Feel free to look through it on your own if you’d like! I trust your judgment on this sort of thing. Though if you don’t have the time/energy for it right now (understandable lol), it’s totally fine if you leave it alone for now and I can try to get to it when I next have the chance.
I think there might be an impossible amount of characters left for me to translate before the next Korakuen anyway (especially because there’s other stuff I have to get done before Saturday…), so I might have to be few days late on the last show translation. But I’ll try my best to get it all done as soon as I can so that we can get Hype 3 up finally! I think it’ll be really cool to have it all together, and I think people will enjoy it a lot.
On that note, I did manage to get the first half of the uber long presser done (it’s 10k characters…). I figure I’ll front-load the drafts a bit and then probably edit them last-minute like last time.
Here’s the transcript for the presser, and here’s the video.
First up (miraculously in both the transcript and the video): Miu vs Yuki Aino for the Princess of Princess belt.
On October 2, at Suidobashi in Tokyo, the contract signings were held for the Princess of Princess Championship match and the Princess Tag Team Championship match at Korakuen Hall on October 18, with ring announcer Rise Shirai presiding.
Yuki: “When I declared my challenge, I said, ‘October is still hot’, but it actually turned out to be cooler and more typical of autumn than I expected. I’m glad to have been born in Japan where you can enjoy each season. But when Miu and I fight on October 18, I want to make the ring at Korakuen so hot that it blows summer out of the water. I said that I wanted to prove my current worth in TJPW. I’ve fought Miu in tournaments and for the tag belts, and at many crucial moments. But, recently, at Shin-Kiba, I faced Miu the PoP champion properly for the first time, and I realized that she’s totally different from the Miu I knew before. What I want is to make this new Miu burn even hotter, and for us to burn each other up until we’re in tatters, and then I will defeat this monstrous version of Miu, and with that, I will prove that I am worthy. It’s October, so I’m gonna make it the season of harvest in my pro wrestling career. Please watch me.”
Miu: "On September 20, at Ota City General Gymnasium, I was able to get my hands on the Princess of Princess belt, and then Yuki-san came out immediately afterward. In my mind, Yuki-san feels almost like a genmate. I was happy that someone came forward so straightforwardly, and that that person was Yuki-san. She debuted at the next Korakuen Hall show after my debut, and we spent our training period together, but for me, Yuki-san is a senpai in TJPW, and while everyone probably sees her as a little sister, to me, she also has a dependable big sister side. I see her as such an incredibly steady presence.”
This was a bit tricky: “なのでこれまでたくさんパワータイプとしてぶつかりあってきた中でも、ユキさんの頼れる面、しっかりしてるの面で燃えている中にもすごく意志がしっかりしているなというのがあって、そういう面では私が初期の頃はずっとユキさんに届かなかった部分だなと感じていました。なので、そこから私はそういう部分でも強くなりたいと思って、シングル2回目、3回目と重ねて、少し飛んで私が去年3月にこのプリプリのベルトを獲ってからユキさんも自分の中で闘いたい相手の中には入ってはいました.”
“So as the two of us have clashed as fellow power types, Yuki-san’s dependability, her steadiness, and the strength of her will even as she burns with passion, I always felt like I was unable to reach her in those areas, right from the early days. So that’s why I wanted to get stronger in those areas, too, and then we had our second and third singles matches, then let’s skip to when I won the PoP belt in March of last year, and Yuki-san was among the people I wanted to fight. She was on my list, but Yuki-san never actually appeared before me. Part of me always wondered how she saw me when I held the belt last year.”
This was a bit of a struggle to put into English: “やっぱりプリプリのベルトを持っているからには団体の頂点のベルトを持つ人として輝いていたいなって思っていたんですけど、ユキさんにとって私は輝く、キラキラしている闘いたい熱い相手ではなかったのかなとか、不安になることも東京女子の中でも頼れる存在だからこそ、そう思うこともありました.”
“Of course because I held the PoP belt, I wanted to shine as the person holding the top belt in the promotion, but I also worried that maybe Yuki-san didn’t see me as a fiery and passionate opponent that she wanted to have a brilliant, dazzling match with. I worried about it precisely because she’s someone I can rely on in TJPW. But the fact that Yuki-san watched my match with Mizuki-san this time, singled me out, and then came before me to nominate herself first, that really means a lot to me.”
Struggled with the last bit of this: “私はこの夏、ちょっと熱すぎたのでサマーなプリンセスはちょっと終わっちゃったんですけど、オータムも熱く、ユキさんの熱い部分、炎の芯が灰になるまでミウデレラ城を燃やしにきてもらえたら、私も燃やしつつ燃やさず燃やして勝ちたいなと思います.”
“Things got a bit too hot for me this summer, so my time as the summer princess is over for now, but autumn is going to be hot, too. I want Yuki-san to take that inner fire of hers and come to burn down Miuderella’s castle until it’s been reduced to ash. And I want to burn, too, and burn without burning myself out and get the win. I’m going to do my best."
――Aino, what were your thoughts last year when Miu held the belt?
Yuki: "Last year, when Miu defeated (Miyu) Yamashita at Ryogoku and became the champion, that happened right around when I lost the tag belts.”
Struggled a lot with this (and couldn’t figure out what she was really saying with that bit in the middle): “だから、正確な距離を自分で測ったわけではないんですけど、自分の心がそこに向かわなかったです、まったく。すんごい遠いもの？ なんでだろうっていうぐらいな遠いものに感じていたんですよね.”
“So, I didn’t exactly gauge the distance myself, but my heart just wasn’t drawn to it, at all. It felt like it was so far away? なんでだろうっていうぐらいな遠いものに感じていたんですよね。 But the truth is, I didn’t really have my eye on Miu at that time. I just didn’t have the capacity for it.”
This was a bit confusing, so I wondered if maybe there was something I was missing: “タッグベルトを落としてから自分もいろいろ振り返るじゃないですけど、見つめ直す時間が必要だったんですね.”
“After losing the tag belts, I wasn’t exactly reminiscing on things, but I needed some time to reassess myself. So in all honesty, I didn’t really have the option of going after the belt. It’s not at all that Miu wasn’t shining enough for me back then.”
Struggled a bit with properly conveying the last part of this: “すごい輝いているし、ベルトを持って一つずつ成長していって大きくなっているのを、私は少し他人事のように見てました.”
“She was shining very brightly, and as she held the belt, I watched her grow and become bigger step by step, and it felt almost like something that had nothing to do with me."
――Miu, what are your thoughts on what Aino said just now?
Miu: “Yuki-san feels so adult to me.” (laughs) “I always feel like she thinks about things that go beyond my imagination. I felt yet again that she has such a broad perspective on everything. But, one thing—I just now remembered something that Yuki-san said earlier. She called me a monster, right? She’s not looking at me!”
Yuki: “I did?”
Miu: “Rise, she called me a monster, didn’t she?”
Shirai: “…I think she did.”
The first part here was a bit difficult:”じゃあ李世も答えたくて答えたくてしょうがなかったと思うんですけど、私ってプリンセスだよね？”
Parts of this exchange were mildly tricky (the cross-talk didn’t help), but in the end I think maybe it went ok?
Miu: “Well, Shirai seemed to just be dying to answer, but I’m a princess, right?”
Shirai: “Yes, I think you’re a princess.”
Miu: “See? Magnificent! Then, the other day, you were in a dreamland after all.”
ShiraI: “Yes!”
Yuki: “You thought she was a princess?”
Shirai: “I did.”
Miu: “See? That’s how it is.” (forcibly) “Yuki-san, do you understand?”
Yuki: “Um, let’s stop with the harassment!”
Miu: “No!”
Yuki: “Rise doesn’t really think that.”
Miu: “But she answered me while looking me directly in the eye.”
Yuki: “Rise, you think Miu is a monster, right?”
Shirai: “…I think Miu-san is a princess monster.”
Miu: “That’s not fair!”
Yuki: “That I can agree with. Let’s leave it at that.”
――The last title match was a battle over who was the true princess, but what about this one?
Miu: “I think Yuki-san and I have the type of dynamic where our fights get very physical. The moment we lock eyes in the ring, we both immediately want to tackle each other. But after facing her in the last preview match, I realized that until we had that match, my current self didn’t know the version of Yuki-san I was facing. So that was a bit scary, but by having that preview match, I realized that I wanted to fight her even more, and wanted to face her head-to-head even more, so I want us to have a dynamic where we relentlessly face each other in preview matches.”
Yuki: "It makes me super happy that Miu feels exactly the same way. When Miu and I lock eyes in the ring, I can tell that we’re on the same wavelength.”
This was a bit tricky: “プリンセス対決に比べてかわいくないんですけど、「意地のぶつけあいだな、私たち」はと思います.”
“It’s not cute like the princess showdown, but I think, ‘for us, this is a clash of willpower.’"
――For the champion, compared to when you held the belt last year, where do you think you’ve grown the most?
Miu: "Last year, precisely because it’s TJPW’s top belt, I was so laser-focused on ‘this is what I want to be’ and ‘this is how I have to be’ that my perspective felt a bit narrow.”
This was tricky: “強さの象徴という部分を一番に考えていたんですけど、今回はそれもちゃんと軸にあった上で、今一番感じているのは、東京女子プロレスをみんなの夢を叶える団体で、それを込みで夢の国として世界のトップを目指したいと思っているので.”
“Being a symbol of strength was the number one thing I had on my mind, but this time, while that’s still a core part of it, what I feel most strongly now is that I want Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling to be an organization that makes everyone’s dreams come true, and as a dreamland that can do that, I’m aiming to make it the best in the world. I want to spread Tokyo Joshi Pro Wrestling even more so that it reaches more living rooms, and I’m very conscious of that in my match with Yuki-san as well."
――Yuki, do you have any thoughts on what kind of champion you want to be if you win the belt?
This was a bit tricky: “面白いこと言えなくて申し訳ないんですけど、いつも同じことを言っちゃうんですけど、あらゆる人と熱く燃え上がって闘って、お客さんも会場も全部燃やして、熱い波がウワーッてなる空間を作りたい.”
Yuki: “I’m sorry that I can’t think of anything interesting to say, and I always end up saying the same thing, but I want to create a space where anyone and everyone fights in a passionate blaze, and the crowd and the venue and everything burn along with us, and there’s just an overwhelming wave of heat. I want to create a space where that’s the sight that greets the people who come to see TJPW. Sorry it’s so conceptual.”
――Miu, your previous match with Mizuki was themed around princesses, but this time it’s about fire and passion?
Miu: "I definitely feel that passion from Yuki-san, but for me, she feels more like a reliable senpai. If the last match was a princess showdown, then if I were to compare Yuki-san to a certain movie from a certain dreamland, I thought about it, and, well, as you all know, I’m Miuderella, but Yuki-san is definitely ‘Elemental’.”
This was a bit of a struggle (that wasn’t helped by me not having seen the movie and not really getting some of this from the synopsis I tried to read lol): “炎の主人公の女の子と水の主人公の男の子が一緒に生きていくという物語なんですけど、冒頭のところでは女の子は家族が大好きで家族と一緒に夢に向かって頑張る、水の男の子はすごくやさしくて周りが見えてて、すごい涙もろい.”
“It’s a story about a fire element girl and a water element boy who form a life together. At the beginning, the girl loves her family and works hard to achieve their dreams together, and the water boy is really kind and attentive to those around him, and really emotional. With those two main characters, I think this movie is a perfect fit for her. Yuki-san always cries easily when it comes to her favorite idols, and she’s fiercely devoted to her family. But there’s one difference: the girl protagonist is a hot-tempered fire type, but Yuki-san feels very steady to me. Yuki-san has a fire aspect to her image as well, so I’d love to see that fiery side of her."
Yuki: “I’m not a princess?”
Miu: “Huh? You want to be a princess?”
Yuki: “Saying that might cause some problems.” (laughs)
Miu: “But you said you weren’t a princess.”
Yuki: “I said that it’s not that I want to be a princess. But you can still compare me to one, right?”
Miu: “If you were a princess, who would you be… Hmm… Um, what’s your favorite color?”
Yuki: “Red.”
Miu: “Hmm, red, huh? Well, no one is Belle right now.”
Also, Miu’s attempt at verbally censoring the movie title made me laugh. I assumed it’d be bleeped out or something when I read the transcript, but nope, she manually censored it lol.
The first part of this was a bit tricky: “その感じでいくとベルに申し訳ないので、ほかのベル候補に譲ります.”
Yuki: “If it’s going just off of that, I’d feel bad for Belle, so I’ll leave her for a better Belle candidate. I’ll go with ‘Elemental’, then.”
Miu: “It’s perfect. Have you seen it?”
Yuki: “I haven’t.”
Miu: “You should watch it.”
Yuki: “I’ll be sure to check it out. I have a question for you, though. Is it okay if I burn down Miuderella’s castle?”
Miu: “You can’t burn it down, but if you come at me ready to light it on fire, I’ll put it all out with a fire extinguisher.”
Yuki: “Then I’ll have to burn Miuderella’s castle so fiercely that it outpaces your fire extinguisher.”
Miu: "Then I’ll gather all the fire extinguishers in the world! Also, there’s one more thing I want to do!”
This was a bit tricky: “さっきからユキさんがぶつかると未詩と同じ気持ちだったから、私、前哨戦がこの数じゃ足りないと思うの。初期の頃に感じていた、ユキさんにもっといろんな面で一歩前に立てるようになりたいという思いをここで前哨戦をしたい.”
“Since Yuki-san and I have been facing each other head-on and fighting with the same feelings for a while now, I don’t think there’s enough preview matches. So that I’ll be able to take a step forward in more ways than one from the feeling I had about Yuki-san in the beginning, I want to have a preview match right here and now!"
The 内容によるよ part of this is a bit tricky (is she saying “there’s a time and place” basically? I dunno, but that’s what seemed to make the most sense…): “待って待って。内容によるよ。前哨戦をもっとやりたいは同意する.”
Yuki: “Wait, wait. 内容によるよ。But I agree about wanting to do more preview matches.”
Miu: “Huh? 内容による？ That’s so adult of you! You don’t respond with the right energy! I want to do thumb wrestling! How about it!”
Yuki: “Let’s do it!”
Miu: “Yay!”
A thumb wrestling match ensued between the two of them, and Miu lost to Yuki. She shouted, “I lost! I’m going to regroup and come back stronger!” And the interview came to a close.
I wasn’t quite sure how to translate the “鍛え直してきます” there…
And that’s it for that one. Honestly a pretty entertaining press conference! It made me more interested in their match. I’ll be rooting for Yuki 100%, though as the first challenger, I know the odds are stacked against her…
so it might be worth incorporating a similar fig leaf of censorship in some way. (ah, I see you commented on it later on!)
My official guess is… Indepedence Day?
at least the translation was completely right but sheesh I feel like I oughtta been able to piece that one together!