Hell Teacher Nube 203

For the longest time, Nube has possessed the power of an Oni sealed in his left hand, which has helped him save those he protected time and time again. But what if it wasn't the only Oni that exists in the depths of hell...and what will this mean for Nube and his friends, allies and students of Doumori!?

#203: Doumori Town's Ultimate Decisive Battle!
The 1st: The Coming of the Oni!
(TN: This point in the series is the beginning of several longer multi-part stories with one title and several sub-titles, which for the most part will take us to the end of "Hell Teacher Nube". (though these types of titles will only be for a couple of these multi-parters) Each part has a intro word of "sono", which is a way of saying "the", thus "Sono 1" has a translation here of "The 1st", making "Sono 2" being "The 2nd" and so on)

183.
Narrator: Doumori Park: 12 midnight. On this day, a crisis there had never been descended onto the town of Doumori.
Dog: ?
SFX: Bachi bachi bachi
SFX: Bachi bachi bachi pari pari pari...
Dog: Kyai--n
SFX: Guaaaa | Bachi bachi bachi bachi

184.-185.
Nube: It's come!!
(Title page...yeah, a jungle gym wheel unleashing an oni...that's not something you'd see any day...and definitely something that will be make things more hellish)

186.
SFX: Shuuu...
"Oni": ...Is it here...the town...with the human that sealed the Oni...
"Oni": Fufufu...

187.
Hiroshi: Ah--that was amusing.
Kyouko: A Jump bought first thing in the morning is amusing--
Hiroshi: Wh...what is this!?
Katsuya: Wh...what's---wrong, Hiroshi?
Hiroshi: Tenten-kun: an obscene thing: arrested for an exhibitionist crime! Makibaou: a new development: this time it's a space horse race on the moon!! Yu-Gi-Oh: he becomes a billionaire in Las Vegas!! BOY: Hareluya is captured by an enemy and is given a woman's body! Nube: Yukime dies again!
Page: Advance Notice for Next Issue
Caption: We're sorry, everyone.
(TN: Hiroshi is obviously reading the "next issue" section of WSJ, with a lot of series that had become rather prominent in the magazine by this point in the mid 1990s, mostly concentrating on series of that era outside those that had become even more notable/massive (like KochiKame or Kenshin) or those that were just starting out and probably weren't up to that level yet (like some new series that had appeared a while back about some pirate kid with rubber powers...like that's going to survive a round of cuts in Jump!) While Nube obviously is well known and I did go into Tsunomaru's "Midori no Makibaou" in #84, I think the rest of these do deserve at least an introduction:
-"Hanasaka Tenshi Tenten-kun" ("Snot-Nosed Angel Tenten-kun"): A gag series by Kazumata Oguri that ran between 1997 and 2000 [and even had an anime rendition], it is about the unlikely partnership between a strange angel from heaven and a talentless boy.
-"Yu-Gi-Oh!": This series really needs no introduction but it could have a bit of context for those who need it: created by Kazuki Takahashi and running between 1996 and 2004, the series at the time was still for the most part a middling manga series that was still focused on the strange relationship between a boy and an "alter ego" who was unleashed from a mysterious "Millenium Puzzle" and who judged and defeated foes through various games which he controlled. A short while after this Nube chapter, the series would enter the "Duelist Kingdom" arc of the manga, which would essentially further define and evolve the series into focusing on one game in particular: the popular "Monsters and Wizards"/"Duel Monsters" game that would further push the popularity of the series and have it emerge fron the pack as one of the defining Jump series of the late 90s/early 00s.
-"Hallelujah II: BOY": Essentially the "sequel" to a short, one volume "Hallelujah" series created by Haruto Umezawa, this series ran from 1992 to 1999 and involved the punk "son of God" coming down to Earth to help out a kid in need.)
Hiroshi: Amazing---next week will be amusing---!
SFX: Kira kira kira
Kyouko: Jump's advance announcement is deceptive every week...they are tranquil--... (Fu)
(TN: Kyouko for the most part is right: the "next issue announcements" in the final pages of Jump usually are those assumed by the publisher/editor and are typically not associated with what really will happen in the next WSJ issue)
SFX: Za

188.
(TN: For the most part there are so many flags and charms Izuna has on her that it really would be a waste to try and translate them all here)
Kyouko: Izuna-san, what's wrong with you? That's heavy equipment...
Izuna: Shh
Izuna: Be careful. Last night, I felt an unbelievably powerful evil youki in Doumori.
Kyouko: Heh.
Hiroshi: For example, did Nube release youki for buying porno books from a vending machine?
SFX: Mon mon
Miki: Ahahaha, he would do that.
Izuna: Wrong!
Izuna: It isn't that, it's...
SFX: Burororo...kiki---

189.
Tamamo: Is Nueno-sensei here?
SFX: Gacha
Izuna: !!
Hiroshi: Ah, Tamamo.
Izuna: Ah~~aaah, you!!
Tamamo: Mu? What, that misunderstanding girl of the other day?
(TN: Yeah, this chapter definitely takes place after #197, where Tamamo and Izuna had their little...misunderstanding)
Izuna: That~~~heinous fox is alive?
Kyouko: Ju...just a moment, Izuna-san.
Izuna: So then the youki last night was yours. Today I'm going to kill you.
Izuna: Spiritual Power: Spontaneous Combustion!!
SFX: Bo

190.
Tamamo: I'm sorry, but I don't have the time to play today.
SFX: Su | Gooo~~~
SFX: Fuwa...
Izuna: Kyaa!?
"Octopus": Youkai eroero~~~
(TN: The "eroero" here is an onomotopeia for eroticism I assume)
SFX: Nyoro nyoro nyoro
Caption: Hallucination Jutsu: a black magic of foxes that shows illusions using moving objects.
Izuna: Ahahaha, kyahahaha, stop it you lech, I'm ticklish
SFX: Poi poi poi
Kyouko: I...Izuna-san, Izuna-san.

191.
Kyouko: Well then, Tamamo is a youkai that possesses power that's equal to Nube... (That is a secret to everyone but)
Miki: Isn't that so, that Tamamo is a spiritually powered person.
Katsuya: Yeah.
SFX: Ze~~ze~~
Izuna: A different youki is coming....it's a big shot this time too...it...it can't be that this is last night's...
Kyouko: ?
Yukime: Nueno-sensei--!
SFX: Byuu!
Izuna: You~~youkai-- (Uga~~~)
Kyouko: Izuna-san, Izuna-san
Yukime: Ara, you're a girl I'm seeing for the first time. Are you a friend of Kyouko-chan? (Nice to meet you)
Izuna: Garururu (Grrr)

192.
Izuna: Akuryou Taisan Akuryou Taisan Akuryou Taisan
SFX: Bashi bashi bashi
Yukime: Kyaa!
SFX: Byuu~~~
SFX: Goki
SFX: Goki
Katsuya: She's see-through
Kyouko: Hot water, hot water.
Yukime: Teacher--

193.
Kyouko: Well then, Yukime-san is Nube's girlfriend; she's quite strong.
SFX: Gobo gobo | Jo---...
Sign: City Water Vessel
(TN: The "yousuiki" that is used here is a combination of "yousui" or "irrigation water"/"city water" and the "ki" that is the kanji referring to it as a vessel for it, such as a ditch or a waterway)
Katsuya: Today is a major gathering of everyone.
Miki: Is something happening?
Hayame: Pardon m---e, is Nueno-sensei here--?
SFX: Zapa---
Kyouko: Hayame-san
Izuna: Youkai exorcism, youkai exorcism~~~~
SFX: Para para para
Hayame: Kya---
Hayame: I will sing a tune.
Hayame: (singing) I have lost to~~poverty~~no, I am lost to the world~~~I have even been chased~~~from the town~~~might as well~~go and die~~~beautifully~~~
(TN: The song that Hayame is singing here (which I know I'm probably not matching syllable for syllable but I tried) is "Shouwa Kakure Susuki" (The Dying Susuki of Showa; "Susuki" is a type of Japanese pampas grass), which was a hit for the duo of "Sakura and Ichirou" in 1975)
Izuna: He~~y, hey hey, I'll die...
Caption: There is a youryoku of manipulating a person's heart in a mermaid's song

194.
Sign: Staff office
SFX: Oooooh...
Nube: Hm--m, this youki is...it really is...I'm not mistaken...
Tamamo: Nueno-sensei.
SFX: Gara
Yukime: Nueno-sensei
SFX: Gara
Tamamo: Mu
Yukime: Uh

195.
Tamamo: The enemy!?
SFX: Goo | Byuu!
Yukime: The evil ki!!
Nube: ...So
Nube: Everyone, have our first meeting greetings ended?

196.
Kyouko: These are somehow...strong members.
Hiroshi: What are they beginning?...
SFX: Waku waku (tremble tremble)
Tamamo: However, Nueno-sensei socializing with these queer, accessory youkai is...unexpected.
(TN: Tamamo's term for the other beings here is "komono", which could be taken as "small article" but has a literal translation of "accessory". I was thinking of maybe using "small fry" here but I decided to use "accessory" mostly due to Tamamo's high nature of himself...)
Yukime: Wh...what accessories, you conceited fox!
Izuna: I'm not a youkai!
Nube: Well--well--well--
Principal: Ah--Nueno-kun, the morning staff meeting is...
SFX: Gara...
Principal: N...no, it's fine...
Nube: Everyone, you do understand the reason we've gathered.
Nube: Last night, some being that possesses unbelievable youki came to this town.
Yukime: So then...you felt it too, teacher.
Izuna: I felt it too.
Hayame: Me too.

197.
Tamamo: Fu...nothing can be done of it. Did they just feel the youki...you didn't realize it's true form.
SFX: Muka
Yukime: Eh
Tamamo: I'll tell you: the youki was...
Nube: No, wait, let me say it.
Nube: That youki was an Oni at the same level as...
Nube: My left hand.
(TN: It was tough trying to figure whether or not to translate it proper or go with the context where the "Oni" revelation is in the same panel as the picture of the Oni that's Nube's hand, but considering the revelation would be shocking whether if it mentioned it was an "Oni" or "the same as the Oni in the left hand", I translated it as is with the revelation of the power level there instead of the revelation of it being an Oni)

198.
Nube: I who possess the Oni no Te felt that...I'm certain of it.
Yukime: That's
Izuna: How strong is this Oni?
Tamamo: Well then...I estimated it from the youki from when it appeared and roughly compared to the spiritual power of Nueno-sensei...
Tamamo: 500 times.
Nube: Ge!?
Hayame: One, two, three...
(TN: It was tough to figure how Hayame would count there but she was mostly just doing an abridged version of classical numerics, going "hii, huu, mii", which is short for 'hitotsu' (one), 'hutatsu' (two) and 'mitsu' (three))
Izuna: Haha...then what about my spiritual power?
Tamamo: 5000 times.
Yukime: We...were you making a mistake on that?
Izuna: You're lying, lying! He's weak at arithmatic since he's a fox. (Ha ha ha)

199.
Kyouko: Now that they mention it, when Nube fought the Oni in the past
Hiroshi: Tamamo...said that the Oni's power was many hundreds of times Nube.
Miki: Whatever the odds are isn't a story for this--sort of dimension.
(TN: Somehow I think Miki's comment here more or less talks about the difference between Nube and many other shonen series where the battle structure and odds seem way different than how they are depicted in this one...but don't quote me on that. And of course, read #102-103 to see what Kyouko and Hiroshi are talking about regarding Nube and the Oni's first encounter)
Nube: ......Right...even though I've said that I've suppressed the Oni's power, it's because Minako-sensei sealed it from the inside by making herself a sacrifice. If I battle it flat out...I'll be squashed like a bug...
Izuna: So...what--do we do?
Nube: That Oni is somehow connected with the Oni in the Oni no Te...I have a hunch for it...no, I can feel it. I'm not going to impose trouble on all of you.
Yukime: Te...teacher!
Nube: It came here because I am here. If I don't do something alone
Yukime: That's...what can you do alone!?
Tamamo: ...Well, at most you'll be killed by the Oni in a place there is no one such as where the people of this town won't get hurt. Would that how it be?
Izuna: That's!

200.
Nube At any rate, we have an opponent that we can't do anything about in the position where we have to take it on as a group. I'm grateful for you coming, but this is my problem. Go home.
Yukime: I'm staying behind; with whatever teacher says...
Nube: Don't talk stupidly.
Tamamo: To lose my rival with this shape...but it's one in ten-thousand that there may be some method. If I think of it, let's take it on.
Izuna: I...I'm still in the midst of training--? I'm half-a-man--? Ha ha ha...
Hiroshi: Nube...
Hayame: ZZZ...

201.
Voice: Don't be joking.
Izuna: There isn't a reason that we can win in fighting an enemy that's many hundred times in power. I'm done with that teacher. A--ww, he was a great quarreling opponent and yet
Izuna: Well, Izuna-chan still has a ways to go from here---even if my spiritual power is smal now, I'll grow many hundreds of times from here---and I'll marry a good man and become rich--
"Boy": Hey, you. From where were you going home now?

202.
Izuna: Wh...what are you, a flirt? (to herself) Wow (heart) he may have a relative liking for silky hair...(heart)
"Boy": You have the scent of an Oni. You're an ally of the person who sealed an Oni.
Izuna: Eh? (to herself) You...ki...
"Boy": First, I will victimize his allies. Let's give accompaniment to this battle overture.
(TN: This "Oni Boy" has a peculiar trait of speaking in various musical terms in his battle; the first of which here is "Jokyoku", which he uses as "Overture")
Izuna: The...Oni no Te!?

203.
Izuna: A...Akuryou Taisan
SFX: Ba!
"Boy": Watch yourself die.
SFX: Doo
(End of Vol. 23)

204.-205.
The barrel cover for the battle with the cold-hearted "Oni" has been cut off...!
JC "Hell Teacher Nube" Vol. 24:
Doumori Town's Ultimate Decisive Battle!
To Be on Sale in April

206.
"Nube" (Hinokami Akira): Gotta catch Vol. 24 too!
"Tamamo": What is this?
(TN: Yeah, with the Pokemon-esque chapter in this volume and Nube as Hinokami Akira, somehow this was going to be inevitable with the franchise rising up circa 1997-1998 [and my interpretation of the English version of the Pokemon slogan]. Its tough to say that having "Nube as Hinokami" works as a binding/final say aspect, but unfortunately there really isn't anything we can say or do about it by this point so we're sort of stuck with it. Though I'm not really sure about some of the choices [I mean at least make Tamamo Ninetails if you're with the original 151...and Ivysaur for Izuna?], I guess I could go into a whole list of what Pokemon fits each Nube character if I had the time to do it...then again I may just!)

TN: Well...the time has finally come. I've sort of knew it was coming considering how we've been working our way through the series, but the chapter that it does has finally been translated. Welcome to what is essentially the "game-changer" chapter of Hell Teacher Nube...and the beginning of what will be the final stretch of the manga. Yeah, there's still about a bit over a quarter of the series left...and its not like every chapter from here on out is going to be important or monumental or that it's going to be an utter genre shift like a bunch of other series that reach this point...but this is still a signal that things aren't quite going to be as quiet or the same as they had been up to this point in particular. There will still be a lot of one shots but most of the stories here on out are longer and more intricate than what can typically be done. Sadly it does seem to take away a bit from what made Nube so lovable and does seem to ignore a lot of the many amazing characters and situations that make Nube...but we're here now and we just have to put up with what is to come from here on.

As for the chapter itself...well, it's pretty much the beginning of the story and sort of finally allows for certain things to finally happen, particularly the meeting of several characters that surprisingly haven't met until this very time. The scene where Tamamo and Yukime see each other for the first time and blow up Nube in the process is classic, showing that somehow Nube just makes bedfellows with the weirdest of allies. (that panel with Nube half-frozen and half burned with the others surrounding him is a classic panel) You could find it strange that we had so much Izuna in the chapter considering that she mostly was just bait for being bossed around by anyone and everyone, but somehow being she's one of the few allies Nube knows that can do something, her being there does make some sense. (Hayame...well there is a reason but that really won't be realized or figured out until we reach the end, which is a shame really but she isn't really the same as the others being there) On the other hand, I do find it strange that Nube would ignore the pleas of the rest of his group to have them help out and decide to take on the Oni alone, mostly because he thinks that it is too powerful for them and doesn't want to see anyone get hurt. Obviouly with Yukime being Yukime it was not going to stop her, but Tamamo did take the concept rather easily...well for Tamamo. You sort of wish Nube's students could do something about this too considering that this is their teacher and that he is about to enter a battle he may never come back from, but somehow they more or less have their own thing to do and did a good job just seeing what was happening but not interfering outside some commentary here or there. (as well as that weird "next Jump issue" bit at the start...really, do we really want Yugi as rich as Kaiba?) And as for that ending...well, it is weird that "a young boy" would be the guise of our opponent but that will be further explained on how it is used as the story goes on...which it will next time/next volume!