Hell Teacher Nube 150

Mami-sensei's been obsessed with witchcraft, but she can only do so much being merely a scholar of the subject. But is she really ready to create an unholy alliance to give her true magic...let alone is she really ready for her new partner in crime!?

Vol. 18: Nube: The Man Who Knows The Past
#150: Descending Devil Bebelbub

8.
Narrator: Majo has a meaning of “Witch” –A woman with wisdom—a witch was originally an ordinary woman who gained magical power from an agreement with a devil by a ceremony called Sabbath (“the night party”).
(TN: This part was rather complex to translate since, like the last time Mami-sensei was in focus, we have words with multiple meanings and interpretations being said. Like last time, I decided to give a bit of an interpretation here to try and help us understand what is going on:
-First of all, the first words of the chapter are literally “Majo means witch”. While I could have used another word for the former, it was a means of translating Japanese to English for the Japanese audience…and since speakers of English generally know of the term “witch”, I kept the former in Japanese, then used any other further usage of “majo” as “witch”.
-Secondly, we get a similar usage of two meaning words with “Sabbath”, which gives off a Japanese reading of “yaen”, which translates into “night pary” or “night banquet”. In this case, I literally translated “yaen” mostly to give off a concept of what the Witches’ Sabbath is supposed to be.
-Finally, I guess I should go a bit into what a “Witches’ Sabbath” is. For the most part, it is a gathering of those who practice witchcraft, generally held in natural locations like forests and mountains, certain ritualized days and elements included such as the taking of drugs and the attendance of Satan by way of a goat or satyr, as well as certain elements of demon possession)
SFX: Goro goro goro…
Mami: Agamemnon Ogamemnon Suparomi Nuparomi
Students: Teacher~~what is this class~~?
Caption: Class 1-3 Homeroom Teacher Kuroi Mami: a 28 year old (!) who wants to be a witch.

9.
Mami: Make Nueno-sensei come to love “me” like I have come to love Nueno-sensei.
Nube: Um—so, the next problem will be done by Miki.
Miki: Eh—me--?
Nube: Yes, m…
Nube: M… “Me”……
Book: 5th Grade Math
SFX: Doki doki doki

10.
Nube: I love you. Me.
SFX: Hishi!
Students: Wa~~~
Hiroshi: Nube!!
Miki: Kya—what are you doing—
Kyouko: This is terrible, the worst. Has he become a lady killer and reached out his hands to even grade schoolers like me!?
Nube: I love you.
SFX: Gaba
Kyouko: Kyaaaa!
Shizuka: No~~what is this? This class’s teacher has become repulsive to me. (Kya--)
Matsui: He’s getting scorn from me.
Noriko: Me too—
Nube: I love you--!! (Ha ha ha)
(TN: The last couple pages sort of had to play out before I came to get the note together because it’s a really strange bit that required a lot of tricky translating. I guess I should try to explain it as best as I can.
-First of all, Mami-sensei says her spell so that, obviously, she would lure Nube into loving her. Of course, the way she says the spell, she emphasizes the word “atashi”, which is Japanese for “me” or “I” in a feminine quality. I went with “me” mostly because it made the rest of the bit a tad easier to translate though not without problems.
-The spell activated when Miki went “eh—atashii--?”, which is generally just “eh—me?”
-When Nube responded to the spell, he refers to Miki as “Me” (or “atashi”), since Mami’s spell specifically said that he falls for “me”, which of course refers to whomever says “me” as opposed to…well, the silly witch.
-Kyouko sort of makes it worse, but not because of the whole silly “me” bit, but because she ended up saying “atashira”, which is actually Japanese for not “me” but “us”. However, since it includes the word “atashi” (leading to Nube falling for it again) and I had to keep the “me” joke so that things could stay consistent, I ended up translating her words from being “we grade schoolers”, which it should have been, to “grade schoolers like me”.
-Shizuka made it even more screwed up since basically when she says “atashi”, she says it in a means that emphasizes it as “I”, as in “I hate the teacher in this class”. But sadly to make the “me” bit work its way to the end, I had to change it to “this class’s teacher has become repulsive to me” to make it keep working and get across what Shizuka was actually trying to say.
-And Matsui and Noro-chan…well they were easy enough to translate the “me” out of so there really is no need for any further comment)

11.
SFX: Gara
Mami: Ara, Teacher.
SFX: Beshi beshi beshi
Nube: Please shape up; I’ve been falling for these suspicious spells time and time again. Didn’t you learn that from before!?
Nube: Please do your classes properly; I’m begging you, enough!
SFX: Pisha
Mami: U—h, it failed again.
Mami: Right: I’ve done witchcraft that’s just the type that has been researched in books. To use real witchcraft, I ultimately must make a contract with a devil…

12.
Mami: Alright, I’ve decided. If I summon a real devil—then
SFX: Gari gari
Mami: (to herself) But…if I do that, Nueno-sensei will get angry…
Nube: Are you fine with that? Making a contract with the devil is to do lewd things with a devil…
Mami: But I ultimately want to become a real witch…even if I do lewd things with a devil…I’m sorry, Nueno-sensei.
Mami: Alright, it’s done.
Mami: Agamemnon Ogamemnon, I summon forth from the depths of hell an evil being, an ugly soul.

13.
Mami: Sata—n, Sata—n, Omotes Delnis
Mami: Sata—n, Sata—n, Omotes Delnis
SFX: Paaa…
SFX: Dobabababa
Mami: Hie!

14.
Mami: U…uwa, it was a success.
Bebelbub: My name is Bebelbub. Are you the girl who wants to be linked in a witch’s contract?
(TN: Just to make sure: while some probably wonder if this is actually supposed to be the demonic entity known as “Beelzebub”, it probably is just written as such in parody. The Japanese pronunciation for “Beelzebub” is “Beruzebubu”, while this devil’s name is “Beberububu”, which I have translated into “Bebelbub”)
Bebelbub: Ku ku ku: fine then. You will devote your body and your heart to me. Ku ku ku, it will be at once…
Mami: ……
Mami: J…just a moment! Show a bit of your power.
Bebelbub: What?

15.
Bebelbub: Are you saying you can’t depend on my power?
Mami: But this is my long awaited contract. There’s no—thing I can do with a devil that doesn’t have power.
Bebelbub: Fu…fine, you’re one there’s nothing I can do about.
Mami: N—then, for the moment, make me the most beautiful woman on Earth.
Bebelbub: An easy order. (Ha~~ha ha)
Bebelbub: Darkness. Pitch-black power of the universe! Present the greatest beauty on earth to this miserable young lass!!
(TN: Bebelbub ended up saying two words that had the same or similar meanings, so I had to slightly adjust one. The first was purely “Yami yo”, which is merely “darkness”. But then when saying “pitch-black power of the universe”, he used the word “ankoku”, which also technically stands for “darkness”. Since I really didn’t want to use “dark power” alongside “darkness”, I ended up saying “pitch-black power” to differentiate slightly from “darkness” of “yami”)
SFX: Gogogogogo | Guooo
Mami: A…amazing, it’s real witchcraft…

16.
SFX: Shaka shaka | Pafu pafu | Ga~~
Bebelbub: Fuu
Mami: ………
Bebelbub: Owowow, that hurts, that hurts.
SFX: Gyu~~~
Mami: That was shady~~! You!
Bebelbub: Whaat?
Mai: I’ll give you one more chance. Make me greatly rich!

17.
Bebelbub: An easy order. (Ha~~~hahaha)
SFX: Shu
SFX: Guwa
Sign: Wacdonalds
(TN: Obviously this is a parody of the “McDonalds” fast food chain, which is rather prominent and notable in Japanese society in its own way as a hangout for Japanese kids and young adults as opposed to the mere fast food place it is in North America)
Bebelbub: Alright: that’s two cheeseburgers. Currently a potato is on sale with the value cost of a meal but how about it?
(TN: Alright, I know I really should just have “would you like fries with that?” here as opposed to what I had Bebelbub said, but for the most part fries are only seen as part of the kids meals in Japan. Usually the main side dish with a typical combo meal at a Japanese McDonalds is a hash brown or corn, with the “potato” being usually in reference to the “hash brown”)
SFX: Pi pi
Bebelbub’s Apron: Wacdonalds
Sign: Hourly Wage for Part-Timers: 800 Yen
Izuna: Why does it seem like a strange feeling—from him—
Mami: ………

18.
Bebelbub: Owowow, that hurts, that hurts.
SFX: Gyugyu~~
Bebelbub: Didn’t you want to see my witchcraft!?
Mami: Where is that witchcraft!! (to herself) He’s truly worthless beyond doubt!
Mami: Ah.
Nube: N? Who is that pitch-black bacteria-like being…he’s suspicious.
(TN: Nube’s referring of Bebelbub as bacteria really has some truth to it: when germs are depicted for children in Japanese media, they typically appear like a little-black creature that looks like a horned demon. Probably the most notable of these beings that uses this is Baikinman (literally “Bacteriaman”), the main villain from Takeshi Yanase’s popular children’s manga/anime “Anpanman”)
Mami: U~~m, no, that…this person is
Miki: Look, look, his whole body is in tights. Is that a lover in terrible black? (Whisper whisper)
Bebelbub: What bacteria? I am the Great Devil Bebelbub.
SFX: Shiwa!
Mami: Oh no.

19.
Nube: Wh…what!? In spite of me saying it just that much, you’ve finally summoned an actual devil?
Mami: Hi~~I’m sorry, I’m sorry.
Nube: Everyone step back; he’s dangerous! (to himself) Ku, a real devil…I may not win with my power.
Miki: Kya—
SFX: Za
Bebelbub: Will you do this? Human, Ku ku ku…
Nube: Namu
SFX: Ba
Bebelbub: Guwa, regret!!
SFX: Gaku | Juuu~~
Nube: Super weeeak~~!!

20.
Sign: Night-Watch Room
Nube: Really…return to hell quickly, since I’ll divide with you the power of the Oni no Te!
SFX: Paaa…
Bebelbub: I’m sorry, youngster.
Sign: Fire Caution
SFX: Zuzuzu…
Cup: Tea
Nube: Ha ha ha: even devils have from the best to the worst, just like there is a variety from the Oni of the Oni no Te to ghouls even among oni. How about it? If you make a contract with this devil? He’s harmless to man and beast.
(TN: The “ghouls” that Nube refer to is the Japanese term of “gaki”, such as the “gakidama” we came across in Vol. 3. They also have a meaning of “preta”, which is a “hungry ghost”, typically a being that will eat anything and everything to sustain their hunger due to their insatiable greed in a previous life)
Mami: Don’t be jo—king. The power of a witch is in proportion to the power of the contracted devil. I can’t become a witch with this intrusion!!
Mami: At any rate, I’ll make him returned goods to hell!
Nube: Just a moment, what’s with your placement?
Bebelbub: Uuh.
Bebelbub: Uwaa~~h. Rejected again…

21.
Bebelbub: In the 800 years since I’ve been born, I’ve been continued to be rejected for contract from witches…I thought I could get a contract this time and yet; I thought I could do th—at thing and thi—s thing with that woman this time and yet~~~
Nube: He~~y hey hey.
Nube: Then…perhaps you’ve been a child for 800 years…
Bebelbub: Uoo~~Don’t say that~~
Miki: Pathetic. (Whisper whisper|Hiso Hiso)
Kyouko: I’m certain Nube is sympathizing.
Nube: ……
Nube: Well well, but today you’ll quietly go ba…
Bebelbub: No way, no way—(sorry about the tea)
Bebelbub: I was suited for that cute, beautiful Mami-sensei. I will contract her to be a witch!!
SFX: Za
Nube: Hey hey, where is that generic character…
(TN: Again like in vol. 16, Mami-sensei is referred to as a “henohenomoheji”, the description for a generic face made of Japanese characters)

22.
Bebelbub: Mami for li—fe!!
(TN: Bebelbub literally yells out “Mami Ino—chi”, which I translated as “Mami for Life”)
Nube: He…hey!
SFX: Ba
Mami: Really! That was a major failure!
Mami: This time I’ll summon an honest devil. It’s a re-challenge.
Mami: Agamemnon Ogamemnon, I summon forth from the depths of hell an evil being, an ugly soul.

23.
Mami: Sata—n, Sata—n, Omotes Delnis
Mami: Sata—n, Sata—n, Omotes Delni…
SFX: Dobababa
SFX: Bari bari bari bari
Mami: !? Wh…what’s that!? That’s not a devil!?

24.
Bebelbub: Heeve ho heeve ho
Caption: He actually can’t fly.
Mami: Kyaaaa!!
Bebelbub: Mami-sensei! Th…that’s the ferocious Cerberus, the famous guardian of hell! Why is a being like him…
(TN: While Cerberus is the famed canine-guardian of hell, he is only such in Greco-Roman mythology, not in the beliefs of Pagans [or Paganism tied to some Judeo-Christian concepts]. A slight side-note: Cerberus is actually related to the Sanskrit term “Sarvaraa” (meaning “spotted”), used as an epithet for one of the dogs of Yama, the lord of death in many Eastern religions including Hindu, Buddhism and in China and Japan. So…basically you can call the creature “Spot” and get its name right.)
Bebelbub: Mami-sensei! Run!
Mami: Bebelbub!
Mami: Do something! You’re the tail end of devils!
Bebelbub: E…even if you say that…if you speak of that in the in the human world, it’s strong like a lion…
Cerberus: Gaaa
Mami: Kyaa!
Bebelbub: ! Mami-sensei!!

25.
Bebelbub: Funnu---!
SFX: Gobaa

26.
Bebelbub: ………
SFX: Shuu… | Boto…boto…
Nube: You ‘re a devil after all. You potentially are hiding an incredible power.
Bebelbub: This power…is in me…
Mami: ………
Mami: Alright, it’s decided! Let’s make the contract!
Bebelbub: Right!
Nube: He…hey!!
Nube: St…stop that, Mami-sensei.
Bebelbub: Really!? We’re really making a contract!?
Mami: Yep!
Bebelbub: Ku--! These 800 years of unswerving determination were long—already my regrets are…

27.
Sign 1: Hotel Makuhari
Sign 2: Entrance
Sign 3:
Usage Fee (Capacity: 2 people)
Resting: 4800 Yen
Lodging: 9600 Yen
(Sealed Off: 10:00 AM – 5:00 PM; Time of Service)
(TN: The “sealed off” part I didn’t quite get, though the kanji reading of it is “heiin” and I assume it’s the time when the hotel is closed for services like laundry and cleaning)
Bebelbub: Ju…just a moment, I…I’m going to, um…isn’t this sudden?
Mami: Eh!? Isn’t this the contract?
Bebelbub: Therefore, here, men and women have much more of a procedure but…hey, we still don’t know each other well mutually and
Mami: Eh!?
Kyouko: They’re starting from correspondences.
Miki: He hasn’t had a woman’s presence in 800 years. What an innocent. It’ll be another 100 years until the contract.
Mami: Really, enough~~

28.
Nube-sensei’s
(Useless) SUPPLEMENTAL EXPLANATION
(TN: The latest rendition of the Youkai Encyclopedia/Weird Files actually has a weird double meaning based on its reading and it’s kanji. The reading of this version of the extras is “Nube-sensei no Hosoku Setsumei”. “Hosoku” is the key word, which is the “Supplemental” in our new title. But the kanji for “Ho”, which is still there, has been “knocked down” by another kanji: while the reading remains “hosoku”, the new kanji has a reading here of “da” and has a meaning of “superfluous” or “useless”. Thus instead of merely just calling this the “Supplemental Explanation”, I sort of kept both names, with the “Useless” before the “Supplemental” part)

#1: Devils

Devils are evil existences that are equivalent to the Oni of Japan. Even among those, the most famous and strongest is “Satan”, the demon king. (Note: the 6th planet is called “Saturn” in English, but since this was a corruption in the English style of the name of “Saturnus”, the God of Agriculture in Roman myth, it isn’t connected to Satan. To begin with, Satan is pronounced “Seitan” in English…)

Satan originally was a strong, beautiful angel who was called “Lucifer, the Bringer of Light”. But he was exiled from Heaven due to the crime of arrogance and became the governor of hell. Its appearance generally is drawn as a monster that has the head of a goat, but that’s because people of the Middle East, which is the land where Satan originates, are familiar with goats as a nomadic people. When the Japanese saw Satan for the first time, it wasn’t as a goat; it may have been seen in the form of a fox or a cow. Also, he seems like he can change into the form of a human. When investigating the testimony of humans that have said “I’ve met Satan”, it’s understood that he dresses his body in latest, en vogue high-class fashion no matter when the era. Incidentally in the present, he seems to take the appearance of a businessman who wears deep-purple high-grade Italian suits and Gucci loafers. However, since there’s a faint but rotten smell from his body, he’ll be understood immediately by people with quick perception. This vicinity seems to be a thing that’s common to a youko with an incomplete human-transformation jutsu.

Other scriptures in the Bible introduce other devils such as “Beelzebub, the Lord of the Flies”, but all of them are aliases of Satan.
(TN: We’ve got a lot to talk about here regarding devils, in particular our favorite “man of wealth and taste”, so I guess I’ll just list them off one after another:
1. Saturnus (the god who is commonly confused with Satan due to the pronunciation and is better known as “Saturn”), is a god who is worshiped by the Romans as the god of many aspects, in particular time but also including dance, agriculture, justice and strength. Though not really related to any Greek god, he is commonly confused and mixed with Cronus, the Titan who is notable as the father of many of the classic Greco-Roman pantheon (though to the Romans, he is the one who is the father of the pantheon just like Cronus). As stated, he is the god by which Saturn gets its name, as well as the day of the week known as Saturday and the pagan Saturnalia holiday around the winter solstice.
2. On the other hand, Satan has a bit more of a complex history regarding his existence. His name comes from the Hebrew word meaning “obstruct” or “oppose” and was a major factor in Judaism as an “accuser” used by God to test the faith of men, such as in the book of Job. Some other Jewish text (some accepted by the Hasids or Kabbalah) see Satan as merely a man who tests wills akin to a prostitute, tempting people to do things in test to their loyalty to their God. By the era when the Jewish bible was translated into the Septuagint, a Greek bible that would ultimately be the bible of the period by the development of Christianity and known and used by disciples of Jesus, it was translated into “diabolos”, the “slanderer” which would ultimately be changed into the word now known as “devil”. By the New Testament and into Islamic texts, the “devil” and “Satan” became synonymous with one another and he gained the notoriety of being a fallen angel who rebelled against God and who will lead the forces of evil during the battle against God during the final climactic confrontation as the “dragon” of Revelations.
3. The term of “Lucifer” usually is tied to Satan, but has a meaning in Latin of “light-bearer” (lucem ferre). Early texts merely mention Lucifer as an archangel who tried to become “higher than the heavens” and was hurled down into an abyss, but later he was made one and the same as Satan within the New Testament texts. He also is given the nickname of the “Morning Star”, which was originally used based around a Babylonian king who saw himself mightier and greater than all, but the nickname would ultimately also be tied to the Lucifer/Satan aspect. In actuality, the Morning Star is merely the appearance of the planet Venus during the dawn of the morning.
4. Beelzebub, the “Lord of the Flies”, is a term originally introduced as a Semetic god of the Philistine city of Ekron (under the name of “Ba’al Zebub”) Some consider this being as Satan as well, but there are others who consider it as a cherubim cast into hell and as one of the “Seven Princes”, possessing high position alongside Lucifer and Leviathan or Lucifer and Astaroth. [though in Milton’s “Paradise Lost”, Beelzebub is considered second only to Satan himself in the unholy hierarchy].)

TN: Well at least he's not one of those devils that just wants to throw himself into weird, indecent, lustful behavior like...well, so many others in pop culture. Bebelbub may be somewhat strange but he is still a gentleman...for a devil. Admittedly, this was a really fun chapter, mostly considering that Mami-sensei nearly became a one-note character after what happened last time she showed up (sure doing it in her intro chapter was fine but I guess the whole Yukime angst nearly ruined everything). The mere fact that she would actually take the next step in her witch training shows that she is determined to be more complete, even if incompetence and strange factors always seem to get in her way (as is typical in a series of this sort) Though for me, what made the chapter was Bebelbub himself: with so many devils in pop culture sort of being these evil or suave SOBs, Bebelbub was hilarious in his good intention but ultimately wimpy and silly behavior. Obviously his incompitence made him a perfect match for Mami-sensei, but the work he had to go through just to get to that point made it all worthwhile, especially considering how much he and Nube seemed to have in common. (losers with oni/devil powers...yeah, that explains a lot) Though as great as the chapter was, the whole intro with the "me" joke nearly threw me off due to how much I had to work with just to make it work appropriately and make it funny and interesting. It's one of those moments that nearly makes me regret translating manga...in my own weird way. (sure I like the puns and silliness, but to make it work without driving me or my audience insane...that's hard)