Continued from How Would You Like That Cooked? “Rea” Vol.5
Thank you for visiting.
I’ll get right into continuing from last time.
_
“I’m going to become a professional wrestler.”
Once I decided that, I acted fast.
When I told my parents, “I want to become a pro wrestler,”
“It’s dangerous, don’t do it.” “There’s no way you can do it, Rea.”
They opposed me at first.
But my response wasn’t a cute, “I’ll definitely do it!” or “I’ll try my best!”
“No, I already called to say I’m becoming a trainee.”
“Huh…!?”
Yes, I reported it after the fact――――
Because I live by the motto, “There is no time like the present,” I called the promotion the day after I watched the Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling event (see the previous column).
However, since it was the day after an event, perhaps they were closed, and the call didn’t connect.
But I figured, if they don’t answer today, I’ll just call back tomorrow. So I called them the very next day.
And then,
“Yes, this is Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling.”
The call connected.
Even though I was the one who called, the moment they answered, I was suddenly overcome with nervousness. I already have a stutter, but combined with the nerves,
“Are you currently accepting trainees?”
I still remember how I couldn’t even get those short words out properly and took a long time to say it.
Then, hearing that they were accepting trainees, I conveyed my intention to become one, and that night, I told my parents I wanted to be a pro wrestler, which led to the aforementioned exchange.
In response to me saying, “No, I already called to say I’m becoming a trainee,” my parents weren’t angry or sad,
they were just “exasperated.”
“Well, Rea has always been like that. When she says she’s going to do something, she’s already doing it…” my mother said.
“That’s Rea for you… Seriously, ever since she was a baby, if she found somewhere she wanted to go, she’d disappear before we knew it and just go on her own,” my father said.
As expected of my parents, they understand me so well.
After that, I communicated with the Sendai Girls staff via email, sent in my audition application, and arranged to take the entrance test at the Miyagino Ward Cultural Center event (the venue where I would later have my debut match) the following month.
(There isn’t much time until the entrance test, I just have to do whatever I can.)
Thinking that, I started doing basic training and attending gymnastics classes so I could handle the test contents even a little better.
Also, I used to commute by bicycle to my part-time job at a farm, but I changed it to taking the train there and running back home.
It was a distance of about 8 kilometers one way.
And once I got used to running home, I started commuting there by doing fast walking, or a combination of running and walking.
My days of training hard like that for the upcoming entrance test flew by in a flash, and the day before the test arrived.
I was scared to arrive on the day of the test, so I arrived in Sendai the day before.
My first bullet train. My first time in Sendai.
When I stepped off the train in Sendai, the very first thing I thought was:
“So this is the holy land of JoJo~~!!!!”
(For JoJolers, Miyagi Prefecture is the setting for Part 4 and Part 8 of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure. It’s also the birthplace of the creator, Hirohiko Araki, so it’s no exaggeration to say it’s the number one holy land for JoJo fans.)
Rather than being nervous about tomorrow’s entrance test, my otaku heart couldn’t help but flutter at having landed in the holy land of my beloved JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
I even stayed at the “Koyo Grand Hotel,” which is said to be the model for the “Morioh Grand Hotel” (a hotel that appears in JoJo).
Even though it was the day before my entrance test, I couldn’t help but sneak in some otaku activities.
Acting like this the day before might seem like I wasn’t nervous at first glance, but maybe by doing otaku activities, I was unconsciously trying to maintain my composure.
・ ・ ・
And then, the day of the entrance test arrived_____
At the glass doors of the venue entrance, a Sendai Girls staff member came to greet me. I was guided into the venue and told, “Please wait here.”
I waited for the seniors to arrive.
Thump thump… thump thump…
My otaku excitement from yesterday was nowhere to be found. I was so nervous I felt like I was going to lose my mind.
After waiting for a few minutes,
Along with a greeting of “Hello,” Chihiro Hashimoto, Manami, and Yurika Oka arrived.
(The wrestlers I always watch are so close…)
Between the nerves for the upcoming entrance test and my otaku nervousness, my tension reached its MAX.
Then, Chihiro Hashimoto relayed the entrance test menu to Yurika Oka, who wrote the contents down on a piece of paper.
Watching the contents of the entrance test being written down, along with my nervousness, a burning determination to absolutely pass and become a pro wrestler welled up inside me.
By the time the entrance test started, DASH Chisako and Mika Iwata had also arrived, and the entrance test began with all the wrestlers watching me.
It started with warm-up exercises and stretching, then jumping rope, followed by basic training (strength training), mat exercises, and then squats.
And finally, a self-introduction.
As I went through the entrance test, I didn’t even have the luxury of being nervous anymore.
Even if I couldn’t do it, I just had to get through it on sheer willpower. That was my only thought.
As a result, I wasn’t able to complete everything in the entrance test perfectly.
I was already completely exhausted by the time of the final self-introduction, but I thought I had to properly make my case here.
To convey that even though my physical strength was at its limit, my spirit was not broken.
“I’m [Last Name] Reiki (Rea), 21 years old, from Kanagawa Prefecture.
After watching a Sendai Girls match for the first time, I resolved to become a pro wrestler. When I become a pro wrestler, I want to be someone who can put on matches that move people and ensure that anyone who comes to watch never regrets it, just like all the Sendai Girls wrestlers.
Thank you very much!!”
I spoke of my feelings for Sendai Girls,
and then,
“I will now demonstrate my special skill: JoJo posing!!!!”
With that, I busted out my most passionate JoJo poses. By the way, I performed the JoJo poses for each protagonist from Parts 1 through 6.
I finished the entrance test with my full-force JoJo poses, was allowed to watch that day’s show, and then headed home.
The moment I arrived home, my tension completely dissolved, and a wave of exhaustion washed over me.
…I really took the Sendai Girls entrance test today.
I reflected on the day’s events. The whole time I was in Sendai, even though it was actually happening, it somehow didn’t feel real.
I might have just been that nervous.
However, upon returning to a relaxing space, reality suddenly hit me.
Could I really pass with how I performed today?
Anxiety, regret, and frustration—which I hadn’t even had the bandwidth to feel amidst the tension and excitement—suddenly flooded in all at once,
and tears started to fall.
And while crying and agonizing over it, I fell asleep before I knew it, bringing the day to an end.
・ ・ ・
Around noon, I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing.
Wondering who it was, I looked at the screen,
and it was from Sendai Girls.
I gasped and immediately pressed the answer button.
“Hello! This is Rea Seto.”
“Ah, hello, this is Sendai Girls’ Pro Wrestling. Thank you for your hard work yesterday!
To get right to the point, regarding the results of yesterday’s entrance test…
You passed!”
…It felt as if time had stopped for a moment.
No, I think it actually stopped.
“Really…!? Thank you so much!”
I thanked them, exchanged a few words, and then hung up the phone and immediately reported it to my parents.
My parents were happy to hear I passed, and when I told my close friends,
they were even happier than I was (lol).
I felt so grateful to have such good parents and friends.
And so, it was time to move into the dorms and officially join!!!!!!
I wanted to go right away, but reality wasn’t that simple,
and I actually didn’t officially join until June of the following year.
Because in order to live in Sendai, I had to save up a war chest (savings).
_
Thank you for visiting the 6th edition of “Would You Like That Cooked? “Rea'”.
“How long is this series going to continue? You should just tell the story concisely and finish it up quickly,” you might be thinking. I’m sorry. I think so too, and part of me wants to finish it quickly and talk about other things.
However, believe it or not, this column has exceeded 3,000 characters. It’s the highest count yet.
I really should stop here, or rather, I’m already about 30 minutes past the submission deadline, so I’m going to end this.
Well then, see you next week. We sincerely look forward to your next visit.
・
- Upcoming Horror Movie I’m Interested In –
“Other Mommy”
Translator’s Notes
- Would You Like That Cooked? “Rea”: A pun on Rea’s name (レア), which sounds identical to the English word “rare” (as in the cooking temperature of a steak). She commits to the bit by framing the column with restaurant greetings like “Thank you for visiting.”
- JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: A long-running, iconic manga and anime series created by Hirohiko Araki.
- JoJolers: A standard Japanese slang term for diehard fans of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure.
- Miyagi Prefecture / Sendai: The real-world birthplace of the series’ creator, and the inspiration for the fictional town of Morioh, the setting for Parts 4 and 8.
- Koyo Grand Hotel / Morioh Grand Hotel: The Koyo Grand Hotel in Sendai is famously known among fans as the direct visual inspiration for the Morioh Grand Hotel featured in Part 4.
- JoJo Posing (JoJo-dachi): The highly stylized, anatomically exaggerated poses characters famously strike throughout the series. Recreating them is a popular cultural meme in Japan.
- [Last Name] Reiki: Rea uses the “◯◯” placeholder to obscure her real last name, while confirming her real first name is Reiki (which she stylizes and pronounces as “Rea” for wrestling).
- Other Mommy: A 2026 psychological horror film starring Jessica Chastain.