’t teamed up as AA Cannon recently, but I’ve been watching her matches the whole time, even while we haven’t been teaming, and today, she fought like this at my side.”
Akai got a bit tripped up here, and I got even more tripped up trying to puzzle it out, haha, but I think I managed to figure out what happened? “すごいたものしくて…？ たもの…たのも？ 頼もしくて、もう最初はずっと妹として見ていたんですけど、もう一人前で…アイドルとか、今日見てびっくりしました.”
“She was very relible…? Reliba…relia…? She was a RELIABLE partner, and at first, I saw her as a younger sister, but now she’s all grown up… seeing her as an idol today, I was surprised.”
I had to look at this for a while before I think I figured it out: “アイドルだったんだって思うくらい、プロレスラーとしてすごい立派なので.”
“She’s so splendid as a wrestler, she had me surprised to think that she was an idol. I think she’ll continue to lead TJPW at the forefront from this point on. Right, Yuki-chan?”
Arai: (in tears) “I might miss her a bit more than I expected… I don’t think of this as a farewell forever, but I really liked the time I spent with Akai-san, whether she was encouraging me in the ring, or whether we were hanging out together in the back and such, so I really feel like I’m going to miss her. I’m truly blessed to have had this time in my wrestling career where I was able to team up with Akai-san. Thank you so much.” (audience applauds) “…Akai-san, when we were a tag team, I was really selfish, or I should say that I’m really grateful to you for letting me do what I wanted to do. Can I say one more selfish thing here at the very end? Please give me a first and last singles match with you.”
Akai: “I like that fearless part of you, Yuki-chan. I was only just informed of this, so I’m not prepared to kick Yuki-chan in the face as a fighter just yet. I don’t know when the match will be, but when I step into TJPW, let’s do a singles match. Please be sure to wear a lot of facial masks and polish your face until it shines.”
Arai: “You too, Akai-san.”
Akai: “With the singles match set and more to look forward to on what remains of my retirement road, Yuki-chan, please give a final greeting to the audience at Nagoya.”
Arai: “Okay. I’m really happy that so many people came today, and that so many of you are wearing AA Cannon T-shirts. Thank you so much! I’m really sad to have to say goodbye, but there’s something I want to do for our final closing, so is it alright if I do that? I’m going to say a few words, and I want you to say ‘I love you.’ Akai-san will say it, too.”
Akai: “Okay! Got it.”
Arai: “Okay, everyone, are you ready?”
They closed with: “AA Cannon!” “I love you!”
They don’t even do their last post-match comments together because they’ve already started to switch gears to the singles feud… there’s something about that that’s so cold, even though both of them say that they’re not ready yet to see each other as an enemy… It feels like they’re separating now so that they’ll be able to make that switch…
Akai’s comments:
Her first sentence took a bit of rearranging, haha: “まだAA砲がラストっていう実感も何もないんですけど、今日AA砲がラストという場所が優希ちゃんの、SKEのお膝元である名古屋で締めくくることができて.”
Akai: “It still doesn’t really feel like this is the last of AA Cannon, but we were able to close the show here in Nagoya where the last AA Cannon match was held, on Yuki-chan and SKE’s home turf. I’m a little bit overcome with emotion.”
These lines were also a bit tough: “対戦相手が愛野ユキ選手、自分にとっては彼女がデビューした時からずっと何か引っかかってて思い入れのある選手だったので、こうやって名古屋でAA砲と対峙する場所にいてくれて嬉しいのと。あともか選手は自分は若手の中で勝手にこの子いいなって推してたので.”
“Yuki Aino was my opponent, and I’ve felt something of an attachment to her ever since she debuted, so I’m happy that she squared off with AA Cannon here in Nagoya. And Moka, I thought that girl was good, so I nominated her out of all of the young wrestlers. I felt that I was able to experience that passion in action today, and I feel that it’ll sustain me and give me strength for what remains of my retirement road. What Yuki-chan said in the ring at the end, about wanting to do a singles match… To be honest, I’ve been shocked time and time again by Yuki-chan’s fearlessness and her surprising proposals, but today’s was the most surprising. I still can’t view Yuki-chan as an enemy yet, but by the day of our singles match, I will have flipped the switch to viewing her as an enemy, as an opponent who must be defeated. Yuki-chan, I may be a reassuring presence when I’m at your side, but when we stand face to face, I’m quite frightening… I hope this will also be a good learning experience for you.”
I love that last bit so much. I waffled a bit on how to translate it for the best impact, haha.
Arai’s comments:
Arai: “The last Reiwa AA Cannon… it still hasn’t sunk in. Until yesterday, I’d been like ‘is this really the last time?’ But doing the match today, I really felt ‘ah, this is the end.’ I’m going to miss her so much.”
This sentence was a bit tricky: “やっぱり赤井さんがいたから見れた景色とか、たくさん引っ張ってもらって見せてもらったので.”
" All of the scenery that I was able to see because Akai-san was there, she really led the way and showed me so much. I’m so grateful for this chance meeting, that we had this encounter. Next, I want to hit Akai-san with everything that I’ve absorbed from being close to her. I want to surpass Akai-san, because I won’t have another chance."
This line tripped me up a lot at first but I think I was able to make sense of it eventually: “また次越えればいいやって相手じゃないので.”
“She’s not an opponent that I can just try again to surpass next time. So, with the goal of surpassing her in our next encounter, I’m going to do my best.”
(What do you most want to convey in the singles match?)
In this part, I wasn’t sure who Arai was wanting this to be conveyed to (Akai? The audience?): “もちろん成長もだし…それは当たり前で。もっとこれからの可能性とかも感じてもらいたいし。もっと強くなるって思ってもらえたらいいなって思います.”
“Of course I want to show my growth… that’s a given. I want her to feel that I have even more future potential. I hope that she’ll think that I’m going to get even stronger.”
(Next time, you will face each other not as partners, but as enemies)
“No, not today… I still want to enjoy this afterglow.” (laughs) “Starting tomorrow, I will do my best to come up with lots of countermeasures!”
Earlier this year, I ended up sort of exploring the Akai/Arai relationship from a Class S framework, after spending a lot of time talking with a friend about the genre (my friend was doing some pretty in-depth research into the history of yuri). It was an interesting experiment for me personally, because it’s not at all the kind of ship dynamic I typically go for, since these Class S relationships are traditionally very temporary relationships with a definite end date, which the girls grow out of when they leave adolescence. As a trope, I hate that!
But putting aside the problematic aspects of that when applied to someone’s sexuality, lol, something the Class S genre seems to ask, which I also found myself thinking about when considering the Akai/Arai tag team/relationship (which we all knew would be temporary from the very beginning, before Akai’s retirement even factored into it), is the question of: “can it still matter even if it’s temporary and never had any chance of being anything more than that?”. It’s such a heartbreaking question, but it’s one that pro wrestling stories make us ask all the time…
I guess maybe in writing so much about it, I’ve already answered that question, haha.
I got distracted, but there’s actually one more post-match comments video from this show: Arai and the other SKE48 members also do comments together (I’m unsure why shupro didn’t attach the さん suffix to their names when transcribing their comments this time, haha, but I’m just going to keep sticking with what they have because it’s easiest):
Arai: “How was it?”
Hidaka: “I almost cried.”
Ego: “I cried.”
I could not for the life of me figure out this: “サーってくる.”
Hidaka: “サーってくる. I got to see Yuki wrestle, which was my heart’s desire…”
Ego: “Yes. We always watch the broadcast together backstage. But seeing her live, I could really feel the special atmosphere of a live performance. She was super cool, and it was really moving.”
Arai: “How was it?”
Suzuki: “She’s a senpai I admire, and I’d only seen Yuki-san in the capacity of an idol. I thought she was so cool as a wrestler, I wanted her to throw me.” (laughs) “Someday it’ll happen.”
Arai: “Someday. Train hard for it.”
Suzuki: “I will.”
Arai: “How was it, Saya-chan?”
Iriuchijima: “Normally, all I see is Yuki-chan with a happy smile. Seeing her with a serious expression, I fell in love with her even more.”
Arai: “I’m glad! Thank you. It was fun to do a live performance with everyone. Please come see us again!”
All four: “Of course!”
And that’s it! Just one more show left to go! This one’s a bit shorter, so if all goes well, I’m hoping to have it done by the end of Monday! 
” kind of thing
”
. This one was a lot of fun, though it was also sad, because we might never get to see them again after this…
This is going to be a hard one… I’m tempted to just call the whole thing a Miu-ism and move on…
