Finished the second half of the Wrestle Princess translation finally!
Yeah, it’s tough! I think for now, I’ll keep the 負けたくない in tact (too bad I can’t just translate it as “driven by that maketakunai feeling” haha. English needs to absorb Japanese phrases at a faster rate!!), mostly for the reason that you said, with it being a specific phrase that comes up a lot in this company, haha. But we’ll see, maybe I’ll change my mind on it next year or something 
. I feel like I’m gradually starting to get a bit bolder with the wording so that things feel a bit more natural sounding in English.
Thank you! After seeing your transcription, I can catch a lot more of it when listening, haha. How’s this for a revised translation? The part I’m most unsure on is the second half of Sakisama’s initial chunk of lines.
Sakisama: "It’s as I said it in the ring. A flower is beautiful because the petals will fall someday. But although we are like roses, our beauty is an eternal promise. Please don’t let it scatter. That is all. Is that alright? Mei-san? How do you feel now?
Mei-san: “Yes! C’est bon! You are the best wrestler!”
Sakisama: “Ohohoho. That is all.”
(Today was your last match in Tokyo?)
“Didn’t you see what I said in the ring? And you thought nothing of it? It’s far too humid here. I’m leaving!”
Mei-san: “Sakisama! Sakisama!”
Alright, here’s the rest!
The next match was Itoh vs Nyla Rose, which I thought was entertaining. They’ve actually teamed together in AEW, so their relationship is friendly, despite Nyla being a monster heel haha.
Nyla’s comments were in English!
Nyla: “Listen, Maki has got a hard head. Back home in America, we have an expression, ‘you’re hard-headed.’ I think that came from Maki. Maki-san, I wasn’t ready for that. I mean, the match obviously was great. It went in my favor. But I said it before. I see a lot of myself in Maki Itoh. She’s young, she’s brash. She’s resilient. She’s got the heart of a champion. But she threw a few curve balls I wasn’t ready for.
(It seemed in the beginning of the match, you were going for a bit of a ‘kawaii’ stand-off?)
“Listen, that was my mistake, okay? That was my mistake. I thought for a second that I was the kawaii kaiju. Apparently I’m not. Maki’s the master; she’s got it on lock. I didn’t realize. That one was on me.”
I think maybe I did alright with Itoh’s comments?
Itoh: “Ah, that’s it. Rats. Nyla’s too strong. As expected from a top AEW star, she’s different. But did I manage to get somewhere? I don’t know. Well, it’s alright. Next time, if I face Nyla again, I’m going to do my best so that I can win.” (in English) “To be continued.”
After that was the tag title match! I loved this one! I started out feeling very unsure who I wanted to win, but by the very end, I think I was rooting for Mahiro. I love how that final stretch came down to Mahiro vs Nao, the two wrestlers who’d never won a belt, both fighting desperately for their first title… Alas, it was not Mahiro’s day, though I’m happy for Nao, too. Here’s hoping for Toyo Mates Princess Tag champs 2024 
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Kakuta: “Well… thank goodness!”
Hikari: “You finally got a belt…”
Kakuta: “Hikari-chan kept calling my name, all the way to the end.”
This was a bit tricky: “ずーっと助けにきて呼んでくれてたから、あ、これは最後決めにいくのは私に託してくれてたなと思って。だから、それを察してもう意地でもってすごい思わせてくれたので.”
“She always came to my rescue and always called out to me, so I thought, ‘ah, she’s leaving it to me to finish the match.’ So, knowing that, I really had the sense that I had to do whatever it took. Having a partner is great. It hasn’t really sunk in yet… but I’m happy.”
Hikari: “I really wanted Nao-san to get her first belt by her own power. But I really didn’t want to place the sole responsibility of that onto her, so… was I able to help out a lot?”
Kakuta: “She really helped me, and I tried my best a billion times over. It was tough…”
Hikari: “There were a lot of moments where it was tough, but whenever I hung on one more time, Nao-san would also keep at it. I’m so happy that as a tag team, she was able to help me when things got hard. A few years ago, I couldn’t have imagined myself holding this belt. I thought maybe that was enough time in the tag division for now, and I put my all into singles matches, but I felt a lot of loneliness after all. I’m so happy that we were able to win the pink belts together like this.”
Kakuta: “They look good on us, huh?”
Hikari: “Yes!”
Kakuta: “We got rid of the curse!”
Hikari: “So let’s defend them over and over. Let’s go!”
Kakuta: “DENPA RYOKO!”
Both: “BIBIBIBIBI!”
(Miyamoto & Juria want to challenge)
I think maybe I got this, but wasn’t quite sure: “そうなんですか？ それはどっちが勝っても？ おお、すごいね、すぐ決まった.”
Kakuta: “Really? No matter who won? Oh, awesome, the match was set immediately.”
Hikari: “I’m on the side who accepts challenges now, so I just have to defend this.”
Kamifuku: “A year has passed, and… we couldn’t get the tag belts again. Up to this point, I wasn’t really the type of person who wants and wants to win a belt, and since I was with Mahiro-chan, we tried to challenge and all that, and I was able to have that sort of optimism.”
I had trouble with this: “今回自分もあんまりサポートが…偉そうには言いたくないけど、サポートをし切れなかったなっていうのもあったし.”
“This time… I don’t want to sound self-important, but there were times where I couldn’t get enough support. I thought that we were getting stronger and stronger, that we were growing, that our bond had deepened over the years, and that our abilities had gradually increased along with it. But the world is not that easy.”
The second half of this was a bit tricky to translate: “正直、結果がついてなかったずっと2人で…私、一番嫌いなので傷の舐めあいなので.”
“Honestly, we didn’t get any results, and this whole time, the two of us were… What I hate the most is that we’re licking each other’s wounds. For now, the two of us are going to go our separate ways.”
This was a bit tough: “友達には変わりないので絶縁とかじゃないけど、一度お互い違うところでもっと自分を磨いて.”
“We’re still friends, so we’re not severing our ties or anything like that, but we need to improve ourselves somewhere that’s one step removed from each other. We won’t be together all the time, and when Mahiro is able to defeat Yamashita-san, and when I’m able to defeat Aja-san, when we’ve grown that much… that’s when we’ll team up again as Toyo University. At that time, I think the fee to book us will have increased eightfold. So part of our salaries will be used to pay for the Hakusan Campus repair expenses. We’re also going to deck out the bronze statue of Enryo Inoue in Swarovski accessories. I’ll have gotten strong by then, so please wait. Enryo, wait for me. You (Mahiro) too.”
Kiryu: “I will! Ah… she’s gone. To be honest, I don’t know what to say; I really feel like I missed my chance. I wanted to take a good look at myself again, wondering how I can get stronger. Enryo-san, please wait for me. I will definitely become strong like a yokai, and Enryo-san will find me.”
Well, it’s not as bad as I feared it would be, at least 
. Though Kamiyu’s requirements before they’ll be able to team again are awfully steep…
The semi-main event was the double International/NWA championship match between Rika and Max The Impaler! I had a lot of fun with this one! The wrestlers did a great job making both outcomes feel possible at different points, and I think it really played to their strengths a lot. I was admittedly rooting for Max here haha because I wanted Rika to lose the belt so that she could challenge Mizuki (
).
Max’s comments were a bit trickier than usual, because Mr. Haku was there interpreting. There was a bit of English I couldn’t quite catch, haha.
Mr. Haku, interpreting: (in English) “Your leg hurts.” (in Japanese) “Apparently it’s their leg. Are there any questions?” (an interviewer asks a question, and Mr. Haku translates) “How does it feel to become double champion?”
Impaler: (growls and laughs)
Mr. Haku, interpreting: “They seem happy.” (an interviewer asks a question) “So, the NWA title, there’s a lot of history behind it, so there’s a lot of [?] but a genuine, authorized title being defended in Japan, I believe it’s the first time in over a decade, how do you feel about that?”
Impaler: (growls and hits the NWA belt)
Mr. Haku, interpreting: “The Impaler belongs to the NWA and appears to have pride in it, so they seem happy.”
Tatsumi: “Oh, my belt. My belt isn’t here. It’s gone. Just when my defense road was about to go from here… I have nothing to say. No words. I made it out of there alive. I made it back alive.”
This was tricky: “今すぐにでも、リベンジしてくれって言いたいんですけど。でも今の私じゃだめなんだと思いました.”
“Any minute now, I want to say ‘take revenge!’ But I’m not good enough right now. This defeat at the hands of the Impaler made me realize that I have to get stronger. I’ll get back on track. Thank you very much.”
(Did you befriend the Impaler?)
I wasn’t sure about this: “もー、私はめちゃくちゃにやられて仲良くなんかできるかって。コノヤローって思っちゃったんですけど.”
“Hmm… Well, they messed me up so bad, I didn’t know if we could get along. I was like ‘that bastard!’ But they welcomed me with open arms, so obviously we’re able to communicate something. So hold onto that belt until I’m able to get revenge, Impaler-chan. I’m definitely going to get it someday!”
And finally the main event! Really, really excellent match. I was rooting so hard for Mizuki, but Miyu did great here, too. Alas, the year of the rabbit is over… 
.
I’ve talked about this a bit, but I thought it was likely that Miyu would win here, though I still hoped Mizuki would somehow pull it off. She’s broken through into the top echelon of talent, at least. But everyone needs to have another obstacle they still need to overcome, and beating Miyu in a title match is one of Mizuki’s . Mizuki or Rika will just have to win the title a second time so that we can get that title match between them finally.
It makes sense for Miyu to be representing the company for their tenth anniversary, though, so I’m happy she gets to do that, and I think if they’re setting up for Itoh or Miu to take the belt off of her, that’ll be a really exciting story, so I’m looking forward to that.
I had Mr. Haku’s help for the post-match, so I don’t think I have many questions here?
Yamashita: “I got it! I’m a bit exhausted… sorry. This is my fourth time holding this belt. I’ve won it four times in the past ten years, and no matter how many times I’ve held it, it’s still very heavy. The reason why I’m standing here again is because I’m strong. The reason why I’ve been able to stand here like this for ten years is because I’m strong. But still standing up to this point… the reason that I’m able to keep being strong, that’s because Mizuki was the champion this time. The belt that Mizuki had shone so much, and she was so cool, I got frustrated. That’s why I wanted to challenge for her belt. So I tried my best to get stronger. So many people came. Thank you. Was it a great day, everyone? Was it the best? As was announced, we’ll be doing Ryogoku in March. We’re going to do our best not only at big venues, but also at many different venues all over the place. So please come to see TJPW.”
This was the only bit that confused me: “今日みなさんが叫んでくれたように、最高の空間作ります.”
Just as everyone shouted today, we’re going to create the best atmosphere. So please continue to support us. Let me close with these words at the end. Don’t set your own limits!"
Yamashita: “I did it! I won it for the fourth time. Just barely. Mizuki won the belt this March, and ever since that day… I’ve said it dozens of times already, but I wanted to challenge for the belt that Mizuki had. After that, I went to the U.S for three months, and I had the tournament, too. I was able to do my best there because I was motivated by the desire to have a title match with Mizuki. She’s so amazing, and I already knew that about her, but she was even more amazing with the belt. I really like Mizuki as a champion, and she was so cool, I felt frustrated. That’s why I’m so happy that I was able to beat her today. But now that I’m the champion, I’m going to take this belt with me. I’ll be in America, too, so I want to fly around the world as a triple champion. I will be in the U.S. starting tomorrow, so I want to go around the world carrying on my shoulders the weight of being TJPW champion, EVE champion, and SPARK (Joshi Puroresu of America) champion. And everyone at the venue… I’m so happy that so many people came to the show today. I will continue to do my best, so please support me.”
(This is your fourth time becoming TJPW champion, is your image as the champion unchanged?)
I wasn’t quite sure about this: “自分としてはしっかり責任を持ってやること.”
“I have to do things properly and responsibly. Also, I think there are things that I can only do now. For example, I’ve gone to America, and I also have a belt from there, but I think it would also be interesting to go to America or the U.K. and have a Princess of Princess title match. On the other hand, there’s bound to be overseas wrestlers who want to come to TJPW, and of course there must be wrestlers within TJPW who want to challenge for this belt. So doing all of this in a short span of time, it’s alright. I’m used to it. People who want to challenge, I want them to come and do it. I’m also a champion, but I want to keep challenging myself.”
(They chanted your name as you left)
“I was so happy. Because cheering gives me more power than anything else. I can’t win on my own.”
The transcript had this for the next sentence: “自分1人では勝てないし、最高の仲間がいて、最高の仲間がいて、そして最高のファンのみなさんがいるから頑張れるので.” But I think that second 仲間 was maybe actually “rivals”?
“I have the best friends, the best rivals, and the best fans, and it’s because of them that I’m able to do my best. I was so, so happy.”
Mizuki: “…Thank you very much. There was Yuka-chi’s graduation announcement, and we also had to give up the belts. I put on a brave front, but I couldn’t help but feel really scared that if I lost this belt, I would lose everything. But when it was over, there were a lot of people cheering for me, and all of the wrestlers were waiting for me when I went backstage after the match. And there was Mii-chan, who thanked me after the match. I felt once again that I’m truly so, so blessed. I’m frustrated, but I truly feel that everything I’ve done was not in vain. Now I have a reason to want to get strong again. I hope everyone will continue to stand beside me from here. Mii-chan’s love was too heavy this time. Next time, I want to reciprocate it many times over.”
(Do you want to aim for that belt again?)
“If I have an opportunity, I’d like to. I’ve realized that there are a lot of things that I can do on my own, not just the belt. I’m no longer the Princess of Princess champion, but I want to always be your princess, everyone’s princess, so I will do my best from here in my own style.”
And that’s it! Wrestle Princess is done!!
I am… quite behind on all of the shows and stuff that have happened since then, haha. I’m going to try to prioritize the October 10 presser and then see what else I can get to before Korakuen, but I highly doubt I’ll be totally caught up. I haven’t even finished watching all the VODs that have been released .
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. I’m glad the show was fun, and I bet future you will appreciate you taking such detailed notes!
