Billy Bat 7

BILLY BAT #7

tl by molokidan

01)
Box: 1949 (Showa 24)
July 5--

S: Oh yeah...I was supposed to stop by Satou Eisaku-san's place...
D: Shall I turn around?
S: No, forget it...
S: I want to do some shopping, so stop at Mikoshi.

02)
S: I have to be at the office by 10 today.
S: Ah, Shirakiya will be fine, just keep heading straight.
D: Looks like they're still closed.
D: Shall I head to the office?
S: Yeah...
S: Take me to Kanda Station.
D: Want me to stop here?
S: No...
S: Turn right.
S: Ah...go to the bank.
D: The Chiyoda Bank, President?

03)
S: Go a bit faster.

Chapter 7 - The Beginning of a Labyrinth

04)
K: Sensei...
K: Sensei, what will you do about your meal?
K: It looks like you haven't touched it at all...

05)
sfx: kari kari kari
K: Alright...how about something to drink, then...?
sfx: kari kari kari
K: It's pretty hot today as well, huh?

06)
S: Finished!!
K: Oh...
K: Thank you for all your hard work!!
S: ...so what did you want to talk to me about?
K: Huh?
S: What did you come here to talk to me about?
K: Ah...yes, about that...
S: What's your name?

07)
K: Yamagata...Kevin Yamagata.
S: You don't have a Japanese name?
K: Kaneji, you write it with the kanji "kane" and "mochi."
K: My parents came over to America and were extremely poor, so all they could do was wish for me to become rich...
S: Money, huh...
S: Money can buy happiness, huh?
K: N...no, but...
K: Having some is better than not...
S: So that's why you stole my art?
K: N...no, that's not it. I didn't do it on purpose!!
K: I just heard from a policeman in America that there was a manga in Japan that resembled my comic...so I...!!

08)
K: After the war I ended, I lived in Japan and worked as an interpreter.
K: I think that's when I saw your picture, sensei. And I unconsciously...
S: I suppose this is the manga that policeman saw in Japan.
manga title: Bat Boy's Great Adventure
S: It's a pulp book I put out right after the war ended.
S: I was able to sell quite a few.

09)
K: Amazing...
S: I used to draw art for paper shows.
S: But now the age of comics is coming.
S: Look at this, and you'll see.
S: What do you think of this...
S: Tezuka Osamu guy?
K: Wow...!!
S: Yes, that man is a worthy rival for me.

10)
S: But before that, my bat will become an unprecedented hit.
K: I suppose you won't be able to forgive, then...
K: the fact that I stole your idea...?
S: If...
S: I said I wouldn't allow it, would you quit drawing?
S: Black?
S: Or white?
K: Huh?
K: Was the bat you saw black? Or white?

11)
S: It still isn't open?
D: No, it's open, everyone's inside.
S: I'll be five minutes, so please wait.
D: Yes sir.

12)
S: The human race is evolving...understand?
K: Y...yes...
S: The human race is evolving through art.
K: Yes...
S: We express three-dimensional things
S: using only two dimensions!

13)
S: For example, this.
sfx: sha sha
sfx: sha sha
S: We draw things every day,
S: so this doesn't seem like anything special.
K: Yes...
S: So then where did we learn how to draw this cup?
K: Uh...ummm...
S: People didn't draw them like this from the start.
S: How did we figure out how to draw it like this?
K: We...
K: copied someone else...

14)
S: In that case,
S: how did the first person who drew it like this figure out how to do it?
K: He also must have copied someone else.
S: Then how did that person learn how to draw it?
K: He copied someone...
S: And who is that someone?
K: Someone who copied someone else...
S: And who was that?
S: Then who did the very first person to draw a picture ever...
S: copy off?

15)
S: At any rate, something was drawn on a stone wall.
S: That's the point...
S: The picture drawn on the that stone wall...
S: was of this bat.

16)
S: Ekkorase! (*t/l note: A variant of the many grunts used by elderly people when they exert their bodies)
S: I'm going to bed.
S: Why don't you come with me? You haven't slept for a while, have you?
K: S...sensei!!
K: D...during my search...
K: A certain man...

17)
S: Don't listen to what the black one says!
K: Eh...
S: Another message will eventually come to you!
B: This is the five o'clock news. The President of Japan National Railroads, Shimoyama Sadanori...

18)
B: after leaving his house this morning to go to work,
B: is suspected to be missing.
B: President Shimoyama got into a car driven by a man named Konishi at 8:20,
K: Haa
K: Haa
B: and since there has been no contact from him since then, and he is absent from his residence in Kamiikegami, in Oota Ward...
B: he has been declared a missing person!!
K: P...President!!

19)
sfx: kakuh
K: Muuu...

20)
K: Sensei...?
sfx: zaaaah
K: Sensei...
Paper: To Kaneji-kun
Paper: Take this manuscript and run away from here.

21)
K: Take the manuscript...?
B: There isn't enough steam pressure!
B: Load in more coal!
B: Did someone drop the pressure?!

22)
B: Hm?
B: Did we run over something?
sfx: zaaaah

23)
P: Haa
sfx: basha
P: Haa
sfx: basha
P: Ahh...
P: Th...this is horrible...
P: Is it a man? Or a woman?
P: It's a man!! He's in pieces!!
P: I found his wallet!!
P: Hmmm...
P: There's a lot of identical business cards in here...
P: Th...this is...

24)
P: There's a name stamp in here too!!
S: What's wrong?
P: Wh...who are you?
S: The name's Smith.
P: A guy from the US army, huh...?
P: W...we've got trouble here...!!
P: This is President Shimoyama's corpse!!

Next Chapter: Issue #16 on March 19.