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Joshi Puroresu Discussion Thread


NikkySan

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I'll second the love for Io Shirai and Act Yasukawa. I would also say that Hikaru Shida and Arisa Nakajima are also really good. If you like a more shootish style, Kana or Syuri can definitely deliver that. Anybody else I'm forgetting about?

Yoshiko

 

 

Io Shirai is finally evolving to what those of us who first saw her in 2008 thought she was going to be (i.e. the real deal next big thing for Joshi).

 

James

2007 and I don't recall anyone remotely making that high a prediction for Io back then

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Also, they're not quite on the same level as an Io Shirai or an Arisa Nakajima, but I really enjoy Makoto, Apple Miyuki (now Mii Hibiscus), and the Sendai Sisters.

 

Any other joshi workers that may not quite be the top tier, but you enjoy nonetheless?

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Yeah, I've noticed that. There's plenty of joshi just lying around on YouTube, but if you search for a specific wrestler, not much comes up, usually. Weird.

 

Oh, I forgot about Tomoka Nakagawa. Her and Kellie Skater are one of my favorite joshi tag teams right now. She also teams with Hiroyo Matsumoto in OZ Academy, right?

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I know you probably get tired of folks asking this but can someone post some recent matches that need to be watched? I am a fan of Kana and Suyri (sp?). Don't really know anyone else on the current scene. I am open to anything though. 

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I'm not suggesting that she wrestles herself. Kana brings the best out of her opponents by challenging them to approach matches in a different way. Brings them out of their comfort zone. Her matches are more interesting than those of other workers because they avoid the trappings of the modern joshi style. Kana's opponent's best matches are usually Kana matches.

 

There are some other good workers our there - Yoshiko, Arisa Nakajima, Io Shirai - but they're horribly inconsistent and are susceptible of some outright turds. In fact, with the exception of Kana, a lot of the best workers are the classics. It's doesn't speak well for the quality of the scene when old girls like Aja Kong, Meiko Satomura, Chikayo Nagshima etc. are still the best workers around.

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I'm tired of the modern joshi style being shit on. What exactly is wrong with it? If you say too many big moves and spots then don't because 90's Joshi had A LOT of that too. Kana is very shoot and mat-based but in a way she's a female KENTA (and I'm a huge fan of his) in how she doesn't always know when and how to sell offense correctly and in doing so makes her opponents look weak when they aren't supposed to.

I'm gonna have to know why you think Arisa, Io and Yoshiko are inconsistent workers because I'd say they are the most consistent going today, and even when they don't have GOOD matches, they're hardly bad.

Saying only one wrestler is worth watching in an already weak niche of wrestling that struggles to gain new fans is not good, and is only going to scare people who are interested in modern joshi away. Watching modern joshi expecting it to be like what it was in the 90's isn't realistic nor fair. The scene is completely different now. Demographics change, styles change, etc.

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I might be more interested in current joshi than any of the other companies in Japan. Mutoh's All Japan was my favorite and after the split everything feels funky with both sides. And I see myself wanting to see more Joshi than say, more New Japan matches.

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I'm tired of the modern joshi style being shit on. What exactly is wrong with it? If you say too many big moves and spots then don't because 90's Joshi had A LOT of that too.

 

 

It's always been a spotty style. But it's the when and why you do the spots that's important.

 

I think that's the disconnect between us NikkySan, I'm pretty down on modern puro in general. I hate fighting spirit, forearm exchanges and matches that are generally uncompelling until the ending run of tedious spot trading. The stuff that looks like a dance rather than a fight. Kana can be guilty of those things but her style of work is unique enough to keep me interested. When she builds to the big blows they feel earned. And violent. She has an aura. There's too many bland pretty girls doing pretty stuff. Kana carries herself like she would fuck you up.

 

I like Arisa Nakajima but she's overrated. I've only seen two matches of hers that I would consider great and while she was good in them she was clearly the lesser worker in both (vs Emi Sakura, vs Kana). I do think she is very good at working underneath. Her body language, facial expressions, bumping and disorientated selling are great.

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Guest Edwin

What exactly is wrong with it?

...

Watching modern joshi expecting it to be like what it was in the 90's isn't realistic nor fair.

That maybe it? No, really...

 

Joshi in the late 80's/90's was great.

 

Post 90's not so much.

 

I get what you mean that styles, etc. have changed, but not only has the styles changed to appeal to a different demo., but the quality of wrestlers has degraded hugely since it's heyday.

 

I'd still say 80's joshi was on par/if not better than 90's.

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The problem is you can't make new "stars" in Joshi when the old guard don't really step down. Stardom is kinda good about that, as Nanae isn't running roughshod over everyone anymore (its not like she was Kyoko Inoue in NEO bad).  But almost every Joshi fed is cronyism from the 90s and the younger generation is stuck in the midcard for looooooong stretches before being pushed.

 

James

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I dunno if it helps new fans any, but I am *almost* done with the new Joshi section over at my website.  I was having trouble remembering some of the wrestlers so it helped me as well just getting all the Joshi wrestlers in one place, I think its the most up to date "who's who" in modern Joshi anywhere on the 'net (in English anyway).  I still have about 10 Freelancers to add, like Kana, but generally its a pretty complete list.  I hope to flesh out the main ones with move videos and things like that but its a solid start anyway.

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Yea for some I just used their 'official' websites, I have someone listed in one of the promotions that hasn't wrestled since like 2006 :(  But they still have the wrestler listed so I was like fine.  But I didn't know those two had officially retired, I'll have to shift them off.

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A couple injuries to report. Earlier this month, Sendai Sachiko injured her left ACL and meniscus during practice. As a result, her and Dash Chisako have had to vacate the JWP & Daily Sports Women's Tag Team titles.

 

Also, it appears that Act Yasukawa is in the hospital. I had trouble sussing out the details (Google Translate was no help), but she posted pics of her in the hospital on her Facebook page and on her blog, so yeah.

 

So, that kind of sucks. :/

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