In the event you don’t know Sukeban but, simply ask members of its rising fanbase why they love the Japanese feminine pro-wrestling model that blends wrestling with anime, which has been booming, manga, trend, and wonder to draw new, youthful audiences.
Now, Sukeban, which operates within the U.S. and Japan, is trying to get much more eyes on its woman gang characters and create new ones through a strategic partnership with NTT Docomo Studio & Reside (NDSL), a three way partnership between Japanese telecom large NTT Docomo and expertise company Yoshimoto devoted to growing, producing and exporting Japanese-focused content material to worldwide audiences. The companions clearly really feel that audiences world wide are able to cheer Sukeban creations at a time when Japanese tradition and content material, together with anime and manga, are in demand.
Sukeban’s tag group companion, NDSL, which has produced collection for the likes of Netflix and Prime Video, brings expertise throughout expertise improvement, content material distribution, and the usage of mental property to the ring.
Underneath the deal, unveiled on Thursday, Sukeban will look to “deliver its expertise, stay expertise and multi-platform content material to new audiences world wide” and “increase its programming affords for followers by growing new IP and content material codecs throughout a number of platforms.”
NDSL mentioned it was “actually excited” to companion with Sukeban “to ship revolutionary content material pushed by daring, distinctive storytelling to audiences world wide.” It added: “Sukeban is a treasure trove of popular culture, bringing collectively manga, anime, trend, music, and wonder — all via the highly effective lens of girls’s skilled wrestling.”
Sukeban lauded NDSL as “the right companion,” vowing: “Collectively we’ll deliver followers nearer than ever to Sukeban’s wrestlers, the stay motion, and the drama and storylines wherever they could unfold. NDSL is steeped in expertise relating to producing award-winning content material, growing expertise, and leveraging its sources for progress, all whereas preserving the individuality of what makes a model particular.”
Sukeban
Courtesy of Atiba Jefferson/Sukeban
Japan has lengthy been an epicenter of girls’s wrestling, “with its stars catapulting from the ring to turn into celebrities, film icons, and pop idols,” Sukeban highlighted. “Legendary wrestlers like Bull Nakano, the Crush Gals, the Magnificence Pair, and Dump Matsumoto have impressed the whole lot from trend and toys to anime and music.”
Sukeban has established a league and model round wrestlers from Japan. They’re cut up into rival gangs with distinct identities and subcultures and compete for the Sukeban World Championship. Bull Nakano presides over the league as commissioner.
The information of the strategic partnership comes simply days after Sukeban unveiled that it’s going to host its subsequent Championship Title Combat on July 5 in L.A. at Anime Expo 2025 in an immersive fan expertise in partnership with TikTok. Underneath the pact, TikTok will probably be a presenting companion for a five-match card, headlined by reigning World Champion Sareee Bomb defending her title in opposition to challenger Maya Mamushi. The occasion may also function particular musical performances and shock appearances.