Been a pretty busy week for me so I ended up basically taking several days off due to stress, which I am now paying for by trying to get caught up in time for the next TPC show…
I did finish translating the August 10 show, which had a lot of (mostly pretty short, thankfully) comments.
The longest comments by far weren’t even for a tournament match, though, but for One To Million (of course…) vs Toga and Masha Slamovich. I thought this one was fun, though I don’t have specific comments about it 10 days out from when it originally happened.
Miyu/Itoh’s comments were like almost half the character count of the entire thing:
Yamashita: “Yes, we won.”
Itoh: “You already know it, don’t you? You know what I want to say.”
Miyu’s もう response here was a bit confusing: “いくの？ もう.”
Yamashita: “Are you going to say it? Go ahead.”
Itoh: “Sorry.” (laughs) “Alright, say it.”
Yamashita: “Let’s talk about today first.”
Itoh: “Okay. Alright, go ahead.”
Yamashita: “Both Itoh and I have fought Masha loads of times in the U.S.”
Itoh: (interrupting) “The tag belts!”
Yamashita: “Huh? Tag belts?”
Itoh: “Okay, go ahead and say it first.”
Yamashita: “So, we’ve fought Masha in the U.S. And today she came to Japan and teamed up with Toga in a match.”
This was a bit tricky to translate: “凍雅もマーシャにアレされて気合入ってたじゃん.”
“Toga was also really fired up doing that with Masha. And I…” (to Itoh, who seems like she wants to say something) “Just say it already! It’s fine. You look like you have something you want to say.” (laughs) “I know what it is.”
Itoh: “Let’s hear it from Yamashita.” (laughs)
The beginning of this was also a bit confusing: “先にそれに対して返事しとくよ。いこう、私たちも。だからいいよ、言って.”
Yamashita: “I’ll reply to that first. We’re doing it, both of us. So, alright, go ahead and say it.”
Itoh: “Do you guys get what this means? The two of us, One To Million, are going to snap up the tag belts.”
Yamashita: “Basically the two of us are aiming for the belts next. It’s a declaration of intent. Is that clear? You’re all speechless. Of course, if you look at what we’ve been up to recently, in the U.S., we’ve been working hard individually, and when we’ve come back to Japan, there’s a good sense of distance between us. I think we’ve shown that we make a pretty good team when we team up occasionally, don’t we? Even today, we were able to beat Toga and Masha. And you know what? When we were in the U.S., we even beat Daydream.”
Itoh: “During WrestleMania week. We won. I’ve been saying it ever since then.”
This was tricky:
山下「伊藤は言ってたね。自信を持って…」
Yamashita: “You said it. Be confident…”
伊藤「もうだってね～、もうええやろ。てかもうええやろ」
Itoh: “I said it already. It’s already good. Or rather, it’s already good.”
山下「いいやろの気持ちは分かんないけど、タイミングがいいってことでしょ？」
Yamashita: “I don’t get ‘it’s already good’, but that means the timing is right, yeah?”
伊藤「うん。もうええやろ、伊藤たち目立っちゃって」
Itoh: “Yeah. It’s already good, the two of us stand out from the rest.”
山下「ええやろというか、誰に止められたわけでもないから。私たちのタイミングでいくだけだから」
Yamashita: “It’s already good, or rather it’s not like anyone is stopping us. So we’ll just go ahead on our own terms.”
Itoh: “We’ll take on everything.”
Yamashita: “We’ll take them on it together. Everyone. No matter who we’re facing. We’re headed straight for the belts. So with that, we are declaring our challenge for the tag belts.”
(What about the current champion team?)
Itoh: “It’s not so much the champion team but rather… the belts that we’re fixated on.”
Yamashita: “We’re headed straight for them. We couldn’t do anything the last time we won them.”
Itoh: “Nothing at all.”
Yamashita: “Because we were weak back then, we lost the belts. That time has always stuck with us. We always had our eye on the belts, but, well, it feels like now is the time. As far as the champions go, to be honest, we haven’t touched them since they became champions.”
Itoh: “I know that they’re champions, but for the two of us, they’re still our juniors. It’s partly because we haven’t had any matches with them, but I can only see them as juniors.”
Yamashita: “That’s it. For our comments.”
Toga and Masha’s comments:
Toga: “I knew from the start that there was a vast difference between us in terms of ability. The other three wrestlers besides me are all active overseas, and I think it was a valuable experience for me, or rather I’d fought Yamashita-san and Itoh-san individually, but this was my first time fighting them as One To Million, and I really felt the strength of their tag team.”
Masha: (in English) “Miyu, Maki, especially you, Maki, you’ve been a bit of a pain in my ass for quite some time, so let me tell you this: it’s not over. Everybody here knows exactly what I said, and I’m coming after each and every one of you, one at a time, one show, one place. You can’t escape me, and as far as I’m concerned, I wasn’t beat today either.”
First tournament match was Zara Zakher vs Mizuki! I was excited for this one. I thought Zara probably didn’t have a huge chance because I thought no way were they gonna give her a win over Miu and Mizuki… But I was wrong! The match was a whole lot of fun, and Zara was awesome! You can really see her winning over the TJPW crowd in real time, which is fun to see. Despite being a big fan of Mizuki, I can’t complain about giving the spotlight to Zara here. I’m looking forward to her next tournament match.
Zara’s comments were in English, though I still couldn’t quite get them, lol:
Zara: “The match was really good. I got the win! So, that means I’m moving on. That means I’m this much closer to getting that cup.”
(You got a win over Mizuki, a two-time winner of this very tournament)
“I think that makes me a good [???] to win this whole thing then. If I’m beating someone who’s won twice, that means I might be the head honcho.”
Mizuki’s comments:
Mizuki: “I’m disappointed… It’s disappointing. But this doesn’t mean my summer is over, and I’m going to push on… Oh, it’s no use. I’m sorry!”
Then it was a Yuki vs Yuki showdown (Aino vs Kamifuku). I was rooting for Aino because if we can’t have Mizuki vs Rika, my next goal is Aino vs Aniki. And yay, I got my wish, for this match, at least!
Aino’s comments:
This was a bit difficult: “私、Xとかでかみーゆとはお互いここぞという時に当たるんだなと思っていたんですけど、そうじゃないってわかって.”
Aino: “I was thinking like on Twitter, X, that Kamiyu and I would fight each other when a golden opportunity presented itself, but now I know that it’s not like that. I really felt today that because I fought and beat Kamiyu specifically that I’ll be able to go on ahead in the tournament with confidence. I’m so happy that I was able to beat Kamiyu. I’m super glad that we were able to face each other in the tournament. And since I beat Kamiyu, I made it to the top four! This is my first time in the top four! This will be my first time doing the random drawing for the semifinals, so I’m really excited. Because the remaining wrestlers are Zara and Yuki-chan Arai, and then Aniki! Wow!! I’m really looking forward to it! There’s no doubt that it’ll be tough no matter who I face, so no matter which opponent I draw, I want to win and go on to stand in the main event at Korakuen at the end of the month! First I have the semifinal, and I’m going to do my best!”
Kamiyu’s comments were predictably a bit tricky… I couldn’t figure out how to translate ポップ in this sentence: “愛野ユキと久しぶりにシングルして、正直最近のユキちゃん、ポップで楽しそうだなっていう感じがしてて、若干油断していたなみたいなところはあるかなと思いつつ.”
Kamifuku: “This was my first singles match with Yuki Aino in a while, and to be honest, recently she seems to be ポップand enjoying herself, so I think there might’ve been a part of me that let down my guard a bit. When I’m in some kind of tournament, I surprisingly have a strong desire to win, so I think I’ve learned a bit more about myself. The reason I lost is because I went to the dojo for the first time in like five years, so I think I lost because I went training.”
Then Yuki Arai faced Suzume, and I was really rooting for Suzume here because I wanted her to get further in the tournament, though it was a match that could really go either way, because both were champions, and sure enough, Arai got her win back after losing in the tag title match.
Arai’s comments:
Arai: “Yes! I was able to make it to the top four. I’m very, very happy to have made it as far as last year, and of course I’ve fought Suzume-san loads of times.”
The last chunk of this was a bit tricky: “いままでも勝ったり負けたりしてる相手だったので、やっぱり自分の中で最近だとタッグで負けたばっかりなので、ここでは自分が絶対勝ちたいって気持ちが強かったので、今回は勝てて嬉しかったんですけど…何度も危ないって思うところがたくさんあって、もっともっと強くなって、もう絶対負けないって思うくらいもっと自分を強くしたいなと今日あらためて感じました.”
“She’s someone I’ve beaten and lost to in the past, and, well, I just lost to her in the tag title match, so I really strongly felt that I absolutely had to beat her here, so I’m happy that I won this time, but… there were lots of moments where I felt like I was in trouble, and today I felt a renewed desire to get even stronger, so strong that it’ll feel like I’ll never lose again. The four people remaining are all really super strong, but the fact that I’ve made it this far and am among the final four two years in a row, I’m going to let that give me confidence, and I will continue to do my best in the next one.”
Suzume’s comments:
Suzume: “I lost. Yuki Arai is amazing. Everyone knows that, and I’ve known it this whole time. But that’s exactly why I wanted to win. I’m disappointed. Even though Arisu was at my side, it was a disappointing result. But my fire has not been extinguished. Apparently hornets become super aggressive from summer to autumn. So even though my tournament is over, it’s still my season.”
This was a bit tricky to translate: “おとなしくしているつもりはないので、防衛もガンガンするし、まだまだ燃えていこうと思います.”
“I have no intention of standing quietly by, so I’m going to get fired up in my defenses, and I’m going to keep burning. I’m disappointed that I couldn’t live up to people’s expectations, but I hope you’ll keep supporting me without getting discouraged.”
And finally, it was Rika vs Aniki! I was #TeamAniki all the way now that the Mizuki/Rika final is no longer an option. I thought this match was a lot of fun because Rika is the toughest threat Aniki has faced yet in TJPW, and their style difference makes for a fun dynamic. I did get very afraid at multiple points that Aniki was going to lose, haha, but my faith was not misplaced!! It also meant that Aniki got to close out a TJPW show, which is really fun.
Here’s the post-match:
Mizunami: “Rika Tatsumi! She’s a woman to fear.”
This was tricky: “東京女子の触ってはいけないものに触ってしまったかんじが否めないが、それは元より、本日は開場時間が変更となるイレギュラーなことがありながらも、こうやって大阪府立に足を運んでくださった皆様、そして生配信をご覧の皆様、最後までホントにホントに熱い応援ありがとうございます！”
“I can’t deny that I messed with someone in TJPW I shouldn’t have messed with, but from the outset, today we had a different start time, which was something irregular, but to everyone who came out to Osaka Prefecture despite that, and to everyone watching on stream, thank you for the warm support all the way until the end! Just like all of you who got addicted to TJPW and came to see them at the venue, I’m also starting to get hooked on TJPW little by little. So, the top 4, we’ve been assembled. TJPW’s hot summer continues. And Aniki’s hot summer continues, too! Everyone, let’s make the best memories together this summer. And now I will say the number one most important thing: the show isn’t over until you get home! I’ll say it one more time: the show isn’t over until you get home! So go home in good spirits and in good health, and let’s see each other again in the TJPW ring. Thank you so much for today!”
I’m assuming the “おうちに帰るまでがプロレス観戦でございます！” stuff is like what Miyu said that one time, so I went with the same translation I used back then (and will probably include a similar translator’s note).
Aniki’s comments:
Mizunami: “I said it earlier on the mic. Rika Tatsumi is terrifying! I never thought I’d feel such fear in our first match, to be frank.”
I had a bit of trouble translating the フワフワ in this: “でもやっぱり執念がすごいし、結局私は最後までフワフワフワフワしてるあの辰巳リカを完璧に捉えることはできなかった.”
“But her persistence was amazing, and ultimately I still couldn’t perfectly get a handle on the elusive Rika Tatsumi all the way up to the end. So all in all, I’m not very good at dealing with Rika Tatsumi after all. But I could see Rika Tatsumi’s magnetic appeal to the TJPW audience, and her individuality really shone.”
This was also a bit tricky to translate: “今日、とんでもないものに触れちゃった気もしてますが、これからどんどん…次当たった時、彼女がどう変化してるのか.”
“I feel like I touched something extraordinary today, but from here, more and more… The next time we face each other, I wonder how she’ll have changed. I’m looking forward to it more and more. But I’m still bad at facing Rika Tatsumi. That’s all.”
(It was your first time closing a TJPW show on your own)
“It was like… I wondered if it was okay for me to do it, but, I mean, I won. I wanted to close the show, so I took the mic and spoke, and everyone received me so warmly. Hearing them chant ‘Aniki’ like that at the end, that’s something I’ll really treasure from today.”
Rika’s comments:
Tatsumi: “I’m frustrated! It’s so, so frustrating.”
This was a bit tricky to translate: “アニキのパワーだけじゃない、目に見えないパワーやエネルギーに私は魂をものすごく震わされました。そんなところが大好きだし、でも私はやっぱりトーナメントを所属として意地でも止めたかった.”
“Not only Aniki’s power, but also her power and energy that can’t be seen, it really made my spirit quiver. I love that part of her, but since this is part of the tournament, I really wanted to stop her at all costs. I’m disappointed that she forced her way past me. Really. But I won’t forget about today, and I’ll carry all of my regrets with me. My summer is over. But fall and winter are ahead. I will reassess and make some new goals, and I’m going to keep moving onward.”
That’s it for that one. I’m going to try to get the very short presser with the drawing for the semifinal matchups done tomorrow. Then the VOD show from this past weekend after that, if I have time.
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. And then not long after that, NJPW tried to bring Marty Scurll back 
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