Tofu Pro Wrestling is a TV Asahi late-night drama starring various members of AKB48 and its associated sister groups. It started broadcasting on January 21, 2017, and ran 24 episodes up to July 1, 2017. The theme song for this drama is AKB48’s 47th single Shoot Sign.
Synopsis
The story focuses on a high school girl named Sakura who lives with her father, Youhei, who owns a tofu shop and professional wrestling dojo. Youhei was once a professional wrestling champion, and after retirement, he became a trainer of aspiring female pro wrestlers.
What kicks off this entire series is his sudden death. Through the early episodes of this drama, it is revealed that his dream was to give birth to wrestling champions in his Kinshicho Dojo.
However, his former disciple Yazaki betrayed him, opened his dojo (Shirokane Gym Association), and took all the most promising trainees with him. The only pupil who remained with Kinshicho was Yokoyama Yui.
After the separation, the Shirokane Gym rose to prominence, creating the World Idol Pro Wrestling organization, which features many stars such as Hollywood Jurina, Jumbo Shimada, Dotonbouri Shiroma and Octopus Suda. Kinshicho, on the other hand, did not fare so well, having failed to gain any new pupils during Shirokane’s rise to power.
After Youhei’s passing, Yazaki visits Sakura and challenges her father’s dojo to a series of exhibition matches. Having avoided her father’s legacy, Sakura accepts the challenge for her family’s honour and dives headfirst into professional wrestling.
Review
When this drama was first announced, there was much anticipation given the concept and the 48 members cast in the show. The short series on the TV Asahi YouTube page called Road to W.I.P. added to the hype. That program gave viewers some insight into the professional wrestling training the cast went through to portray their roles inside the ring accurately.
There was even some cross-promotion with New Japan Pro Wrestling, with fliers promoting the drama being part of the packages attendees got when attending Wrestle Kingdom 11. In addition, Matsuri Jurina, Miyawaki Sakura and Shimada Haruka also were in attendance to watch the event.
With all the pre-show hype, is the result of all the hype worth watching?
Well, that depends on how high your expectations were for this series. Do you want well-acted and emotional drama centred on the world of professional wrestling? How about some crazy, hard-hitting Joshi that wrestling fans rave about? In both cases, you may leave very disappointed.
If you are willing to reduce your expectations to a reasonable level significantly, you will find a program that has a rather slow start but gets going in its second half. With that in mind, much of the first half of the series is focused on character development. On one side, you have the rag-tag group, the Kinshicho Dojo. You get their backstories and watch them bond through learning the art of professional wrestling. Then you get glimpses at the roster of the Shirokane Gym and how all the backstage politics affect them in and outside of the ring.
Early on, there is not a lot of in-ring action to speak of early on. The slow pace gives the viewer time to invest in the competitors, much like anyone in a real-life professional wrestling federation. However, this can feel like a snail’s pace for those who are impatient and want to see these girls compete.
