Kinnikuman 314

Ramenman's victory and Team Kinnikuman's sudden lead should be a cause for celebration. But thanks to the cryptic words emerging from the defeated Bikeman, the Scramble for the Throne is about to enter a horrific new phase...

Chapter 314: Scramble for the Kinniku Throne (41): The Dreadful Prophecy!

88.
Announcer: The Throne-Succession match of Team Kinnikuman vs. Team Zebra at the ring of Himeji Castle has continued to be white-hot offense and defense but
Announcer: We’re giving a half-time report of the match until now…
Board:
Left Side:
Advance Guard: WARSMAN
Second Guard: RAMENMAN
Second-in-Command: ROBIN MASK
General: KINNIKUMAN

Right Side:
Advance Guard: THE MANRIKI
Second Guard: MOTORMAN
Main Body: BIKEMAN
Second-in-Command: PARTHENON
General: KINNIKUMAN ZEBRA

Announcer: Initially in the first match, the Advance Guard match of Warsman vs. The Manriki, Warsman, who had lost his memory, was severely tormented by Manriki’s Vise attacks, but

89.
Announcer: Ultimately Warsman, by regaining his memory, defeated Manriki with his certain-kill Palo Special, getting a victory!!
Announcer: …But however, he deteriorated from the injuries he took afterwards and was unable to confront Team Zebra’s Second Guard Motorman, giving Motorman the victory without fighting him.
(TN: Hold on: that never happened. Warsman fainted after defeating Manriki before Motorman even stepped into the ring. Then Terry came in…so then basically Motorman, who we considered a weakling by Bikeman himself in the last few chapters, got two victories? And what about Terry: shouldn’t he be considered Second Guard with Ramenman Main Body?)
Announcer: Continuing the additions to Team Kinnikuman, the Second Guard Ramenman showed his difference in force with Motorman, gaining a complete victory with a Camel Clutch 37 seconds after the start of the match and gaining his first win.
Announcer: And then in the match of Ramenman vs. Team Zebra Main Body Bikeman, which had occurred until earlier, the killer bike techniques of the Machine Choujin Bikeman forced it into being a close match, but however, by piling patience with endurance, he successfully gained a turnaround with a Jiulong Cheng Drop, splendidly gaining his second-straight victory!!
Announcer: And now, Ramenman must face his third straight challenger of Team Zebra soon while flooded with lingering memories of his victory!!

90.
Suguru: They’re…not here…
Ramen: ……………
Announcer: The appearance of Kinnikuman’s group is strange: has some accident happened?
Announcer: Ge—the appearance of Team Zebra’s Second-in-Command Parthenon and General Zebra has vanished---!!
Suguru: This shouldn’t be: those two were actually watching the showdown of Ramenman and Bikeman right here until earlier!!
Voice: FUFUFU…

91.
Bike: It will happen: terror from here on…
Ramen: Bikeman…
Bike: Yo…you’ve wo…won a bit too much…du…due to this, you must fight on the “hellish road of fierce fighting” which will occur here on ahead. That…has become your plight…
Robin: The hellish road of fierce fighting…what exactly is that!?
Bike: E…even if you’re not worrying…you’ll understand gradually…but speaking ju…just on that…the fights that will occur here on ahead have been said to be severely bloody fights that have never happened to this degree in the history…of…of Choujin…
Bike: GEHO

92.
Suguru: Bikeman!!
Suguru: Tell us, much more about the hellish road of fierce fighting!!
Bike: The…Muscle Prophecy of the Kinniku Clan…in the 8th Month of 1985, wh…when the Shachi has the Shirasagi in its mouth, the…strong warriors will meet at the plain’s…gate……
(TN: This is going to be a mess to try and explain, especially with all the stuff that’s coming, but I tried to make the prediction as cryptic as possible without giving everything away. The one thing I sort of have to reveal right now: the name of the place where Bikeman is getting the prediction from has the title of “Kinniku-zoku Choujin Yogensho”: the “Kinniku-zoku” is obviously the “Kinniku Clan”, but the Japanese name of the book is the “Choujin Yogensho”, which should translate into “Choujin Prophecy Book” or “Superman Prophecy”. However, as you’ll be seeing in the next couple pages, the English name of the dreaded book is the “Muscle Prophecy” (“Muscle” being “Kinniku” in Japanese…as in the Kinniku Clan or Kinnikuman), forcing me to translate it here as “The Muscle Prophecy of the Kinniku Clan”)
Suguru: Wh…what, what do those words mean---!?
Robin: No good, he died.
Suguru: …………
Robin: However, “When the Shachi has the Shirasagi in its mouth, the strong warriors will meet at the plain’s gate”, what does that really mean?
(TN: As Robin interprets the prophecy at this point, he is imagining conventional translations for “Shachi” and “Shirasagi” = “Shachi” is usually “killer whale”; “Shirasagi” is the “white heron”)

93.
Caption: OSAKA CASTLE—
Mayumi: When the Shachi has the Shirasagi in its mouth, the strong warriors will meet at the plain’s gate…that…guy…Bikeman really did say that, Mama.
Sayuri: Do you know something, dear?
Mayumi: Ye…yes: I was planning to keep this hidden for a long time without being seen by anyone but………
Mayumi: Could that Muscle Prophecy of the Kinniku Clan be this worn-out book?

94.
Mayumi: It is a book where the ancestors of our Kinniku Clan in the remote past predicted the events that would happen in the future and wrote them down…all of the wars and calamities of the Kinniku Clan and the Choujin world that have occurred over the last several tens of millions of years in the past were already predicted according to these writings.
Mayumi: I too hadn’t believed in the Prophecy book at first, but even the events that have surrounded Suguru over the last few years have already been predicted in the writings.
Sayuri: What’s that?
Mayumi: For example……
Mayumi: Here’s from 1981: “In the 11th month of 1981, the fair skies will suddenly become cloudy and seven devils will fall along with the lightning.”
(TN: The “Seven Devils” arc began in November, 1981 in Jump…regardless of the screwed-up timing of this manga)
Sayuri: ………!!

95.
Sayuri: That was the Seven Devil Choujin series!!
Mayumi: This is the 10th month of 1983: “The Choujin whose friendship is stolen will pair up into teams, challenging the cruel mountain climb.”
(TN: The Tag arc began in October, 1983)
Sayuri: The Space Choujin Tag League match!!

96.
Mayumi: For the 10th month of 1984: “When the Prince of Planet Kinniku finally assigned the political power of the Daiou, five new princes will appear and prevent it. This will be prologue to the worst battle in the history of the Choujin world—“
Sayuri: Th…that’s the Throne Succession Survival Match that’s occurring now!!
Sayuri: Th…these events that occurred around Suguru over these many years truly have exactly happened as written in the Prophecy...
Mayumi: I thought that there was some fluke in the Prophecy exactly hitting on Suguru, but…I was mistaken.
Mayumi: It was a warning: we should have prevented the calamity that will occur in the Choujin world in the future for our descendants before it happened. We’ve been left the Prophecy by our ancestors; and yet, I hadn’t made use of these warnings…

97.
Sayuri: So then, dear, are those mysterious words that were left behind by Bikeman also in the Prophecy!?
Mayumi: R…right: this isn’t the time to be worried by that!!
Mayumi: He…here it is!!
Mayumi: For the 8th month of 1985…”When the Shachi has the Shirasagi in its mouth, the strong warriors will meet at the plain’s gate. This will be the mid-point of the fight of the six princes—“
Sayuri: The Shachi has a Shirasagi in its mouth…hm—m…if that’s what it really is
Mayumi: If that’s how it is, Mama, then we have to do it in practice. You should go to the fishmonger and buy a killer whale. I’ll go to the bird seller and buy a white heron.
Sayuri: It’s not that sort of problem!

98.
Sign: NAGOYA CASTLE—
Announcer: Well, it is here that the fight of Team Soldier and Team Phoenix at Nagoya Castle is also at climax: already Team Soldier, whose teammates have already been defeated twice be Team Phoenix, have opened up an operation meeting for their remaining trio: Buffaloman, Brocken Jr. and Soldier!!
Mammoth: Stop with that useless actions; I’m fine with anyone getting up in here!!
Soldier: Uh.
Buffalo: Wh…what’s this earthquake!?
Announcer: Suddenly an earthquake of unknown origin is hitting Nagoya Castle---!!
Phoenix: Ha—hahaha, don’t get confused: the broad prospects of our Team Phoenix are being blessed, delighting this castle—

99.
Caption: HIMEJI CASTLE—
Announcer: Here at Himeji Castle, with matches being temporarily suspended, Team Kinnikuman is immersed in solving the riddle of the words left by Bikeman!!
Ramen: What’s that sound?
Boy: Aah, Nagoya Castle is flying outside!!
Suguru & Robin: What…!?

100.
Announcer: What’s going on here: along with the thunderous sound that’s suddenly occuring, Nagoya Castle, where Team Soldier and Team Phoenix are, has risen into the sky, leaving Nagoya and flying in a north-west direction!!
Suguru: What: how could Nagoya Castle, which should be in Nagoya, be flying over there!?
Robin: This…cant’t be: is this connected to those mysterious words of Bikeman?
Ramen: Shachi…Shachi is also read as Shachihoko…
(TN: “Shachihoko”, the other read of “shachi”, is in reference to a mythical carp which is stated to bring good luck. The creature adorns the top of Nagoya Castle as one of it’s most prominent features)
Ramen: That’s it: Shachi is for the golden Shachihoko decorations that are attached to both ends of the roof of Nagoya Castle---!!

101.
Robin: Ooh: in other words, the “Shachi” of “when the Shachi has the Shirasagi in its mouth” is a play on Nagoya Castle!
Suguru: However, can’t we figure out what the “Shirasagi” is at all!
Ramen: Gumu--……
Suguru: Owa—an earthquake!!
Suguru: Hide under a chair---!!
Audience: KYA—
Ramen: No, this isn’t an earthquake: this castle is leaving the ground and is ascending.
Suguru: Wha!!

102.
Announcer: Continuing from Nagoya Castle, Himeji Castle, which was a similar fighting stage for the Throne Successor Survival Match, is also starting to rise up a bit---!!
Announcer: And as if it were attracted by Nagoya Castle, is rising up with fierce speed---!!
Suguru: Wh…what is this: where is this castle leading us!
Robin: With the direction this castle is flying, I think perhaps it is aiming for around Gifu Prefecture but.
(TN: Gifu is a prefecture in central Japan, seen as a crossroads since the Sengoku era)
Ramen: Right! I’ve got it, the meaning of Shirasagi!!
Ramen: Since Himeji Castle, where we are now, had a graceful exterior of being uniformly one color of white, people from long ago called it the alias of “Shirasagi Castle”----!!
(TN: “Shirasagi” is still “white heron” as it was before but it will remain “Shirasagi” to keep the prophecy as is)

103.
Parthenon: Ye—s, how clever. You’re completely correct.
Suguru: Ramenman!!
Suguru: It’s Zebra and Parthenon!!
Zebra: Lo—ok closely. It’s time for the Shachi to take the Shirasagi in its mouth!
Suguru: ……………

104.
Announcer: Nagoya Castle and Himeji Castle are now going to crash in mid-air----!!

105.
Zebra: The Shachi has the Shirasagi in its mouth--!!

106.
(SCRAMBLE FOR THE KINNIKU THRONE ARC)
SPECIAL VTR XXXIV
RAMENMAN VS. BIKEMAN

TN: Uh...I really don't want to talk about this chapter. I really, really don't want to talk about this chapter. There is just so much so wrong with this chapter that to even speak of it's concepts will just drive me on a rant so horrifying that it will never be done in time for me to finish up. But...I sort of have no choice:

Prophecy: a means by which always seems to be a typical cliche or device of certain matters of storytelling. You can't say that it's always used wrong though: when used correctly, prophecy can lead to some intriguing or even disturbing results that end up making a story more interesting...or disturbing. Oedipus is one example of a prophecy done in a way so cryptic that it doesn't make sense until the horrifying truth is revealed way after it has come to passed. Sometimes prophecy can be used to drive in the fact that you can't escape fate...other times it is used to show one can destroy fate and that we all have free will to choose and decide what we can or can't do. At the same time, it is also used in the real world to sort of take things and squash them into whatever form you want them to be as a means to say "I'm right, you're wrong, nyah". Religion uses that all the time (won't get into it so we can't start a debate), let alone those who follow certain prophetic scriptures such as Nostradamus, making sure he is never wrong, it just hasn't happened to the point it can fit yet. And then there are some tales where prophecy is just used to say "well...everything we say is true regardless of how ridiculous or stupid it is and, due to shoddy truth based on story-based regulations, it is true and you have to accept it before things get even stupider thanks to...well, us".

That last quoted statement pretty much defines the Muscle Prophecy in a nutshell. Imagine Iron Sweat and the Superman Effect fused together, only more influential to a storyline to lead to more bullcrap happening...and you don't even have half the evil that the Muscle Prophecy provides. How in the world can some magic book we've never heard of before just pop up out of nowhere, instantly be proven to have depicted everything that has happened in Kinnikuman thus far, then begin to screw around with everything by causing the existence of flying castles!? I mean...WHAT THE HECK MADE THOSE CASTLES DECIDE TO FLY IN THE FIRST PLACE! Two important historical buildings for their location and era in Japan decide to just pop into the sky and fuse together just because some guy in the Kinniku Clan wrote it down tens of millions of years ago!? Even the friggin Apollo Window made more sense than that and that was just as screwed up by Choujin influences! At least with the Apollo Window we sort of got a (screwed up but still stupid and somewhat sense-making) explanation, but here we just magically have two castles fly into the air and fuse together...and the only reason why is that Nostradamus was in actuality a reborn Choujin from millions of years ago!

And of course there is this major question: WHY THE HECK DOES THE KINNIKU CLAN JUST KEEP SCREWING UP WITH THE UNIVERSE!?!?!?!? I get their the most important clan and supposedly are the leader of the Choujin, but it's like they're the ones who did everything, control everything, wrote all the rules and, let's not forget, screw around with Earth and all it's people and Choujin just because they can! And there aren't any other Choujin clans or races that can at least have something equivalent or have it's own larger mythos and prestige: the Kinniku Clan has proven over and over, from running all the authorities to allowing for stuff like their gods and their kingdom and now even their own writings and prections, threaten the Earth due to their own screw-ups! Shouldn't there be someone who keeps the Kinniku Clan in line and makes sure that their own work and actions don't ruin future generations!? And of course that's not the worst of it: as horrible as things have been, they hype that this Throne competition will be "the worst thing to ever happen in the Choujin world"...what, with millions of years of crap happening all over the universe, what happens on a stupid planet in a stupid wrestling match is worse than the billions of other things...oh yeah, it involves the Kinniku clan and their gods screwing with Earth...I just can't speak about it anymore. If I have to hear once more about how prestiged and honored and great the Kinniku clan is while their gods and their books seem to ruin everything, I think I'll go crazy! This is what this series is doing for me!

There are a couple other minor things to mention: somehow the whole Motorman storyline seems stupider now that it suddenly seems like Warsman fought him and no Terry situation was mentioned (he at least should have been remained as Second Guard with Ramenman as the Main Body), and we still don't really know what Zebra and Parthenon were doing when they were gone. But the Muscle Prophecy...oh brother, and the worst part is this is just the first chapter with it and the worst is only just beginning...