Evaluation of Joshi Streaming Services for April 2021 Results

At the beginning of April, I decided to do a running evaluation of ten Joshi streaming services for the month to see which streaming service provides the best value. The goal of the evaluation was to look at recent events added to the streaming services as their back catalogs were not considered, as I wanted to find which service has the best value on a month to month basis. The raw data is after the ranking, showing which events were uploaded, when they were uploaded, and my own grade on the quality of the event. Some fans will likely disagree with my subjective opinions, such as event and wrestler quality, but the facts don’t lie as some streaming services offered a lot more “bang for your buck” than others. Here is the criteria I used for the evaluation:

Criteria: 

• Overall Quality of Events
• Number of Events and Total Matches Added in April (2021 events only)
• Timeliness of Event Uploads (when the event took place vs. when it was uploaded)
• Value Compared to Cost

Ground Rules:

• Only events available for the flat streaming fee will be counted, not events that cost extra on top of the regular monthly price.
• Only wrestling events will be evaluated, not interviews, talk shows, etc. as I don’t speak Japanese so I can’t fairly evaluate the quality of them.
• Events will not be evaluated and considered as “uploaded” until the entire event is available.
• Individual match uploads will only be evaluated if the entire event is uploaded in April.
• Events heavily clipped/in digest form will not be evaluated.
• If an event from a primarily Joshi promotion is fully uploaded but has some matches that do not have any Joshi wrestlers, only matches with at least one Joshi wrestler will be evaluated.

Without further ado, here are my rankings for the best (and worst) Joshi streaming service!

1. Wrestle Universe (featuring Tokyo Joshi Pro)

Cost: 900 yen
Website: https://www.ddtpro.com/universe

One could flip a coin between Wrestle Universe and Stardom World, but I had to give Wrestle Universe the edge for one big reason – live event streaming. Tokyo Joshi Pro had two big events stream live in April, plus had the new “That’s J-PW” series as well which were one match events featuring English commentary. The current TJPW roster is great with talented wrestlers up and down the card, and they almost always put on a good show. The only knock for Wrestle Universe is the lack of subtitles for promos (which only Stardom World has), but with five full events and six special presentations for English-speaking fans, it was a slam dunk month of April for Tokyo Joshi Pro and an easy recommendation for ~$9 a month.

2. Stardom World

Cost: 920 yen
Website: https://www.stardom-world.com

If new content is the most important factor for you, Stardom World is your hookup. In April, Stardom uploaded seven full events, with 42 total matches. Stardom does not stream live shows, which is the only bad thing I can say about their service compared to some others on this list. But they do upload very quickly, with most events being fully added within three days, so if you can stay off twitter you can stay spoiler-free. Stardom has fantastic wrestlers, arguably the best in Japan, so match quality isn’t an issue. April was mostly “house shows” as some events were cancelled, but they still provided a lot of content for ~$9. On top of that, Stardom is the only Joshi streaming service that sub-titles their wrestler promos, which makes it a lot easier to follow along with what is happening. Overall, a great service.

3. NicoPro Wrestling Channel

Cost: 550 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/nicopro

I’ll go more into Gatoh Move in a second but this was a close decision. The main benefit of NicoPro is the variety of promotions they have deals with to upload. In April, they aired “only” four different Joshi promotions (seven events total), but even that is a big benefit as if you are a newer fan you can experience more styles of wrestling for one low price. NicoPro does offer some events for an extra charge, so I am only counting events that were included in the flat 550 yen price. The wrestling quality can be hit or miss on NicoPro as they tend to air smaller events, and there can be a delay of a week or two being when the event happens and when it airs, but its hard to deny the amount of content included for only around $5.

4. Gatoh Move Youtube Channel

Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/GatohMove

If someone wanted to argue with me that Gatoh Move should be above NicoPro, I wouldn’t necessarily disagree as they are very close and it comes down to personal wrestling taste. I like NicoPro’s variety and traditional style, but its undeniable that Gatoh Move puts a lot of effort into their Youtube channel and attracting International fans. All ChocoPro events air live, and they have a lot of events – nine in April alone. The events are short, generally three matches each, so they aren’t massive time investments. Gatoh Move isn’t for everyone however and I admit that I have some trouble getting into some of their matches, as they tend to feel long (with lots of shenanigans) and don’t take place in a wrestling ring. Their wrestlers are also for the most part not what most fans would consider highly skilled in-ring (beyond Mei Suruga and Emi Sakura), so their shows are more about personality and atmosphere. Still, the quality of the service they provide can’t be denied and since its *free* it is worth checking out if you haven’t experienced Gatoh Move before.

These are the clear Top Four. It falls off a cliff from here and I wouldn’t recommend any of the paid services below based on April as far as a regular recurring service (maybe subscribing every few months to catch up). But I promised I’d rank them, and rank them I shall.

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5. PURE-J on Filmuy

Cost: 1,040 yen
Website: https://filmuy.com/pure-j

PURE-J is the most expensive streaming service on this list. Some months are better than others and April was not a great month for them, with only two events uploaded. I still have them 5th however for a few reasons. One, this is the only way to watch most of their events as they are a little “underground” with no TV deal and just really occasional events on NicoPro. So if you want to watch PURE-J, this is the way. Also, their event on 4/11 was really solid, and they uploaded both events quickly which is their norm. Even with a down month in regards to amount of content and the higher price, I still maintain my subscription on a monthly basis as PURE-J is my jam, and if you like solid fundamental wrestling with no frills you may enjoy it as well.

6. Diana Youtube Channel

Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/c/dianaofficial/

Diana only uploaded one event in April, but they still have two things working for them – the service is free, and they stream shows live. Live events in 2021 is such a big perk as its hard to stay spoiler-free these days, so upload speed is important to a lot of fans. Some months obviously have more events uploaded than others but some have none at all, Diana has always done whatever they want to do when they want to do it, its part of their charm. Don’t expect an avalanche of content but its good to keep an eye on them as they have solid wrestlers and put on good events when they get around to showing us.

7. Ice Ribbon Nico Channel

Cost: 550 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/iceribbon

Ice Ribbon uploaded two events in April for 2021, however both were on a pretty massive time delay due to their event uploading practices. Ice Ribbon’s current business model is based on PPV events, so even with the 550 yen monthly service, to watch live events you’ll have to fork over an extra $10 to $20 per event. After the PPV events end, they will later be added to the service but it can be a month delay. NicoPro in April streamed as many Ice Ribbon events as Ice Ribbon did on their own service, and they uploaded them in a more timely manner to boot. This is probably fine for the diehard fan willing to pay an extra $15 for house show style events, but for everyone else I’d recommend just sticking to NicoPro to watch Ice Ribbon unless you are interested in their (massive) back catalog.

8. Actwres girl’Z Nets

Cost: 1,000 yen
Website: https://actwresgirlz.net/app

Actwres girl’Z only uploaded one event in April, and the event took place in March, so not a great month for AgZ’s steaming service. NicoPro uploaded more AgZ events in April, and they were more current events as well. Some months are better than others and like PURE-J, if you are a fan of the promotion this is the only way to watch their events without the annoying NicoPro commentary box on the screen. Still, hard to recommend based on their output for April, even though they do have a nice sized catalog for their older events.

The next two services streamed no new full events in April. None. Obviously this isn’t the norm for every month but to be fair to all the services, I am only evaluating based on April. I’ll go more in-depth but just know that the services below may be much higher on a different month if they actually streamed anything.

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9. Sendai Girls’ Youtube Channel

Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/sendaigirls

When it comes to online streaming, few promotions are more frustrating than Sendai Girls’. They first started on Pivot Share, but soon abandoned it. They then were uploading all their events on Youtube for free (and timely) which was great, but stopped. They then announced they were going to IWTV, but that never really blossomed and seems to have been forgotten. Now they are back on Youtube but never got back to their old uploading schedule as they tend to just upload random matches sometimes instead of full events. I am not sure if its due to behind-the-scenes staff changes but they struggle staying committed to an online strategy. Maybe worth checking occasionally, but don’t expect much.

10. Marvelous Wrestling Nico Channel

Cost: 990 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/marvelouspro

It hurts my soul to rank Marvelous this low as I thought when April started I’d be promoting their great service and instead they did nothing at all. Not only no new events, but no old ones either were uploaded in April. They uploaded events really well to start the year so I am not sure what happened this month. Marvelous had this issue on Fresh TV as well – they’d be really on top of uploading events and awesome for months, then would go three months with little to no uploads, then suddenly would be pumping out content again. I am not sure the reason but it doesn’t matter, its hard to recommend a streaming service that costs $10 but doesn’t upload any content. This may be one that is best to check first, sign up for a month to catch up, but cancel before the next billing service. Which is hard for me to say since I love Marvelous, but the fact is I can’t recommend a service that is as inconsistent as Marvelous is.

Conclusion:

Coming up with a ranking based on just one month is both fair as it puts them all on the same level, but also unfair as some promotions can just have a down month. I’d still recommend keeping an eye on all the services I listed, but the “surefire” bets that won’t disappoint when it comes to consistent monthly content are Wrestle Universe, Stardom, NicoPro, and Gatoh Move. While there is no harm in keeping tabs on the free Youtube channels, for the paid services it may just come down to how much you love the promotion and if you want to financially support them even if the content isn’t always there. Thanks for reading! The “raw” data for which events were uploaded is below.

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April 2021 Upload Data:

Service: PURE-J on Filmuy
Cost: 1,040 yen
Website: https://filmuy.com/pure-j

Service: Actwres girl’Z Nets
Cost: 1,000 yen
Website: https://actwresgirlz.net/app

Service: Marvelous Wrestling Nico Channel
Cost: 990 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/marvelouspro

Service: Stardom World
Cost: 920 yen
Website: https://www.stardom-world.com

Service: Wrestle Universe (for Tokyo Joshi Pro)
Cost: 900 yen
Website: https://www.ddtpro.com/universe

Service: NicoPro Nico Channel
Cost: 550 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/nicopro

Service: Ice Ribbon Nico Channel
Cost: 550 yen
Website: https://ch.nicovideo.jp/iceribbon

Service: Sendai Girls’ Youtube Channel
Cost: Free
Website: https://www.youtube.com/user/sendaigirls