Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 10

Akashi Gouji, the true second-year head, has returned to his alma mater to finish what he started in pain and torment! But now with Momotarou facing him for first-year pride, a showdown is imminent...but not how either expect it!

Chp. 10: Enrage!! Koro-seum
(TN: The reason behind the title being “koro-seum” is an adjustment of “coliseum” with the word “koro”, which is the Japanese verb for “to kill”)

29.
Edajima: H—mm, this is bad. We’re in the red again this month. It’s not unreasonable. There isn’t anyone we can precisely gather the school funds from. I have a mountain of the bills I’ve collected.
Onihige: Pr…principal, it’s…terrible---!!
Onihige: Akashi and Momo have carelessly taken out their swords on the campus. At this point, the match won’t end until either of them is dead!
Edajima: Well there will gushing red blood. That’s youth. I now, on the other hand, have to do something about our lack of funds………………!
Edajima: The match won’t end until either of them is dead…………Fufufu, I’ve got a good idea.

30.
(Title page)

31.
Akashi: Fufufu, well, you know how to use a dosu, but that dojo swordsmanship won’t cut a person.
Matsuo: Mo…Momo……

32.
Akashi: You don’t know how to cut a person. Once you relish that pleasant feeling, you’ll already be addicted to it later.
Momotarou: Fufufu, so then this time I’ll fully relish this, even if I get the pleasant feeling of cutting.
Akashi: Keyaa----!!

33.
Akashi: Fufufu, Ichimonji-ryuu: Zanganken. There isn’t anything I can’t cut in this world.
(TN: “Ichimonji-ryuu: Zanganken” = “Straight Line-Style: Stone-Cutting Sword”)
Voice: WAIT----!!
Momotarou: !?

34.
Edajima: That’s enough. I’m taking control of this match.
Akashi: What’s going on, principal? You can’t be asking us to not hold a life-or-death match at our Otokojuku.
Momotarou: Fufufu, that’s not like the principal at all.
Edajima: Fufufu, death matches are very splendid. True men shine in a fight where they bet life-or-death. This isn’t an uncouth stoppage. This is, rather, a recommendation.
Edajima: However, this time your deaths will be used for Otokojuku to escape an economic crisis.
Togashi: ……………!?

35.
Sign:
Intensity You’ll Never See on TV!!
LIFE OR DEATH? OTOKOJUKU’S FAMOUS “KORO-SEUM”
(Left Side: Head of First-Years: Tsurugi Momotarou)
(Right Side: Head of Second-Years: Akashi Gouji)
THE ULTIMATE DEATH MATCH OF THIS CENTURY
AKASHI GOUJI VS. TSURUGI MOMOTAROU
JULY 2ND, OTOKOJUKU AUDITOREUM
S-SEAT: 10,000 YEN
A-SEAT: 5,000 YEN
B-SEAT: 2,000 YEN
(Since we have a limit on seating, hurry to get a good seat)
*Sponsor: OTOKOJUKU Private

Man 1: What is this………!?
Man 2: Otokojuku’s famous “Koro-seum”…………?

36.
Hikouboshi: You’ll never see this in your living room. A fight where either will die: the ultimate live performance of this century. Well, everyone, will you go demand your tickets already?
Top Sign (Left): INTENSE! “KORO-SEUM”
Top Sign (Right): AKASHI GOUJI vs. TSURUGI MOMO
Side Banner: LIFE OR DEATH? SUPER-INTENSE KORO-SE (can’t be read, particularly the word next to “Otokojuku”)
AKASHI GOUJI VS. TSURUGI
Front Banner: The ultimate event of this century: LIFE OR DEATH?
Man: Otokojuku……they’re doing that there?
Onihige: Now, stand in line, stand in line.
Student: Please don’t push. We still have tickets remaining.
Student: Don’t push you people---!!

37.
Hikouboshi: Pr…principal, please look. We’ve had tremendous sales.
“Helmet”: Damn, wouldn’t it have been better if we had reserved Kourakuen Stadium?
(TN: Kourakuen Stadium was a stadium in Tokyo notable for it’s outdoor events in the period from it’s building in 1937 through the building of the Tokyo Dome in 1988)
Edajima: This must be built on campus, even a bronze statue for death.
Student 1: Really, what is that bald oldie thinking?
Student 2: Ho—w could they have a magnificent death for Otokojuku~~!!
Togashi: How could they use the life-or-death of their own students as material for making money?
Togashi: Are you alright, Momo? It will finally be tomorrow. You can’t lose to that Akashi guy.
Momotarou: Fufufu, I don’t know. The one thing I do know is his strength just isn’t normal.

38.
Sign: OTOKOJUKU KORO-SEUM MEETING GROUNDS
Voice 1: It’s terribly crowded inside.
Voice 2: Big bro, they still have half of them left.
Voice 3: I got this from a scalper.
Voice 4: Everyone, please line up in order and enter.
Maruyama: Don’t you want a fundoshi with an Otokojuku mark—
Edogawa: I made some delicious corn~~~
Sign: CORN

39.
Hikouboshi: Well, who will win the showdown of the century, second-year Akashi Gouji or first-year head Tsurugi Momotarou? Choose your winning trifecta for fun right here.
Sign: WINNING TICKET STAND
Onihige: The betting ratio now is 4-to-6 for Akashi Gouji.
Man: Do you have a crystal ball?
Onihige: How will the newbie Momotarou fight Akashi’s powerful sword, which is said to cut everything in this world!! If you read this, you’ll realize clearly--!!
Togashi: Damn, they’re so easygoing. Isn’t this like the merrymaking of a festival?
Tazawa: Really, they have shops from here to there.
Cop 1: Who’s responsible for this--!!
Cop 2: Where’s the party responsible for this event---!!

40.
Cop 1: Ah!
Edajima: I am the principal of Otokojuku, Edajima Heihachi!!
Cop 1: Yo…you’re the actor of that movie from a while back…………
Edajima: Hoo, this is unexpected. Aren’t you the policemen who were at the shoot site at Rakkyou University?
Cop 1: Bu…but, what exactly is going on here?
Cop 2: We’ve heard news that there was no calm from the presentation of a life-or-death fight and we flew right over………!?
Edajima: Hahhaha, this is a school arts festival.
Cop 1: Sc…school arts festival………
Edajima: Aside from my principal work as an actor, I actually manage a talent development school.
Cop 1: U….unde—rstood.
Edajima: Though this is only a school arts festival, we weren’t that loud with our propaganda and gathering the crowds this time.
Edajima: Well, I’ve prepared seats for you policemen too, so please take it easy.
Cops: We…well then, thanks.
Onihige: Really, those are police.

41.
Announcer: And now we will hold our ceremony for the opening of Otokojuku’s famous “Koro-seum”.
Onihige: Eh, beer, how about some beer and peanuts~~~~
Announcer: In the East corner, the head of the second-years: Akashi Gouji.
Announcer: In the West corner, the head of the first-years: Tsurugi Momotarou!!
Momotarou: Well, this is proper.

42.
Announcer: Everyone, please give us your silence. Before our match, Akashi Gouji is going to hold a practice of his Ichimonji-ryuu: Zanganken!!
Tombstone: TOMB OF TSURUGI MOMOTAROU
Matsuo: A tombstone………!!
Togashi: It’s…carved as the tomb of Momo.

43.
Akashi: Nuoo~~!!

44.
Caption: Ichimonji Zanganken, called through the world as the “praying mantis chop”. In the Edo era, it was admired by sword masters when Kouizumi Masamune of the Ichimonji-ryuu surprised society when he bisected a stone lantern in front of them just once on the request of Ieyasu.
Caption: In the many years since, it became a phantom technique in the world of swordsmen that no one has mastered. I digress a bit, but the proverb “The soul of a sword can even cut stone” with the idea of making the impossible possible was talking about this.
--From “Kenshiki” (A Historical Account of Swords), Minmei Publishing, 1905

Cop 2: Kukuku, they’re all shocked without voices, without knowing that this is staged.
Cop 1: Surely that tomb is made of Styrofoam or something.

45.
Akashi: Fufufu, if I have laments it’s that your head is attached now. Now forgive me for chopping it off with one slice.
Momotarou: With a lot of help.
Momotarou: Cause it’s just I don’t want to betray the audience for the extravagant advertising.
Akashi: Excellent, they won’t regret this.
Announcer: START---!!

46.
First-Years: MO…MOMO--!!

47.
Akashi: Fufufu, I can’t kill you that easily.
Momotarou: It’s irresponsible to lose my head over it.
Akashi: ………………………!! Fufufu, interesting.
Cop 2: Co…cool--! Those young actors are kids, but they’re good actors!!
Cop 1: Hey, this is becoming a good show.

TN: This chapter just shows how much fun a series that seems to appear so serious, gritty and "manly" can be if people just go beyond what they see on the surface. For starters is just the whole concept of Edajima and the Otokojuku staff literally taking what is meant to be a bloody grade showdown between Akashi and Momo and turn it into a live, once-in-a-lifetime event to raise money to pay the school bills...it's just hilarious how they're able to do that! Now they can milk suckers who want blood and violence to buy popcorn and fundoshis while watching the heads of the grades duke it out to the death! I even loved how the policemen from the chapter where Edajima raids the college return thinking that this is all a show and still milking every word that the principal says as true! (at least they're taking life-and-death showdowns less seriously than the rest of the audience) Furthermore, not only do we get our first really crazy martial arts style here by way of the "Zanganken" (it's not that crazy considering it's essentially "a sword strike that cuts through anything" but it still is weird compared to the stuff we saw before)...but we also get our first "Minmei Publishing" blurb this time around explaining the history behind it! Those become standard for the rest of the series (akin to the explanations in the last volume such as the whole kanji challenge on Edajima's bald head) and sort of add to the insane but violent wackiness! Oh...the fight between Akashi and Momo was neat too, and I'm not just saying that. (it's just the rest of the chapter was that impressive)