#Yoh's Little World 2 (English)

[lovelysticker]

Yoh's Little World 2 (English)

[puroresu-musings]

NJPW WRESTLE KINGDOM 18 in Tokyo Dome Review (Jan 4th, 2024)

New Japan Rambo **

IWGP Jr. Tag Team Championship - Clark Connors & Drilla Moloney vs. TJP & Francesco Akira ***1/4

NJPW World TV Championship - Zack Sabre Jr. (c) vs. Hiroshi Tanahashi ****

Yota Tsuji vs. Yuya Uemura ***1/2

Shota Umino & Kaito Kiyomiya vs. EVIL & Ren Narita ***1/4

NEVER Openweight Championship - Shingo Takagi (c) vs. Tama Tonga ****1/2

IWGP Tag Team & STRONG Openweight Tag Championship Double Title Match - Hirooki Goto & YOSHI-HASHI vs. El Phantasmo & Hikuleo ***3/4+

IWGP Jr. Heavyweight Championship - Hiromu Takahashi (c) vs. El Desperado ****1/4

Inaugural IWGP Global Championship Match - Will Ospreay vs. Jon Moxley vs. David Finlay ****1/2

Kazuchika Okada vs. Bryan Danielson *****

IWGP World Heavyweight Championship - SANADA (c) vs. Tetsuya Naito ****1/4

Photos.

This show ruled. Full disclosure, I've fallen behind with NJPW in the last couple of years, and only really get to fully see the major shows, so going in this looked like a solid little card on paper, so my expectations weren't exactly sky high. However, the New Japan crew knocked it out of the park with an excellent, Show of the Year contender. Things started as they always do: The annual "cram everyone humanly possible onto the card" Rambo. We all know what to expect here, and this was better than a lot of previous offerings, but the surprise appearance of Fujita "Jr" Hayato in this years really raised it up for me, as I'm always super pleased to see him back in the ring after all he's been through. Takashi Iizuka turning up was also a nice surprise (absence makes the heart grow fonder, and all that), and it was a kick to be transported back to 2013 with him mercilessly going after poor Shimpei Nogami on commentary. The ending though was very deja vu, as I could have sworn some incredibly similar variant of this was the outcome last year. The final four of Great-O-Khan, Taiji Ishimori, YOH and Toru Yano advanced to face off for the KOPW Title tomorrow.

The main show started in style with the prerequisite Jr Tag Title Match, which featured TJP debuting his new demon gimmick, The Aswang, because he was locked in a casket when last we saw him, you see. My English feed froze at the opening bell on the Aswang mask for ages, and by the time I'd gotten back onto the Japanese feed, I'd missed like three minutes of this, there were brawls all over ringside, The Aswang was wearing a dog collar, and Moloney was bleeding. The final 5 or so minutes I did see were pretty damn good though, so that's what my rating is based on. TJP got this win for him and Akira after he blew the dreaded Dokukiri into Drilla's face, then Catch 22 hit the double knees to regain the titles at 9:38. Next up, President Tanahashi put an end to the 365 day TV Title reign of ZSJ in an excellent 8:53 sprint. These guys always have excellent matches together, and this was no exception. They worked a fast-paced thriller, which boiled down to them hitting a sequence of cradle reversals, before Tana counter a Zack Victory Roll into one of his own, and won the belt to a big pop. President Ace thanked everyone for coming in the post match, and wished us all a Happy New Year. Godly.

Career rivals Tsuji and Uemura had their first non-Young Lion outing on a major show next. This was a very good little match, I've always been high on both guys since they were rookies, and I firmly believe they have incredibly bright futures in New Japan, and are destined to be focal points in the years to come. Even though I do wish they'd do more with Yota. The guy came in super hot, with a ton of hype, and now he's kinda just floundering in the mid-card. And more mid-carders is most certainly not something this company needs! They always have really good matches, so add this one to that list, which ended at just under 11 minutes, when Uemura got the much needed win with his beautiful Deadbolt suplex. Fellow future superstar Shota Umino drove into Tokyo Dome on a motorbike to start his and partner, NOAH "Ace" Kiyomiya's tag match against HoT goons EVIL and Ren Narita next. This was going along really nicely, the three young guys all looked great, and the crowd were very much into, until the standard shenanigans started, which lead to a fairly abrupt finish, which saw Narita deck Umino with a steel plated push-up bar, then score the pin with his Double Cross finish at the 7 minute mark.

The fifth bout saw company MVP Shingo defend the NEVER Title against Tama Tonga in a hard-hitting war, which was by far the best match on the show up to this point. The near 30K in attendance were going crazy for this as they hit all their big spots, massive Lariats and Gun Stun counters. After Takagi scored a great near fall with Made in Japan, Tama went to the Bullet Club well, hitting a Gun Stun, Bloody Sunday AND a Styles Clash, before putting Shingo away with the DSD at 13:46 to claim his 4th NEVER Championship. Excellent stuff here, though seemingly Tama announced afterwards that he's finishing up with the company at the end of the month, so him winning is an... interesting decision. The double Tag Title match followed, which was a rematch of the Tag League Final between Bishamon and GoD. This was another great match, a fun sprint which saw the STRONG Champions win both sets of belts after ELP hit Goto with CRIII, and Hikuleo came off the top with a massive, but very unattractive, Big Splash to win the belts in 9:47. Just before this match, Nic Nemeth (the former Dolph Ziggler) and his brother Ryan turned up to sit at ringside. I think we all know there's some kind of angle coming here.

Speaking of career rivals, Hiromu and Despy faced off for the Jr. Heavy Title in the next bout. We've seen many versions of this match in recent history, and they're pretty much always excellent, so this fit that mould no doubt. Things started hot as Despy hit Hiromu with a Tope con Giro as he made his entrance, and they worked 100 mph from there. The challenger worked over the champions leg to set up the Numero Dos, but it wasn't to be. The finish saw Desperado escape the Hiromu Roll, then hit a Jay Driller, kept a hold and nailed Takahashi with a second Pinche Loco to win the strap at the 14:21 mark to end another great outing. We crowned an inaugural IWGP Global champion next, as Ospreay, Moxley and Finlay had a wild Triple Threat Match. This started with Mox and Ospreay agreeing to work together for the first 5 minutes in order to take out Finlay, then turn their attention on each other, before BC War Dogs Alex Coughlin and Gabe Kidd ran in. The babyfaces rallied a comeback though, which saw Ospreay put the invaders through tables with a Swanton Bomb to the outside, and Moxley took a post bump and gigged himself. Which I'm sure will shock many. The finishing stretch was insanely hot as Mox kicked at one from a Hidden Blade, but was put down with Stormbreaker, only for Finlay to hit Ospreay with his new Overkill finish, which is essentially a Brainbuster into a Go 2 Sleep, to become the inaugural Global champion in 22:17. In the post match, Finlay got into a shoving match and pull-apart with Nic Nemeth at ringside, which culminated in Nemeth chasing him to the back. So that looks to be Finlay's first title programme. Finlay going over was 100% the right call, with Ospreay leaving as a full-timer, they need to start making some top guys, and he's a good place to start.

Semi final time, and a true dream match next as Okada faced Danielson in a match I'd spent a good decade fantasy booking. After their slightly disappointing first encounter at Forbidden Door in June, due in no small part by Dragon legit breaking his arm during it, they came out with a lot to prove. And they certainly didn't disappoint this time as they had a superb wrestling encounter based around aggression and emotion. As anyone who's been watching Danielson since the ROH days can attest, when Bryan has a grudge with someone (Morishima, Nigel), he goes all out with the intensity, and it usually produces classics. The pacing, the limb-work, the storytelling, the drama... everything about this was essentially perfect. After Okada broke Danielson's arm in their previous match, Dragon obsessively set out to do the same here. And it lead to his downfall. The American Dragon was coming into this one with a fractured orbital bone, so Okada worked over that for a while too. Okada kicked out of a Busaiku Knee, Danielson locked on the same arm submission he tapped Okada out with at Forbidden Door, but The Rainmaker made the ropes. Dragon then stomped his f'n head in and locked in the LeBell Lock, only for Okada to hit a Rainmaker, but he was in too much pain from his devastated right arm, and couldn't make the cover. Danielson hit a big head kick and another Busaiku Knee, but rather than go for the cover, he elected to do the "Yes!" gimmick in the corner, and try another knee, but Okada hit an Emerald Flowsion, a Landslide, then another Rainmaker to fall on top of Dragon, and score the surprise win at the 23:24 (which it felt half of, by the way). This was a masterpiece, and I was legitimately shocked when the three count came. I could have watched this for an hour, it left me very much wanting a rubber match, and this is easily the best match of 2024 so far. They bowed to each other and shook hands in the post match.

The Keiji Muto fan club imploded in the main event as former LIJ stablemates Naito and SANADA (who was even dressed like Muto circa 1995), battled for the World Title. This was an excellent match, one that I didn't have a massive amount of interested in going into this show, but they had a really great clash. It's worth mentioning that something happened to SANADA here, I don't know if it was the biceps injury he's been dealing with since G1, or if he seperated his shoulder or something, but he was in noticeable discomfort through this, and it let to some wonky botches near the finish. They tried multiple times to do a Destino counter, but they couldn't pull it off. SANADA hit Dead Fall for the double down, then an Asai DDT, but Naito escaped a second Dead Fall attempt, and went for Valentia, but SANADA countered into an O'Connor Roll for a super close near fall. A Shining Wizard followed, but Naito turned another Dead Fall attempt into one of his own, finally hit Valentia, then finished the champion off with Destino to win his first World title at 25:42. It's worth pointing out that they clashed heads on the way down on the Destino, and Naito got busted open pretty bad over his eye. With Naito having finally won again in the main event of Tokyo Dome, he was about to Finish His Story, when EVIL and Dick Togo, of all people, ran-in in an attempt to ruin things like KENTA did in 2020. However, they hadn't bargained on SANADA, who nailed his former tag partner with a Shining Wizard, and Naito sent Dick packing with a low dropkick. SANADA then let Naito finish the story a decade in the making, and do his "De-Ja-Pon!!!" roll call to end the show and send everyone home happy. Whilst I applaud NJPW for giving SANADA a go, or just giving ANYONE NEW a shot at the top of the card (it's been very Groundhog Day for a long time up there, and this is something I've been encouraging since NAito at WK8!), I don't think it payed off liked they'd hoped. SANADA is a very good worker, and amazing athlete, but he's just missing something that would make him that major star. Which is obviously something Naito has in abundance, so I'm very pleased he got his big win here, as it was pretty much last chance saloon.

This was a tremendous card, not quite as good as last year's, I don't think, but still great, great stuff and well worth checking out. Especially the Okada/Danielson match!

NDT

[shawnpetermuffins]

No Prior Engagement

(The outfits in the photo are not what's described in the story, but I liked the picture.)

A/n: To make this easier to write, I'm just going to use places that pertain to me - make it less confusing when I'm writing and while you're reading. You can find the "next part" in my March Mendes Madness Masterlist under 03.25

Summary: this is what happened before Shawn's minor slip up at an awards show.

***

My phone buzzes on my desk and I sigh, looking up from my study guide. 2:32 a.m. my phone read.

Bubba 💞

"Shawn, it's late. Are you okay?"

"Let's get married," he says out of the blue.

"What? Are you drunk?"

"No," he answers seriously. "I just don't want to wait anymore. Why should we have to? We're in love, right?"

"Well, yes. But-"

"I want to marry you. Right now. I want a house with you. I want kids with you. I want us to make grocery lists together. And I was just laying here in bed and I realized how much it fucking sucks falling asleep without you. And I know that I can't be anymore in love with you than I am right now. I want to marry you," he says and takes in a deep breath.

I didn't know what to think. We've talked about this, sure, but it always for when I got out of school.

"What do you say, pumpkin?"

"I want all of that, too," I start. "But I'm still in school. We can't let our first year and a half basically be long distance - even more so than usual, it would seem."

He sighs, "I thought you'd say that. Which is why I should tell you... I bought us a house in San Angelo. It's on the lake, like you've always told me you wanted. I'm ready to move down there with yoh if you tell me that you'll marry me."

My eyes burn with tears, maybe because it was so late and I was running on a total of three hours of sleep, or maybe it was because of the craziness of his request. "You're sure about this?" I take in a sputtery breath. "Like you really want to marry me? You want to spend the rest of your life with me of all people?"

"I do. And I already asked your dad. He wasn't exactly thrilled with the idea of us doing this so young, but I promised it wouldn't interfere with your studies and that we'd stay here until you've graduated. He said that as long as you said yes, then so did he. So? What do you say, y/n? Will you marry me?"

I giggle - this time I know, for a fact, it's because of the absurdity of the situation. I'm talking to my boyfriend of three years at 2:30 in the morning, and he's asking me to marry him. I have an exam in two days that I should be studying for, but my guide sits abandoned on my desk while I pace the room back and forth. "This is absolutely insane. You know that right?"

"Is this your way of saying yes?" He asks, his voice hopeful.

I bite back the smile that transforms my face, "yes," I whisper.

His laugh is so soft and happy, and I blush because I made that laugh happen. "I'll make all the arrangements. Come Saturday afternoon, you will be my wife."

"Whoa. That fast?"

"Yes," I know he nodded on the other side. "I told you I didn't want to wait anymore. Now go get some sleep, you can study in the morning. Right now, though, I want my fiancé to be well rested."

I shake my head, "I love you," I say in pure bliss.

"Good night, future wife. I love you more."

"Good night, future husband. I love you most."

---

"You're sure you're okay with not having a huge wedding?" Shawn asked outside the courthouse.

I look down at my outfit, black shirt, cream skater like skirt - the bottom hem littered with flowers - And black stilettos that I was already ready to slip out of. I'd always imagined a big flowy white gown, but when I look over at Shawn - dressed in a white button up, a few buttons naturally undone, and signature black jeans and Chelsea boots. He looked perfectly content just like that and I couldn't ask for more. I didn't need the big fancy wedding as long as I had the man of my dreams standing next to me.

"I'm okay," I say finally, taking his hand in mine. "I just want to marry you already. I don't care how."

He caresses my knuckles and leans in to press a sweet kiss to my lips. I hum in acknowledgement and kiss back, placing my free hand behind his neck. "Then let's go do this."

---

Everyone we want it here. Our parents, siblings, Andrew, the band, my aunt and uncle, my two best friends, Josiah, and Brian. This is all I needed.

"Shawn, if you would..."

My beautiful boy clears his throat, "y/f/n y/m/n, I may not have known you my whole life, but it definitely feels as if I have. In these three years we've been together, I've watched you grow into this beautiful, confident young woman who I am so lucky to have by my side through my crazy, fast paced life." He clears his throat, shaking his head with a soft smile. "I never thought the day would come when I met someone who's soul matched mind. You're my other half, pumpkin. I know a million little things about you and I can't wait to learn a million more. I love you more than should be humanly possible. The way you do your nails every Sunday afternoon, like clockwork. How you scrunch up your face when you're annoyed. The way your laugh, when it's completely real, fills up a room with nothing but brightness."

I giggle through the threatening tears. Shawn wipes away the one straggler tear. "The way you'd probably rather do anything but watch Harry Potter for the hundredth time, but you sit through it anyway because you know it's my favorite. I'm just... I'm so in love with you and I want to spend the rest of my life proving that I am. You are my forever person and I wouldn't have it any other way."

He catches a couple more of my fallen tears and I melt at the soft gesture.

"Y/n?"

I take in a shuddery breath, "I don't know entirely what to say. I tried writing down how I felt about you a billion times. I tried writing these vows the second we got off the phone the other night. There are not enough words in the English language to tell you how I feel. But I know that my entire being is on fire with just the brush of your hand against mine. Shawn, I fell in love with you when all you were to me was an international pop star, who had no idea u even existed. I was about sixteen then. And then god put you in my path when I was seventeen and I haven't turned back since. When we met, I didn't meet Shawn Mendes: superstar. I just met Shawn: a regular guy just living his life. There was never this moment of celebrity to fan; it was instantly friend to friend."

He pushes a strand of hair behind my ear and I can't help but smile. "You make it entirely too easy to love you. And I do. More than anyone else in the world. I can't believe how lucky I was to find my other half at only seventeen, and to be standing here, three years later, completely giving myself to you. I love you more than you will ever know, bubba, and I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you."

---

"I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

"Finally," Shawn mumbles, pulling me against his hard chest. His large hands rest on my cheeks and kisses me with so much love and passion. I laugh into the kiss and pull away. "You're my world, Mrs. Mendes," he whispers into my hair, holding me tight.

I bury my head into his chest, "I have never loved my name more than I do in this moment."

He hums, "I love you so much."

---

Shawn stands up, holding his wine glass. "I would like to propose a toast to my beautiful wife," he stops and smiles for a second. "Guys, I get to say that for the rest of my life. That's- wow, that's the greatest gift I could ever receive." The whole table awes, the women, of course placing their hands over their heart. "I just want to say that I am so lucky to have found you when I did. And even more lucky that you agreed to marry me. I fall more and more in love with you every day. Y/n, baby you are my biggest blessing, and I could not be more grateful for our time together. Now, let's go change your name to Mendes on everything."

We all laugh, but he I know he's serious. Bevause I've been thinking the same thing since I said 'I do.'

He leans down and pecks my lips gently. I hum and pull away as he sits back down. "You're the perfect human being," I whisper, taking his hand in mine. I bring it to my lips and smile at the single silver band that now decorates his left ring finger.

Brian stands next. "Well, I too would like to say a few kind words about the happy couple."

"Oh no," Shawn and I say in unison.

"Y/n, when you guys first met, I knew that Shawn had met his soul mate. It was undeniable, the chemistry between you two. Everyone thought you were moving too fast, and I hate to admit that for a second there, I thought so too. But then I realized, there was no other pace for you guys to go. And you couldn't be moving that fast, when it took six months for you guys to say 'I love you.'" I laugh at that. "Your relationship began at such an awkward time for the both of you. But you shoved any doubt that anyone had away and you powered through. And now here you are, three years down the road, married. I'm so proud to be able to call you both my best friends."

Everyone takes turns toasting us, and it's all beautiful, but I just really wanted to be alone with my husband.

A couple more hours pass before we're back in my car, Shawn takes my hand and just stares at it for a while.

"What are you doing, bubba?"

He looks up at my through cloudy eyes, "You're my wife," he says, barely above a whisper. "God, I'm so lucky."

"Shawn, are you crying?" I reach for his face with my free hand. His eyes are red as he stares at me. "Why are you crying, hon?"

"Because we're married. I'm married to the love of my life. I don't- I don't think I could ever be any happier than I am today. Today was better than any show I've ever played, any award I've ever won, and place I've ever been. Today is the absolute greatest day of my life."

***

I hope you enjoyed this fluff. Next and final part will be up on Wednesday!

Like, reblog, and leave feedback!!

[wrestlingchatter]

Royal Quest Update ❤️

Hi guys!

I’m back from London and Royal Quest and damn I’ve got a lot to say and if you follow me on Twitter (Wrestling_Chat) you will know why!

First of all, if anyone on here is the amazing person called Ilene/Arlene or the woman with her (whose name I didn’t catch) who I met at the meet and greet yesterday and made my year by gifting me a Jay White meet and greet, please can you contact me some way please! 

So anyway, turns out, the hotel I was staying at this weekend was home to the NJPW wrestlers. I walked in for check in and in front of me was Rocky Romero and Robbie Eagles who were more than nice enough to take a picture with me and Rocky signed my RPG 3k artwork. Then, looking into the restaurant, I saw a few more and within 5 minutes, I’d also met Yujiro Takahashi, Taiji Ishimori and only bloody Ren Narita and Shota Umino! Then, in the evening, as I sat with my mum, I saw Tanga Loa and Tama Tonga who were also just so sweet and were okay with pictures. Bless Tanga Loa trying to say my name, it’s not easy and he did so well!

I’d also been speaking to Chase Owens on Twitter because I was sad he wasnt on the meet and greet and he said we could meet anyway, without even knowing we were at the same hotel. He told me a time and stuck to it (which was lucky because me and my mum were having a drink at the bar) and we just chatted for a bit about his time in London and things like that. He signed my art and was just the sweetest thing in the world and so nice, polite and genuine (worlds away from NJPW Chase Owens as my mum said).

On the day of the show, it just seemed to get better and better - I started off at breakfast meeting the legend that is Red Shoes Unno who really appreciated my attempts at Japanese and then Sanada and Taguchi. THEN, on the way to the meet and greet, I finally met Sho and Yoh who were so nice and signed all of my RPG artwork - also they really speak amazing English so thats a little insight!

However, the highlights had to be the meet and greet. Meeting Tanahashi was beyond bizarre but he so nice. He loved the artwork I did and signed it as well as just asking me general questions about my trip. I told him he was going to win and if you watched the show, I think I was his lucky charm. Naito was also so sweet. I spoke a bit of Japanese and he asked if I’d ever been. Then, when he saw my Naito artwork, he asked if I was a professional? It was crazy.

Yet, meeting Jay White was the best part of the weekend. For any of you who didn’t know, I had no idea that would happen. I paid to see Tana and Naito because I don’t have much money and I hadn’t met them. But these lovely women gave me an opportunity. What was crazier was, even before I told Jay my name, he recognised me and even remembered the art I got him to sign last year. I made sure not to cry but, as we ended yet another meet and greet that was beyond my wildest dreams, the hug nearly set me off. I was worried that, if I ever met him again, it wouldn’t match up to the first time but it did. It was better than I could have ever imagined!

That’s a bit of an update without even talking about the show! I’ll be writing a blog with a bit more detail and maybe an individual tumblr post about meeting Jay, but I hope this is a nice intro. Photos also on the way!

As I said before, if you were the 2 girls who gave me the gift of a lifetime, please get in contact with me because I know you said you had some pictures of me meeting Naito too but mainly I want to thank you again!

[wrestlingisfake]

New Japan Fake Rankings, 2/23/2020

Heavyweight singles division - babyfaces

Tetsuya Naito (IWGP hwt. champion, IWGP intercontinental hwt. champion)

Kazuchika Okada

Shingo Takagi (NEVER owt. champion, NEVER owt. trios champion)

Tomohiro Ishii

EVIL (NEVER owt. trios champion)

Will Ospreay (RPW British hwt. champion)

SANADA

Hirooki Goto

Heavyweight singles division - heels

Jay White

KENTA

Minoru Suzuki

Lance Archer

Bad Luck Fale

Unranked: Mikey Nicholls, Toa Henare, YOSHI-HASHI, Yuji Nagata

Just about everyone listed above should qualify for the New Japan Cup, although I’d say Yoshi and Nicholls are on the bubble.  The winner of that will likely be Naito’s next challenger, and since that doesn’t need to be a huge match, it feels like nearly anyone could win.

There’s been talk of Lance Archer getting an offer from AEW, which may or may not cause him to leave New Japan, but we’ll have to see where that goes.

If the heel side seems a little weak that’s because New Japan has three babyface stables (the “home team” or “Hontai,” CHAOS, and Los Ingobernables de Japon) and two heel stables (Bullet Club and Suzuki-gun).  Traditional face vs. heel matchups are common, but the booking is more focused on faction vs. faction.

Heavyweight tag team division - babyfaces

Golden Ace - Hiroshi Tanahashi & Kota Ibushi (IWGP hwt. tag team champions)

FinJuice - David Finlay & Juice Robinson

Toru Yano & Colt Cabana

Heavyweight tag team division - heels

Dangerous Tekkers - Zack Sabre, Jr. & Taichi

The Guerillas of Destiny - Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa

Unranked: GBH (Togi Makabe & Tomoaki Honma), TenKozy (Hiroyoshi Tenzan & Satoshi Kojima), Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi

This division has by now withered to the point that Zack Sabre is mocking it, which suggests it’s as disastrous as the United Kingdom, so that’s not good.  What’s discouraging here is that New Japan has some heavyweights sitting around without much to do, but even if it put them into new teams (I’m thinking Nagata & Henare or perhaps Nicholls and Yoshi-Hashi) it still wouldn’t push them as credible contenders.  Sooner or later they’ll put Evil and Sanada back together for another run, but that’s not enough.

Junior heavyweight singles division - babyfaces

Hiromu Takahashi (IWGP jr. hwt. champion)

Ryu Lee (ROH television champion)

BUSHI (NEVER owt. trios champion)

Robbie Eagles

Junior heavyweight singles division - heels

El Phantasmo

Taiji Ishimori

Unranked: DOUKI, Gedo, Jado, Tiger Mask

With Ospreay formally moving up to heavyweight, Hiromu’s next logical challengers appear to be Phantasmo, Ishimori, and Eagles.  Those feuds would probably cover most of 2020, although I’d personally like to see Sho or Yoh go after him before the end of the year.

Junior heavyweight tag team division - babyfaces

Roppongi 3K - SHO & YOH (IWGP jr. hwt. tag team champions)

The Mega Coaches - Ryusuke Taguchi & Rocky Romero

Junior heavyweight tag team division - heels

El Desperado & Yoshinobu Kanemaru

You can tell the division is pretty thin when R3K has to be programmed against their own coaches, for lack of anything new to do.  They appear to be setting up Hiromu Takahashi and Bushi as the next challengers.  Interestingly, if Hiromu and Bushi win the junior tag title, there would be a total of four double champions in LIJ.

Young Lions

New Japan Dojo: Yota Tsuji, Yuya Uemura

LA Dojo: Alex Coughlin, Clark Connors, Gabriel Kidd, Karl Fredericks, Ren Narita

New Zealand Dojo: Michael Richards

On excursion: Great-O-Kharn, Hikuleo, Kawato-san, Syota Umino

I hadn’t noticed that all but two of the Japanese rookies had been sent abroad, which explains why so many of the gaijin guys have been appearing lately.  (Narita is an odd case where he went on excursion from one dojo to another,  for some reason.)  It seems like New Japan should be rolling out a new class of students pretty soon.  It also feels like it’s about time for O-Kharn and Kawato to return home.

Part-timers:

Alex Zayne

Amazing Red

Chris Jericho (AEW world champion)

Jeff Cobb

Jon Moxley (IWGP United States hwt. champion)

Marty Scurll

TJP

Volador Jr.

All of these men have appeared on a New Japan show in recent months, and are listed on the official English website roster.

Historically, New Japan has had partnerships with Ring of Honor and CMLL, and regularly brings in talent from both promotions.  A bunch of CMLL guys recently appeared on the Fantastica Mania tour, but only one (Volador) is listed on the official roster right now.  On the other hand, the official roster lists a bunch of ROH guys, but only one (Scurll) has actually appeared on a New Japan show in nearly a year.  So the status of these relationships will need to be clarified in 2020.

In case you haven’t followed the AEW/New Japan drama: The fact Jericho and Moxley prominently work for both groups does not mean they have an alliance.  Both guys just have separate contracts with each organization; they’re both big enough stars that neither group wants to stand in the way of them working for the other.  Other AEW stars have the “can work for New Japan whenever you want” clause (most notably Kenny Omega), but New Japan hasn’t made the call to try to bring any of them in.

Jeff Cobb’s ROH contract ended a while back, and AEW hasn’t convinced him to sign with them, so for now he’s free to work with ROH, AEW, and NJPW as he pleases.  I personally expect someone to throw enough money his way to lock him down, but it’s not clear who that will be.

Inactive

TAKA Michinoku (right foot - undisclosed injury)

Taka was sidelined back in May 2019, and while he may have recovered by now, he’s yet to reappear on television.  It’s actually pretty amazing there aren’t more guys on New Japan’s injured list--I assume that’s a combination of a) downtime between tours and b) gutting through things that WWE’s doctors  would never tolerate.

[marshmallowgoop]

So have you watched the other stuff Studio Trigger has made (Little Witch Academia, Darling in the Franxx)? If so, what are your thoughts?

I try to watch Trigger’s original series at least! I got tags for Kiznaiver, Space Patrol Luluco, Little Witch Academia, SSSS. Gridman, and the A-1 Pictures/Trigger collab, DARLING in the FRANXX. For some of these shows, I’ve written about my thoughts fairly extensively:

DARLING in the FRANXX

Goop Watches: DARLING in the FRANXX

Episode 1: Alone and Lonesome, More

Episode 2: What It Means to Connect, More

Episode 3: Fighting Puppet

Episode 4: Flap, Flap, More

Episode 5: Your Thorn, My Badge

Episode 6: DARLING in the FRANXX (Outline Only)

Do You Think DARLING in the FRANXX Will Have Several Tone Shifts?, DARLING in the FRANXX Has a Lot of Heart

Do You Think the FRANXX Will Only Operate with Certain Pistils?

English Simuldub

Ending Thoughts, Thoughts on Endgame Couples, Thoughts on Hir02

Episode 1: “And you weren’t frightened by my horns.”

Episode 3: “The hand she held out and the smile she offered to me alone came at a price.”

Episode 12 Quick Thoughts, Responses

Episode 13: Amazing Piece of Animation

Episode 13: Does Zero Two Recognize Hiro?

Episode 13: Zero Two Biting Hiro (and Hiro’s Response)

Episode 14: Reaction

Episode 14: Thoughts on the Ichigo Hate Train?

Favorite Moment from Kill la Kill and DARLING in the FRANXX?

Human/Non-Human Romance

Third Ending Sequence: Lily Flower Symbolism and Ikuno

Why Watch DARLING in the FRANXX?, Would You Recommend DARLING in the FRANXX?, Would You Recommend DARLING in the FRANXX and Kill la Kill to Someone Who Dislikes Fanservice?

X Symbolism

Zero Two: Manic Pixie Dream Girl?

Kiznaiver

Flower Symbolism in Kiznaiver’s Ending Sequence, Revised

Kiznaiver Episodes 1 and 2: Thoughts and Impressions

What is Kiznaiver About, Exactly?

SSSS. Gridman

AX Premiere Thoughts

Space Patrol Luluco

Episode 7

Space Patrol Luluco and Kill la Kill Crossover Idea

Space Patrol Luluco’s Finale vs. Kill la Kill’s Finale ☂

Buuuut I know that’s a lot, so:

tl;dr?

Inferno Cop: Okay, I admit it. YouTube-Poop-styled humor is ridiculously amusing to me. (I once did a whole final project in college about YouTube Poop. Yes, really.) 

And the horrible cut-out animation will never fail to make me crack up. Inferno Cop is truly a masterpiece.

Space Patrol Luluco: Hey, I actually finally picked this one up at Comic Con about a month ago! While I wasn’t expecting to enjoy Luluco much, I think it’s actually my second-favorite Studio Trigger series after Kill la Kill. It’s just really cute and silly and fun. As I realized in excruciating detail at a Comic Con panel I went to, most anime humor honestly doesn’t do much for me, but when the panelists showed a clip from Luluco? That got me smiling. Things can get mean-spirited at times (which isn’t my cup of tea), but overall, I think Luluco has some real heart. And it’s adorable.

Kiznaiver: Oh, I was so excited to love this show! I was lucky enough to see an advanced screening of the first two episodes, and I was totally hooked. It was drop-dead gorgeous—and probably the prettiest series Trigger has ever put out—and I was very intrigued by the plot and characters. I remember just coming back to my hotel room at like 3:00 am after the premiere, utterly filled with excitement. I mean, Kiznaiver was directed by Hiroshi Kobayashi, the episode director behind the two episodes that got me hooked on Kill la Kill (episodes 5 and 18)!

But… my excitement quickly died. The story tried to develop way too many characters in way too little time, and I never enjoyed the romantic pairing of Katsuhira and Noriko, finding it shallow, undeveloped, and nonsensical (in a bad way), which… kind of ruins a lot of the series when that’s arguably the heart of the whole thing.

Kiznaiver is still super, super pretty, though. That last episode’s animation got me shook.

Little Witch Academia: I wish I loved this one more than I do. I really, really admire Yoh Yoshinari as an artist and director, and I know LWA is totally his baby, and the animation in both the series and shorts is so good, and I don’t know if I’ve ever related to any character ever as much as I relate to Akko Kagari, but… I just… don’t really have any strong feelings one way or another about the work on a whole.

Maybe my issue is that Little Witch Academia comes off as rather meandering to me. I’ve always felt (perhaps very wrongly!) that the focal point of the story is the relationship between Akko and Ursula/Chariot, but there’s just… so much else going on. 

I can relate, though. One of my babies is the first novel I ever wrote and completed back when I was 13. There are so many ideas I have for the story, and I’ve tried to stuff everything into my drafts. But you end up with an unfocused narrative without a solid core when you do that, and I sadly feel that that’s what happened with Little Witch Academia. There’s a lot of good stuff, but it’s just too much for one story!

I will say that I enjoyed both OVAs more than the series, though, and the first OVA is my favorite.

DARLING in the FRANXX: Oh, DARLING in the FRANXX. While I definitely had the obvious problems with this show when it started, the promise of a legitimate human/non-human romance was more than enough for me to keep watching anyway.

But after episode 15… everything fell apart. The romance I was there for became boring and bland, with the leads nauseatingly reiterating how in love they were instead of actually talking to each other or dealing with any of their problems. So much potential character depth got swept under the rug, and to make matters worse, the world building revealed itself to be even more ludicrous than imagined, there were some absolutely bizarre and potentially very hurtful messages about love and sexuality that I can’t even begin to make sense of, and the less I say about the ending, the better.

Of course, a poor conclusion doesn’t always spoil what I did like about a work; I still obviously adore Kill la Kill even though I despise the finale and the OVA legitimately makes me feel ill. But DARLING in the FRANXX is one of those stories where my disappointment is so great that I kind of… don’t even want anything to do with it anymore. The stuff I had loved is soured by how everything ended up.

I still have some great DARLING content in my queue that I definitely intend to post because it’s not the fault of any fan that the final product came out so lackluster. But I’m personally just pretty done with this one.

If there’s anything I’ve learned from DARLING in the FRANXX, though, it’s that I probably should hold off on buying merchandise until I’m sure I actually really like the thing. I certainly didn’t spend anywhere near as much on this show as I have for Kill la Kill, but I still dropped a fair amount on stuff that’s kind of wasted on me.

Live and learn…. 

SSSS. Gridman: I got the chance to see the premiere of the first episode at Anime Expo last year, but I unfortunately can’t say I was all too fond of what I saw. I’m slow to warm up to comedies, and while I love cliches and the series definitely acknowledges and has fun with its cliches, the characters didn’t stand out enough for me to find the cliches particularly endearing.

Also, there’s absolutely no deep or meaningful reason behind it or anything, but I do not like what I’ve seen about Akane. That kind of character archetype annoys the crap out of me.

But Gridman is really neat from a directorial and compositional point of view; I really liked, for example, how there weren’t just a bunch of boring shot-reverse-shot conversations, but conversations that spent time focusing on the backgrounds and scenery and environment instead. I also feel like I’ll really, really enjoy Gridman if I actually watch it past episode 1, but… I’m bad at doing things.

I think when I do watch it, though, I’ll do a livebloggy sort of deal?

Others: I haven’t seen anything else from the studio (unless you’re counting stuff animators from Trigger have worked on, like Takafumi Hori’s contribution to Steven Universe, which are always excellent, expressive, beautiful animations), but I’m moderately excited for the upcoming Promare. The fact that it’s apparently a family-friendly film has got my interest.

And I got a kool Promare sticker already from Kumoricon last year, too!

[pwchronicle]

New Japan Pro Wrestling “Fighting Spirit Unleashed 2019 - Night 3″ Live Show Report September 29th in Philadelphia, PA

New Japan completed their three-night tour of the Northeast at the 2300 Arena in Philadelphia. Running on their own without the assistance of a domestic promotion, tonight drew a near-capacity crowd of fans from all over. I was last at the Arena over two months ago for EVOLVE 131 (the one that aired live on the WWE Network). That was a no vacancy crowd as well, though I was close to the ring in the North section and really felt the heavy body heat. This time, I secured a Row 10 seat (though it still had good views) in the South section, where it felt considerably cooler. Granted, it’s also late September, and it was more comfortable outside today than yesterday, but I didn’t have as many people surrounding me. The referees were three from Japan (including Red Shoes in the main event) and one from the US (presumably California).

1. Rocky Romero beat Clark Connors with a cross arm breaker out of a Falcon Arrow. Right off the bat, the crowd was up for everyone, including the Young Lions of the LA Dojo. Romero is still a ball of charisma. Romero and Connors exchanged a lot of strikes and chops, with Connors delivering the heavier ones. Connors came close with a nearfall from a small package; the Young Lion nearfalls are a tried and true trope that still hooks the crowd.

2. Mikey Nicholls beat Karl Fredericks with a running Mikey Bomb. The former Nick Miller of NXT (not New GIrl), back to his TMDK moniker with a slight Mad Max aesthetic was pretty evenly matched by the recent winner of New Japan’s Young Lion Cup. Nicholls got heat from the crowd by shoving the ref. Fredericks came close to winning with a half-crab, then Nicholls locked on one of his own for the near submission. Nicholls was able to follow up with a Death Valley Driver and a sliding lariat leading into the finish.

3. Lance Archer beat Alex Coughlin with the EBD claw. During Archer’s entrance, he clocked some ringside attendants and hit Coughlin with a lariat before the bell. He’s not wasting any time. Coughlin went after Archer right at the start after recovering, but the next five minutes was pretty much all Archer. He nearly walked all four top ropes while holding onto Coughlin, only stopping his full trip to spite the crowd. Archer was tremendous here. Coughlin started to mount a comeback and successfully bodyslammed Archer after some failed attempts, but Archer hit him with a spinning splash off the middle rope, as well as the Blackout, prior to the finish.

4. Amazing Red beat Ren Narita with Code Red. Narita has begun his United States excursion, rocking the LA Dojo colors (which are still black and white). Red doesn’t seem like someone who retired, but definitely came off like a humble veteran (in that current-day Rey Mysterio mold), very well-liked by the crowd. Narita stood up to him early on, and he came close to winning with a rolling cloverleaf.

5. Los Ingobernables de Japon (Tetsuya Naito, SANADA, and Shingo Takagi) beat Juice Robinson & Roppongi 3K (SHO & YOH) when SANADA made YOH submit to Skull End. The first big dose of star power of the night, with each of these six guys getting chants before it ended with a chant for “All These Guys.” Naito still wrestled in his shirt, but whatever, tranquilo. Very fun match that had the crowd fully invested; everyone went nuts when SANADA put Robinson in the Paradise Lock. Following the end of the match, Naito and Robinson spat loogies at one another.

6. Los Ingobernables de Japon (EVIL & BUSHI) beat Kota Ibushi & TJP after EVIL hit TJP with Everything Is Evil. The G1 Climax 29 winner Ibushi was beloved, while his still-babyface partner TJP was soundly booed by everyone in the crowd. Interesting dynamic. Everyone looked good here as this continued to build towards Ibushi and EVIL going one-on-one at King of Pro Wrestling next month. This included EVIL taking Ibushi into the front row and working him over against fans’ chairs. Ibushi was taken out of the match towards the end when BUSHI sprayed mist in his face, then hit him with a tope suicida on the floor.

7. Hiroshi Tanahashi, Hirooki Goto, Tomohiro Ishii, YOSHI-HASHI, and the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express (Ricky Morton & Robert Gibson) beat Bullet Club’s Jay White, KENTA, Guerrillas of Destiny (Tama Tonga and Tanga Loa), Chase Owens, and Gedo (w/ Jado) in a 6-on-6 Elimination Match. Within New Japan, eliminations in these matches occur via pinfall, submission, or being thrown over the top rope with both feet touching the floor. I’m usually not a fan of these matches that I’ve already seen from New Japan a few times this year, but I was swayed by being in a crowd for one, especially this crowd, and seeing the star power on display, Individual entrances for everyone. After each team had a chance to run wild on the other, it settled onto Tanahashi getting worked over by the Bullet Club. The first man eliminated was Gedo when he was tossed over the top by both Morton and Gibson. These two are still game for everything. Owens got into it with Morton and attempted to hit him with a package piledriver, but Morton back body dropped Owens and hit him with a Canadian Destroyer to a standing ovation. As Morton celebrated though, Jay White came up from behind him and tossed him over the top to eliminate him. Right after this, I believe it was Owens that rolled up Gibson to eliminate him as well, so both Ricky and Robert got to leave the match together to a big ovation from the crowd. Rock ‘n’ Roll lives on. YOSHI-HASHI had a chance to shine after this. He eliminated Loa by tossing him over the top, and then he fought with Tonga afterward, leading YOSHI-HASHI to end up on the outside apron. While Tonga drew away the ref’s attention, Loa yanked YOSHI-HASHI down the floor, eliminating him. A few moments later, YOSHI-HASHI turned the tables by eliminating Tonga the same way. Down to three on each team, this led into KENTA and Ishii squaring off. They both went over the top rope wound up on the outer edge, striking each other until they both fell to the floor, eliminated simultaneously. Once they got up, they continued fighting to the back, so This Feud Must Continue. White and Goto went at it, continuing to build towards an eventual match for White’s newly won Intercontinental Title. Goto was able to toss White over the top rope to eliminate him, but then right afterward Owens (who I forgot about still being in this match) came up from behind and tossed Goto over the top to eliminate him. As Owens celebrated, Tanahashi came up from behind him. Tanahashi avoided being eliminated (holding onto the top rope and powering himself back into the ring), hit Owens with a sling blade, and pinned him the High Fly Flow to win the match. This match went a little over 20 minutes.

After this, Tanahashi teased leaving the ring, but stayed inside and invited the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express back out, wanting to play guitar with them. Tanahashi retrieved invisible guitars for Morton, Gibson, and himself, they jammed on them, played an encore demanded by the crowd, and then smashed them on the mat in unison. After Ricky and Robert left, Tanahashi thanked us all in the crowd for coming in English, then gave us all a brief lesson in the Japanese language so that he and the crowd could say his closing catchphrase together for the hard cam. Tanahashi ended the night by going around ringside to greet and take pictures with fans.

This show lasted around about two and a half hours, and with no intermission, it flew by. You could consider these three US cards B-Shows, but this one was still very fun to watch in person. Just a great time. Much like what I saw from the New York event on New Japan World, this Philadelphia crowd was hot for everything and treated pretty much all of the wrestlers like superstars. By all accounts a successful tour that I hope will lead to return trips to the Northeast. 

[pwrestlingxpress]

Naito-Suzuki to Headline Wrestling Hi no Kuni

For almost a month now, IWGP Intercontinental Champion Minoru Suzuki has been gutting former champion Tetsuya Naito to a title match and yet Naito has repeatedly been ignoring Suzuki’s request for that title match, not even acknowledging his existence until this happened at Sakura Genesis 2018 after their six-man Tag Team Match:

After three weeks of constantly ignoring Suzuki’s request for a title match, Tetsuya Naito finally answers except he just wants to face Minoru Suzuki as he still does not care for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship yet believes that Suzuki wants to face him for that title.  Well, the match has been signed for and will headline Wrestling Hi no Kuni and though Naito does not like it, it’ll be for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship.  Also, the IWGP Tag Team Championship will be on the line as EVIL and Sanada will defend their titles against the Killer Elite Squad.  Lastly, we’ll be getting a little break from the Bullet Club infighting as they will team up with Kota Ibushi to face four members of Suzuki-gun. The lineup below will reveal which three members of Bullet Club will be joining Ibushi though you already know who one of them will be. It’ll also reveal which four they’ll be facing. 

Anyway, here is the official match card for Wrestling Hi no Kuni which will take place on April 29th in Kumamoto from the Grand Messe Kumamoto.  The event will start at 2 AM Eastern (3 PM local time) and will air LIVE on NJPW World with Japanese commentary and possibly English Commentary.  Stay tuned to all social media platforms on that one: 

Tag Match with a 20 Minute Time Limit:  Tetsuhiro Yagi and Yuji Nagata vs. Shota Umino and Tomoyuki Oka

Eight Man Tag Match with a 20 Minute Time Limit:  Ryusuke Taguchi, Tiger Mask, Jushin Thunder Liger, and David Finlay vs. Sho Tanaka, Yoh Komatsu, Rocky Romero [RPG 3K/Chaos], and Jay White [Chaos]

Tag Match with a 20 Minute Time Limit:  Toa Henare and Togi Makabe vs. Toru Yano and Tomohiro Ishii [Chaos]

Eight Man Tag Match with a 30 Minute Time Limit:  Chase Owens, Yujiro Takahashi [Bullet Club], Kenny Omega [Golden☆Lovers/Bullet Club], and Kota Ibushi [Golden☆Lovers] vs. Taka Michinoku, Taichi, Takashi Iizuka, and Zack Sabre Jr. [Suzuki-gun]

Eight Man Tag Match with a 30 Minute Time Limit:  KUSHIDA, Michael Elgin, Juice Robinson, and Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Will Ospreay, YOSHI-HASHI, Hirooki Goto, and Kazuchika Okada [Chaos]

Special Singles Match with a 30 Minute Time Limit:  BUSHI [Los Ingobernables de Japon] vs. El Desperado [Suzuki-gun]

Special Singles Match with a 30 Minute Time Limit:  Hiromu Takahashi [Los Ingobernables de Japon] vs. Yoshinobu Kanemaru [Suzuki-gun]

Tag Match with a 60 Minute Time Limit for the IWGP Tag Team Championship:  (Challenger Team) Davey Boy Smith Jr. and Lance Archer [Killer Elite Squad/Suzuki-gun] vs. (Champion Team) Seiya Sanada and “King of Darkness” EVIL [Los Ingobernables de Japon]

Singles Match with a 60 Minute Time Limit for the IWGP Intercontinental Championship:  (Challenger) Tetsuya Naito [Los Ingobernables de Japon] vs. (Champion) Minoru Suzuki [Suzuki-gun]

[recentanimenews]

FEATURE: Happy Birthday to Studio TRIGGER, the Most Anime Studio

Once there was a girl named Luluco who loved a boy named Alpha Omega Nova. Her love for him was so strong that just thinking about him made her turn into a gun. But one day she learned that Alpha Omega Nova could not return anyone’s love. He was a hollow shell the whole time, a pretty face she projected an entire person onto. Luluco’s love for Alpha Omega Nova was a third-rate middle school love, the kind her dad might say she would one day grow out of. But to Luluco, that third-rate middle school love was the real deal. She would stake her life on it.

  TRIGGER is a studio that has built its reputation on that kind of third-rate middle school love. Their body of work is studded with references to their favorite things — superheroes, Michael Bay movies, South Park, American cartoons, and video games. According to legend, the staff who created TRIGGER's first series--the bonkers comedy cult classic Inferno Cop--spent more time playing around with action figures than they did animating. That love goes both ways, too: studio employees were drafted to animate a nifty (but sadly unused) 2D credits sequence for the Toy Story short Toy Story That Time Forgot. Under the surface of homage, the roots of their Gainax past go deep. The emphasis on scale, heroes crossing their arms in space, the veneration of animation made by fans for fans. There are other Gainax expats in the industry, but none as loud or as prolific.

    Trigger’s output is fixated on what it means to be a fan and what it means to be an artist. Akko, the heroine of Little Witch Academia, wants to become a witch just like her idol Shiny Chariot. But her peers look down on Shiny Chariot for being all flash and no substance, solely dedicated to entertaining the masses rather than impressing academics. Is Akko wrong for idolizing Shiny Chariot and chasing the nostalgic dreams of her childhood? Even Promare, far more concerned with the evils of Elon Musk and societal persecution, still finds time to contrast the blocky robots of humanity with the improvisational flame creations of the Burnish. Galo discovers that fire powers aren’t just a useful tool; they can be used to make your giant robot look much cooler. Now that’s rad!

  The studio’s single-minded dedication to its staff’s interests can lead to some great episodes. Episode 4 of Little Witch Academia addresses fanfiction and the relationship between fans and the original author with refreshing candor. Episode 5 of Brand New Animal, besides being a very funny story about animals playing baseball, is also the tale of a man whose love of the game is poisoned by bad memories and societal cruelty. These episodes are effective because the animators and creative directors at TRIGGER are fans themselves. Rather than talk down to the audience, they’re in direct dialogue with them.

    At other times, the studio’s fixation can seem counter-productive. A sentiment that comes up in Kill la Kill, Brand New Animal and Little Witch Academia is the distinction between fakes and the real deal — whether those fakes be teenagers in manufactured alien clothes, witches pursuing “frivolous” magic, or half-human-half-animal were-entities that exist between worlds. Heck, the penultimate episode of Kill la Kill is titled “Imitation Gold,” and climaxes with the heroes yelling that while they might just be faking greatness, they’re still good enough to win! TRIGGER is many things, but at this point, it is not an upstart. Promare did well for itself United States — earning $2 Million in the domestic box office — and the studio's now working with big names like Ultraman company Tsurubaya and games studio CD Project Red. There’s a huge audience buying the absurd pastiche that's the specialty of studio directors Hiroyuki Imaishi, Akira Amemiya, and Yoh Yoshinari. Surely if TRIGGER is playing with the big guns now, the wider staff could be treated with the same courtesy.

  For me, the TRIGGER series that most successfully utilizes the studio’s burning passion to tell a story with real emotional intelligence is SSSS.GRIDMAN. The story reworks a cult classic tokusatsu series from the '90s, but never rests on its laurels. It packs every fight scene with shot-by-shot references to the work of mecha animator Masami Obari, but uses those fights efficiently to explore the characters rather than simply relive past glories. Most compelling of all is its villain, Akane, who would rather condemn others to die than face up to her own personal problems. At first, we hate Akane and the ease with which she hurts others. But slowly we learn that Akane loves tokusatsu dramas, just like we do. The monsters she creates are expressions of that love, and of her pain. If she pursues that love to forget her own fears and anxieties ... well, who among us isn’t tempted by escape right now?

    I remember how as a college senior, I’d sleep through a class I was auditing and catch episodes of Kill la Kill as they were posted (often without English subtitles) to Daisuki. Technically I was writing about the series on my friends’ blog, but really I did this because I was burnt out and wanted to see what happened next. I ended up not getting credit for that class, and to this day still have dreams where I relive the guilt over and over. Was it worth it? I think of Akane stagnating in her room. I think of Luluco chasing a bullet — that is, because this is an anime, her third-rate middle school crush himself — that she will never catch.

  Even so. As the years have passed, Trigger has been there. I waited in line with friends to get a signed sketch from TRIGGER animator Yoh Yoshinari. I saw the first episode of DARLING in the FRANXX the same day I was convinced for ten minutes I would die from a nuclear bomb in Hawaii. And I’m excited to see the work of upcoming studio talent like Kai Ikarashi, or former employees like Takafumi Hori and Mai Yoneyama. Today I want to say happy birthday to Trigger, a studio that celebrates its inspirations no matter how rude or silly. Bring on SSSS.DYNAZENON!

  What's your favorite TRIGGER anime? What's your song of choice played during the ending credits of Ninja Slayer? Is Turning Girls the secret best TRIGGER anime? (It is.) Let us know in the comments!

      Adam W is a Features Writer at Crunchyroll. When he isn't listening to "LAY YOUR HANDS ON ME" by BOOM BOOM SATELLITES, he sporadically contributes with a loose coalition of friends to a blog called Isn't it Electrifying? You can find him on Twitter at: @wendeego

  Do you love writing? Do you love anime? If you have an idea for a features story, pitch it to Crunchyroll Features!

By: news+feed@crunchyroll.com

[lovelysticker]

Yoh's Little World 2 (English)

[ohnojustimagine]

masterlist

AEW

Brodie Lee

A Man Like That; Smut, 1460 words

Just after Brodie challenges the dog collar match.

Jon Moxley

Full of Love; Smut, 1054 words

Impregnation kink.

DDT

Isami Kodaka

Painless; Fluff with implied smut, 790 words

Isami and his scars.

Yukio Sakaguchi

Some Nights, Sober, Reader/Yukio Sakaguchi & Kudo & Masahiro Takanashi; Smut/Explicit, 2450 words

Yukio wants you to meet his friends.

Dragon Gate

Ben-K

Save What You Can, Reader/Eita, Reader/Ben-K; Angst with some smut, 1245 words

Tensions rise in the lead up to Dead or Alive.

Eita

Never Let Me Down, Reader/Eita, Reader/Pac; Smut, 3380 words

You’re Eita’s girl, but the champion has needs.

Save What You Can, Reader/Eita, Reader/Ben-K; Angst with some smut, 1245 words

Tensions rise in the lead up to Dead or Alive.

Lucha Underground

The White Rabbit (aka Killer Kross)

Take Me to Wonderland; weirdness and a little smut, 2120 words

The White Rabbit requires sacrifice. Contains choking and dubious consent.

NJPW

Bushi

Too High, Can’t Come Down; Fluffy-ish, drabble

Bushi and his mist.

Douki

Bound to Fall, Douki/Reader/Taichi; Smut, 3305 words

Taichi likes to surprise you.

At First Sight; Smut, 2120 words

Douki and a blindfold.

El Desperado

Desire Unmasked; Smut, 1145 words

Despey’s new mask

Evil

One Soul Less, Evil/Reader/Sanada; Smut, 3350 words

The spoils of war. Faux historical AU.

Hiromu Takahashi

The Cat’s Meow; Fluff with some very mild smut, 560 words

Daryl likes to watch.

Mouth to Mouth; Fluff, 625 words

Hiromu and his lip balm.

Behind the Scenes; Smut, 1090 words

Hiromu during the BOSJ tournament, with Naito and Bushi watching.

Jay White

Sharp Edged; Smut/Explicit, 1585 words

Switchblade isn’t just a name.

Suited; Smut/Explicit, 1030 words

Jay in his suit before the press conference with Okada.

The World Will See; Smutty-ish, 760 words

After Jay’s title win at New Beginning.

Lessons to be Learned, Jay/Reader/Yoh; Smut, 830 words

Jay and Yoh’s tag matches are not going well at the G1.

envy your hand and my heart; Smut, 1165 words

Set after Jay’s backstage comments at the G1 where he grabbed that camerawoman.

Make Me Believe, Make Me Forget; Smut, 2105 words

After Jay loses the belt at MSG.

Need Some; Smut, drabble

Post-WK press conference with Jay

Kenny Omega

Someone Not You, Kenny/Reader with mentioned Kenny/Kota Ibushi; Angst with smut, 2210 words

After the G1 finals.

Fall Down, Male Reader/Kota/Kenny; Smut and angst, 3295 words

Things are never what they seem.

Kenta

Dark Horse, Kenta/Reader with background Jay White/Reader; Smut, 2125 words

Jay wants you to show Kenta a good time.

Kota Ibushi

Fall Down, Male Reader/Kota/Kenny; Smut and angst, 3295 words

Things are never what they seem.

Leo Tonga

Fair Share, Reader/Tama Tonga & Leo Tonga & Tanga Loa; Smut/Explicit, 1850 words

Foursome smut as Leo joins you for the first time.

Marty Scurll

I Want It That Way; Smut/Explicit, 940 words

At the bar with Marty.

Miho Abe

Center of Attention, Reader/Miho Abe & Taichi; Smut, 1075 words

Miho likes to play.

Minoru Suzuki

Monsters and Angels, Minoru Suzuki/Reader/El Desperado; Smut/Explicit, Drabble

You’re more than a match for Suzuki.

Take Me Over; Smut/Explicit, 1080 words, warning for breathplay

Misu and the bullrope from Power Struggle.

All Change; Fluff, 660 words

After Wrestle Kingdom and the hair thing.

At Your Will; Smut, 1900 words

In the lead up to Jay and Suzuki’s match at the G1.

Go Fish; Fluff with some smutty talk, 1270 words

Fishing with Misu.

Sanada

One Soul Less, Evil/Reader/Sanada; Smut, 3350 words

The spoils of war. Faux historical AU.

Taichi

Bound to Fall, Douki/Reader/Taichi; Smut, 3305 words

Taichi likes to surprise you.

Tama Tonga

Fair Share, Reader/Tama Tonga & Leo Tonga & Tanga Loa; Smut/Explicit, 1850 words

Foursome smut as Leo joins you for the first time.

Tanga Loa

Fair Share, Reader/Tama Tonga & Leo Tonga & Tanga Loa; Smut/Explicit, 1850 words

Foursome smut as Leo joins you for the first time.

Yoh

Lessons to be Learned, Jay/Reader/Yoh; Smut, 830 words

Jay and Yoh’s tag matches are not going well at the G1.

WWE

Adam Cole

All the More, Reader/Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong; Smut, 2385 words

Roddy joins the four of you for the first time.

Aiden English

Variations on a Theme; Fluff with some smut, 960 words

Aiden likes grand gestures.

AJ Styles

Take Me to Church, part 1, part 2; Smut/Explicit, 4900 words

Historical AU and preacher AU. Warning for overt religious themes

Worth It; Smut/Explicit, 1235 words

AJ’s working outside on a hot day, but it’s you who needs cooling down.

The Devil’s Due; smut, 1225 words

After the boneyard match. Demon AU.

Akam

Motivate Me, part 1, part 2; Smut, 3455 words

Drake thinks the AoP need some extra motivation.

Kill This Love, Seth Rollins/Reader/AOP; Angst and smut, 615 words

Seth’s changed, and he knows what he wants.

Aleister Black

Everything Zen; Smut/Explicit, Drabble

Aleister is talented.

Melt; Smut/Explicit, 2230 words

Waxplay with Aleister.

Say His Name, part 1, part 2; Velveteen Dream/Reader, Aleister Black/Reader, implied Velveteen Dream/Aleister Black; Smut/Angst, 3735 words

Both you and Dream want Aleister’s attention.

Alexa Bliss

Between, Alexa Bliss/Reader/Braun Strowman; Smut, 3955 words

You get more than you bargained for with Alexa.

Andrade Cien Almas

Don’t Call It Chemistry; Andrade Cien Almas/Reader/Zelina Vega, Smut, 2035 words

Zelina thinks a professional will make things less complicated. (Reader is a sex worker.)

Angel Garza

The Prince and the Duke, Angel Garza/Reader/Humberto Carrillo; Fluff and smut, 6760 words

Historical AU with arranged marriage and poly.

Austin Aries

Stress Relief; Smut/Explicit, 1660 words

You thought Austin was just irritating, but maybe you’ve misjudged him.

Taste; Mostly fluff with a bit of smut, 1230 words

Seduction via vegan cheesecake.

Baron Corbin

You Should See Me In A Crown; Smut, 735 words

You in Baron’s entrance gear.

Big E

All In; Fluff, 1030 words

“It’s like a romcom cliché or something. Best friends forced to share a bed.”

Big Show

Smooth; Smut/Explicit, 900 words

Big Show shaves his beard.

Bobby Fish

All the More, Reader/Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong; Smut, 2385 words

Roddy joins the four of you for the first time.

Bobby Roode

Not The One That Got Away; Fluff, 720 words

Bobby, or Robert, has a new look.

Braun Strowman

Piercing Issues; Smut/Explicit, 3125 words

Braun has a problem with his nipple piercings, you help out.

Ride Along; Braun Strowman/Reader/Bray Wyatt, Smut/Explicit, 830 words

On the road with Braun and Bray.

Remote Control; Braun Strowman/Reader/Bray Wyatt, Smut/Explicit, 1775 words

An evening out with Braun and Bray.

Between, Alexa Bliss/Reader/Braun Strowman; Smut, 3955 words

You get more than you bargained for with Alexa.

Bray Wyatt

Make Me A Believer; Bray Wyatt/Reader/Luke Harper/Erick Rowan, Smut/Explicit, 790 words

Bray never touches you, until he does. Warning for slightly dubious consent

Ride Along; Braun Strowman/Reader/Bray Wyatt, Smut/Explicit, 830 words

On the road with Braun and Bray.

Remote Control; Braun Strowman/Reader/Bray Wyatt, Smut/Explicit, 1775 words

An evening out with Braun and Bray.

Let the Right One In; Smut, 2305 words

In the Funhouse with Bray and then the Fiend.

Brock Lesnar

Arrangement; Smut, 3730 words

Brock gets dommed and pegged, basically.

Buddy Murphy

Distraction; Fluff, 840 words

Buddy is the best kind of distraction.

Candice LeRae

Next Somebody, Johnny Gargano/Reader/Candice LeRae; smut, 760 words

Johnny and Candice aren’t who they used to be.

Cesaro

New Attitude part 1 part 2; Cesaro/Reader/Sheamus, Smut/Explicit, 2165 words

You’re not sure about Cesaro’s new attitude, but he and Sheamus convince you.

No Substitute; Smut/Fluff, 710 words

Cesaro’s mouth injury leaves him frustrated.

Corey Graves

Nothing Sweet About Me; Smut/Explicit, 2380 words

Corey and cupcakes.

Damian Priest

The Archer; Smut with feelings, 555 words

It’s just a backstage thing, or maybe not.

State of Grace; Smut, 1590 words

Damian is a demon, you’re an angel.

Nemesis Mine, Damian Priest/Reader/Dominik Dijakovic; Smut, 2275 words

Damian and Dominik seem to want to fight over you, but you have a better idea.

Into This Night; Smut, 1995 words

You’re the one Damian chooses.

Come As You Are; Fluff and smut, 2065 words

After Damian wins the North American championship.

Dean Ambrose

Believe In Me, Dean Ambrose/Reader/Seth Rollins; Angst with some smut, 745 words

You knew Seth would come back.

Where We’re Meant to Be, Dean Ambrose/Reader/Seth Rollins; Fluff and smut,  3615 words

Dean’s injury isn’t easy for any of you, but you make it work.

Sometime, Anytime; Fluff, 2355 words

Dean has some hidden talents.

Stand By You; Fluff but with angsty overtones, 415 words

Dean has a decision to make.

Heated, The Shield/Reader; Smut, 3500 words

A/B/O with you as the Shield���s omega.

Dominik Dijakovic

Nemesis Mine, Damian Priest/Reader/Dominik Dijakovic; Smut, 2275 words

Damian and Dominik seem to want to fight over you, but you have a better idea.

Drake Maverick

Motivate Me, part 1, part 2; Smut, 3455 words

Drake thinks the AoP need some extra motivation.

Drew Gulak

Crimes of Passion; Fluff with gender-neutral reader, 1700 words

Drew needs your help, but Breezango have other plans.

Lover, Not a Fighter; Fluff with a bit of smut, 930 words

Drew is dressed for a street fight.

Naughty But Nice; Smutty fluff, 1080 words

Drew in his elf costume.

The Only Truth; Angst with a touch of smut, 1420 words

After Drew joined in the beatdown on Tony.

Coming Up Roses; Fluff, 610 words

The flowers are for the new GM, not you.

Bring Me Out; Angst with some smut, 2420 words

You only want to bring out the best in Drew.

Wild Horses; Fluff with a bit of smut, 665 words

Drew and his cowboy hat.

Three Sided, Drew Gulak/Reader/Jack Gallagher; Fluff with a little smut, 1140 words

Drew wants you to talk to Humberto, Jack plays peacemaker.

Executive Affairs; Smut/fluff, 2230 words

You’re Jack’s assistant, but you’re always happy to help Drew. Office AU.

Drew McIntyre

Swoon; Fluff with a touch of smut, 950 words

Drew in his ring gear is a problem.

Born to Rule; Fluff with a little smut, 780 words

After Drew loses his King of the Ring round.

Set to Sail; Fluffy-ish but implied darker themes, 1150 words

Historical AU and pirate AU with Captain McIntyre.

Duality; Fluff, 600 words

The Scottish Psychopath is still there somewhere, maybe.

At Your Mercy; Smut, 660 words

Drew in that black tank top.

Elias 

Sing It Out; Fluff with implied smut, 645 words

Elias hits on you via song.

Bound Up In You, Smut/Explicit; 560 words

You can’t get enough of Elias.

Dirty Jeans, Fluff with a hint of smut; 525 words

Elias has new jeans.

And After All; Fluff, 1815 words

Elias declares his love via Wonderwall.

Fandango

Untitled, Breezango/Reader; Fluff, 1380 words

Talking to uggos is a serious crime.

Finn Balor

Twisted Round My Heart; Smut/Explicit, 1850 words

Finn is jealous.

Wedding Night Rites; Pre-smut, 795 words

It’s your first time with him.

Gran Metalik

Everything You See; Smut, 480 words

Lucha House Party threesome and the masks stay on

Hideo Itami

Earned, Not Given; Implied smut, 360 words

It’s all about respect.

Humberto Carrillo

The Prince and the Duke, Angel Garza/Reader/Humberto Carrillo; Fluff and smut, 6760 words

Historical AU with arranged marriage and poly.

Jack Gallagher

Three Sided, Drew Gulak/Reader/Jack Gallagher; Fluff with a little smut, 1140 words

Drew wants you to talk to Humberto, Jack plays peacemaker.

Jeff Hardy

Somebody to Have, Somebody to Hold; smut and fluff, 755 words

Mornings with Jeff.

Jinder Mahal

Physical, Smut/Explicit; 1660 words

Post-workout sex.

Joe Coffey

follow, without pride; Smut, 946 words

Joe knows what you need.

Johnny Gargano

Taken Over; Angst with smut, 1575 words

Set after Johnny’s loss to Tommaso at Takeover.

Not Myself Tonight; Angst with smut, 2005 words

Johnny’s at your door in the middle of the night.

Gods and Monsters, Tommaso Ciampa/Reader, Johnny Gargano/Reader, implied Tommaso/Johnny feelings; Angst and smut, 5880 words

Demon AU. You’re called by the belt and the man it belongs to.

Down All Your Darkest Roads; smut and angst, 955 words

Johnny won’t let go of the past.

Next Somebody, Johnny Gargano/Reader/Candice Lerae; smut, 760 words

Johnny and Candice aren’t who they used to be.

Kalisto

Everything You See; Smut, 480 words

Lucha House Party threesome and the masks stay on

Kassius Ohno

Right Here, Smut/Explicit, 2085 words

You get your first match in NXT, Kassius wants to celebrate.

The Shape of You, Smut/Explicit, 1425 words

You love the way Kassius looks, but you have a question.

Kevin Owens

Devil in the Details, part 1, part 2, Kevin/Reader and Sami/Reader; Smut and angst, 4320 words

“Did you ever fuck Sami?” Kevin asks.

Kyle O’Reilly

All the More, Reader/Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong; Smut, 2385 words

Roddy joins the four of you for the first time.

Lince Dorado

Everything You See; Smut, 480 words

Lucha House Party threesome and the masks stay on

Luke Harper

One Step Forward; Smut/Explicit, 4300 words

Luke needs a new start.

Matt Riddle

Thirst; Smut, 1310 words

Vampire AU

Full Bro, Matt Riddle/Reader/Pete Dunne; fluff with smut build up, 760 words

Matt knows what Pete needs.

Mark Andrews

All Along; Fluff, 580 words

Mark’s your best friend, of course you don’t fancy him.

Mike Rome

The Dark Knight; Fluff with a touch of smut, 560 words

Mike likes to cosplay.

Neville - Pac

Nothing But Different; Neville/Reader/TJ Perkins, Smut/Explicit, 1965 words

You have a casual arrangement with Neville, but he has a suprise.

Over My Head; Smut/Explicit, 700 words

You know you should end things with him.

To Please the King; Fluff/Smut, Drabble

After the No Mercy PPV, the King has needs.

Dusk Till Dawn; Part 1 Part 2; Smut/Explicit, 13,090 words

The King exercises his right to a bride on her wedding night. Medieval AU, droit du seigneur.

Never Let Me Down, Reader/Eita, Reader/Pac; Smut, 3380 words

You’re Eita’s girl, but the champion has needs.

Pete Dunne

The Game Part 1 Part 2; Trent Seven/Reader/Pete Dunne/Tyler Bate, Smut/Explicit, 6025 words

Trent likes to have the lads over to watch the game, but you’re also part of the entertainment.

Party for Two; Smut/Explicit, Drabble

Pete wants to celebrate his championship win.

Stuck On You; Semi-smutty fluff, 3200 words

Pete’s the most annoying guy you’ve ever met, until he’s not.

Full Bro, Matt Riddle/Reader/Pete Dunne; fluff with smut build up, 760 words

Matt knows what Pete needs.

Rezar

Motivate Me, part 1, part 2; Smut, 3455 words

Drake thinks the AoP need some extra motivation.

Kill This Love, Seth Rollins/Reader/AOP; Angst and smut, 615 words

Seth’s changed, and he knows what he wants.

Roman Reigns

Flesh and Blood; Smut/Explicit, 7160 words

Vampire AU, Arranged Marriage AU, Historical AU

Heated, The Shield/Reader; Smut, 3500 words

A/B/O with you as the Shield’s omega.

Blood Rules; Smut, 1620 words

Everyone says Roman’s changed, but you don’t believe it. (Vampire Roman.)

Roderick Strong

You Belong to Me; Smut/Explicit, 2280 words

Roddy and you have been friends forever, but things change.

All the More, Reader/Adam Cole & Kyle O’Reilly & Bobby Fish & Roderick Strong; Smut, 2385 words

Roddy joins the four of you for the first time.

Sami Zayn

Magic; Fluff (with vague smut), Drabble

Sami has magic hands.

Devil in the Details, part 1, part 2, Kevin/Reader and Sami/Reader; Smut and angst, 4320 words

“Did you ever fuck Sami?” Kevin asks.

Samir Singh

Queen for the Night; Smut, 2370 words

A threesome with the SIngh Brothers.

Samoa Joe

Breathe In, Breathe Out; Smut/Explicit, 1755 words

Joe wants something very specific. Warning for some pretty full-on breathplay.

In My Head, (also features non-explicit Roman Reigns/Reader); Smut, 2000 words

Joe sees you, and he knows what he wants.

Whatever You Ask For; Smut (with daddy kink), 1240 words

Joe knows what you want to call him.

King of My Heart; Fluff with build up to smut, 880 words

After Joe’s US Championship win.

Untitled; Smut, drabble

Joe rolls up his sleeves.

Santos Escobar

Empty Your Hands; Smut, 1155 words 

Santos likes to show you off.

Scott Dawson

Make It Better; Smut/Explicit, 1705 words

Scott is recovering from his bicep surgery. You’re here to help.

Seth Rollins

Believe In Me, Dean Ambrose/Reader/Seth Rollins; Angst with some smut, 745 words

You knew Seth would come back.

Where We’re Meant to Be, Dean Ambrose/Reader/Seth Rollins; Fluff and smut,  3615 words

Dean’s injury isn’t easy for any of you, but you make it work.

Kill This Love, Seth Rollins/Reader/AOP; Angst and smut, 615 words

Seth’s changed, and he knows what he wants.

Heated, The Shield/Reader; Smut, 3500 words

A/B/O with you as the Shield’s omega.

Shayna Baszler

Reign Over Me; Smut, 1560 words

Backstage with Shayna.

Sheamus

New Attitude part 1 part 2; Cesaro/Reader/Sheamus, Smut/Explicit, 2165 words

You’re not sure about Cesaro’s new attitude, but he and Sheamus convince you.

Never Knew You; Fluff with an angsty build-up, 3890 words

Sheamus is your best friend, but it seems he likes someone new.

Get Loud; Fluffy smut, 1015 words

Sheamus is surprisingly quiet in bed.

Shinsuke Nakamura

Rise; Fluff, Drabble

Shinsuke teaches you to surf.

Appetite; Fluff with smut, 805 words

You’re not so sure about the new Shinsuke.

Stephanie McMahon

In Your Room, Stephanie/Reader/Hunter; Smut/Explicit, 4470 words

Getting caught masturbating in your boss’ bed isn’t the smartest thing you’ve ever done.

Sunil Singh

Queen for the Night; Smut, 2370 words

A threesome with the SIngh Brothers.

Tommaso Ciampa

Bad Blood; Angst, 680 words

Tommaso gets busted open.

Subject, Object; Smut, 755 words

Tommaso and his belt.

Gods and Monsters, Tommaso Ciampa/Reader, Johnny Gargano/Reader, implied Tommaso/Johnny feelings; Angst and smut, 5880 words

Demon AU. You’re called by the belt and the man it belongs to.

Tony Nese

All The Reasons Why; Fluff/smut, 795 words

Tony’s changed since becoming champion.

TJ Perkins

Nothing But Different; Neville/Reader/TJ Perkins, Smut/Explicit, 1965 words

You have a casual arrangement with Neville, but he has a suprise.

Trent Seven

The Game Part 1 Part 2; Trent Seven/Reader/Pete Dunne/Tyler Bate, Smut/Explicit, 6025 words

Trent likes to have the lads over to watch the game, but you’re also part of the entertainment.

Come Close; Smut/Explicit, Drabble

Trent watches you.

Triple H

Lose Yourself; Smut/Explicit, 2600 words

Hunter likes to be in control.

In Your Room, Stephanie/Reader/Hunter; Smut/Explicit, 4470 words

Getting caught masturbating in your boss’ bed isn’t the smartest thing you’ve ever done.

Tyler Bate

The Game Part 1 Part 2; Trent Seven/Reader/Pete Dunne/Tyler Bate, Smut/Explicit, 6025 words

Trent likes to have the lads over to watch the game, but you’re also part of the entertainment.

Beauty To My Eyes; Smut/Explicit, 3220 words

Tyler comes to your rescue, in more ways than one.

Tyler Breeze

Untitled, Breezango/Reader; Fluff, 1380 words

Talking to uggos is a serious crime.

the Undertaker

Dead Man’s Night; Smut/Explicit, 1370 words

He comes to you at night.

Velveteen Dream

Say His Name, part 1, part 2; Velveteen Dream/Reader, Aleister Black/Reader, implied Velveteen Dream/Aleister Black, Smut/Angst, 3735 words

Both you and Dream want Aleister’s attention.

Clarity; Smut, 2480 words

The Dream knows how to make things clear.

Walter

Change Your Mind; Smut, 2440 words

Walter isn’t what you were expecting.

William Regal

Anything You Had In Mind; Smut/Explicit, 2850 words

Mr. Regal sees your potential.

Zelina Vega

Don’t Call It Chemistry; Andrade Cien Almas/Reader/Zelina Vega, Smut, 2035 words

Zelina thinks a professional will make things less complicated. (Reader is a sex worker.)

[akane171]

Yoh, Trolling-since-chernobyl here. I was tagged by my dear salt shaker @reddragonlilly7 (oh, you little…!) but because akane171 blog is boring and I don’t really interact with people here, I will use my salty fam from my side blog. Ohohoh, I’m evil. 

Answer 11 questions, tag 11 people, write 11 questions for them to answer. 

1. How many languages do you speak? Which are they? – erm, if it means “how many I have learnt and can order a beer nothing else”- Polish (my native), English, Japanese, German, French, Italian, Latin. And I more or less I can understand Slovakian, because it’s similar to Polish. 2. What is your dream job or life goal? – my dream job expectation is something low like – give me my money, so I can eat, pay my bills and buy books, so maybe we should focus on my life goals aka living my life and not giving a flying shit. Exciting, I know. 3. If you could hang out with one historical person who would it be and why? – Stanisław Lem, Polish sci fi writer. One of the most amazing, funny and wise people. Can you believe he wrote a story about intelligent POTATOES in space? And I can tell you – it’s simply SPLENDID. 4. If you could murder one person in the entire world - could be anyone, political figure, family member, online - and get away with it, who would it be? -… I seriously don’t hate anyone that much but when the Minister of National Defence for Poland is a mentally ill crazy idiot who hates Russia and loves conspiracy theories… then well, you have your answer. 5. Also where would you bury that son of a bitch? Bury? Lol, I would drop him into ocean and watch how sharks would eat him. I just hope poor fishes would not die because of him. 6. Name 3 characters that died and you truly mourned them. Cahir Mawr Dyffryn aep Ceallah from the Witcher (damn, it still hurts). Rudy from Stones on the Barricade – based on facts, he was a teenage boy who fought with Nazi Germans, was caught and tortured but he didn’t compromised his friends. They recaptured him, but he died shortly after. We read it in the middle school. I still have depression when I think about it. And Mufasa, no shit people. I’m still traumatized. 7. Which was your fave cartoon character as a kid? – Little My from Moomin series. She is me :D 8. Which is your Hogwarts House? The test said I’m Gryffindor, but my heart and brain say Slytherin. 9. If you had Harry Potter type of magical powers for one day what would you do? – change myself into a cat, climb the tree, sit there for whole day without giving a fuck 10. What is your favorite movie? God, one? You are cruel, sis :( Fight Club or Hana-bi, can’t decide. 11. Have you ever had a crush on a teacher? OR alternative question: Who was your favorite teacher? – nope, I haven’t. I seriously liked my Polish teacher from middle school. She was 50 year old, strict lady but she was very fair and hmmm, she broadened my mind. Me and my friend still visit her from time to time and talk about weirdest shit with her, she is truly amazing.

My shit for you:

1.     First thing you think or say right after waking up. 2.     What is worse – your absolute NOTP becoming an end game or your fav character dying? 3.     Thing/person/monster etc. that scared the shit out of you when you was a kid. 4.     The last time you (mentally) facepalmed or rolled your eyes. It happened because - 5.     What would you do, if you met an exhibitionist in park? 6.     Small talks – yay! or BURN IT WITH FIRE! 7.     If you could delete that one blog on tumblr that you absolutely hate, would you do it? 8.     Your favorite guilty pleasure :) *evil laugh* 9.     Would you want to know the date of your death? 10.  Which movie, tv series or book you would want to rewrite or change the ending? 11.   Something you want to tell the world, but so far nobody ask you (you are welcome).

I’m going to torture: @hachievans @robwrecks @i-thought-you-and-i @fluffyotters @whydidyouflyaway  @multigloria @cookie-hearts-with-17stars @itsana00 @pandorasss-box @dylerxobrosey – if someone did it already, please tag me <3

[ao3feed-junjouromantica]

In This Life

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2rrmqy2

by Leirinn

Kamijou Hiroki had it all in life. A good job, loyal friends, a loving family, a good home and a fantastic boyfriend. There was very little missing in his life. With the drama of the past behind him, the future was bright. Until one fateful day, an act of bravery claimed his life and devastated the lives of those closest to him. In the moment of his death, Kamijou Hiroki’s his last and only thought was his beloved Nowaki.

Komori Hiroko’s first thought was of her beloved Nowaki.

Growing up, Komori Hiroko knew just one thing. Something incredibly important was missing from her world. The older she gets, the more she knows there is something more to her dreams than the overactive imagination of childhood. Hiroko faces a questionable choice follow where her memories might take her or to forget to focus on the life she had been with now. Could love indeed prove to be stronger than death and does the man she loves exists?

Words: 6082, Chapters: 2/20, Language: English

Fandoms: Junjou Romantica, Junjou Egoist

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M, M/M

Characters: Kusama Nowaki, Kamijou Hiroki, Miyagi Yoh, Takatsuki Shinobu, Tsumori (Junjou Romantica)

Relationships: Kamijou Hiroki/Kusama Nowaki

Additional Tags: Romance, Supernatural - Freeform, Past Live, Rebirth

read it on the AO3 at https://ift.tt/2rrmqy2

[wrestlingisfake]

Southern Showdown preview

This is a special event in Melbourne, Australia, starting at 5am Eastern time Saturday morning.  Unlike most New Japan shows, which are streamed live on NJPW World, this one is an internet pay-per-view exclusive to Fite.tv.  The story seems to be that NJPW wanted to ensure Australians could stream the show, and apparently Fite has a superior infrastructure there.  The whole thing will be uploaded to NJPW World later, although I’m not sure how much later.

(A second, smaller event is scheduled for Sydney on June 30, but it looks like that one won’t be televised at all.)

Kazuchika Okada & Hiroshi Tanahashi vs. Jay White & Bad Luck Fale - This match revisits a feud from a few months back, when Tanahashi and Okada put aside their differences to form a united front against White, leading to White and Fale upsetting the “dream team” multiple times.  White is originally from New Zealand, and Fale played rugby and opened a wrestling school there, so they’re practically the local favorites.  (Or maybe being from New Zealand will make them mega-heels in Australia, I’m not sure.)

White is still looking to avenge his IWGP title loss to Okada, and Tanahashi is still trying to prove White hasn’t put him out to pasture.  The most meaningful finishes that are actually plausible would be White over Okada or Tanahashi over White, but I could see New Japan saving those scenarios for later in the year.  It’s probably going to come down to Okada over Fale, or maybe White over Tanahashi if they think White gloating in Melbourne will get a good response.

Will Ospreay vs. Robbie Eagles - Ospreay won the IWGP junior heavyweight championship on June 9 and immediately demanded Eagles as his first challenger, at this show.  Eagles, who is Australian, is one of only two men to defeat Ospreay in this year’s Best of the Super Jr. tournament.  It’s a big opportunity for Eagles to win the title in front of his home country.

Eagles has been doing a slow burn storyline where he’s not sure Bullet Club has his best interests at heart, particularly after some shenanigans from El Phantasmo on the Best of Super Jr. tour.  The fact Ospreay gave him this opportunity out of respect, where his own teammates would have dicked him over, may play into that story.  Ospreay is clearly passionate about giving the rub to the Australian wrestling scene and will do everything in his power to make Eagles look good.  I don’t expect a title change here, but a star-making performance is possible.

Tama Tonga & Tanga Loa vs. Juice Robinson & Mikey Nicholls - This is a rematch from June 25, where Robinson and Nicholls defeated the Guerillas of Destiny and therefore challenged GOD to a match for the IWGP heavyweight tag team title.  (GOD also hold the ROH tag team championship, but that one isn’t at stake.)  New Japan desperately needed some fresh challengers in this division, so I hope Juice and Mikey don’t just get beat and drift apart.  Nicholls is Australian, and I think this is the best chance we have of an Australian winning a championship on this show.  GOD doesn’t need the IWGP tag title right now, and could always win it back in September or something.  I’m rooting for Juice and Mikey, but the Tongans are on a roll and I’d rather not bet against them.

El Phantasmo vs. Rockey Romero - Phantasmo is defending the RevPro cruiserweight championship.  ELP joined New Japan a few weeks ago and enjoyed an undefeated streak until Romero dramatically upset him during the Best of the Super Jr. tournament.  The loss kicked off a late collapse for Phantasmo, and he’s sought revenge against everyone who defeated him in the tournament.  He already settled the score with Yoh and Ryusuke Taguchi, so that just leaves Rocky.  A title change is possible, I suppose, but ELP is a hot new star and Rocky just isn’t at the level of a guy who should go 2-0 against a hot new star.  I’m sure they’ll try to recapture the fire of their previous match, but since I’m pretty sure Phantasmo will retain, it probably won’t be easy.

Tomohiro Ishii & YOSHI-HASHI vs. Chase Owens & Yujiro Takahashi - Yoshi is going nowhere fast, and Chase and Yujiro are basically jobbers to the stars.  This feels like a filler match to get Ishii on the card with a win.

Toru Yano & SHO & YOH vs. Taiji Ishimori & Gedo & Gino Gambino - Yano is one of the NEVER trios champions, but Roppongi 3K (Sho & Yoh) aren’t his championship partners, so the title isn’t on the line in this trios match.  Ishimori recently teamed with El Phantasmo to take the IWGP junior tag titles from R3K, who will be looking for payback.  At this stage of his career, Gedo is little more than a comedy heel/evil manager, so I wouldn’t count on much from him besides competing with Yano for funny/sneaky spots.

Gino Gambino is probably best known to New Japan fans as “that Australian guy on English commentary that one time” or “wait, who is this guy in the list of Bullet Club members?”  I’ve barely even seen Gambino because NJPW tends not to point the camera at the English announcers, so I sure don’t know anything about him as a wrestler.  I assume he’s little more than a journeyman or a utility guy, but it’s his home country so let’s get him on the show.  On paper, Gedo is probably losing the fall here.

Aaron Solow vs. Slex - Solow’s biggest claim to fame is his wife, WWE’s Bayley.  He’s been in the indies for ten years, but he recently went through Bad Luck Fale’s school in New Zealand, which is probably how he figures into this show.  Slex has been wrestling for 16 years, notably with Melbourne  Championship Wrestling.  Slex is also from Melbourne, so he’s the local-est of all the local guys on this show.  The stakes are high because a strong performance could put one or both of these guys on the radar for future New Japan tours.  It could go either way but I think the smart move would be to put over Slex.  I like saying Slex.  Slex Slex Slex.

Toa Henare & Shota Umino & Ren Narita vs. Mark Tui & Michael Richards & Andrew Villalobos - Henare, who is Maori, has “graduated” from the Young Lions system but he’s still basically a rookie jobber prelim guy, so he’s only a step above guys like Umino and Narita.  Tui is a coach at Bad Luck Fale’s school; Richards and Villalobos are graduates of the Fale dojo who have moved on to New Japan’s own dojo but have not debuted as Young Lions yet.  So I’m not actually sure who is “allowed” to beat whom in the pecking order here, which may make this one pretty fun.  If it’s me I’d give the win to Henare, but I always want Henare to win and I don’t much get what I want.

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Yoh's Little World 2 (English)

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Yoh's Little World 2 (English)