Haru is truly an incredible rookie, and her booking reflects that Koda sees it too.

She’s known to have been a fan before joining, but she’s also more than just a TJPW fan, she’s clearly a passionate wrestling fan in general, as exemplified by her choice of submission, a remarkably old school armbar for someone so young.

And not only does she show measurable improvement and variety in every match, her wins all make sense in context.

For instance, I had an issue with how Mizuki won her title off of Yuka, it felt more like Yuka losing in that one last flurry than Mizuki having a gameplan and beating the odds.

Haru? Nah. She’s written like a thinker. She doesn’t win against people above her in the card cause she’s stronger, or more athletic, or more passionate, she wins cause she has an ace in the hole ready specifically for her opponent, because she lives and breathes wrestling.

She reversed Wakana’s submission smoothly into her finisher, and she stunned Toga when she was setting up her Uranage after working her right arm (a key to all her signature offence) the whole match to snatch the win.

The only other person who gets and uses fight psychology like this in TJPW, in my mind, is Misao, who happens to be my other fave in the company.

Everyone else understands drama, they get both drama and building a match in a way that makes technical sense.

I am exceedingly happy that Haru got her win without making Toga feel like any less of a threat, and that they’re even challenging together.