By: Jeff Brown

Action Ring Girl’Z is the subpromotion of AWG and is described as “Pro Wres Action Fantasy.” Starting in the autumn of 2020, it’s a multi-disciplinary project that brings together stage acting, music, dancing, and pro wrestling in a fantasy world. ARG is perhaps even closer to the ethos of Actwres, as each ARG show has a scriptwriter and director with intense rehearsing, just like the stage plays these women perform in.

Wrestling has often been at the crossroads of sports and acting. In 1990, Mary Tyler Moore was a guest at WrestleMania VI and said it was wonderful theater. This is a fantasy world of magic, mystery, and battles as the groups search for three sacred treasures.

Each AWG member has an alternate persona that is based on the group they are a member of. While there have been similar projects to this, like Hustle, and in the west, Sukeban that have some commonalities, this is truly theater that takes place inside of a wrestling ring and has a fleshed-out and serious tone more like Makai. 

For both performances, some of the talent had new parts as Taofasyue has yet to fully form with permanent members and Hagakure is currently trying to recruit new ninjas. The action part of the brand is essentially pro wrestling with a referee; one main difference is there are large sections of dialogue and storyline development that are weaved throughout the two hours. Western fans familiar with televised wrestling over the last three decades (the Monday Night War format) will see the similarities, as those have promos and angles with matches in between. The factions and characters in ARG are as follows: 

Kaguya – featuring Hisen (played by ACT), Kikyo (played by Yumi Agawa), Hakuju (played by Rensan), Hinata (played by Toiro Hina),Tokiwa (played by Sakura Nishio), and Momo (played by ANRI)

Sheloll – featuring Captain Carina (played by Mari), Anemone (played by Natsuki), Ado (played by Naru), Merjelly with Pyxis the parrot (played by Nene Arahata), and Clam (currently played by a rotating cast)

Star magical☆project – featuring Snow White (played by Mii), Cocotte Heart (played Sakura Mizushima), Titi Miel (played by Yufa), Dorothy Moon (played by Hinata Senya), and Lulu Leaf (play by Chii Aoba) and the Guardian Beast Uni (voiced by Sakura Kawaguchi)

Bijou – Émé (played by Nagisa Shiotsuki), Thys (played by RIko Fukunaga), Anb (played by Ayaka Tsukishiro), Spil (played Yui Tensho), and Dia (voice drama played by Mizuka Arai)

Hagakure – Shinobu Hagakure (played Marino Saihara) 

Taofasyue – Ling Ling (played by Ayano Irie), Pancai (played by Asako Mia), Yuki Ogami (played by Kyoka Iwai), Tiger Chan (Haruka Ishikawa), with Mari and Natsuki in guest roles as Lily-Chan and Mikako Karamomo respectively.

On December 14, ARG held an afternoon and evening performance of Actring Mirror Edition, which are usually focused on one faction and are self-contained stories. For the evening, Yumi began the show (ACT did the afternoon) explaining that when the lanterns on the ring posts are lit, photos are allowed. The show opened with everyone frozen and holding mirrors or looking glasses. A music box melody is played; music is played throughout the entire show and is a strong element to these productions in setting the tone of each scene and transgressing language barriers.

Mizushima was a lead in both shows, having to struggle throughout both in fierce battles that made her lose her confidence, and she was fantastic in walking to the ring for each match sullen and distraught.

Ayano was a focal point in the evening performance; her character is dreaming of being friends with her stuffed panda bear (played by the always chaotic Asako) that comes to life.

The faction, as stated earlier, has a rotating cast as they begin to settle on a group. Natsuki was a very comedic wrestler that yelled out the names of her special moves as she executed them.

Talent like Kyoka and Nene really get to show their acting chops and are featured more prominently. Rensan who has been playing her role in Kaguya since 2020 has confidence that amplifies her magnetic personality. Also, many of the wrestlers have different move sets, like Nene using a Falcon Arrow, Nagisa with her running corner kicks, or Mari getting to show off even more of her versatile martial arts skills. 

These are ambitious projects that take a lot of dedication to produce. There is nothing wrestling or wrestling-adjacent quite like ARG; the storylines are ongoing, so there are some question marks about the plot, but the beauty lies in the abstraction. Even if you are not fluent in Japanese, the rosters’ ability to emote, coupled with atmosphere via the lights and music, carries the day. The blurred lines between cosmic realms and reality can be viewed on AWG Nets or with a membership to the AWG Youtube channel.