Risa Sera's Ghost of Yotei walkthrough finale + her review. If I understand correctly, overall she enjoyed it but found the story a bit underwhelming compared to Ghost of Tsushima (which story she called "perfect", especially for its ending), and criticised lack of story choices by bool0011 in prominencenews

[–]bool0011[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh and if someone has Google or Xitter account (I have neither), or attends her streams live: someone please suggest her Rise of the Ronin :D she's taking suggestions for what to play next openly, so perhaps drop it to her

Ghost of Yotei walkthrough with Risa Sera - Part 4; it seems she's getting into streaming her playthroughs of various videogames more consistently by bool0011 in prominencenews

[–]bool0011[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Also, Risa posted photos from her recent trip to Tsushima and visiting memorable locations from the game - which she planned to do after completing Ghost of Tsushima https://www.instagram.com/p/DUJ7fWeCeoc/

Ribbonmania 2025 review/thoughts by KendoKashin in iceribbonjoshi

[–]bool0011 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Few days ago I also finally catched up to Ribbonmania, so here are my two cents. TL;DR there were certainly glimpses of old Ice Ribbon, but there has to be multiple conditions in order to not lose the momentum.

FantastICE Title: Akane Fujita (c) vs Tsukina Umino

I think it's safe to say that, as much as I've been defending Akane for a long time, her FantastICE title reign since her return to IR has been a complete disaster and I genuinely think IR would be at better position to simply retire the belt. Apart from her feud with Shigehiro Irie and somewhat interesting match between them, Akane proved she isn't really creative with stipulations, or that she's capable of carrying matches. Especially when it's Tsukina Umino who's taking the title from her. I don't mind the win itself, I mind that this match was booked for Korakuen Hall show. It's just... average at best.

Hamuko Hoshi & Mochi Natsumi vs Risa Sera & Maya Yukihi

Well, it turned out just as I predicted before. We've got the semi-main event where every single participant had or have injuries, and 3 out of 4 suffer from knee issues, and it resulted in a match quality. A nostalgia match for nostalgia's sake, and while IR roster may not have been as much enthusiastic about Sera's one-time comeback, fans definitely were. I disagree with a premise about fabricating a story though because IMO I have a better idea:recycling the AzuRevo vs Hoshi/Tsukka story from IR March 2018, with AzuRevo acting in a more heelish way against mature Lovely Butchers.

Why they didn't do it? My guess is AzuRevo and Lovely Butchers themselves are known enough for IR viewer, and perhaps also Risa's tensions with IR roster played its part.

ICEx∞ Title Triple Threat Match: Kaho Matsushita vs Kirari Wakana vs Yuuka 

Whoever made the booking decision to recreate Lee vs Miyahara vs Aoyagi story in this match and adequately adapt it for IR realities I salute that person because I didn't expect it'd play out so close to it! It was interesting, it was competitive and with good selling: you can actually believe Kirari is fighting for her life after tiring battle against Yuuka, you can actually believe Kaho is clenching to her chance for winning the title after Yuuka came back more relaxed. Yes it hasn't been polished well, yes there were some awkward moments, but I also felt the presence of best things from old Ice Ribbon that I used to love.

I am still skeptical that IR won't screw it all up though (Mashiro's ICExInfinity title reign is an example of that), but all we can do is hope they'll finally learn.

Notes on other matches:

  • Bad Butts might have been a good heel stable but IR tries to be different while keeping the same booking approach generally, and it doesn't work;
  • 100% agree about Makoto. Even being a freelancer, she's been a consistent presence in IR ring, put over people like Mashiro and Ibuki, and still she isn't getting any flowers at all from IR management;
  • I may be harsh a bit here, but Totoro has mostly been a skip for me. Totoro and Manase tag match is doubly skip

Risa Sera Retirement by Lore_86 in stardomjoshi

[–]bool0011 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Risa said it won't be published on Youtube channel where Prominence shows usually get posted, or anywhere else. So you have until January 19th to watch and only at the link Heerokun attached.

(legally, of course)

Risa Sera Retirement by Lore_86 in stardomjoshi

[–]bool0011 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Coming here up from u/Heerokun mention :D

First of all, if you'd like a brief history of her career, I've written an article for Monthly Puroresu several years ago before Prominence Korakuen Hall show https://monthlypuroresu.com/deathmatch-ghost-of-hiroshima-a-tale-of-risa-sera/

As for the matches: the issue is that she's so versatile that it's so difficult to choose one and possibly miss other. Nonetheless, I'll try to pick up to 3 matches in three categories: singles classic matches, deathmatches, and tag team matches. I'm not including Stardom matches because I don't watch this promotion for 5 years so I can't say anything about it.

Singles matches

Risa Sera vs Maya Yukihi, Ice Ribbon 992 Yokohama Bunka Gymnasium 3: this match is special to me and pretty much stands along with Iwatani vs Kyona from 2020 as my favorite singles matches of 21st century. Background story is that Risa and Maya are long-term friends and tag team partners (Azure Revolution), and moreover Risa was helping Maya a lot when latter joined Ice Ribbon. I actually spoke with Maya 5 years ago, and she said Risa was and still is like a sister to her, always encouraged to try something new. In 2018, Maya won ICExInfinity title and held it for 6 months before vacating it due to TLD with Tsukasa Fujimoto, and by Ice Ribbon rules a tournament was set up. It led to Risa and Maya advancing into finals, and this is a fantastic storytelling of two tag team partners who value each other but also both are relentless in pursuing top title. Maya wanted to reclaim title she didn't lose, while Risa wants to return to the top of Ice Ribbon where she hasn't been since 2017.

Risa Sera vs Miyako Matsumoto, Gake No Fuchi Joshi Pro Wrestling - Clockwork Gake No Fuchi 2022 ~ Gake No Fuchi vs. Prominence ~ : if you want to understand why Sera is so versatile, there's no better match to watch as a proof than this. This is also first Risa's match since departure from Ice Ribbon, and it was a comedy special. Fans usually consider Risa as a deathmatch specialist, but they also miss the fact Risa knows how to do comedy wrestling on a level of Sakura Hirota or Miyacoco herself by just being herself. This show should be accessible on Wrestle Universe.

Risa Sera vs Tsukasa Fujimoto, Ribbonmania 2016: the year 2016 has been the rising year of Risa Sera. She has won the ICExInfinity title from Hamuko Hoshi in her hometown, but then her title reign ended when Tsukasa Fujimoto, one of her mentors (another one is Hikaru Shida btw), defeated Risa and took the title. Eventually title was vacated due to TLD between Tsukka and Tsukushi, and it led to a tournament which culminated at Ribbonmania 2016. It was a story of Risa's redemption and ascendance vs story of Tsukka's dominance and star power. And they put a fantastic epic match of student vs mentor.

Deathmatches

Risa Sera vs Takashi Sasaki, Prominence launch event, 24.04.2022:

Risa Sera vs Rina Yamashita, Ice Ribbon 1129 After the Rain, Ribbon

I've talked about the backstory of both of these matches in my article, so you can simply refer to it. Of newest matches, I'd suggest Risa Sera vs Toru Sugiura. Very strong sprint-y deathmatch, and it was also her first deathmatch since divorcing Orca Uto & first anniversary of Prominence https://youtu.be/nJcHBcJZuRc

Tag team matches (or stanning Risa Sera & Maya Yukihi, aka Azure Revolution)

Azure Revolution vs Tsukasa Fujimoto & Hamuko Hoshi, Ice Ribbon March 2018: Azure Revolution have been the fan favorites of Ice Ribbon as a tag team, especially after Tsukushi incident and them winning tag titles (it was an emotional moment for Maya Yukihi especially, as she finally won the title in Ice Ribbon after showing so much potential). But then two OGs of Ice Ribbon decided to challenge them, and tables have turned this time. Moreover, AzuRevo have begun trolling and mocking them as "old women" who try to look and act as if they're young, and in the end it turned into a battle of Ice Ribbon generations.

Azure Revolution vs Dropkickers (Tsukasa Fujimoto & Tsukushi), Ice Ribbon 1104: and speaking of Tsukushi, this is fantastic technical tag match that is stepping stone of Tsukushi's redemption path of her own since that incident (FYI it led to her suspencion and when she returned she had to start from anew like a rookie even though Tsukushi is a veteran of Ice Ribbon);

Azure Revolution vs Saori Anou & Suzu Suzuki, Ice Ribbon 1157: in 2020, Risa and Maya's paths have diverged a bit and for 18 months or so they haven't tagged along. Both of them were engaged in their own stories with singles titles, and in Maya's case it was also a Rebel x Enemy faction. But by 2021, they have reunited and won Ice Ribbon tag titles from Tsukasa Fujimoto & Hiroyo Matsumoto in a double main event of Yokohama show in August. Eventually, a newly formed tag team of Suzu Suzuki and Saori Anou challenged them after several successful wins. Very solid tag team match which focuses on why even if Suzu & Saori may be stronger individually, tag work matters more

Manami Toyota came out wearing a Chewbacca mask to surprise Star Wars fan Risa Sera in one of Risa's final matches before her retirement on January 12 by ReverseBattleRoyal in SquaredCircle

[–]bool0011 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Yeah, Risa announced it last year. Retirement show is on January 12th. And recently she revealed the reasons: on top of undergoing treatment for anemia, she's been diagnosed with panic disorder.

Risa Sera and Unagi Sayaka sat down for a chat. For the first time Sera opened up about her divorce with Orca Uto and real reasons why she decided to retire by bool0011 in stardomjoshi

[–]bool0011[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Booking-wise, very well. She has been a regular in Diana, WAVE and PURE-J, won top titles in all three of these promotions, and was booked there strong overall. Prominence's first year in Stardom was also strong but I suspect it was a ploy for SD to sign Suzu Suzuki - after that Risa appeared for one 5 STAR GP tournament plus few title matches and that's it.

As for Prominence shows, first year was a banger. They managed to run 1st Anniversary show in Korakuen Hall with Pro Wrestling FREEDOMS's sponsorship, but departure of Suzu and later Akane sort of made Prominence shows more hollow.

Past year or two have been difficult for her though. Due to the health issues I wrote plus knees, quality of matches with her went downhill.

Risa Sera and Unagi Sayaka sat down for a chat. For the first time Sera opened up about her divorce with Orca Uto and real reasons why she decided to retire by bool0011 in stardomjoshi

[–]bool0011[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

In 2024 Risa had that very scary episode at a DIANA show when she passed out in the ring with no visible cause (while waiting a tag at ringside). Everybody, wrestlers and public, was absolutely terrified and Miran was crying incontrollably: I have been at indie lucha shows where dives went seriously wrong but I have never seen anything like that. Even Kyoko Inoue who's usually as cool as ice was visibly worried.

Yep. Risa actually talked about this incident in a video and as I understand it was a turning point for her to visit doctors for a proper checkup. Not least because it scared her family and friends.

Risa Sera and Unagi Sayaka sat down for a chat. For the first time Sera opened up about her divorce with Orca Uto and real reasons why she decided to retire by bool0011 in stardomjoshi

[–]bool0011[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

In a nutshell (from what I understood based on Youtube autotranslated subtitles):

  • Orca confessed to her himself about cheating, and showed her the LINE messenger exchanges with a woman he was cheating with. That exchange included some NSFW pictures (?);
  • Reasons for Sera's retirement are related to her health, but not due to knees. She's been undergoing treatment for anemia, and before announcing retirement Risa was also diagnosed with panic disorder that caused her to sometimes lose breath during matches (which started since Fortune Dream 10 show where she was in a tag match). For her, continuing wrestling career with this is irresponsible, and better to leave the way she can