Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 1 Details:

Official Title: Weekly Pro Wrestling Magazine EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa Vol. 1
Release: February 1st, 2012
Pages: 84
Cost: ¥1,200
Where to Buy: Third Party Vendors (eBay, Mercari, Buyee, etc.)

The first volume of Weekly Pro EXTRA: Women’s Wrestling Erokawa featured the following wrestlers:

• Yoko Bito
• Kana
• Mio Shirai
• Hikaru Shida
• Makoto
• Yuzuki Aikawa

Its interesting to see that eight years later, these are still some of the most popular wrestlers on the current or recently-current scene, with the only exception being Aikawa as she retired back in 2013. For the ‘gravure’ section, approximately 40 pages were devoted to the six above wrestlers, with each getting several pictures to themselves. As the photos were taken separately there are no group pictures, as at the time all were in different promotions aside from Yuzuki and Yoko who were both wrestling out of Stardom.

The rest of the magazine includes other Joshi content, including a section highlighting Bull Nakano’s retirement event and an article about Mayu Iwatani and Arisa Hoshiki. While the target audience will be those that enjoy the modeling photoshoots, there is plenty of other content in this edition as well that may interest a wide variety of fans. The bulk of the pictures are in color (including all the gravure pictures), however some other pages are in black and white. Considering the popularity of some of the wrestlers involved, this is a quality magazine even for modern Joshi fans. Here is a sample of pictures from the magazine:

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It has been a long time since I took a look at a Joshi wrestler gravure video, while this is one of the more ‘tame’ ones I thought it would be a good place to start since Konami’s popularity has grown a lot in the last few months. Konami debuted in early 2015, she is the only wrestler trained by Kana. She joined up with REINA after Kana left for WWE to become Asuka, and continued her training there. Konami left REINA in the summer of 2016 and later signed with GPS. After a great match against Kairi Hojo in the fall, Konami has been wrestling in a variety of Joshi promotions since, including Pro Wrestling WAVE and Stardom. This gravure video was shot in 2015, when Konami was around 19 years old.

Before I review this DVD, I first wanted to explain quickly what a gravure video is for those that are not familiar.  These are basically modeling videos, where a model (or models) poses for the camera generally in a provocative way. In a way it is like a live-action photobook, there is little or no talking as typically music plays in the background. This is Konami’s first (and at the moment only) gravure video, following in the footsteps of her mentor Kana.

Like most wrestler gravure videos, the DVD is split up into multiple parts: the gravure itself, an interview, and a wrestling match. The gravure section is approximately 55 minutes, making it longer than other wrestler gravure videos. This is most likely because only one match is on the DVD, since Konami was a rookie when this came out she did not have a huge backlog of matches available to include.

For the gravure portion, Konami poses in six different outfits in different locations. All of her outfits are different styles of bathing suits, nothing too far out there as she doesn’t do some of the more erotic scenarios that we have seen from Kana, Misaki Ohata, Makoto, and Hikaru Shida. As always, there is simple and borderline awful music playing during the entire gravure, I understand the need to fill the audio with something but it is low level elevator music. Here is a quick look at each scene:

 

Finally, the DVD ends with a wrestling match. The match included is: Hikaru Shida and Syuri vs. Kana and Konami Takemoto in Kana Produce “Fukuyama Tournament” 2015 on 3/8/15. Having this match included was a bit disappointing for me personally since I already have the DVD with that match, so I’d already seen it. For many fans however this would be their first introduction to Konami in a big match, so it was a good one to include. I already reviewed the match, but here were my thoughts:

I don’t think there is anything about this match I didn’t love. You have to watch it to really appreciate it, the camera was at ringside so you could hear every kick and every slap, it was just brutal. All four looked good, forget that Konami is a rookie, she is already better than most at this striking/submission style. Kana has taught her well. No down time, lots of team work, no wasted moments, no wasted anything. Just awesomeness from start to finish, go watch this match. Highly Recommended

Overall, a solid Gravure DVD debut for Konami. While I wouldn’t rank it high as Konami doesn’t exude sexuality like Kana and others that have made gravure videos, by switching up outfits/scenery they at least attempted to keep it from getting stale. The match included is a fantastic one, one I’d already seen but for any new fans the match alone may justify the purchase as it has three of the best Joshi wrestlers of 2015 plus a hungry young rookie looking to leave her mark. This DVD is very hard to track down now as I don’t think a lot were made, but it can still be located on some Japanese DVD shops.

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Before I review this DVD, I first wanted to explain quickly what a gravure video is for those that are not familiar.  These are basically modeling videos, where a model (or models) poses for the camera wearing provocative clothing. In a way it is like a live-action photobook, there is no talking during it as typically music plays in the background. This is Kana’s fourth gravure video so it is a medium that she is comfortable with, and while it may be a bit offensive to some there is not any nudity as the posing is mostly done in bikinis or lingerie.

The DVD is split into four basic sections: an interview with Kana during the shooting (seven minutes), an interview after the shooting (six minutes), the gravure itself (49 minutes), and then a wrestling match (24 minutes). One of the unique things when wrestlers do a gravure video is there are also wrestling matches on the DVD as well.

The gravure itself is exactly what you’d expect, Kana sexily posing in very little clothing with the camera usually focusing on her bosom, which naturally is not an issue. Some of the music is awful and contributes nothing to the video, but having silence probably would have been worse. Over the 49 minutes, Kana switches between half a dozen different outfits and locations, and everything is very easy on the eyes. Few would argue that Kana isn’t a beautiful woman, and this portion of the DVD was definitely the star as it was intended to be.

My primary complaint about the DVD is simply the lack of matches. The gravure portion is quality, and is a great up close look at one of the more sexual wrestlers in the world. If there were more matches it would be an easy recommendation, but the entire DVD clocks in at under an hour and a half which is disappointing. For a die-hard Kana fan this is a must have, but it is not cheap to get in the US so without the matches I can’t give Kana Manifesto Final my highest recommendation.

  

  

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Even though most of the posts in this category will feature wrestlers in Stardom, which is the promotion that puts out the most modeling type products, I have to begin with my personal favorite wrestler and in my opinion one of the most stunning wrestlers in the world.  The World Famous Kana.

Kana has produced three gravure videos over the course of her career.  A gravure is glamour photography, showing the women in different poses and in different locations.  These are popular in Japan, and there are some women that are famous simply for being gravure models.  Some wrestlers have crossed over into that, and in their gravure videos they also put in wrestling matches as well.  It is an easy method of self promotion as it presents the wrestlers as both sexy but still tough wrestlers at the same time.

Kana has produced two videos of her own, and one with her tag team partner at the time Mio Shirai.  Besides the videos, Kana has also been highlighted in many magazines as well.  These videos and photo shoots have increased Kana’s popularity, which was already high as she is also an amazing wrestler.

You didn’t click on this page to read text, so here are some pictures of Kana.  I will be showing more pictures in the future as Kana will pop up from time to time in this section since she has produced more tantalizing media than the average wrestler.  Enjoy!

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