The 🤼 プロレス thread! Learning Japanese through pro wrestling

[rodan]

@fallynleaf

I’m charmed by the fact that Japanese speakers play Pokemon to study English just as non-Japanese speakers play it to study Japanese, haha.

Yeah me too! And it made me appreciate all the more how much English spelling and pronunciation is an added obstacle. Silent e’s seem like a downright mean joke considering they almost never work like Japanese romanization (but occasionally do). さすが大怪獣 though, she methodically worked through all of the text boxes and came away with the right understanding on nearly all of them.

@fallynleaf

There’s one Very Notable Thing that happens in that match that came up multiple times directly after it and will likely continue to come up, but I don’t want to spoil what it was if you don’t know and want to go into the match blind. It’ll leave an impression on you, that’s for sure.

I don’t worry, I’ve seen the Vividly Memorable Thing that happens. That was around when I was first like “dang uh I should watch Swerve/Hangman.”

@fallynleaf

If you don’t watch at least the deathmatch, I recommend reading my review of it in my wrestling journal. I was gonna write a bit more about it and do a matches of the year list (because it’s in there despite being a match I literally could not watch most of), but I’m not sure my 2023 wrestling journal is ever going to actually get finished, at this rate… There’s just no incentive to work on it with it having zero readers and me having zero energy .

Ultimately it’s completely up to you, but for what it’s worth I think your wrestling journals are really cool and I’ve been impressed every time I read them. I find my own habit of media notes sort of relaxing or centering or something, or at least just somewhat useful as an accumulated mass for myself, without ever intending for them to be read or shared really ever (and with the rounds of link dumping I do these days not an especially interesting format for that). Obviously you have more than enough on your plate but I did want to callout that I’ll miss them!

[dunlewy]

@fallynleaf

I think I remember Masa Kitamaya getting that single trickle of blood from a headbutt thing, which I’ve seen happen before – which made me suddenly realize that’s probably not a one-off thing and probably like, a specifically intended (or even worked?) outcome?

After Shibata’s headbutt and resulting problems, I don’t think they should be allowed anymore. Too dangerous.

[fallynleaf]

Finally finished translating the June 26 presser. Here’s the video of it, and here’s the official transcript.

First up in the transcript (but second up in the video, for some reason) is the Miu and Rika portion for the Princess of Princess Championship.

On June 26, at Kanda Myojin in Tokyo, the contract signing for the two major title matches at Summer Sun Princess '24 on July 20 at Korakuen Hall was held, with ring announcer Sayuri Namba presiding.

I had a bit of trouble translating bits of this: “最近の未詩は団体のトップになって、さらに自信が増して、普段の試合や防衛戦を見ていても切れや凄みが増して、とんでもなく危険だなと感じてます。ただそんな未詩と今の自分でも制御がつけられないような私が闘ったら面白いなと思っています.”

Rika: “Recently, since reaching the top of the promotion, Miu’s confidence has grown even further, and in both her regular matches and title defense, her agility and intimidation factor have gone up, and I feel like she’s ridiculously dangerous. But I think it would be interesting for someone like me, who even my own self can’t control, to face Miu in that state. Looking at our past match results, I have never lost to her. So I have a strange confidence. No, I have nothing BUT confidence. So I am definitely going to bloom out of season.”

This was a bit tricky: “そして、ゆくゆくは私がチャンピオンになったら何をしたいかといいますと、最近の東京女子を見ていても、すごい面白い試合をたくさんしている.”

“And someday, when I become champion, what I want to do is—Recently, if you watch TJPW, there are a lot of interesting matches. However, I often feel like we still haven’t really reached the general public yet, so as the champion, I would like to be proactive in getting the word out and doing publicity activities.”

I had a bit of trouble wrangling the middle of this first sentence, and the second was a bit tricky: “リカさんとシングルマッチで闘うのは去年の3月、インターナショナル（・プリンセス選手権試合）での試合以来になるんですけど、その時、結果としては負けてしまったんですけど、リカさんと本当の意味で隣に並べたなという感覚があって。今までは私がデビューした直後に白昼夢になって、リカさんがすごい速度で走っていくところを私の手を引っ張ってくれて、私もなんとかついていけてるという状態だったんですけど、それが完全に横並びになって一緒に爆走できている.”

Miu: “I fought Rika-san in a singles match in March of last year, and I haven’t faced her since that match for the International (Princess Championship), but even though I lost that time, I felt that I truly was standing on the same level as Rika-san. Leading up to here, we formed Daydream right after my debut, and Rika-san was running at a very high speed and pulling me along with her, and somehow I was able to keep up with her, but I was totally going along with her and we were incredibly fast together. I think with Daydream, we can run ahead while engaging in friendly competition with each other, so I feel that Daydream as it stands currently is really strong, and that we’re the strongest. Rika-san’s way of fighting is really unrestrained and inventive in a way that only she can do, and with that way of fighting, just like in our previous match for the International belt, I feel a kind of energy that only she can produce. If I am beside her, I can absorb that energy while I’m with her, but when it’s just me, the feeling that comes first is that I have to stick to the mold and follow the rules and all that.”

This was a bit tricky: “でもリカさんの隣にいると楽しければなんでもいいんだ、面白ければなんでもいいんだってどんどん自分の強さが更新されていくので、今回は対角に立つけど、自分に出せるものを、それ以上のものを出して闘えるように頑張りたいと思います.”

“But when I’m at Rika-san’s side, I can do anything as long as it’s fun, and as long as it’s interesting, my strength will be renewed more and more, so I will stand on the opposite corner this time, but I’m going to do my best so that I’ll be able to fight with what I can do and more. I have never beaten Rika-san, so I want to win and defend my belt. This is a big show, even though it’s in Korakuen, ‘Summer Sun Princess’, which is a bit different from our usual big shows, but I also have a strong desire to spread TJPW to the world, and if I’m with Rika-san, I think we can spread until we’re in living rooms all over the country, all over the world, and all over the universe, so I want to kick off the greatest summer ever. I’m going to do my best.”

――Tatsumi, do you feel different going into this match than you did for the match at Ariake?

This was a bit tricky to translate: “う～ん、どうでしょう。プラスにしかなってないと思います。その時より自信があります。有明の時は五分五分かなと思っていたんですけど、今は私のほうがいけると思っています.”

Rika: “Hmm, I don’t know. I think there are only positives. I’m more confident now than I was then. At Ariake, I thought it was 50-50, but now I think I have a better chance.”

――Watanabe, are you going to make any changes to your fighting style for Tatsumi, whom you have never beaten?

This was a bit tricky: “いろいろ作戦とか練っているんですけど、でも辰巳リカに勝てる時というのはそういうのじゃないと思うんですよ。その瞬間に出る突発的な感情だったり。あとは当日までその気持ちを温めていきたいなと思います.”

Miu: “I’m working on several strategies, but I don’t think that’ll be when I’ll be able to beat Rika Tatsumi. It’s a sudden emotion that comes out in the moment. I’m going to mull over that feeling until the day of the match.”

――Tatsumi, what do you mean by saying that you yourself can’t control yourself?

Rika: “I’m unexpectedly a strategist. Before a match, I’m always thinking with my brain, but when it comes to the match itself, all of my strategies go out the window, and often I look back and am like, ‘what was I doing?’. It’s frightening. Maybe that’s a good thing.”

――Do you think that part of you coming out leads you to victory?

This was a bit tricky: “そうですね。たぶん正攻法でやっても未詩には歯が立たないと思うんですよね。だからそこに乗っちゃまずいかなと思うので、自分らしくいきたいなと思います.”

Rika: “Yes. I think if I come at Miu from the front, I probably won’t be able to compete with her. So I don’t think it’s a good idea to go with that, and I want to do it in my own way.”

――Miu, what are your thoughts on what Tatsumi just said?

This next bit had some tricky to translate parts, especially the 頭脳派: “みんな信じられないと思うんですけど、リカさんは頭脳派なんです。私は隣で一緒にいるので、リカさんが頭脳派なことも戦略家なことも知っていて、いろんなパターンを考えて試合に臨んでいる。でも、その頭になかったことをするのがリカさんなので、それを知っているからこそ、私も同じ方法でいったらいけるのか否か。私の頭次第です。どうでしょう.”

Miu: “People may not believe this, but Rika-san is a brainy type. Since I’m beside her a lot, I know that she’s a brainy type and a strategist, and when it comes to her matches, she always has multiple ideas in mind. But Rika-san does things that weren’t in her head, and because I know this about her, I wonder if I can also do things the same way or not. It’s all up to what’s in my head. I don’t know. I’m going to do my best.”

――Tatsumi, what do you mean by publicity activities?

Rika: “To give a specific example, I think it’s easy for things to spread on social media, so I think we should do it mainly through short videos and YouTube and such.”

――Do you think the current champion is lacking in that regard?

This was a bit tricky: “王者というか東京女子プロレス全般に言えるのかなと思うので、もっと広げる活動をしていきたいなと思います.”

Rika: “I think rather than the champion, it can be said for TJPW as a whole, so I want to be more active in helping us spread.”

――What do you think about this, Watanabe?

Miu: “I really feel that this is the era of social networking. This is an era where idols, too, can get on TV if they get enough buzz on TikTok. Right now, TJPW is also putting effort into TikTok, and every day we’re thinking about how to better use social media, and this is whether we’re a champion or not.”

This was tricky: “それこそ、今知ってくれているファン一人一人のツイート（X）があなたのフォロワーに広まる、東京女子を知らない人に広まるきっかけになるので。この『SUMMER SUN PRINCESS』後楽園を満杯にして、その一人ひとりがメッチャXにポストしたら、超広まると思うので、そうしたいと思います.”

“That’s because each tweet (X) from the fans who know us now will spread to your followers, and it’s a chance to reach people who don’t know TJPW. If we really fill up Korakuen for Summer Sun Princess, and if each and every one of those people posts a lot on X, I think it’ll spread like crazy, so that’s what I want to do.”

I’m rooting for Rika in this match because I think that’s the peak chaos option. 狂い咲きましょう！

The other half of the presser was for Moka and Arai vs Daisy Monkey for the Princess Tag Team Championship.

Moka: “When I faced (Hikaru) Shida-san at the last Korakuen, I could feel that I was growing, and I started thinking about challenging for the tag belts. And at last week’s Hamamatsu show, by beating Arisu-chan, who holds one of the tag belts, I thought I was qualified to challenge for it, so in my backstage comments, I announced that I wanted to challenge for the tag belts. I wasn’t looking for just anyone to be my partner, and I thought it would be good to fight together with someone with passion. After the Hamamatsu show, I was immediately contacted by Arai-san, who saw the video where I announced my challenge, and so I wanted to fight together with her. I’ll be challenging with Arai-san.”

I struggled with translating the last bit of this: “今自分はインターナショナルのベルトを持っていて、防衛戦とかやらせてもらっている立場ではあるんですけど、もっとベルトに挑戦したいとか、このままじゃダメだという思いが強くて.”

Arai: “I have the International belt now, and I’m in a position where I’m doing title defenses and such, but I want to challenge for more belts, and I have a strong feeling that this isn’t good enough as it is. My desire to be in a position to challenge for belts has been getting stronger day by day, and I’ve been seeing how the belts held by two wrestlers in my generation are shining brightly. I had a desire to challenge if the timing ever worked out, so I reached out to Moka-san for this opportunity.”

The middle chunk of this was a bit tricky: “以前、タッグのベルトを持っていたんですけど、その時よりも成長した姿で、もっと自分の力でもこのベルトに近づいていけるような選手になったということを自分にも皆さんにも、この試合で見せることができればなと思うので、今持っているベルトに加えてもかさんと獲れるように頑張りたいと思います.”

“I’ve held the tag belts before, but I hope to show everyone with this match that I have grown since that time, and that I have become a wrestler who can get closer to those belts by my own power, so I’m going to do my best to capture them with Moka-san in addition to the belt that I have now.”

Arisu: “As Moka-san mentioned earlier, I teamed up with Suzume-san last time in Hamamatsu, and even though I have a belt, she stole a pin from me. At that time, I was so frustrated, I couldn’t even speak. I couldn’t even cry. That night, I was so depressed, I didn’t even want to look at social media.” (laughs)

This was a bit tricky to translate: “でも、次の日起きたら「このままじゃダメだ」「マジでもっともっと頑張んなきゃ、強くならなきゃ」って思って。そう思わせてくれて、こうやって私たちが持っているタッグのベルトを懸けて闘えるというのはメチャメチャ嬉しいです.”

"But when I woke up the next day, I thought, ‘I can’t go on like this,’ and ‘I seriously have to work even harder; I have to be strong.’ Having those thoughts spurred on, and being able to fight like this with the tag belts we hold on the line, that makes me so happy. As for my two opponents, I’ve lost to them in both the singles tournament and the tag tournament, so I want to defend my belt by pouring all of my frustration into the match.”

Suzume: “When I was told that Moka was talking about wanting to challenge in her comments the other day, Arai-chan was the first person to come to mind.”

I think maybe I got this, but I wasn’t sure: “というのも後楽園のコメントでも荒井ちゃんはタッグベルトに対して発言していて、その時から意識はしていたし、そして自分の中でももかが挑戦したいと言った時に私がやりたいタッグ、もかと一緒に組むなら荒井ちゃんがいいって思ったんですよ.”

“Because ever since Arai-chan made a remark about the tag belts in her comments at Korakuen, I’ve been conscious of her, and internally, when Moka said that she wanted to challenge, that was the tag team I wanted to face—if Moka was teaming up with someone, I thought Arai-chan would be good. I’m happy that those two came forward, and I’m really excited.”

This was a bit tricky: “有栖が言っていた通り、私たちトーナメントでこの2人にずいぶん前に負けていて、その時から悔しさをバチバチ燃やしているんですけど、そこから個人個人で強くなってきた部分を見てきたし、ステップアップした2人が組んだ今、ちょっと恐ろしいんじゃないかという気持ちもあります.”

“Like Arisu said, we lost in tournaments to those two ages ago, and ever since then, I’ve been burning hot with frustration, but I’ve seen how they’ve each grown individually from there, and now that they’ve stepped it up and teamed up, I’m a little bit scared. But the two of us have been doing this for a long time, and we’ve shared our frustrations and our joys together in order to reach the belts, and I’m confident we’re just gonna get stronger and stronger as a tag team. So we’re absolutely not going to lose!”

Another mildly tricky one to put into English: “挑戦者チーム、最近は組んでないのでチームとしてのブランクはあると思うが.”

――For the challengers, since you haven’t teamed up recently, do you think there’s a gap between you as a team?

Moka: “Even though it’s been a while since we’ve teamed up, I’ve watched a lot of Arai-san’s matches, and I’m sure she’s been watching mine, too, so I’m not worried about that.”

This was a bit tricky: “ずっと組んでなかったから未知数の部分が自分たちにもあるけど、2人も私たちの知らない部分がたくさんあると思うので、そういったところでも新しいもかゆきタッグを見せたいなと思います.”

Arai: “We haven’t teamed up in ages, so there are some unknowns, but I think there are a lot of things about us that they don’t know, either, so I want to show a new MokaYuki tag team in that regard as well. I’m not worried.”

――For the champions, how do you see the two of them as a team?

The “メチャメチャ組んでいる” part of this sentence was a bit confusing: “お互い初勝利の相手だし、お互いの気持ちもわかっていると思うし、メチャメチャ強いんじゃないかなと思っている。でも、でも、でも！ それ以上に私たちのほうがメチャメチャ組んでいるから。そこは強くても負けません.”

Arisu: “They were each other’s first win, and I think they each understand how the other person feels, and they’re super strong. But! But, we’re a much better team than them. So even if they’re stronger, we won’t lose.”

――Arai, you’re not scheduled for any matches before Korakuen, so you can’t take part in preview matches.

The transcript had a random line break in here, which briefly threw me off. I struggled with the first part of this in particular: “自分が出たくなくて出ないわけではないし、もかさんに一人で闘ってもらうことになってしまうのがとても悔しいんですけど、その分、名古屋でたくさん踊って体力をつけて戻ってきたいと思います.”

Arai: “It’s not that I don’t want to participate, and the fact that Moka-san will be fighting by herself is really frustrating, but to make up for it, I’m going to dance a lot in Nagoya and come back stronger having built up my stamina.”

――For the champions, this will be a match between those of you in the same generation. Are you conscious of this?

Suzume: “We’ve faced each other a lot in tournaments and in matches where there was no belt on the line, and there is a part of me that is conscious of them as someone in the same generation. I’m actually really happy and excited that I get to fight them in a title match. I’m also excited to fight my senpais, and I want my juniors to keep coming, but I’m really happy because I don’t think I’d be this excited if I weren’t going against my same generation. I’m looking forward to it.”

And that’s it for that one.

I’m team Daisy Monkey all the way on this match. Sorry Arai and sorry Moka.

[rodan]

@fallynleaf

This was a bit tricky: “そして、ゆくゆくは私がチャンピオンになったら何をしたいかといいますと、最近の東京女子を見ていても、すごい面白い試合をたくさんしている.”

“And someday, when I become champion, what I want to do is—Recently, if you watch TJPW, there are a lot of interesting matches.

Not an especially big deal but the したいかといいますと transition could be translated more directly as like, “if I were asked what I’ll want to do after I become champion,” / “when it comes to what I would want to do once I become champion” / that kind of thing.

@fallynleaf

I had a bit of trouble wrangling the middle of this first sentence, and the second was a bit tricky: “リカさんとシングルマッチで闘うのは去年の3月、インターナショナル（・プリンセス選手権試合）での試合以来になるんですけど、その時、結果としては負けてしまったんですけど、リカさんと本当の意味で隣に並べたなという感覚があって。今までは私がデビューした直後に白昼夢になって、リカさんがすごい速度で走っていくところを私の手を引っ張ってくれて、私もなんとかついていけてるという状態だったんですけど、それが完全に横並びになって一緒に爆走できている.”

Miu: “I fought Rika-san in a singles match in March of last year, and I haven’t faced her since that match for the International (Princess Championship), but even though I lost that time, I felt that I truly was standing on the same level as Rika-san. Leading up to here, we formed Daydream right after my debut, and Rika-san was running at a very high speed and pulling me along with her, and somehow I was able to keep up with her, but I was totally going along with her and we were incredibly fast together.

I would say the second part could use some cleaning up. I think the sense of the “but” transition wound up misplaced. She’s describing how at first in Daydream she was being pulled along by Rika, but now they’ve become equal partners.
私もなんとかついていけてるという状態だったんですけど、それが完全に横並びになって一緒に爆走できている.
(Roughly) “I was barely managing to keep up, but that changed completely, to being shoulder to shoulder, and we’ve charged ahead together.”

@fallynleaf

This was a bit tricky: “でもリカさんの隣にいると楽しければなんでもいいんだ、面白ければなんでもいいんだってどんどん自分の強さが更新されていくので、今回は対角に立つけど、自分に出せるものを、それ以上のものを出して闘えるように頑張りたいと思います.”

“But when I’m at Rika-san’s side, I can do anything as long as it’s fun, and as long as it’s interesting, my strength will be renewed more and more, so I will stand on the opposite corner this time, but I’m going to do my best so that I’ll be able to fight with what I can do and more.

A couple small stylistic tweaks I would suggest:
“so I will stand on the opposite corner this time, but I’m” → “so, although I will stand in the opposite corner this time, I’m” (to match more how 今回は対角に立つけど is being used)
“what I can do and more” → “everything I have and more” (sounds better)

@fallynleaf

This is a big show, even though it’s in Korakuen, ‘Summer Sun Princess’, which is a bit different from our usual big shows,

In this part, it’s clearer in her original phrasing in the video but I would say that she’s only talking about the being in Korakuen Hall as what’s unusual about it vs. other big shows (rather than anything else). I would personally probably just move ‘Summer Sun Princess’ to the start, like “Summer Sun Princess is a big show, even though it’s in Korakuen…” and keep the rest the same.

@fallynleaf

ツイート（X）

I don’t particularly have any comments on the translation for the rest of Miu/Rika, so I’m just mentioning that this is definitely the funniest of the X clarifications I’ve seen.

@fallynleaf

I struggled with translating the last bit of this: “今自分はインターナショナルのベルトを持っていて、防衛戦とかやらせてもらっている立場ではあるんですけど、もっとベルトに挑戦したいとか、このままじゃダメだという思いが強くて.”

Arai: “I have the International belt now, and I’m in a position where I’m doing title defenses and such, but I want to challenge for more belts, and I have a strong feeling that this isn’t good enough as it is.

before このままじゃダメだという思いが強くて there’s a part elided:
今の自分がまだ自分でもっと好きになりたい, I think.
I would probably square the difference by tweaking “this isn’t good enough as it is” to “I’m not good enough as I am now.”

@fallynleaf

I think maybe I got this, but I wasn’t sure

Yeah I think that’s fine.

@fallynleaf

Another mildly tricky one to put into English: “挑戦者チーム、最近は組んでないのでチームとしてのブランクはあると思うが.”

――For the challengers, since you haven’t teamed up recently, do you think there’s a gap between you as a team?

This is fine, so this is more of a “just in case the rephrasing wasn’t intentional” note than an actual correction but just in case, more literally it would be something like “I think there’s a gap (in your tag team history together). (What do you think about that)?”

@fallynleaf

The “メチャメチャ組んでいる” part of this sentence was a bit confusing: “お互い初勝利の相手だし、お互いの気持ちもわかっていると思うし、メチャメチャ強いんじゃないかなと思っている。でも、でも、でも！ それ以上に私たちのほうがメチャメチャ組んでいるから。そこは強くても負けません.”

Arisu: “They were each other’s first win, and I think they each understand how the other person feels, and they’re super strong. But! But, we’re a much better team than them. So even if they’re stronger, we won’t lose.”

I think this is ok. I’d maybe go “we’re way more of a team than them” as in like way tighter / more closely knit? My initial instinct was just simple frequency but I wonder if that would have been 組む rather than 組んでいる.

@fallynleaf

The transcript had a random line break in here, which briefly threw me off. I struggled with the first part of this in particular: “自分が出たくなくて出ないわけではないし、もかさんに一人で闘ってもらうことになってしまうのがとても悔しいんですけど、その分、名古屋でたくさん踊って体力をつけて戻ってきたいと思います.”

Arai: “It’s not that I don’t want to participate, and the fact that Moka-san will be fighting by herself is really frustrating, but to make up for it, I’m going to dance a lot in Nagoya and come back stronger having built up my stamina.”

I guess the line break was probably accidentally introduced when they rearranged the clauses, as it’s mixed up a bit order wise from the video. Anyway, you got it just fine.

[fallynleaf]

Finished the June 29 VOD, so I guess we’re officially halfway through the year.

Another one I had trouble focusing on, so my memory of the matches isn’t super great…

First one with comments was Nao & Aino vs Shoko & the now freelance Yoshiko Hasegawa, reprising their tag team from the GanPro crossover show.

Nao/Aino’s comments:

This was a bit tricky to translate: “たぶん2人でタッグ組んだことないんじゃないか説.”

Kakuta: “It may be the case that the two of us have never teamed up before.”

Yuki: “Really? Maybe I just forgot about it.”

Kakuta: “I have no recollection of it. Though we’ve been in teams of three or four people.”

Yuki: “There weren’t many occasions where we teamed up in the first place.”

Kakuta: “Nope.”

Yuki: “Though we’ve fought.”

Kakuta: “Yes.”

This was a bit tricky:

ユキ だから「なおちぃとタッグかぁ、しかも最後なのかぁ…う～ん、わからんな」（笑）。しかも全然実感が沸いてないんだよ！

Yuki: “So I was like, ‘Nao-chii and I are in a tag team, and it’s the last time… Well, you never know.’” (laughs) “But it really hasn’t sunk in at all!”

角田 でも私今日、試合終わったあと、ユキちゃんが迎えに来てくれて「終わっちゃったわ」ってなって…ちょっと。「でもまだ1ヵ月あるよ」って言ってくれたからね。

Kakuta: “But today, after the match was over, Yuki-chan came to pick me up and I was like, ‘It’s over.’ She said, ‘But there’s still a month left.’”

Yuki: “More importantly, for some unknown reason, Nao-chii kicked me. When it happened, I was like, ‘Is this the last time?’”

Kakuta: “I forgot about that…”

Yuki: “Hey, don’t forget about it. Let me kick you, too!”

Kakuta: “I’ll let you do it one time in private when no one’s around.”

I wasn’t sure how to translate this: “それ暴力じゃん（笑）。もう！”

Yuki: “That’s violence.” (laughs) “Come on! Good luck for your remaining month.”

Kakuta: “I’ll do my best. Thank you.”

Shoko/Yoppy’s comments:

This was a bit tricky: “角田奈穂、またな。まあ、アイツは優しい性格で。優しい性格としか言いようがない優しいヤツなので、きっとプロレスを卒業してもその人間性でいろんな人とかかわって、いろんなことをしていくんだなって今日は思いました。私は今日が最後かなあ、あと1回当たれたらいいやぐらいだから、今日は思い残しがないように叩きのめしたんですけど、最後は粘り負けましたね。そんな感じです.”

Nakajima: “Nao Kakuta, see you later. Well, she has a kind personality. She’s someone who you can only say has a kind personality, so I’m sure that even after she graduates from pro wrestling, with that nature of hers, she’ll still be involved with a lot of people and do a lot of things, that’s what I thought today. Today might be the last time for me, and I was feeling that I’d be happy if I could just beat her one more time, so today I beat her up so that I wouldn’t have any regrets, but in the end, I lost. That’s how I felt.”

Hasegawa: “This was my first time participating in TJPW since becoming a freelancer, and I’m glad that I was able to work together with Nao-san like this before she retired, but she’s quitting when she’s ahead!”

I had trouble settling on a good translation for 勝ち逃げ in that part and in what followed:

Nakajima: “Yeah, that’s right! She’s running away with a win!”

Hasegawa: “I’m really disappointed.”

Nakajima: “I wonder if I’ve ever beaten her before? I might not have. Oh no, what should I do? She’s running away with the win.”

Hasegawa: “But you never know what’ll happen in the pro wrestling world. I thought the ‘Shuffle Date’ would be the last time, but we were able to work together again.”

Is she talking about her own retirement or Nao’s here? I read it as her own with the は, but looking back at it now, it feels more ambiguous… “まだ私は引退されるまで諦めないので.”

“So I won’t give up until I retire.”

Nakajima: “Then I will watch for an opportunity and keep aiming at Nao Kakuta from here on out.”

Hasegawa: “I’ll continue to aim at her in my personal life as well.”

Nakajima: “I’ll keep doing it.”

Hasegawa: “I absolutely won’t let her run away with the win!”

The main event was a double preview match, with Daisy Monkey + Miu vs Rika, Moka, and Kaya. Team champs got the win and closed the show:

Suzume: “Tori-san was also super strong, but now that we have a title defense lined up, we’re getting more and more fired up, aren’t we?”

Endo: “Yes! We won’t lose again!”

Suzume: “We’re absolutely going to defend them at Korakuen, so let’s all be sure to defend our belts, Miu-san!”

This paragraph was a bit tricky (it was not helped by another Miu-ism): “そうね。もう防衛戦も2回目（実際は今回が3回目）で、まさかのリカさんが…読めない（笑）。難しすぎて、このかんじ…前哨戦したくないこのかんじが読めないけど、読めないのが辰巳リカだから。当日までには読解して…読解？ 読解して必ず防衛したいと思います.”

Miu: “Yes! This is already my second defense (it’s actually her third), and Rika-san is… impossible to read.” (laughs) “It’s too difficult… I can’t read her desire not to do preview matches, but what’s really unreadable is Rika Tatsumi. By the appointed day, I will have reading comprehension—reading comprehension? I will have reading comprehension and absolutely defend my belt. Let’s do our best, okay?”

This part was tricky. I couldn’t quite catch what was going on. Did Arisu get the exact wording of Miu’s new closing wrong? I might’ve got myself in trouble having translated the closing rather than romanizing it…

鈴芽「頑張りましょう！ 締め…？ でも私、あれやりたいです。大好きのやつ」

Suzume: “Let’s do our best! For the closing…? Well, I want to do that one. The ‘I love’ one.”

未詩「恥ずかしい…」

Miu: “I’m embarrassed…”

遠藤「…ね！」

Endo: “…Hey!”

未詩「知らないじゃん！」

Miu: “She doesn’t know it!”

鈴芽「分かってないじゃん！」

Suzume: “She doesn’t know!”

未詩「知らないじゃん、大好きなやつ。大好きだよね？ 鈴芽は大好きだもんね」

Miu: “She doesn’t know it, the ‘I love’ one. It’s ‘I love it’, alright? Suzume’ll do the ‘I love it!’, okay?”

鈴芽「大好きです！」

Suzume: “I love it!”

未詩「有栖は…？」

Miu: “And Arisu…?”

遠藤「……大好き！」

Arisu: “…I love!”

笑いながらも「じゃあ」と仕切り直し、最後は「今日もみんな、東京女子プロレスのこと、好きか―？」「大好きだー！」で大会を締めた。

Laughing, they got a fresh start with a “Well then,” and closed the show with: “Everyone, do you like TJPW today?” “I love it!”

Rika/Moka/Kaya’s comments:

This was a bit tricky to translate: “私はもう見えました。7・20、未詩に私が勝つ姿が、見えちゃいました。この調子で、まだ（カードが）決まってない試合が2試合あるんですけど、もう全部前哨戦来いよ！って気持ちです。だから全部前哨戦にしろ！ おい、あと2試合、全部前哨戦！ よろしく！”

Tatsumi: “I can already see it. I can already see myself beating Miu on July 20. At this rate, there are two matches that haven’t been decided yet, but bring on the preview matches for all of them! That’s how I feel. So make them all preview matches! Hey, for the last two, all preview matches, please!”

Miyamoto: “I also saw myself beating Daisy Monkey at Korakuen on July 20.”

Tatsumi: “That’s right.”

Miyamoto: “Arai-san can’t participate in the preview matches this time, so I’m on my own, but I’m going to take on Daisy Monkey on my own in all remaining preview matches. I lost this one, but I’m going to win all of the rest.”

Tatsumi: “Yes, that’s crucial.”

Toribami: “I wanted to bring good luck to the two of you who have a belt on the line, but…”

Tatsumi: “It’s alright.”

Toribami: “I still couldn’t compete with them…”

Tatsumi: “Don’t worry, I’ve already seen it. You did your best.”

Toribami: “I will try harder.”

Tatsumi: “Let’s do our best. We’ll all do our best! Hurrah!”

This question and her answer were a bit tricky: “（前哨戦に対する意識がなぜそこまで変わった？）そうなんですよ。前回はもう前哨戦いいかなって思ったし、今日も試合始まるまで絶対未詩と絡まないようにどうにかしようとしたんですけど、見えちゃいました。闘ってる時に思いましたね。全部。予知夢ができるんで、私。能力持ってるので。キランってきました.”

(Why have you changed your mind on the preview matches to this extent?)

“Last time I felt I was good on the preview matches, and up until the match started today, I tried to somehow or another avoid getting involved with Miu, but I was able to see it. I thought about it as we were fighting. All of them. I’m capable of having prophetic dreams. I have that ability. So it was glittering.”

Daisy Monkey/Miu’s comments:

Suzume: “The title match was set, and I was able to face Moka in the first preview match. To be honest, our opponents were super strong… but we’re the champions, so I got fired up, and we can’t just keep losing. So I’m glad that we won today.”

Endo: “I’m going to be focused and work hard all the way to Korakuen!”

Suzume: “We’re going to defend those belts!”

Endo: “Yes we will!”

Miu: “Yes! Suzume won today. We’ve already teamed up a lot as a team of champions, so I felt very reassured for this preview match. I also wanted to have a proper preview match and face her, but Rika-san was too hard to read. At first she avoided me, but at the end we got to have a bit of contact. I took some solid hits. What do you think? I don’t know…”

They lost me here:

鈴芽「火つけちゃったんじゃないですか？」

Suzume: “Didn’t you set her on fire?”

未詩「そういうこと？ えー、ムズい！ ずっと実は火ついてるのはたしかなの。それがどこで見え隠れするのか分かんない。あれですね…火ですね（笑）」

Miu: “Is that what it was? Eh, it’s tricky! I’m sure she’s actually on fire all the time. I don’t know where it temporarily disappears to. That’s it… it’s fire.” (laughs)

鈴芽「リカさんすぎるー」

Suzume: “Rika-san is too much!”

This was tricky: “未詩「ので、ちょっとそこをうまいこと私も汲み取りながら。私としてはいっぱい前哨戦で当たって、闘って…で備えたいので。今後、またちょっとの時間で勝ちに向かって頑張りたいと思いました。（辰巳は『見えた』から全部前哨戦にしろと言っていました）ねぇ、怖いんだけど！ 分かんないんだけど！（予知夢が見えると）え！ でも私も最近、ちょっと怖い夢見たんですよ。でも夢占いしたら、その夢がどうやら宝くじを買った方がいいくらいいい夢だったんですよ。私、夢的にはリカさんに勝ってる気がします、絶対。絶対そう！ 絶対いけます！ でも前哨戦を全部にすることは（2）ちゃんとのアレもあるのでできないんですけど、私も夢は見えてます。大丈夫です.” I got stuck on （2）for a bit, then realized it was probably referring to the Up Up Girls event that has (2) in its name? But I’m not 100% sure…

Miu: “So, that is something good that I’m also getting a handle on despite that. And while doing that, I’ll be facing her in a bunch of preview matches and fighting… I want to prepare for her. So in the future, I want to do my best to win again in a short time.”

(Tatsumi said to make them all preview matches because she ‘saw it’.)

“Hey, that’s scary! I don’t understand!”

(She said she gets prophetic dreams)

“Huh? But I just had a scary dream, too. But when I did dream interpretation, the dream seemed to be on the level of ‘you should buy a lottery ticket’ level of good. I absolutely feel like I’m beating Rika-san in terms of dreams. Absolutely! I will do it for sure! But we can’t make them all preview matches because of the Up! Up! TJPW (2) show, though I can dream, too. I’ll be fine.”

This was also tough for the same reason as earlier:

遠藤「（締めの言葉については…）え、なんですか？」

(Regarding the closing…)

Endo: “Huh, what about it?”

未詩「あれ？ 知らな…」

Miu: “That? You don’t know…”

鈴芽「大好きですか？」

Suzume: “‘Do you love it?’”

遠藤「大好きですよ？ 何言ってるんですか？」

Endo: “‘I love it?’ What are you talking about?”

未詩「大好きですよね？」

Miu: “You love it, don’t you?”

遠藤「大好きです！」

Endo: “I love it!”

未詩「だって！ だそうです！」

Miu: “That’s it! That’s how it goes!”

And that’s it for that one. Next up is Cross, and then… two more shows after that . I really wish life would slow down, but that doesn’t seem to be in the cards anytime soon.

[rodan]

@fallynleaf

Yuki: “There weren’t many occasions where we teamed up in the first place.”

I would say in this context the そもそも here is more like “Well, at any rate,” as in, putting aside the issue of whether they’ve never teamed by establishing that at least they’ve certainly rarely teamed.

@fallynleaf

I wasn’t sure how to translate this: “それ暴力じゃん（笑）。もう！”

Yuki: “That’s violence.” (laughs) “Come on!

Hmmm I guess my attempt would be:
“That would just be plain violence!” (laughs) “Geez! Well, good luck for your remaining month.”

The それ暴力じゃん I would interpret as a ツッコミish retort to Nao’s suggestion, saying if it’s in private and no one’s watching then it’s just violence (not pro wrestling violence). It’s definitely a bit hard to work that kind of quip into English.

@fallynleaf

she’s quitting when she’s ahead!”

I had trouble settling on a good translation for 勝ち逃げ in that part and in what followed:

Nakajima: “Yeah, that’s right! She’s running away with a win!”

I think that’s ok, but I’d maybe go with “running away without a rematch!” is maybe more what I’d go with, to underline why they’re (jokingly) complaining about it.

@fallynleaf

Is she talking about her own retirement or Nao’s here? I read it as her own with the は, but looking back at it now, it feels more ambiguous… “まだ私は引退されるまで諦めないので.”

“So I won’t give up until I retire.”

Hmmmmmm… I think in the video, where she says 引退まで, it’s ambiguous, but given the context I would lean towards still feeling that it would be Nao’s.
I think though the transcript might be disambiguating it by making it 引退されるまで, since I think perhaps you wouldn’t describe your own retirement as 引退される in that way, since I think it may be the honorific passive.

I wonder if you could get away with a similarly (slightly) ambiguous thing like “I won’t give up until the retirement.”

@fallynleaf

This part was tricky. I couldn’t quite catch what was going on. Did Arisu get the exact wording of Miu’s new closing wrong? I might’ve got myself in trouble having translated the closing rather than romanizing it…

Hmmmmmmm… yeah this one seems like it’s gonna be a pain .
I think what happens is that Suzume and Miu talk about Miu’s closing like 大好きのやつ, and Arisu sort of follows along but doesn’t actually get that they’re saying, like, 「大好き」のやつ and not 大好きのやつ.

Like this is going to be impossible to translate and also the transcript has trouble getting everything so it comes across extra weird, but Suzume actually initially says:
あれやりたいです。「大好き」のやつ, 大好きなので
As in like, “I want to do the ‘I love it’ one, because I love it”
but in a way that sounds exactly like “I want to do the one I love, because I love it”

(and that’s why Miu says 恥ずかしい - like, embarrassment at Suzume speaking so highly of her closer)

Then Suzume notices that Arisu is visibly immediately confused,

And so Suzume prompts her with “ね？”
and Arisu’s response is just 「…ね！」
Like “Right, Arisu?” “… Yeah!”

And so Suzume and Miu laugh at Arisu’s reaction because (since she hasn’t responded to the double meaning joke) she clearly doesn’t know what the hell they’re talking about.

I think this whole part:

@fallynleaf

未詩「知らないじゃん、大好きなやつ。大好きだよね？ 鈴芽は大好きだもんね」

Miu: “She doesn’t know it, the ‘I love’ one. It’s ‘I love it’, alright? Suzume’ll do the ‘I love it!’, okay?”

鈴芽「大好きです！」

Suzume: “I love it!”

未詩「有栖は…？」

Miu: “And Arisu…?”

遠藤「……大好き！」

Arisu: “…I love!”

is then still running with the joke
“She doesn’t know it, the one Suzume loves. You love it don’t you? Suzume loves that one.”
“I love it!”
“and Arisu…?”
“… I love it!” (while still clearly not knowing what they’re talking about at all)

Arisu finally visibly/audibly understands when Miu walks through the closing and explains the 大好きだ part

So anyway I think the whole thing is a probably untranslatable wordplay joke.

@fallynleaf

This question and her answer were a bit tricky: “（前哨戦に対する意識がなぜそこまで変わった？）そうなんですよ。前回はもう前哨戦いいかなって思ったし、今日も試合始まるまで絶対未詩と絡まないようにどうにかしようとしたんですけど、見えちゃいました。闘ってる時に思いましたね。全部。予知夢ができるんで、私。能力持ってるので。キランってきました.”

(Why have you changed your mind on the preview matches to this extent?)

“Last time I felt I was good on the preview matches, and up until the match started today, I tried to somehow or another avoid getting involved with Miu, but I was able to see it. I thought about it as we were fighting. All of them. I’m capable of having prophetic dreams. I have that ability. So it was glittering.”

I think I would tweak the last parts to “I thought of it as we were fighting. All of it. I’m capable of having prophetic dreams. I have that ability. It came to me in a flash.”

@fallynleaf

鈴芽「火つけちゃったんじゃないですか？」

Suzume: “Didn’t you set her on fire?”

未詩「そういうこと？ えー、ムズい！ ずっと実は火ついてるのはたしかなの。それがどこで見え隠れするのか分かんない。あれですね…火ですね（笑）」

Miu: “Is that what it was? Eh, it’s tricky! I’m sure she’s actually on fire all the time. I don’t know where it temporarily disappears to. That’s it… it’s fire.” (laughs)

鈴芽「リカさんすぎるー」

Suzume: “Rika-san is too much!”

I think I’d maybe go with “Do you think you maybe lit a fire in her?” for Suzume’s question.

見え隠れ I would say is coming and going, appearing and disappearing, and for that and あれですね she’s gesturing with a wavy motion like she’s trying to describe it like, undulating, not staying the same form / coming and going, and realizes she’s describing it similar to fire like she was already saying, so she goes with that.

@fallynleaf

鈴芽「リカさんすぎるー」

Suzume: “Rika-san is too much!”

Here I feel intuitively like this would be a bit more like “That’s so like Rika-san!” but I have a bit of trouble backing that up.

@fallynleaf

I got stuck on （2）for a bit, then realized it was probably referring to the Up Up Girls event that has (2) in its name? But I’m not 100% sure…

I believe so yeah, since she says にきちゃん and gestures the parentheses:

It appears that アップアップガールズ（2）, pronounced アップアップガールズかっこにき, or “にきちゃん” is a specific group of Up Up Girls, and they collab’d with TJPW on July 7th at Up! Up! TJPW (2).
So （2）ちゃんとのアレ would technically be, like, “that thing with the (2) girls”

(The dream stuff seemed fine and the stuff at the end is just more running with the joke from the ending which I already talked about.)

[fallynleaf]

@rodan

(The dream stuff seemed fine and the stuff at the end is just more running with the joke from the ending which I already talked about.)

I can’t quite figure out what to do with the part at the very end here. I guess I’m not quite sure what Miu is saying (sometimes simple and vague grammar is really hard for me…):

未詩「だって！ だそうです！」

Miu: “That’s it! That’s how it goes!”

[rodan]

@fallynleaf

I can’t quite figure out what to do with the part at the very end here. I guess I’m not quite sure what Miu is saying (sometimes simple and vague grammar is really hard for me…):

未詩「だって！ だそうです！」

Miu: “That’s it! That’s how it goes!”

I think I’d go with something like:
“So there you go! Seems like she loves it!”

It is definitely tricky to work out or explain this kind of thing…
The vibe of the video is maybe the most clarifying / what I’m going the most off of.
She says the だって with a lot of emphasis toward the camera in reference to Arisu’s answer, emphasizing what she said, and she and Suzume crack up. Then the だそうです is more of a closing final joke about it.

I could be wrong but I think Miu and Suzume are still just laughing about the confusion around the wording of the ending vs. talking about the ending itself, and their teasing refusal to clarify that, particularly for Arisu. So I think the だって is funny because it’s like – there you go that’s all that needs to be said - she said it herself, she loves it! / she’s got the idea!
Almost like a who’s on first routine come to think of it…
(I think, anyway).

[rodan]

週刊プロレス No.２２７５ (from November 2023)

Very important question answered this issue: What does SHE KNOW?

[fallynleaf]

Finished the translation for Nao Kakuta’s produce show Cross on July 6.

I thought the show as a whole was really good! It was honestly the first time I felt any sort of positive feeling in probably at least two weeks (though the mood didn’t really last for me). I felt pretty bad going into it, so I guess it should be commended for helping turn around my mood to that extent. But shows like this are always a bit bittersweet because we only get them at the end…

The real surprise for me was probably the opening match, which was Cherry vs Kakeru Sekiguchi, with retired Stardom wrestler Himeka as the special referee. I’m not super familiar with Cherry or Kakeru’s work, and it had been a long time since I’d watched any of Himeka, so I went into this open-minded but not as excited about it, and it ended up vastly exceeding my expectations in basically every way.

It felt sort of like a spiritual successor to the matches that Shiori Aoki the AKB48 idol refereed last year, because the whole match was structured around Himeka. It felt kind of like an “only in TJPW” kind of situation because they could do stuff like have the referee win by a double pinfall, which in a more serious promotion likely would never fly.

I think that one was my favorite match of the whole show, actually. It was the first time I’d laughed in over a week.

After that was the Nao Kakuta battle royal, which was also pretty entertaining. I enjoyed how they mixed Nao’s name/moniker with the other wrestlers’ names/monikers when they entered. And it’s always funny to see wrestlers try to wrestle someone else’s style.

The third match, Maika Ozaki vs Himawari, is the one that left the least impression on me. Which is not to say it was bad! It was just the most straightforward match out of the four, so it was fine for what it was but it didn’t really blow me away.

The main event was Nao & Tae Honma vs Stardom’s Natsupoi & Saori Anou, and it was good as expected! I was rooting for Nao, but of course she was never going to win this one. I don’t know if I have a lot of specific comments beyond that I enjoyed it.

Here’s the post-match:

I’m pretty sure I got this, but I wasn’t confident:

なつぽい「（マイクを先に持つも）奈穂ちゃん…先喋んな」

Natsupoi: (getting the microphone first) “Nao-chan… speak first.”

角田「これ（倒れてる姿）見て先喋れって言う？

Kakuta: “You see me (in this prone state) and tell me to talk first? Thank you very much. I still have four matches left before I retire, so I’d decided I wouldn’t cry, but… No! I don’t want to cry! But I got so many warm cheers from so many people. Even though my retirement was the impetus, being able to get all of these amazing people together, I really couldn’t have done it just by my own willpower alone, so thank you so much to everyone who lent me your support.”

This was a bit tricky: “なにより、ここにいる4人は私のプロレスラー人生というか、引退が近くなったら、もはやこれからの人生においてもホントにホントに大切な仲間なので、これからも私は3人を応援していくよ.”

“Above anything else, these four people here are, in my life as a pro wrestler, or rather when my retirement arrives, even in my new life going forward, they’ll be really, really important friends, so I’ll continue to support the three of them going forward. Everyone, make sure you do it, too!” (in response to the applause) “Thank you!”

Natsupoi: “Can I talk?”

Kakuta: “Go ahead! I wanted you to speak first.”

Natsupoi: “When I heard what Nao-chan said, it made me want to talk. I really thought I’d send her off with a smile on my face, but I’m going to miss her. The four of us… we’ve overcome so much together… I’m not crying!”

I wanted to make sure I got this part correct: “やっぱ寂しいな～って思っちゃうけど、うちらがさ、いつか、何年後か引退する時はさ、1日復帰してよ.”

“I’m going to miss you, but when we retire someday years from now, you should make a comeback for that one day.”

角田「聞いたね。いまここにいるみなさんみんな証人だからね。嘘つかないでよ？ それまで頑張るわ」

Kakuta: “I hear you. With everyone here now as a witness. Will it really happen? I’ll do my best until then.”

なつぽい「絶対断られると思ってた（笑）

Natsupoi: “I thought for sure she’d refuse.” (laughs) “Saori…” (she passes her the mic)

Anou: “For the four of us, words like ‘friend,’ ‘colleague’, and ‘best friend’ don’t really fit, huh? After all, we were the founding members. Even if it’s not in the ring, I’m sure that we’ll always…”

This was tricky to translate: “だから、これからもよろしく.”

“So, please keep it up.”

Kakuta: “Thank you.”

Honma: “So much happened, some of it painful, and I was the only person left, so after the three of them graduated, I was really lonely. But I won’t give up yet, so I’m going to keep doing it, and I’m so, so happy that I was able to be here today. We connected in the ring because everyone also kept going without giving up, and to everyone who gave us this opportunity, to all of the fans who support me, and to everyone who gave us this chance to meet, I’m filled with gratitude. And Nao-chan, at the end, please receive the ten-bell salute without injury, and while crying a lot like you typically do. Thank you!”

I was a bit confused by what Nao said here: “なつぽいが背中をおもいっきりぶっ叩いて喝を入れ、それに安納と本間も続く。角田は「試合前にしてほしかったんだけど！」。”

Natsupoi patted her on the back and encouraged her, followed by Anou and Honma. Kakuta said, “I wish you’d done it before the match!”

Kakuta: “Finally, I would like to thank everyone who came out here today, so I’d like to call them all into the ring. Everyone, come on out! Himeka, too!” (to Himeka after she comes out) “Himeka won…?”

The wrestlers gathered in the ring. She said, “Thank you so much for Kakuta CROSS today!” then bowed deeply, and everyone got together for a photo at the end.

Anou & Natsupoi’s comments:

Anou: “It passed by so quick. From the press conference until today.”

Natsupoi: “Truly, it all happened so fast.”

Anou: “I thought it would go on for a while…”

Natsupoi: “Oh no… it’s over…”

Anou: “It feels a bit strange.”

Natsupoi: “It hasn’t sunk in.”

Anou: “It hasn’t. We’ll meet again in the ring.”

This was a bit tricky: “でもさ、最後私のわがまま言ったけど、まさかの乗り気だったから（笑）。うちらいつか引退するとき、奈穂ちゃんリングに来てくれるかもしれない.”

Natsupoi: “But, when I said my selfish desire at the end, I didn’t expect her to go along with it.” (laughs) “When we retire someday, Nao-chan might come into the ring with us.”

Anou: “Maybe she will. Maybe both the beginning and the ending will be done with us founding members.”

Natsupoi: “Yeah. But truly, again… it really hit me that if you start something, the end will surely come. Though, for these past nine years, we’ve been in different places, and have been active in different ways. Even though it wasn’t happening in the same ring, the fact that us founding members were all working hard somewhere else, that gave me the energy to fight in the ring. It’s a pity that one of us won’t be there anymore, but knowing that she’ll be watching over us makes me think that I can keep working hard going forward. Nao-chan, thank you.”

Anou: “I think it’s because of the four of us that I’ve been able to keep wrestling until now. I didn’t say it, but let’s see each other in the ring again.”

Natsupoi: “Thank you. You gave us this wonderful opportunity. I will keep doing my best! Bye-Poi!”

Nao & Tae’s comments:

Kakuta & Honma: “Thank you very much!”

This was a bit tricky to translate: “終わったばっかりで全然頭が働いてないんだけど、でもね、多分これ帰ってから、終わってから噛みしめるのよ。なんて幸せだったんだろうって.”

Kakuta: “We just finished the match, and my brain isn’t working, but I’ll probably reflect on this after I get home and finish it. I was so happy.”

Honma: “I’m still mulling it over, thoroughly.” (laughs)

Parts of this were a bit tricky: “正直、自分でやりたいって言ったけど、もう何年も（初期メンとは）試合してなくて。その間にちょっとSNSで見る情報、みたいな、それくらいだったから。なんか、どれくらい自分が一緒に頑張れるかって気持ちだったの。勝ちたいとかそういうのより、いかに自分がこの時間を堪能するか、みたいな気持ちの方が強かったけど…緊張して、今日朝おなか壊してて（苦笑）。気持ち悪いし、もうホントにすごい緊張しました。この4人で試合をするってこともそうだし、ひめかも出てくれたし。こんなすごい顔ぶれで自分のプロデュース興行、なんか勝手に背負ってるものがどっかにあって.”

Kakuta: “To be honest, I said I wanted to do it myself, but I haven’t had a match (with the founding members) in years. During that time, I’d see news on social media, stuff like that, and that was about it. I was just trying to see how much we could work together. More than wanting to win or anything like that, I was just wondering how I could most enjoy this time… but I was really nervous, and I had a stomach ache this morning.” (laughs) “I felt sick, and I was just super nervous. I was having a match with those three, and Himeka also participated. With such a great lineup, and with my own produce show, I felt like I was willfully taking on a burden. But the audience was so warm.”

Honma: “Yes, extremely.”

Kakuta: “So I felt like they were enjoying themselves, and I was really happy. Thank you, Tae-chan.”

This was weirdly difficult to translate: “1回ちょっと喋ってください（笑）”

“Please speak for a bit just once.” (laughs)

Honma: “I was really looking forward to this day, and I will always be sad that Kakuta is retiring, but this show was able to happen because of what Nao has cultivated up to now.”

This took me a few tries to parse: “ホントに初めて出会った時から、プロレスやる前からの知り合いですけど。長いんですけど、初めて出会った時からホントに人に感謝とかをずっと忘れずに生きてる子なので（笑）。でもすごくめんどくさい時もあるんですが…”

“Since we first met, even before we did pro wrestling, we were acquaintances. We’ve known each other a long time, but ever since we first met, she’s been someone who is always grateful to others.” (laughs) “But she can be a real pain sometimes…”

Kakuta: (laughs) “Like 70 or 80% of the time…”

Honma: “But I think this was a produce show that was only able to exist because of Nao Kakuta. So I’m the one who should be thanking you.”

Kakuta: “I’m so happy!”

Honma: “It was so much fun. You enjoyed it… right? I know for a fact that everyone had a great time.”

Kakuta: “Please let me know what you thought of #kakutaCROSS! At the end, Saori shook my hand, and it was fun. I’m so glad that I was able to make this a wonderful memory on my road to retirement. Thank you so much!”

This question and her answer were tricky: “（残りの試合はどんな気持ちで挑む？）正直、あと10試合切ってきたなって時に、今日が気持ち的におっきくて。緊張とかも含めて。でもあと4試合か～ってなったら…東京女子で3試合、YMZで翔と1試合なんですけど、もう全部が最後みたいなかんじなんで。正直ね、1個1個追いかけてて、あぁ終わっちゃうって（気持ちに）なれてなくて。急に来る方が怖いなって思うので。ただただ大切にあと4試合やりたいなって.”

(How are you feeling toward the remaining matches?)

“To be honest, when it got down to less than ten matches remaining, today was huge in terms of feelings. Including all of the stress. But when I think that there’s only four left… Three are in TJPW, and one is with Kakeru at YMZ, but everything already feels like it’s the last time. Honestly, I’ve been approaching each one on an individual basis, and I haven’t been able to feel ‘aw, it’s over.’ I feel like it’d be scarier if it came suddenly. I just want to do the remaining four matches with great care. I want to step down from the ring without injury, and with a smile on my face.”

(I wonder if the bar for your retirement match has gone up)

“Has it? But it’ll be a different opponent, and the memories I’ve built up with Mizuki-san are also different. I don’t know… there are too many things that are fresher in my memories, and a lot of them are quite strong, so I want to do my best to do the match without crying. I have a lot of feelings that I want to hit Mizuki-san with. I don’t know how the audience will view it, but I just want to cherish the time I have with Mizuki-san to the fullest.”

(You made a promise after the match)

This was tricky: “そうですね。でも女性としていくつになっても劣化はしたくないなって思うので、増えていく数字に抗って、（初期メンたちが引退する時に）試合があるからっていうのを1個のモチベとして持ちながらも、これからも、引退した後も素敵な一般人女性になれるように頑張りまーす！”

“That’s right. But as a woman, I don’t want to visibly age no matter how old I am, so I am going to resist the number going up, and will use the fact that there will be a match (when the founding members retire) as a motivation. And going forward, even after I retire, I will try my best to be a wonderful ordinary woman!”

I also didn’t know how to translate this: “毎日チェックしまーす！”

Honma: "I will check over you every day!’

And that’s it for that one.

To be honest, some part of me is considering making Nao's retirement show my own retirement. Both as a translator and watching pro wrestling, period.

I’ve just about reached my limit with the potential WWE/Marigold/AAA alliance. The WWE lawsuit hanging over everything still, for one thing, and then seeing all the stuff this weekend with Marigold (which ALSO has allegations hanging over it), and with WWE in Marigold and NOAH, made me even more depressed, and then Stephanie Vaquer going to WWE, and the (likely) possibility of an AAA/WWE alliance on the horizon, after like everyone in AAA was openly supportive of Stephanie’s abuser (who is probably going to be let free now if she leaves Mexico) and when AAA is out here booking Alberto Del Rio and Matt Riddle, it’s just… It’s bad!

It’s just so clear that pro wrestling does not want me here, and the vast majority of pro wrestling fans also do not want me here. No one in this industry cares about women. I’ve done so much for pro wrestling fans. More than most people will ever know. And for what?

And then the stuff with DDT and Koike, and just the constant bad politics of this awful industry… It’d be one thing if pro wrestling could, I dunno, encourage people to be better versions of themselves. Encourage them to be brave and stand up to injustice. But all I see is pro wrestling distracting people from the real issues. What good is art if it nullifies and pacifies your spirit rather than empowers you?

Maybe it’d be harder to step away if there was some active story I was super invested in, but literally all my favorite tag teams are out right now with no clear timetable for a return for any of them, and it just feels like all the bad things in the industry are getting worse/stronger, and the good things are so few and far between, I’m just constantly taking psychic damage to get to them.

I dunno. It makes me sad to think about quitting, but it makes me sad to think about continuing to watch, so I’m just stuck. I would love for something, anything to give me hope that things are going to change for the better, but it has just been a constant stream of the exact opposite, and it’s making it really hard for me to keep going.

[rodan]

I agree about Cross being really fun, especially the match with Himeka as the guest referee! It was nice to see her again and I’m glad it seemed like she had a lot of fun. TJPW guest referees remain top tier.

@fallynleaf

I’m pretty sure I got this, but I wasn’t confident:

なつぽい「（マイクを先に持つも）奈穂ちゃん…先喋んな」

Natsupoi: (getting the microphone first) “Nao-chan… speak first.”

角田「これ（倒れてる姿）見て先喋れって言う？

Kakuta: “You see me (in this prone state) and tell me to talk first?

This seems like a total headache to me… verbs ending with な is my #1 “it confused me to no end until I learned how it can go both ways” case in vivid memory, in that the なさい form can be contracted at times to just な for a positive imperative even though う form + な = negative imperative.
In this case… I would say from body language that 100% clearly you have it right… but she does seem to clearly say 喋んな and in that kind of form I do believe normally the ん is contracting る so it’s the るな negative imperative form, and outside of this specific context normally that’s how I would read it. “Shut up! / don’t speak!” (after all, come to think of it, wouldn’t なさい form be 喋ってなさい making the positive imperative な 喋ってな?)

… So I think maybe she’s being ironic? Like - * hands microphone * “Don’t go butting in speaking first!!”
And I think that way Nao’s response makes slightly more sense as she is literally clarifying that irony - “oh, you mean, you see me in this state, and that’s your way of telling me to speak first?”

Very mean scenario for specifically us, if so!

@fallynleaf

I wanted to make sure I got this part correct: “やっぱ寂しいな～って思っちゃうけど、うちらがさ、いつか、何年後か引退する時はさ、1日復帰してよ.”

“I’m going to miss you, but when we retire someday years from now, you should make a comeback for that one day.”

Yeah seems fine! I’d probably tweak it to a stronger imperative of just “make a comeback” rather than “you should make” though.

@fallynleaf

角田「聞いたね。いまここにいるみなさんみんな証人だからね。嘘つかないでよ？ それまで頑張るわ」

Kakuta: “I hear you. With everyone here now as a witness. Will it really happen? I’ll do my best until then.”

Here the 嘘つかないでよ seems directed at Natsupoi, maybe more like “Don’t renege on the deal okay?”

@fallynleaf

I was a bit confused by what Nao said here: “なつぽいが背中をおもいっきりぶっ叩いて喝を入れ、それに安納と本間も続く。角田は「試合前にしてほしかったんだけど！」。”

Natsupoi patted her on the back and encouraged her, followed by Anou and Honma. Kakuta said, “I wish you’d done it before the match!”

The “pat on the back” seems to me like more of a wrestler-ish fully violent slap on the back (but still meant as encouragement). And so I would interpret what Nao is saying here as like, “(ow, that hurt! So) I wish you had done that before the match (to encourage me then, when it wouldn’t have hurt so much now from having had a match already)”.

@fallynleaf

This was a bit tricky to translate: “終わったばっかりで全然頭が働いてないんだけど、でもね、多分これ帰ってから、終わってから噛みしめるのよ。なんて幸せだったんだろうって.”

Kakuta: “We just finished the match, and my brain isn’t working, but I’ll probably reflect on this after I get home and finish it. I was so happy.”

I would probably tweak this slightly to “I’ll probably only really digest this after I get home and it’s all over.”

@fallynleaf

どれくらい自分が一緒に頑張れるかって気持ちだったの。

@fallynleaf

I was just trying to see how much we could work together.

I think I would probably put this more as like… less work together and more keep up with them / work hard in the same class? Like the sentiment expressed in that one Shupro column.

@fallynleaf

This was weirdly difficult to translate: “1回ちょっと喋ってください（笑）”

“Please speak for a bit just once.” (laughs)

I’d prooooobably personally just go with “Please, say something.” or “Please, talk for a bit.”
Her main thing here is just pawning off the responsibility of saying something in this moment, as she is justifiably exhausted. I’d say the 1回ちょっと is just minimizing that ask.

Rest seems fine!

I would be sad to see you go, and do think that プロレスは諸行無常 and all, the negative times will give way to positive ones for you and the industry, but you know best whether the obligation of the translations in particular is a help to you or an added worry, and I hope you trust that if you do leave, I and pro wrestling will be there if/when you return.

I think you’re going through a really really hard time, and that surely colors a lot in a way that’s painful but also valid, and while I think hobbies and interests are important parts of life in and of themselves, and I’ve certainly gotten if not inspiration towards justice, at least universally useful 頑張って energy from pro wrestling, and have probably at least one friend and a second language to thank for it, it’s also true that pro wrestling isn’t the be-all-end-all of one’s identity or life, and if you need to step away that’s completely fine.

Which I guess is to say that, please believe that I want you here, but don’t feel bad about doing what you need to do if it comes down to it. 英訳共鳴、永遠に.

[fallynleaf]

@rodan

… So I think maybe she’s being ironic? Like - * hands microphone * “Don’t go butting in speaking first!!”
And I think that way Nao’s response makes slightly more sense as she is literally clarifying that irony - “oh, you mean, you see me in this state, and that’s your way of telling me to speak first?”

Oh, my read on that was that Nao was saying she was in no state to speak at the moment because she was still recovering (after losing), since the wrestlers usually continue to sell the loss by looking weak after the match ends, so she was wanting Natsupoi to speak first and give her more time to recover, but Natsupoi was being kind of cheeky and handing off the responsibility even though Nao wasn’t in a state to do it (though she did it anyway because she’s a professional).

I went ahead and asked Akira about it, and here’s what they said:

“Speak first” is correct!
The context of this “喋んな” is actually “喋りな”. The word “喋りな” is accented to “喋んな”.
Have you heard for example “食べな(You eat)”, “行きな(You go)”, “聞きな(You listen)”?
“喋んな/喋りな” is the same!

So I guess that answers that! I’ll keep my translation as-is, then, I think.

Re: the other stuff

It has honestly been something I’ve been thinking about for a while. One of my other friends, who’s my other biggest inspiration in terms of learning Japanese for wrestling, just made the decision to step away from wrestling himself because he got fed up with the industry, too. And my Japanese friend has been also strongly contemplating it lately, for similar reasons.

Literally all of my wrestling fan friends are queer, and most of them are also women, so it’s just been really hard on us to weather this kind of stuff for years, and we all agree that this year has just been particularly bad.

It just sucks to be going about your life and then on twitter you see Marigold is announcing a bikini photobook before they’ve even crowned their first champion, and it’s just like, “Ah, right, this is all that women are to them.” Just every little thing like that adds up, and it really hurts to try to do everything that’s within your power to like idk make the fandom a better place, and then getting repeatedly slapped in your face with stuff like that for all of your efforts.

And when fans do speak up about stuff, they get silenced and ignored, and not a force on earth will stop people from watching and supporting companies and wrestlers who make the industry less safe for women. It all starts to feel rather futile to even try to carve out a place in this world for people like us.

I would say that I’ve had four major points where I’ve almost quit watching wrestling.

The first was in 2020 during covid/Speaking Out/the Black Lives Matter movement. I stayed because the iron grip of the special interest kept me watching despite my absolute disgust with the industry.

The second was at the end of 2021 when Mr. Haku left CyberFight. I stayed because I was invested enough in the stories, it drove me to work harder on my own Japanese to keep up with them.

The third was in 2022 after the stuff with NJPW and Kota Ibushi, and then the Punk stuff with the Elite in AEW. That was the moment I realized that the industry will hurt all of the things you love, and you can never trust any company. To be honest, I think the only reason I stayed after this was because of the Golden Lovers reunion at a restaurant a week later. I decided if the wrestlers themselves could have hope, I could, too.

And the fourth time is now, mid-2024. I do think we’re going to get more Golden Lovers stuff eventually, once both wrestlers are healed (though my sense is it’ll be a final goodbye tour for both of them). There may or may not be more Magical Sugar Rabbits or more Axiz. There will probably be other stuff I’ll love that I can’t even anticipate now. But it’s just so hard to hold out for all that stuff when I’m constantly being bombarded by awful stuff from the industry that makes it really hard to justify being a fan of this in any way shape or form.

I do still enjoy TJPW, and the workload from the translations is probably like a distant 5th place in terms of stressors in my life right now, but I feel like whatever joy I’m getting out of pro wrestling is being equaled or surpassed by misery.

Would love to see a positive industry win or at least something that makes me feel good about the fandom, but the first thing I saw upon opening up twitter was the Marigold/AJ Styles in NOAH shupro cover hyping up the WWE stuff, so we’re not off to a great start there today .

I haven’t made a decision yet and I’m also notoriously bad at quitting stuff, so I dunno what’ll happen. I’ll see how I feel in a couple weeks, I guess.

[rodan]

@fallynleaf

So I guess that answers that! I’ll keep my translation as-is, then, I think.

Gotcha, yeah. What tripped me up was that 喋んな definitely can be a contracted 喋るな like here, and is probably more often that way in most contexts (and I confused myself thinking about what the なさい form would be). Good to know that the ん can be contracting a り as well, but what a headache! I guess it’s just the context of her gesturing and tone that makes it clear.

the other stuff

I don’t really have any other friends I talk to about wrestling, and try to avoid the fandom in general, so I guess I didn’t know the vibe. Sorry it’s been so bad!

I do definitely think that taking a break from watching wrestling because the current goings-on bum you out and aren’t interesting to you is 100% fair, and, even completely normal and something that I think nearly everyone into something like this goes through at one point or another. I think if the translations are an obligation holding you back from stepping away like that when you need to, or making it into a much larger and final feeling decision than it needs to be, then I do think it’s best to focus on your own needs in this instance (whichever way that ends up pointing you).

… Do you think if you did stop watching wrestling, your sleep schedule would get less… the way that it is?

[fallynleaf]

Summary

In April 2020, when AEW took advantage of Linda McMahon bribing Ron DeSantis in order to keep producing wrestling shows despite the covid lockdown, I made a deal with myself, which is that if I were to keep watching pro wrestling, I had to never stop holding the industry accountable. I wasn’t going to let pro wrestling become my bread and circuses. I could use it to help me get through the day, but I could never let it distract me to a point where I lost sight of the real issues.

This became especially important during Speaking Out and the Black Lives Matter movement, but it’s not like covid (or pro wrestling mixing with politics) has stopped being an issue, either.

So I’ve tried my aboslute best to do that throughout my entire time as a fan. If I talk favorably about a match or a show or an angle, I make sure to point out issues involved, too, like whenever I wanted to talk about a Will Ospreay match in my journal (for the non-Ospreay parts of it), I included tons of qualifiers and explained why he wasn’t a wrestler whose work people should support. I also make matches like that ineligible for MOTY or whatever, and I just try as hard as possible to deplatform wrestlers and companies who are culpable in really bad stuff.

And I talk about stuff on my study log all the time that gets into the negatives as well as the positives, because if I’m going to spend a lot of time talking up my love for the medium, I want people to know the unvarnished truth about the industry, too. Basically, if anything that I say or do creates more wrestling fans, I want them to think critically about the medium. Always.

This includes companies and performers that I like, too. It happened with NJPW, and it’s happened with AEW. If a current or former worker at TJPW were to come forward with criticisms about the workplace environment there, I would try to platform that perspective as best as I could, and would probably put my translation account on strike unless and until I felt the issue was resolved.

(This is just one of the reasons why I’d be unlikely to ever hold down an actual job doing this kind of thing…)

I would say that this is pretty common in the fan spaces that I’m in. Which are, again, mainly queer fans, a lot of whom don’t have public accounts. When all the Marigold stuff first happened, we had a long conversation about it in the main discord I’m in and decided that Marigold conversation would be restricted to the channel for negativity or quarantined to a Marigold channel, which people could of course mute at will. Talking about it in the general joshi wrestling channel would be discouraged so that people who wanted to avoid it could avoid it.

I have the Marigold channel muted, but scrolling through it now, there’s a lot of criticism mixed in throughout the conversations. It’s pretty similar to our WWE channel, honestly, which is usually criticism, and when it’s not it’s mostly just people talking about their favorite wrestlers who happen to be currently employed there.

So I guess stuff like that is how my wrestling fandom has survived up until now. For fans like us, to stay a fan of the medium, you learn to sleep with one eye open.

Tangentially, I was really impressed by the person who got me into the Golden Lovers (and therefore into pro wrestling as a whole) for getting really involved in the Black Lives Matter movement in Portland. I started out watching NJPW on her live streams, but she quit doing those in 2020 during the aforementioned three issues, and she devoted her energy instead to the BLM movement, and that was honestly part of why I stayed in wrestling fandom at the time, I think. It made me feel like us wrestling fans could take Kenny’s “change the world” sentiment and actually do it for real. She was honestly a big inspiration to me.

@rodan

I don’t really have any other friends I talk to about wrestling, and try to avoid the fandom in general, so I guess I didn’t know the vibe. Sorry it’s been so bad!

Yeah, I think what first got me thinking about quitting was seeing Marigold in your favorite media list and realizing that I just couldn’t bear to see a glowing review of their stuff. I realized I wasn’t sure I’d be able to read your coverage of like the Marigold shupro issues once you got to those, and it got me thinking that maybe it was time for me to quit watching pro wrestling and leave the fandom as a whole, if that was just going to be the tone of things going forward. I didn’t think I could bear it anymore.

If I do decide to leave, I’ll probably hand off ownership of this thread to you so that you can keep posting unabated.

@rodan

I do definitely think that taking a break from watching wrestling because the current goings-on bum you out and aren’t interesting to you is 100% fair, and, even completely normal and something that I think nearly everyone into something like this goes through at one point or another.

The issue is, if I do stop, I’m not sure I’ll ever come back. I’ve been down this route before with my special interests, and it tends to be kind of a one-way street. Especially pro wrestling, where everything is so intertwined. I actually love that part of it, normally. The fact that all of these threads influence each other, and you can pull at one thread and find reverberations on the other side of the world. It just sucks to feel like an increasing chunk of that web is poisoned in some way. But I think missing a large chunk of happenings for a long period of time would make me feel less inclined to come back later, because some part of me would resent missing stuff.

I’m also worried that it might be a load-bearing pillar of normalcy in my life and that without it, I would become unmoored. I plan my week around wrestling to a frankly embarrassing extent, and sometimes I only notice the passage of time by watching the yearly schedule unfold for the various companies I follow.

I’m at a point in my life where job stability is not likely to happen anytime soon, so having some sort of weekly schedule helps me structure the rest of my tasks around it, and it helps pass the time when my mood is pretty low. I’m a bit afraid of what taking that away would do to my depression, to be honest.

Plus the whole language motivation thing… I like to think I could sustain an interest in regular language practice outside of pro wrestling, but I’m not honestly super confident… I dunno, everything is just way harder to do now, and I have zero faith in my brain being able to do anything without strict deadlines.

So I don’t know. I’m torn both ways.

@rodan

… Do you think if you did stop watching wrestling, your sleep schedule would get less… the way that it is?

Yes and no? All other things equal, I think there’s a strong chance my new bedtime would be 4am so that I could meet the Pokemon Sleep deadline . But depression has been wreaking absolute havoc on my sleep, so there’s a strong chance I’d just end up throwing that out the window too and just keep going as I have been going.

There’s no way on earth I’d suddenly become a morning person, though. Even when I had to keep a normal sleep schedule for work/school, I’d always end up gravitating toward sleeping from 2am to 10am whenever possible. I have a really hard time getting up early.

[rodan]

Summary

@fallynleaf

So I don’t know. I’m torn both ways.

Yeah, it makes sense! I can see positives and negatives on both sides too, so I don’t have a way to advise you on making one choice or the other, other than to just try to reassure you that both options are valid and available to you, and I support you either way, and good luck! (maybe not the most helpful… )

@fallynleaf

If I do decide to leave, I’ll probably hand off ownership of this thread to you so that you can keep posting unabated.

Please don’t worry about that - frankly I would prefer, I think, that you keep it. For better or for worse my posts here have been de facto nearly all talking to you. Why would I want to keep posting things here that I know might hurt you?

I think regardless of whether you keep watching or not, I’ve made peace with not posting the show notes or the shupro notes in the thread anymore. And for a while in general on the forum (other than helping with the translations) the threads I frequent most have died down and my posts have devolved into just linking pages on the notion site I made, which isn’t particularly fulfilling. So it’s a long time coming but I’ll probably let those peter out too, except for maybe the Harta thread ones.

The notes (and the awards) are directly still just the private ones I’ve made a habit of keeping for over a decade. I’ve tried specifically to not have them being public and occasionally shared on the forum or to the few people who follow me change them into an inherently public-focused thing, as I would much rather keep the private practice than ever have any of those notes be read by a significant number of strangers. So the things you describe about always being thorough with caveats when there’s concern are good for those venues, but not what I try to do with the notes, which try to assume an audience of only me, and end up not rehashing things I already know because of it (probably making them worse for other people to read in other ways too, like in summarizing plot points I talk about only ever haphazardly and inconsistently). I’m deeply sorry to have hurt you or your enthusiasm for wrestling with them. It’s exactly the kind of thing I was afraid could happen by that disconnect of making these inherently private things public with no changes. And it makes me think I probably never should have made them public at all. It was naïve to hope it wouldn’t ever be a problem.

You’re really the only person I think looks at those notes (at least the wrestling ones) or sees when I post the award collage, and I let habit in posting them the way I have been trump what would otherwise be considerations around what I would show to you and what caveats I would apply. I’m sorry.

I don’t see Marigold the way you do. Obviously I’m wary of the owner and worry about how he might be running things, all the more-so because of the things he says and does, and wish that he wasn’t the owner. But looking at the promotion I can’t help but also see the many many women working there, many of whom are some of my favorite wrestlers who I still want to support, putting on shows and matches that don’t have a perceptible whiff of old creepy man influence in their actual content to me. As for the WWE ties - I feel I can never be fully anti-WWE exposure on principle seeing as how it’s only because of a Japanese wrestler going there that I’m into pro wrestling on any significant level at all (and by extension arguably the main reason that I started learning Japanese and all of my hobbies over the last 5+ years have been rewritten the way they have). And so while I might be quite skeptical about it, I feel bound to at least give the plan Takeda’s been expressing in Shupro about using WWE to increase wrestling fans in Japan a small benefit of the doubt that maybe that same kind of thing that happened to me might happen to more people.

In the games industry I’ve seen often the debate around crunch, and whether knowing a game was made under exploitative crunch means you should avoid buying the game or not. And I’ve seen both arguments - that of course yes, it should be disgusting enough knowing how it’s made to not be interested in supporting those practices, and that no, it doesn’t help the workers any to attempt an unsolicited boycott of the product they worked on. I think it’s a complicated thing and both arguments are valid. It is definitely good to be principled in what you spend your money on for reasons like this. And it is also definitely not significant evil to continue to apply one’s miniscule monetary support as an individual consumer despite misgivings, while staying informed and being willing to change that if justified.

For you, not having watched Stardom for a long time, it makes complete sense to err on the side of remaining uninterested in Marigold entirely. For me, Giulia was my favorite wrestler for years and I’m used to Ogawa being around from Stardom - it doesn’t read as some new different thing. Shupro’s been hyping Sareee vs. Giulia for literally years - probably the entire time I’ve been reading the magazine. Obviously I would have a higher threshold than you on what it would take to have misgivings so deep I divest myself of the entire promotion.

I haven’t been running out like “I’m going to watch the cool new thing in joshi wrestling!!! based Ogawa!!! I love cool matches and hate women!!!” and if fandom/community-wise it really has become this in-group/out-group thing where LGBT fans have extra deep misgivings about the promotion and are actively being turned away from pro wrestling because of it, obviously that makes me even less enthusiastic going forward. Associating the promotion with (potentially) driving the only friend I’ve ever had who shared an interest in Japanese pro wrestling out of the interest entirely is certainly going to cast a strong pallor over the entire thing.

But all it is about the notes and the award is that I haven’t been at the point of believing yet that no good can come of the promotion, or that the right choice for me is to turn away from it instead of seeing what it is. And that when I have watched it, I’ve enjoyed it, and the 旗揚げ戦 was one of the most memorable experiences I had with wrestling that month. That’s all. I’m again so very very sorry to have contributing to driving you away with these posts.

[fallynleaf]

(We took the convo to DMs and I don’t really have the energy to recap stuff here, sorry if this seems like an abrupt change in conversation to anyone reading this thread).

Well, this sure has been a terrible week. Had my third stressful conversation of the week today, which delayed my more important writing project, and meant I had to stay up later to finish this, but I’ve already been running on low sleep and barely eating, so I’m used to it.

I wanted to get these two show translations done before Summer Sun Princess as possible, but it’s a bit ギリギリ. I was crying as I worked through part of this and neither of these is probably my best work, sorry in advance to any TJPW fans. I wanted to follow through on my previous commitment though despite still considering stepping away.

Anyway, first up is the July 7 VOD, which is the crossover with the Up Up Girls. I watched this show but wasn’t in a very good mental state for it and remember almost nothing except for the main event, which had a stipulation where if the wrestlers left the ring, they would get splashed with water by the Up Up Girls (non-Pro Wrestling) and also Rika. There were some pretty incredible fan photos coming out of it, though the camera on the VOD sometimes struggled to capture all of the action.

Anyway, the post match got just a summary blurb on shupro, so I translated that, but sometimes stuff gets truncated in these:

もはや収拾つかない状況に「試合は終わりました…」（未詩）。「これが夏ですね。濡れて楽しかったですか？ 東京女子プロレスもにきちゃんも最高ですか？」と未詩が呼びかけると最後は全員でずぶ濡れの状態で『アッパーキック』を歌いあげ、アプガ（２）を代表して島崎友莉亜さんが「こんなに濡れると思わなかった！ 一生忘れられない七夕になりました！」と挨拶。未詩は「すっごいスペシャルな日になったので、またこういう機会があったらやりたいです！」と誓い、大会はお開きとなった。

Things got out of control, and Miu said, “The match is over…” Then she called out to the audience, “It’s summer. Did you enjoy getting soaked? Aren’t TJPW and Nikichan just the best?” And at the end, all the members sang Upper Kick while soaking wet, and Yuria Shimazaki spoke on behalf of Up Up Girls (2) and said, “I didn’t expect to get this wet! This was a Tanabata I’ll never forget!” Miu vowed, “This was a very special day, so I want to do it again if we get another opportunity like this!” and closed the show.

Miu/Himawari/Arisu’s comments:

Miu: “I won. It’s summer! I’m the woman of the summer.”

Arisu: “The woman of the summer!”

HIMAWARI: “Summer!”

This was tricky:

有栖「なんとかもしたたるいい女みたいな？」

Arisu: “Like a good woman who is somehow dripping wet?”

ＨＩＭＡＷＡＲＩ「水ね。水したたってください」

HIMAWARI: “Water. Please sprinkle some water.”

Miu: “Today is Tanabata, a special day, and it was also a special opportunity to do a live show and a match with Nikichan. It made me want to do more of this kind of pro wrestling/idol fusion stuff in TJPW. What do you think?”

Arisu: “I agree. It was so much fun. Everyone was super fired up. There was singing, dancing, and pro wrestling. It was amazing.”

HIMAWARI: “It was a lot of fun.”

Miu: “The audience had a different feel to them than usual, and they even stood up to watch the concert. It’s great that the audience and TJPW fans always stand up and cheer for us. Let’s make this summer even more awesome!”

All: “Yes!”

Mizuki/Raku/Pom’s comments:

Mizuki: Raku-chan, how about it? The Nikichan members were absolutely ridiculous."

Raku: “Ridiculous. They got soaked even though they didn’t fall out of the ring.”

This was tricky:

ぽむ「あれはレスらしいので」

Pom: “That’s wrestling for you.”

らく「そういうこと言ったからじゃない？ レスちょうだいって言ったからじゃない？」

Raku: “It’s probably because they said that, right? ‘Give us wrestling, please.’”

Mizuki: “As soon as Nikichan brought out Rika-san, it was over.”

Pom: “Yeah she was a LOT. But I also would like to register a complaint. When I was in a big pinch at the end, I was left all alone in the ring. Despite all of my calls for help from Raku-chan and Mizuki-san, they were busy pouring water all over people, and they weren’t looking over at Pom at all. And that’s why we lost.”

Mizuki: “If only Pom had tried just a little bit harder…”

Raku: “Where was your typical big voice?”

Mizuki: “If you had called out in a louder voice… How about we practice that.”

Pom: “I’m going to Nikichan’s concert.”

Mizuki: “Alright.”

The Up Up Girls’ comments:

Aya Kajishima: “I debuted around the same time as the Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling), and we’ve spent a lot of time together as friends and comrades and arms, and I’m so happy from the bottom of my heart that we could do a big event like this.”

This was weirdly tricky: “大きくなって帰って来れているかなと嬉しいです.”

“I’m happy that I could grow and come back. Also, I got totally soaked, but I brought three changes of pants, so I came fully prepared for today. It was the best summer. Thank you so much!”

This was a bit tricky: “アプガプロレスさんとは近い距離でコミュニケーションとか取らせてもらっていたんですけど、こうやってガッツリ、イベントをやらせてもらえたのは初めてで.”

Yuria Shimazaki: “I’ve had the opportunity to communicate with Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) up close and personal, but this is the first time I’ve been able to do a full-on event like this. I was able to watch the match from up close, and this truly was an unforgettable Tanabata for me. Thank you very much.”

Struggled with this: “一緒にこうやって初めてやらせていただいたんですけど、やっぱりアイドルとプロレスとなった時に、どうやったらプロレスを見ているお客さんが楽しんでもらえるんだろうとか色々考えたりしていたんですけど、やっぱりライブとは別で試合をやっている時のお客さんの盛り上がり方とか全然違って。あ、こういうライブの盛り上げ方があるんだって気づいたことも多くて、たくさん勉強させていただきましたし、また一緒にできるように頑張りたいと思います.”

Honoka Sasaki: “This was our first time working together like this, but when it comes to idols and pro wrestling, I was thinking about things like how the audience watching pro wrestling can have fun, but of course there’s a huge difference between a live concert and the way the audience gets excited when a match is going on. There was so much I noticed, like that there is that way of livening up a concert, and I learned a lot. I want to do my best so that we can work together again. Thank you very much.”

The first part of this was a bit tricky to pin down in translation: “なかなか立てないリングでのライブとかすごい刺激的でしたし、そこから見える景色がすごくきれいでした.”

Chinatsu Takahagi: “It was really exciting to do a live show in a ring, which I don’t often get the chance to enter, and the view from there was so pretty. I want to do my best so that we can do another event with (Pro Wrestling). Thank you very much.”

Niikura Ami: “I really enjoyed this summer where the passion of an idol concert and the passion of (Pro Wrestling)'s fighting could collide. This was Nikichan’s first time participating in a deathmatch that employed water, and I got super soaked, but everyone having fun together, or rather having fun with all of the fans, too, became a wonderful memory from this summer. I will continue to do my best.”

After that was the July 13 VOD, which I watched in just an absolutely horrific mental state.

The only thing I remember from this was Nao doing a talking segment with Misao and Haruna in lieu of a match (since all three were out with injury… it’s honestly heartbreaking that Nao couldn’t fulfill her wish to get to her retirement without injury…). I had a pretty hard time keeping up with the talk segment, though I caught bits and pieces. They had another lemon juice stipulation for that one, a classic for Misao vs Nao matches.

The main event was a preview match for Rika vs Miu, with Rika’s team (Rika, Shoko, Mizuki, Runa) getting the win over Miu’s (Miu, Aino, Raku, Pom).

Here’s the post-match:

Tatsumi: (to Miu as she leaves) “Wait, it’s not enough. It’s not enough! I’m not satisfied at all. Do a preview match. Don’t run away. Come on, let’s do it now. This isn’t enough. Come on into the ring, let’s do it now. Because I’m still not satisfied. It’s not enough! Don’t run away!”

Miu: (staring at Tatsumi over the rope) “I’m not running away, and the preview matches are done now.”

I had some trouble translating the 振り回す in this as well as later on: “この期間、リカさんにいっぱい振り回されてきたけど…もう振り回されない.”

“During this period, you’ve pushed me around a lot, but… I won’t get pushed around anymore. Let’s do it at Korakuen.” (she leaves)

I also wasn’t quite sure of the best translation for モヤモヤ here: “モヤモヤは残るんですけど、これは全部7・20後楽園ホールでぶつけます！”

Tatsumi: “I still have some pent-up feelings, but I’m going to hit her with everything at Korakuen Hall on July 20! I will go all out!” (in response to applause from the audience) “Thank you, everyone. I’m so prepared that I’m raring to go do another preview match right now, and I’m ready for next week. Are you ready, everyone? Have you got your tickets? It’s a great card from the first match onward… you’ll be there watching live, right? You’ll come see us, right? I look forward to it. Next week is Korakuen, and then with the tournament after that, TJPW will continue, so please continue to support us.”

The first part of this was a bit tricky: “じゃあ、ここらでちょっと景気づけに準備できてるということで、よっしゃいくぞ！しようかな.”

“Well, now that you’re ready to put some life into it, I guess I’ll do YOSSHA IKUZO! I want to make this the best summer, so of course—”

She closed with: “I’m going to make this summer the best one yet! Ready, set—” “Ah, YOSSHA IKUZO!”

Team Rika’s comments:

This was tricky: “お預けくらっちゃったなっていうかんじがしてます、すごい.”

Tatsumi: “I feel like it’s been entrusted to me, amazing. I was trying to get the win from Miu directly today, and I’m glad that everyone gave me a big push and I was able to attack with everyone. To put it simply, I think all that’s left is for me to hit her with everything I’ve got in the title match. I will surely bloom out of season.”

Nakajima: “The match with Aja-san is just a week away. I’m really excited right now, but my opponent today was Raku, Aja-san’s frequent tag partner. So I wrestled this match viewing it as essentially a preview match with Aja Kong. I’m not very good at the unique energy Raku brings.”

Okubo: “In a week, the class of '23 will be teaming up. It’s a match we’ve seen before, but we’ve all grown since then. I’m aiming to win.”

Mizuki: “I really felt Rika-san’s momentum today. I felt it so strongly, it made me think that I wanted to see her become the champion again. I felt that I couldn’t lose to that momentum, so it made me feel a renewed desire to do my absolute best at Korakuen, too.”

This was a bit tricky: “今日はモヤモヤしてるかもしれないけど、みんなにはすごいリカさんの熱を与えてもらったので、ありがとうございます.”

“You may have some pent up feelings today, but you gave everyone so much passion, Rika-san, so thank you very much.”

Tatsumi: “The pleasure is mine.”

I felt like this could probably be a snappier translation: “褒められて…ちょーやる気が出ました！”

“Receiving praise… that gives me some motivation!”

(After the match today, were you planning on doing another match?)

“Yes. Because there wasn’t enough time, we didn’t do enough. I felt like I wanted to do it right now.”

Team Miu’s comments:

Aino: “We lost the last preview match, but Miu was so cool when she faced rampaging Rika-san at the end.”

Miu: “I’m glad.”

This was a bit tricky: “でもいつも、やっぱ前哨戦の期間も振り回されてきたし、ある意味白昼夢の期間も振り回されてきた。でもそれは一緒に振り回ってきたんですけど.”

“But as usual, I’ve been swept up in the preview match period, and in a sense I’ve also been swept up in the Daydream period. But that’s something we’ve been swept up in together. Though I’ve never been able to surpass Rika-san’s level of freedom. In that sense, even though I lost the match, feelings-wise I feel more determined. Now I feel that when I go to Korakuen, I’ll be able to do it. Results-wise it was a loss, but I hadn’t lost any preview matches so far. I just wanted to cinch it with a win, but it’s alright. I haven’t lost any confidence. I feel like I can do it.”

This was a bit tricky to translate: “大丈夫。十分未詩もおかしいから、いつも.”

Aino: “It’s okay. Miu is plenty crazy, just as always.”

Pom: (laughs)

Miu: “I’m not crazy!”

Aino: “Do your best!”

Miu: “I will. How about you guys?”

Aino: “At Korakuen, the three of us (Aino & Raku & Pom) wil team up. Manase-san, Mahiro, and Tori-san, I think.”

This was a bit confusing:

ぽむ「おい、ボコボコだ！」

Pom: “Hey, it’ll be a vicious beating!”

未詩「真弥に対する反応がすごくてびっくりした（笑）」

Miu: “I was surprised at your reaction to Mahiro.” (laughs)

Aino: “I’m looking forward to facing Manase-san for the first time in a long time.”

Miu: “It’ll be fun. If you don’t come to Korakuen, everyone, we can’t start the summer. So please come!”

Aino: (after a brief silence) “Summer sun!” (ツボに入ったぽむが少し離れて笑い続ける)

I couldn’t figure out what the ツボに入った was referring to, so I didn’t know how to translate that part in parentheses.

This was also tricky to translate:

未詩「（後楽園も辰巳はこのテンションくると思うが？）ですね。でもいままで惑わされてきたからこそ、私の今回の自分の中での目標としてはそこに振り回されず、それを越えていくくらい自由に器を大きく視野を広くっていう気持ちでいるので。惑わされません」

(Do you think that Tatsumi will also come to Korkauen with the same energy?)

Miu: “I think so. But since I’ve been bewildered in the past, my goal this time is to not get taken in by it, and to be so free and broad-minded that I surpass her. I won’t get taken in.”

That’s it for the final show before Summer Sun Princess.

Oh, and I almost forgot, the posters:

(Nothing to translate on this one)

わたしたちTJPW98年度組！

We’re TJPW’s Team Born in '98!

(Had a lot of trouble getting this into something that sounded remotely good in English…)

みんな、東京女子プロレスが好きだ。
Minna, Tokyo Joshi Puroresu ga suki da.

“Everyone loves TJPW”

(This one’s tough because I feel like it needs the romanization since it’s riffing on the lyric from Miu’s theme plus her show closing. Also, maybe it should be “Yes, everyone does love TJPW”, since it reads to me like an answer to “みんな、東京女子プロレスのこと、好きか―？” I dunno.)

太陽はSunSun
花火はBang
ド立派な季節だ
キミと一緒の夏だ

Sun is SUNSUN
Fireworks are BANG
It’s a magnificent season
A summer with you

(I didn’t even notice this poster had text on it at first… This might be one of the hardest translations yet, just in terms of how strange the は random English word sounds. There’s probably something going on here that I’m not understanding.)

[rodan]

@fallynleaf

有栖「なんとかもしたたるいい女みたいな？」

Arisu: “Like a good woman who is somehow dripping wet?”

ＨＩＭＡＷＡＲＩ「水ね。水したたってください」

HIMAWARI: “Water. Please sprinkle some water.”

水も滴る男 / 女 appears to be an old turn of phrase for someone being extremely handsome / beautiful. It seems like probably with the original meaning of like, they’re so palpably beautiful it’s like they’re glistening like they’re dripping wet, but made less clear literally over time as it became a turn of phrase.

I don’t really know how best to translate that. Especially without clashing into awkward English turns of phrase in the area… Maybe like…
“Just like - what’s that turn of phrase about somebody so beautiful they’re dripping?”
“- dripping water, yeah! Please sprinkle us with water!”

@fallynleaf

This was weirdly tricky: “大きくなって帰って来れているかなと嬉しいです.”

“I’m happy that I could grow and come back.

Yeah hmmm I would probably assume something ended up a little garbled/fishy either as she said it or in the transcript, since I feel like this doesn’t quite gel as-is.
I would probably assume she’s saying “I’d be happy if we can get bigger and come back / do this again” or I guess maybe actually, “I thought happily ‘ahh, they’ve grown up and come back home (to me)’” like thinking of the Up Up Girls (Pro Wrestling) as old friends / siblings etc. who have grown and come back.

@fallynleaf

Struggled with this: “一緒にこうやって初めてやらせていただいたんですけど、やっぱりアイドルとプロレスとなった時に、どうやったらプロレスを見ているお客さんが楽しんでもらえるんだろうとか色々考えたりしていたんですけど、やっぱりライブとは別で試合をやっている時のお客さんの盛り上がり方とか全然違って。あ、こういうライブの盛り上げ方があるんだって気づいたことも多くて、たくさん勉強させていただきましたし、また一緒にできるように頑張りたいと思います.”

Honoka Sasaki: “This was our first time working together like this, but when it comes to idols and pro wrestling, I was thinking about things like how the audience watching pro wrestling can have fun, but of course there’s a huge difference between a live concert and the way the audience gets excited when a match is going on. There was so much I noticed, like that there is that way of livening up a concert, and I learned a lot. I want to do my best so that we can work together again.

I think this is ok but it reads with a bit of a sense that maybe it didn’t quite gel for you. I’d say that she’s saying like - as a professional idol, the experience was most interesting to her as the pro wrestling part showed her a completely different way of engaging an audience in a live performance than what she’s used to, and so it was useful experience since that’s what her job is about trying to do as well.

I guess the only tweak I would specifically make is changing:
“There was so much I noticed, like that there is that way of livening up a concert”
to something like:

“There were many times where I noticed a way of livening up a live performance that I never knew existed before”

@fallynleaf

This was tricky: “お預けくらっちゃったなっていうかんじがしてます、すごい.”

Tatsumi: “I feel like it’s been entrusted to me, amazing.

お預けを食らう appears to mean that like, you were expecting something but it didn’t arrive yet. I think the すごい is probably a late added one emphasizing the depth of feeling (or at least it’s not positive here).
Another turn of phrase I’m not sure how best to translate - maybe “I feel a lot like I’m waiting impatiently for something that keeps getting postponed.” or something.

@fallynleaf

I felt like this could probably be a snappier translation: “褒められて…ちょーやる気が出ました！”

“Receiving praise… that gives me some motivation!”

Here it’s Mizuki specifically praising her that’s firing Mizuki up so much (and it seems like the 褒められて is even just the transcriber adding something to convey Rika’s being touched – or actually it looks like Shoko technically says it)

So
“She complimented me…” (or if going with the video where Shoko says that part,“She complimented you!”) “That fires me the hell up!”
would probably be my attempt.

@fallynleaf

This was a bit tricky: “でもいつも、やっぱ前哨戦の期間も振り回されてきたし、ある意味白昼夢の期間も振り回されてきた。でもそれは一緒に振り回ってきたんですけど.”

“But as usual, I’ve been swept up in the preview match period, and in a sense I’ve also been swept up in the Daydream period. But that’s something we’ve been swept up in together.

I think here I would stick with a translation (like “pushed around” before maybe) that has a directionality to it, since in the first part I would say that she’s saying like – looking back at this round of preview matches, Rika was taking the lead / she was at the mercy of Rika’s whims. And in a way, that’s how it’s always been in Daydream too, but in Daydream they both were at each other’s whims (while this time it’s just her at Rika’s).

@fallynleaf

This was a bit tricky to translate: “大丈夫。十分未詩もおかしいから、いつも.”

Aino: “It’s okay. Miu is plenty crazy, just as always.”

I’d probably just go with “Miu is always plenty crazy” or “Miu is plenty crazy all the time.”

@fallynleaf

ぽむ「おい、ボコボコだ！」

Pom: “Hey, it’ll be a vicious beating!”

未詩「真弥に対する反応がすごくてびっくりした（笑）」

Miu: “I was surprised at your reaction to Mahiro.” (laughs)

I think she’s suddenly loudly threatening the other team at hearing who it’ll be, so maybe “I’ll beat 'em up!!” or something (but I guess it’s fine as is).
I also don’t know why she’d react violently to apparently Mahiro, but perhaps they had some interaction in a match to make her mad recently.

@fallynleaf

Aino: (after a brief silence) “Summer sun!” (ツボに入ったぽむが少し離れて笑い続ける)

I couldn’t figure out what the ツボに入った was referring to, so I didn’t know how to translate that part in parentheses.

Based on the video, I would assume it’s referring to corpsing. And yeah that does seem to be the case. Talking casually I would probably say “Pom corpses and recedes off camera to continue laughing.” but “bursts out laughing” would be a neutral way of saying ツボに入る more directly (without the ‘breaking character’ connotation). Wow it really got her, she’s laughing for a while

The rest I think is fine! (including the posters)

Sorry again things have been so hard on you! I hope the coming weeks are better.

[fallynleaf]

Well, I have had A Week . Feeling a bit better about pro wrestling, but feeling a lot worse about a lot of other stuff. I did decide to keep going with the translations, though I haven’t been keeping up as well.

Got about halfway through the Summer Sun Princess translation and then realized I should probably do the Tokyo Princess Cup press conference before the actual TPC starts, so I finished that one first.

This press conference (and “random” drawing for the tournament bracket) was on July 22. Here’s the video, and here’s the official transcript.

I think I did alright with understanding this, though I struggled a bit with some of the “putting it in English” part, since tournament vocabulary and such can be a bit odd…

22日、東京・渋谷のAbema Towersにておこなわれた7・28両国KFCホールから開幕する『第11回東京プリンセスカップ』組み合わせ抽選会に、エントリー選手が臨んだ。8・3新宿FACEからの出場となる水波綾の枠を決めた後、難波小百合リングアナが本日都合により欠席となった荒井優希、鈴芽、原宿ぽむ、大久保琉那、ザラ・ザッカーの抽選を先に実施。その後、出席者が封筒を選ぶ形で抽選をおこない、1回戦並びに2回戦の組み合わせを決定。ブロックごとに意気込みを述べた。

On July 22, at the Abema Towers in Shibuya, Tokyo, participating wrestlers took part in a random drawing to determine the matchups for the “11th Tokyo Princess Cup”, which will start on July 28 at Ryogoku KFC Hall. After deciding the bracket placement of Ryo Mizunami, who will participate starting from Shinjuku FACE on August 3, ring announcer Sayuri Namba drew lots for Yuki Arai, Suzume, Pom Harajuku, Runa Okubo, and Zara Zakher, who were absent that day due to personal circumstances. After that, the participants drew lots by selecting envelopes to determine the first and second round matchups. Each block of wrestlers gave comments.

I was also a bit confused by the 1回戦 and 2回戦 at first until I looked at the actual bracket and saw that some of the the 2回戦 were technically part of the second round even though they were for some wrestlers their first tournament match.

Anyway, here’s the first part where the wrestlers actually say stuff:

Shino: “I have fought Suzume in singles matches loads of times, and I’m going to go all out and do everything I’m capable of. I will do my best!”

Toribami: “I haven’t had many singles encounters with Arai-san, and she also has a belt, but I’m going to fight tooth and nail to get a win this time.”

I struggled a bit with translating this: “意外に同期なので負けたくないです.”

“Believe it or not, we’re from the same debut class, so I don’t want to lose to her.”

I think there’s a typo in this and it’s シード. I struggled a bit with translating it anyway: “私はシートだったんですけど、荒井さんかかやさん、どちらが勝っても初シングルになるので、今回は気合いを入れて臨みたいと思います.”

Uehara: “I’m seeded into the next round, but regardless of who wins, Arai-san or Kaya-san, it’ll be our first singles match, so I’m going to put all of my fighting spirit into it.”

For this next set, I went with “number one” as a translation for 一番, but I dunno, maybe that wasn’t the best (lol) choice.

Mizuki: (pointing to the center of the Princess Cup chart) “I’m aiming to be number one here. But I’m lonely on my own, so everyone cheering for me, please fight alongside me. I’m going to do my best!”

Moka: “First of all, I want to beat Mizuki-san and move up.”

Arisu: “I also want to be number one and stand at the top…”

Mizuki: “Mizuki is number one.”

Moka: “I’m also number one.”

Miu: (also raises her hand)

Arisu: “Huh? Oh, I’m number one! I’m aiming for the top, so first I’m going to beat the singles champion and become number one!”

Miu: “I’m also aiming for that number one over there. If I win this, I’ll have achieved the full Grand Slam, so I’m going to do my best.”

Next set has Kamiyu. Oh boy. I think I actually did ok, though as always with her, I second-guess myself a lot. Here’s the Japanese: “毎年「トーンメントは大嫌い」と言わせていただいているんですけど、最近ファンの方からも物販で後ろ向きというか「そんなふうに言わないで頑張ってよ！」って言われましたし、先日還暦を迎えた母からも、あんまり物事に対して「イヤだな」とかネガティブなことを言うんじゃないよと怒られたので、明るく元気に頑張ろうと思います.”

Kamifuku: “Every year I say, ‘I hate tournaments’, but recently I’ve heard from fans when selling merch that I’m being negative, or like, ‘Don’t say it like that, just do your best!’. The other day, my mom, who just celebrated her 60th birthday, told me off and said I shouldn’t say negative stuff like ‘I hate it’ about things, so I will do my best cheerfully and energetically.”

Yuki: “I’m always feeling frustrated and I have a lot of pent up feelings. The other day, I watched someone’s match and thought they were too incredible and that they weren’t someone I could fight. But there are people out there who’ve always supported me, who have high expectations for me, and of course I still have my own desires. So I will defeat all of my bad feelings, and take down any opponent who stands before me, and I will conquer the hot summer!”

I think I mostly got Shoko’s answer, but also wasn’t entirely sure: “それをちょっと聞いちゃうと、琉那には悪いけどユキに勝ちあがってもらって、ユキと試合したいなという気持ちがまず一番にきたのが正直な気持ちですね。私もキャリア10年をオーバーして、この東京女子プロレスを生き残っていくためには今の自分じゃダメだと、つくづくアジャ（コング）さんと試合をして感じたので。何か新しいものを掴んで、殻を破っていく、そんなトーンメントにしたいです。もちろん優勝以外は意味がありません。優勝しないならオマエは死んだほうがましだという気持ちで、私は命がけでやってやります！”

Nakajima: “Hearing that, I’m sorry, Runa, but honestly the first thing that occurred to me was that I want Yuki to win and then I want to have a match with her. I’ve been in this career for over ten years, and I really feel after my match with Aja (Kong)-san that my current self is not good enough to survive in TJPW. I want to grab something new and make a fresh start, that’s the kind of tournament I want to have. Of course if I don’t win the whole thing there’s no point. If you don’t achieve the overall victory, you’re better off dying, so I’m going to do it as if my life was on the line!”

Here’s the next set:

Rika: “The belt got away from me last time, but if I get good results here, I can jump ahead and get back into the title picture in the shortest time possible, so this year in particular, I want to get my first tournament victory.”

The end of this was extremely difficult to translate : “それに2人（凍雅とハル）は初参加だと思うんですけど、もちろん蹴散らすし、記念受験ならぬ記念トーナメントにさせます.”

"Besides, I think it’s the first time participating for both of them (Toga and Haru), so of course I’m going to kick their asses, and I’ll make it a ceremonial tournament, not a ceremonial exam. And since Aniki (Mizunami) is this part of the bracket, I want to face Aniki! I want to fight Aniki! So I’ll heat things up and put an end to this year’s summer!”

I’m not sure if there’s a way to really capture the nuance of 記念受験 in English… At least, I couldn’t think of a quick and snappy translation. It might need a translator’s note.

Toga’s line was also a bit tricky to translate: “私は初出場で、リカさんともそんなに試合で当たることもなかったので、こういう形でシングル、ガッツリ当たれるのは楽しみなんですけど、リカさんの試合を見てて狂気じみているというか、クレイジーさが目立つというのはあるんですけど、そのクレイジーさを上回って、私が勝ち進みたいと思います.”

Toga: “I’m participating for the first time, and I haven’t faced Rika-san much, so I’m looking forward to getting to properly face her in a singles match like this, but having seen Rika-san’s matches, she’s crazy, or rather the craziness really leaps out at you, but I’m going to surpass her craziness and get the win and advance.”

Haru: “Mizunami-san is an unbelievably strong opponent for me, and I’m so scared that I get cold feet merely hearing her name, but I think I’m incredibly fortunate to be facing Mizunami-san in my very first tournament, so I’m going to do my best to win and aim for the overall victory.”

That’s all for that presser. Mercifully short. I’m going to immediately fall behind on the TPC translations like always, but hopefully I’ll at least get the Summer Sun Princess one done before next week.

[rodan]

@fallynleaf

優勝しないならオマエは死んだほうがましだという気持ちで、私は命がけでやってやります！

@fallynleaf

If you don’t achieve the overall victory, you’re better off dying, so I’m going to do it as if my life was on the line!

I think I would tweak slightly where the sense of “as if” is in this, clause-wise. Like, maybe something like “I’m going to go in with the mentality that death is better than defeat and put my life on the line to win!”
Just since I would say the という気持ちで is less something she’s stating as fact and more the mentality she’s adopting in doing this thing.

@fallynleaf

so this year in particular

really mild nitpick but I think 今年こそ in this kind of context is expressing less “in particular” and more like… this year I’m actually going to win (instead of losing like all those years in the past).
maybe “so this year will be the one,” phrases that slightly more naturally in English.

@fallynleaf

The end of this was extremely difficult to translate : “それに2人（凍雅とハル）は初参加だと思うんですけど、もちろん蹴散らすし、記念受験ならぬ記念トーナメントにさせます.”

"Besides, I think it’s the first time participating for both of them (Toga and Haru), so of course I’m going to kick their asses, and I’ll make it a ceremonial tournament, not a ceremonial exam.

Definitely tricky! It seems like 記念受験 means like, taking an entrance exam for a school even though you know you’re very unlikely to get in. (with the 記念 presumably being in the sense of like, just for the sake of the memory, since you’re not really doing it for an actual shot at getting in because you definitely won’t). So personally I would step completely away from trying to go for a literal translation of the phrase and try to come up with a clear version in English.
I think I would probably call that concept, or its closest equivalent a “reach school”?
“I’ll make it not a ‘reach school’ but a ‘reach tournament’ for them” perhaps.

@fallynleaf

Toga’s line was also a bit tricky to translate: “私は初出場で、リカさんともそんなに試合で当たることもなかったので、こういう形でシングル、ガッツリ当たれるのは楽しみなんですけど、リカさんの試合を見てて狂気じみているというか、クレイジーさが目立つというのはあるんですけど、そのクレイジーさを上回って、私が勝ち進みたいと思います.”

Toga: “I’m participating for the first time, and I haven’t faced Rika-san much, so I’m looking forward to getting to properly face her in a singles match like this, but having seen Rika-san’s matches, she’s crazy, or rather the craziness really leaps out at you, but I’m going to surpass her craziness and get the win and advance.”

I’d probably make the ‘Rika’s crazy’ parts a little more indirect, due to e.g. the じみている and also part of what’s fun about it being that she’s skirting around it ever so slightly due to Rika being right there and interjecting with "は？"s
Maybe “she seems crazy, or rather there’s a certain craziness that stands out”

Otherwise I didn’t have any comments! You’re very very well equipped to translate a straightforward presser like this by now and I’m glad to have been around for all that it took to get to this point and to see it continue from here!

[fallynleaf]

I’m more than halfway done with the July 20 Summer Sun Princess translation, but it’s pretty long so I thought I’d split it up into multiple posts.

First match was a remix from last year: Wakana, Toga, and Runa vs Himawari, Shino, and Haru. I was honestly really impressed with this one! I came into this show really low energy, but the rookies legitimately got me invested in this, and I was rooting for Toga to pick up another win (sorry Shino), and it was fun to see that happen.

These comments were subtitled (in Japanese) for some reason? Only for this match, though…

Wakana/Toga/Runa:

Toga: “We did this same match about a year ago, and I got my first win right here in Korakuen Hall, and I still remember how happy I was then. But when I faced Shino-san in a singles match after that, I lost to a rollup. She used a rollup like that this time, too. For a moment, I had a flashback to when I lost last time, and I was like ‘oh no!’, but my friends were here to save me. Rather than feeling glad that I won this time, I felt like I’d gotten revenge. I can’t let her catch up to me just yet, so I feel like I’ve widened the gap between us again. I feel that more than I feel happy.”

Runa: “I faced Haru, but she has more moves than last time, and has gotten stronger than before. I couldn’t afford to lose, and especially because we debuted on the same day, I really didn’t want to lose to her. I’m going to do my best from here so that I won’t lose.”

Uehara: “The six of us in the class of '23 have fought each other at every major turning point. This time, too, I was able to see just how much everyone has grown, or rather I was able to see where everyone was at, including myself. I’m sure the six of us will fight again in the future. When that time comes, I’m looking forward to seeing who has grown the most. We’ll keep competing with each other and working hard from here.”

Himawari/Haru/Shino:

HIMAWARI: “It’s really frustrating that we did this same match a year ago with my genmates, and even though a year has passed, we got the same result. I thought we’d grown, but the three people we were facing had grown just as much, so we couldn’t close the gap. I want to train harder so that I can come out further ahead in the future.”

Haru: “It’s been a while since I’ve fought Runa, and I wanted to beat her. Even while she was taking time off, I was training the whole time with the desire to get a win against her, but even though we got the chance to fight here, she knocked me down, and I’m still not strong enough, and I still can’t reach her or surpass her, so I want to train even harder, and in our next singles match or any match, I will absolutely beat Runa.”

Shino: “Nothing has changed since the last time… I feel like I’m back to zero again… I haven’t given up on wanting to become a strong wrestler. So I will do my best to start again from zero.”

After that was Kira vs Chika, which was fun! I was rooting for Kira all the way in this, haha, because I wanted her to get her first win. And sure enough!!

Kira’s comments were a mixture of Japanese and English:

Kira: “I won! I got a win with my own two hands. I’m so happy. Thank you so much to everyone who came. Your support gave me great strength. I’m so happy.” (in English) “Everyone who came to see the show, everyone who was watching on Wrestle Universe, and everyone who’s gonna see later, thank you so much, your cheers mean so much to me.” (in Japanese) “Truly thank you so much, everyone. Next time I want to win together with Chika-chan.”

Chika’s comments:

Chika: “We became trainees at the same time, and we debuted about the same time, and I didn’t want to lose to her. I also wanted to use the momentum after getting my first win by my own power at Korakuen on June 9 to win this time, too, but she was too powerful, and I didn’t stand a chance. But I absolutely won’t lose the next one. I will definitely win the next singles match.”

The other member of the newest rookie class, Uta, faced the visiting Mei Suruga in what was probably the sleeper hit of the entire show to me. I didn’t have super high expectations for this match since Uta is so new to wrestling, but she was awesome! She always manages to pack so much personality and character into her matches, and that along with her rookie scrappiness makes matches like this one really entertaining. Of course, it helps that Mei is also very talented!

Mei’s comments:

Mei: “Uta-chan! I’m Uta-chan’s very first big sister, Mei Suruga! Gatoh Move and TJPW have been involved with each other before, but until now, Mei Suruga and Uta-chan had never been involved with each other, so I don’t think it would be an exaggeration to say that our sisterly bond was formed for the first time here! No but she was so friendly! And cute!! And the fact that she’s a bit cheeky is very befitting for my younger sister, so I might like that too!” (in English) “See you next time! We will tag team, with [??] Mei Suruga, ‘Very Cuteness Sisters’, yes, maybe [??].” (in Japanese) “Ah, that was fun!”

I couldn’t quite catch some of the English bits…

Uta’s comments:

Uta: (crying) "Ever since this match was set, I’ve been thinking about Mei-san, and before I even realized it, I was doing things like wearing red things and socks with apples on them. I was thinking about what I should do in the match, and I was able to do the things I thought about, so I thought that I was able to have a good match that could become a turning point for me in my career thus far, but in the end things didn’t go the way I’d wanted them to. If we have the chance to do this again someday, I want to study more and have another match. She treated me like a little sister, and I felt sad when it ended, and cried due to all the emotions I was feeling, but I feel like I had a good match, so I’m glad! Thank you very much! But I think I’ll miss my older sister when she’s not here.”

Then Kaya teamed up with GanPro’s Yuna Manase and Moeka Haruhi (freshly returned after having donating a kidney to her sister) against the 三角関係, who apparently tried to implement their own rule set for this match involving summer items, though it was rejected by the other team. I didn’t quite catch all of that, but it was a fun time anyway, and I’m always happy to see the 三角関係 pick up a trios win.

ガンバレ☆とりっぴ’s comments:

Manase: (to Toribami) “Hey, are you alright?”

Toribami: “I’m sorry!”

Manase: “We ‘Ganbare☆Torippi’ combined our forces and fought together, but…”

Toribami: “Ganbare☆Torippi couldn’t measure up…”

This was a bit tricky:

春日 そもそもルールを守ってないだろう！

Haruhi: “They weren’t following the rules in the first place!”

まなせ そうだよ！ なんだよ！

Manase: “Yeah! What the heck was that?!”

春日 持ってくんなって！

Haruhi: “Don’t bring that in!”

まなせ 東京女子って丁寧だから提案されたんだよ。ちゃんと嫌だって断ったんだ。でもアイツら持ってきたぞ！

Manase: “TJPW is very polite, so they made a proposal. I turned it down, saying that I didn’t want to do it. But they brought it anyway!”

春日 なんか持ってきたぞ！

Haruhi: “They brought some stuff!”

Manase: “But I’ve done a lot of matches, and I haven’t gotten to do anything particularly summery, so I guess it wasn’t so bad. After having so much fun, I’m disappointed that we didn’t win, so let’s do this one more time with the three of us, and we’re going to break up the Love Triangle!”

Haruhi: “We’re gonna make a mess of it!”

三角関係’s comments were a bit tricky…

ぽむ 祭り！（×３）

Pom: “Festival!” (x 3)

ユキ あー夏休み！だよ。

Yuki: “Ah, it’s summer vacation!”

ぽむ 何それ。

Pom: “What’s that?”

ユキ そういうルールじゃん！

Yuki: “That’s our special rule!”

ぽむ あ、そうか。

Pom: “Oh, I see.”

ユキ 何それって言われた。

Yuki: “You said ‘what’s that’.”

らく＆ぽむ 月が出た出た、月が出た～ヨイヨイ♪

Raku & Pom: (singing) “The moon is out, the moon is out~”

ユキ ちょっと盆踊りが初めて踊ったので。

Yuki: “That was my first time doing the Bon Festival dance.”

ぽむ そうなの？

Pom: “Really?”

ユキ 見よう見まねでしたけど（踊るらくを見て）かわいい。なんだけど、最初私たちが祭りをしたことで相手のペースを崩したと思います。

Yuki: “I was just copying everyone else, but (watching Raku dance) was cute. But I think we interrupted our opponents’ rhythm by doing the festival at the start.”

Pom: “Yes.”

Raku: “I think we did.”

Pom: “The summer’s a win because we heated things up and got everyone excited. After all, the Love Triangle got the win after livening the place up with a festival.”

Yuki: “It’s been a while since I’ve fought Manase-san, and I’ve gotten a lot stronger than I was when we fought however many years ago. It was a bit short, so I felt like I wanted to fight more, and it was my first time facing Haruhi-san, so since we didn’t have any contact with each other, I want to fight again sometime in the future.”

Pom: “Yuki-san’s fighting spirit is also heating up.”

Yuki: “I don’t know if she got (the energy from GanPro) or what, but Toribami seemed to have more fighting spirit than usual, so I want to see her work even harder.”

Then the last bit doesn’t make it into the transcript for some reason.

After that was supposed to be Kamiyu vs Nao, but since Nao was injured, Kakeru Sekiguchi filled in for her instead. Nao was present at ringside and got involved during the match, but the whole thing was pretty bittersweet…

Kamiyu and Nao spoke a bit in the ring afterward:

Kamifuku: (to Kakuta outside of the ring) “Hey, Nao Kakuta, don’t cry. Who do you think caused all of this? But I feel that until the very end, Nao-chan’s retirement road was very much like her… I have no more regrets. I don’t regret anything. Nao-chan, you and I are no longer rivals or whatever. We’re just friends. Right, Sekiguchi-san?” (to Kakuta) “Come on up. I think this is an amazing retirement road that’s befitting of Nao-chan. Don’t make your last match super normal, and make sure you finish things out by going properly crazy.”

Kakuta: “Hey… don’t make me cry, you two. I cried during the match… It really did turn out like this, huh? But because it did, I could really feel the kindness. I felt the warmth from everyone. And my retirement road is a happy one, after all, so I have no regrets! So one more time, I ask you all to please support me until the very end!”

The three of them did their comments together:

This was a bit tricky: “角田奈穂が人生色々あることがこうやって教えてくれつつ、その奇跡で私と関口さんのシングルが、しかも自分と初めての同期との試合で.” (I ended up translating 同期 as “genmate” above (really glad this word apparently exists) and “classmate” here because I think she’s referring to Mahiro, who wasn’t her same generation as a wrestler, but who was in her same college class. But I dunno, maybe I’m misinterpreting…)

Kamifuku: “Nao Kakuta taught me various things in life like this, and by that miracle, there was this singles match between Sekiguchi-san and I, and not only that, but I had a match with my classmate for the first time.”

Sekiguchi: “Wait, there’s just one thing. I’m not Mahiro-san.”

Kamifuku: “I mistook her in the middle of the match. I was like, ‘Why is Mahiro here?’ I’m really grateful that she came here to TJPW.”

Sekiguchi: “Thank you very much.”

Kamifuku: “And we both have a connection to Nao-chan as well. We’ll surely remember Nao-chan whenever we meet face-to-face from now on, or we won’t remember her, but I’m looking forward to working with you. Please say something.”

Sekiguchi: “Even though Nao-san had to unexpectedly miss it, I’m happy to be here at a TJPW Korakuen Hall show. I’m happy I was able to fight my classmate Kamifuku-san, and even though I lost today, in the next one… I’m still going to try not to lose. Nao-san, please run on past through that one match.”

Kamifuku: “Since we’re friends from today onward, please treat me well.”

This was a bit of a struggle to translate: “嬉しい。2人からの愛をすごい感じて、2人して私の技とか、いる場所を見てくれたりとか。あとやっぱりね、かみーゆってなんだかんだ桐生真弥の名前を出したりとか、（関口が）似てるって言われてるのもあるけど.”

Kakuta: “I’m so happy. I felt a lot of love from these two, and you both looked at my moves and at the place where I am. And Kamiyu somehow letting Mahiro Kiryu’s name slip out, whom people say that (Sekiguchi) resembles. I thought, watching this match, that she’s someone with a love for people after all. She may have a bad mouth, but she’s a good person after all.”

Kamifuku: “That’s not true. It’s not like I wore purple nails for Nao-chan or anything.” (she shows off her nails)

This was also a bit tricky: “愛ですね。これを機に、いつか（関口は）真弥ちゃんに会ってほしいんです。湘南台は真弥ちゃん欠場で、今回は私の代打でこうして出てくれて。で、桐生真弥と顔合わせるんだって思ったら欠場かい！って。だからいつか2人が会える時をみんなに楽しみにしててほしいです.”

Kakuta: “See? It’s love. I want (Sekiguchi) to take this opportunity and meet Mahiro-chan someday. Mahiro-chan missed Shonandai, and she came this time as my last-minute replacement. It’s like, just when you think you’re going to meet Mahiro Kiryu, she’s absent! So I hope everyone is looking forward to whenever the two of them will be able to meet someday.”

Kamifuku: “That’s right!”

Then after that was Miyu/Itoh vs Mizuki and Emi Sakura. First of all, I was disappointed by the lack of matching accessory for Itoh and Miyu. Someone didn’t live up to her word . But other than that, the match was a lot of fun! Emi’s Whirling Candy made me laugh, and there were a lot of great exchanges in this. I thought it had the right result, as much as I like Mizuki, because it made sense that Miyu/Itoh would be the stronger team.

Miyu/Itoh’s comments:

Yamashita: “We won.”

Itoh: “They were super strong.”

This was a bit tricky: “そりゃそうよ！って思っていたし、カード発表された時、正直ヤバいって思ったけど…勝ったよ.”

Yamashita: “I thought, ‘of course it would be like that!’, and when the match was announced, I honestly thought we were in trouble, but… we won. It was a really close one. I feel like maybe we just got lucky today.”

Itoh: “No, no, there’s a bit of that, but I think it’s purely that our abilities have improved, and of course our abilities as a tag team have also improved.”

This was a bit tricky: “今日気づいたことが一つあって。今日でいったらさくらさんと瑞希って惑わしてくるタイプじゃん。それで今まで翻弄されて負けてたけど、自分たちで声かけあって、（ペースを取り）戻していけてたなって.”

Yamashita: “There was something that I noticed today. The versions of Sakura-san and Mizuki who showed up today are the type to bewilder you. So up until now we were getting toyed with and losing, but we were able to say something to each other and take back control of the match. With that, I’d say that it was about 40% luck, and 60% our own skill. I’m glad we won today. I’ve fought Sakura-san in the U.S., but today was our first time fighting in Japan. She’s a wrestler who makes me think she’s amazing no matter when or where we are. That’s why today—and with Mizuki too—I wanted to win, and I really wanted to win today as a tag team with Itoh, so I’m really, really happy, and in the future, the two of us are secretly aiming to…”

Itoh: “Well, that’s…”

Yamashita: “Well, I’m not going to say it.” (laughs)

Itoh: “Let’s see what happens today and decide then.”

Yamashita: “Alright.”

If they were talking about wanting to challenge for the tag belts, I honestly hope they do, and I hope they crush Daisy Monkey (sorry Suzume and Arisu) and get a proper reign with the titles, because I think that would be a lot of fun.

Emi did her comments separate:

Sakura: “Did you see my Whirling Candy? Isn’t it the best?”

This was tricky to translate: “オリジナルを生み出すって大変なことだなっていうのはわかる。でもそれをヒントにもらえば無限に技を生み出せるのよ.”

“I understand that it’s very hard to create something original. But if you take that as a hint, you can create an infinite number of moves. I think I made Mizuki-chan feel frustrated today. The audience was really happy, and it was amazing.”

This was also a bit tricky: “そして最後に言いたいのはタッグマッチの意味があったのかしら。今日渦飴を決めて、私と瑞希ちゃんで“渦飴シスターズ”っていうチーム名を付けたかったの！ フザけんじゃないわよ。負けたら付けられないでしょうが！ 頭を蹴られたら蹴り返せばいいじゃない！ フザけんじゃないわよ。瑞希なんか二度と組まないわ、オーホホホホ！”

“And the last thing I want to say is whether there was a meaning to this tag match. Today, after hitting the Whirling Candy, Mizuki-chan and I decided to name our team ‘Whirling Candy Sisters’. Don’t be foolish! You can’t name your team if you lose! If someone kicks you in the head, just kick them back! Don’t be foolish. I will never team up with Mizuki again! OHOHOHO!”

Mizuki’s comments:

Mizuki: “I’d truly never teamed up with Sakura-san. I feel like even if I walk on ahead for a long time, no matter how much I try to catch up, she always keeps the lead, and I’m always frustrated. So I wanted to show her how much I’ve grown, but… I’m really disappointed that I lost. I remembered the frustration of losing once again. I’m really frustrated, but I want to do my best for the next one, and the next, and the next, and the next, so that I never forget this feeling of frustration.”

And I think I’ll stop there for now. I’m hoping I’ll finish the rest within the next few days, assuming life doesn’t throw me another curve ball…