Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 99

The second match of the preliminaries has been determined to have Otokojuku take on the warriors of Rouroukan! But after witnessing the skull-twisting antics of the newbie of their group, are they ready to face this frightening opponent?

Chp. 99: Aerial Battle! Shuten Douji

85.
(Yeah, from that palace and that much security, it’s obvious whose place this is)

86.
Voice: Go ahead, please accept this.
Bowing Man: Tenryuu Hanmyou Daiezara: in China’s Ming Dynasty, it was a national treasure-grade dish said to have been baked by Li Ou by the decree Emperor Guangwu. Other than that, only one other Li Ou-made pot exists throughout the world at the Louvres Museum.
(TN: First the easy part: “Tenryuu Hanmyou Daiezara” = “’Heavenly Dragon Tub of Mystery’ Great Decorated Plate”. Now the hard part: the explanation of the plate actually refers to two different Chinese eras and nearly through me off until I figured it out. For starters, it mentions the Ming Dynasty (which lasted 1368 to 1644) once again, but the way it mentions the Ming Dynasty is not when the plate was made…but when it was made a national treasure, which makes some sense considering the other time period mentioned. On the other hand, “Emperor Guangwu”, also known as “Koubutei”, is an emperor of the Han Dynasty, stated by some to be the man who consolidated China (who ruled between 25-57 CE) and obviously way before the Ming. So basically I figured it out as “Guangwu commissioned Li Ou (who doesn’t exist BTW) to make this plate in his era, and then later it was declared a national treasure”. I hope I didn’t lose any of you on that)
Bowing Man: So then, we want to hire Your Majesty’s power by all means for one thing…

87.
Toudou: Fuffuffu, I become busy whenever an election draws near.
Bowing Men: ………………!!
Toudou: Fuffuffu, you really are fat cats to bait me with a plate which has a current value of a billion yen.
(TN: Toudou actually refers to the men as “zeitaku na neko”, which literally stands for “luxurious cats”, but probably works better as “fat cats”…besides, note what Toudou is using that plate for)
Toudou: As for me, I don’t want anything in this world anymore. Money, power, influence: I don’t need any of those.
Bowing Men: …………………!!
Toudou: My only enjoyment is just this.

88.
Politicians: Ooh!!
Politicians: What…is this………!?
Toudou: The Tenchou Gorin Daibukai.

89.
Toudou: I am the organizer of this tournament.
Politicians: ………………
Toudou: What’s on the monitor now is being shown is the appearance of the fights on each of the Preliminary Leagues.
Toudou: Fighters possessing tempered techniques and physiques have congregated from every nation in the world starting with Japan, betting their honor and lives to compete to be champion. Can this much excitement exist in the world?
Toudou: This is also a memorial service. I must have fun in this world for them.
(TN: When Toudou states “memorial service”, he says in Japanese the term “kuyou”, a memorial service for the dead)
Politicians: Memorial service…!? Them…!?
Toudou: FUFFUFFU, THIS IS ALSO FOR THE 2,813 WHO DIED IN AGONIZING PAIN TOGETHER IN THE FIRES OF HELL DUE TO ME ON SAMAN ISLAND…

90.
Toudou: Understand: you should grant my wish. Today I truly want to be humored. I’ve prepared for you one of the cabinet minister chairs.
Politician: Hahhaha—I happily accept!!
Toudou: FUFU, YOU SHOULD FIGHT, MEN…!! AND THEN I’LL BE ENJOYING MYSELF MUCH MORE…………!!
Hassam: And now, we will hold the 2nd round match of the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai Preliminary League!!
(TN: This whole matter of “2nd round match” and “2nd match” is driving me crazy considering the positioning of Otokojuku and Rouroukan; so I’ll just be calling it “2nd round match” here for the Otokojuku perspective)

91.
Hassam: OTOKOJUKU VS. ROUROUKAN!!

92.
Hassam: Start the match--!!
Toramaru: Th…that guy is go…going to mock us~~~!! Even if we face them, he…he’ll fight alone again~~~~~!!
Toramaru: I…I’m optimistic we can do this in just a moment!!
Hien: Fufu, you shouldn’t get so heated.
Hien: In that case, we too would be fine if we fought alone.
Toramaru: What………!!

93.
Toramaru: Aah, Hien, y…you~~~

94.
Hien: You shall be facing me.
Rouroukan Fighter: Take care of him, Shuten Douji. You’ll be useful for a while. Sincerely, the Preliminary League shouldn’t be trouble for us to take.
Toramaru: Will…that Hien be alright? That eerie brat won the previous match by breaking all sixteen of Bandou-ryuu’s necks by himself.
Toramaru: Hien, pay attention to his locking techniques that aim for your neck---!!
(TN: “Locking technique” is mentioned here as “kansetsuwaza”, which is a locking technique in judo)

95.
Shuten Douji: So then, you seemed to have watched my previous match. Even so, you dare to challenge me to a fight alone?
Hien: Fufu, that’s what I’m showing. Don’t you get it…………so-th-en-co-me-at-me.
(TN: Yes, Hien does speak in emphasis here and I reflected the comment, which of course is “so then, come at me” in English)
Shuten Douji: You’re reckless.
Toramaru & Togashi: Uoo!! A…amazing leaping power---!!

96.
Hien: HA---!!
Toramaru: Huh!! Hien jumped too~~~and he’s even higher than him~~~~~!!

97.
Toramaru: O—shi, the first blow!!
Hien: That technique called “Kaitou Senkotsusatsu” uses your leaping power to attack from overhead. However, as it shows in my name, I’ll win in an aerial battle.
(TN: Hien is referencing the kanji in his name, which translates as “swallow in flight”)
Shuten Douji: Fu, you can do that.
Shuten Douji: However, I don’t just attack from overhead.

98.
Toramaru: Wh…what speedy movements!! With that, he won’t know where he’s attacking!!

99.
Shuten Douji: Chii!!
Hien: Fufu, that’s quite the taijutsu.
(TN: “Taijutsu” is a classical form of martial arts; since there is no direct translation, I won’t translate it here)
Hien: But even above ground, there has to be a part for me.

100.
Toramaru: A…mazing. That Hien is completely taking him from behind!!
Momotarou: You’ve seemed to have increased your movements even more, Hien. With that, even he who came out alone will nod in assent on it.
Shuten Douji: Kuu!!
Hien: Understand: to go above is to be superior!!
(TN: Hien is using an expression commonly used for motivation that goes “ue ni wa ue ga iru/aru”, which basically stands for “you have to be superior to get the upper hand”, but also in this case goes for Hien blocking Shuten Douji from getting above him to use his technique)

101.
Toramaru: He…did it: Hien’s fist of justice has directly got him in the stomach---!!
Toramaru: Huh!?
Toramaru: Wh…what---! There’s only blood on Hien’s fist---!!

102.
Shuten Douji: Wahahahaha, I’ve got you. I’ve got you overhead!!
Hien: !!
Shuten Douji: KAITOU SENKOTSUSATSU!!
Toramaru: HI…HIEN---!!

TN: Before I get to the real heart of the insane numbers games that have been haunting me for three of the last four chapters, let me say this: this was a fun chapter. Aside from the one moment where Hien snuck behind Shuten Douji to deliver that attack, it was rather easy to follow along with and see the movements and situations as depicted in this chapter in this battle of aerial warriors. (plus it finally gives an excuse for the shonen attitude of 1-on-1 fights: if we can take you all out at once, then at least let our strong warriors take on your strong warriors to give us a chance instead of all of us trying to dogpile you and looking like a fool like Genseki-ryuu and Bandou-ryuu). And yes, Toudou...is a creep, pure and simple.

And now for what I've been dreading but have to get done: here are my personal thoughts and feelings regarding all the numbers that have been thrown around the last few chapters. For starters, here's what we know:

1. In chp. 96, Hassam mentions that there are around 1,600 fighters in the Tenchou Gorin Daibukai, stating it was some sort of "battle royale".
2. In chp. 98, Hassam then says that the tourney is essentially a bracket of 20 teams, each with 16 fighters, at least in the 1st Battleground preliminary but presumably in all of them.
3. In this chapter, we see Toudou has 12 TV monitors, each one to a different Battleground of the Tenchou Gorin preliminaries.

First of all, the numbers don't quite seem to match up with Hassam's "1,600" comment if you think about what is presented later. If there were 1600 fighters, each a team of 16, then that would be 100 teams in the Tenchou Gorin. But if there are a bracket of 20 teams on each of 12 islands (assuming there are), that would mean there were 240 teams in the tournament! Further, if you multiply 240 by 16, then that would mean that there are at least 3,840 individuals participating. But then again you could think: well maybe the 1,600 aren't part of that equation, but a part of a battle royale to be one of the 20 teams in each of the preliminary islands. But if you think like that, then what about this: why would we have teams like Genseki-ryuu, Bandou-ryuu and Rouroukan set up already while all the other teams wittle themselves downwards to 20? Further, if Bandou-ryuu and Rouroukan had to fight once already (assuming they did like I mentioned last time), then wouldn't the 20 teams on the 1st Battleground already be known? So then, if we know who the 20 teams are and they already started fighting, then what was the whole point of the battle royale when the Otokojuku students arrived to take on Genseki-ryuu?

I guess the only real thing I can think of is that the "battle royale" and the "1,600" in that is more or less just a way to show off or to have other fighters who didn't make the actual tournament get in some other way or to show off and kill one another while the real tourney goes on. Miyashita probably made a mistake or maybe it's something we haven't really been fully explained on yet...but as incredible as the fighting and story has been, this did bug me and I had to just think a while to figure it out.