Kinnikuman 325

In a bizarre moment of inspiration, Brocken Jr. has figured the perfect way of defeating Prisman's Rainbow Shower...abandoning his Choujin form and transforming back into a human!? But...aren't there consequences to that?

Chapter 325: Scramble for the Kinniku Throne (52): A Fight That Bets Life-and-Death!

149.
Announcer: Prisman’s Rainbow Shower, which was fired towards Soldier, has been shielded by Brocken Jr. with his own body---!!
Prism: My Rainbow Shower can annihilate all Choujin; Brocken Jr., how can you seem fine being hit by it---!!
Brocken: In truth, the harm of being hit by the Rainbow Shower is only for Choujin…
Brocken: If that’s pointed out, then what will happen if it’s a human!

150.
Brocken: That’s right: if I change my form to a human, who differs from a Choujin in the nature and function of their bodies, then I’ll be fine no matter how much I’m hit by the Rainbow Shower---!!
Prism: What?

151.
Announcer: So then, Brocken Jr. abandoned the Choujin and became a human so he could withstand Prisman’s Rainbow Shower----!!
Suguru: A…Choujin becoming a human, that’s dumb…
Ramen: Uh…what: this light is stinging my skin!?
Robin: The true nature of the light is that!
Robin: Th…that’s!?

152.
Robin: …Isn’t this the skull medal that indicates the German S.S. that Brocken Jr. always wears on his hat---!?
(TN: Alright, this is a weird reference but you have to follow along: the term Robin uses for the organization Brocken Jr. belongs to is the “Doitsu no Shineitai”, which would typically translate into “The Bodyguards of Germany”. However, “Shineitai” also has another meaning in regards to Germany: “Shineitai” is the Japanese name for the “Schutzstaffel”, better known as the “S.S.”, the infamous military police of the Nazis who were seen as the Praetorian Guard loyal to the Furher, Adolph Hitler. Their main position was not as Germany’s army, but in the implementation of many of the Nazi’s worst atrocities, most particularly the Holocaust. The organization collapsed after the fall of the Nazis in 1945, with many going to trial and others hiding away in South America…but of course as we’ve seen in Kinnikuman, the Nazis are alive and well thanks to Brocken Jr. and his dad Brockenman)
Ramen: Brocken Jr. removed the medal from his hat…
Suguru: What’s wrong, Ramenman?
Ramen: Some time ago, I heard this from Brocken Jr….
Ramen: The Brocken family, such as Brocken Jr., aren’t Choujin from when they’re born; from childhood, they pile on themselves strict training and practice; and only those who overcome it

153.
Ramen: Are presented from their father the Skull Medal when they turn 18…this Skull Medal possesses the power to change the power of their body forged through training and tempering from childhood to Choujin Power.
Ramen: By wearing this medal, the Brocken family can become active as Choujin.
Suguru: So…so then, saying that Brocken Jr. threw off his Skull Medal that is the source of his Choujin Power…
Ramen: Brocken Jr.’s body has truly changed into a human’s…
Prism: Shut up, all of you----!!
Announcer: Prisman, who has been caused despair, is firing his Rainbow Shower aiming for Kinnikman’s group in the castle---!!

154.
Suguru: Watch out, run---!!
Announcer: Prisman’s Rainbow Shower has rained down on the body of Zebra, who was injured in the battle with Team Kinnikuman earlier---!!
Suguru: Geee! Zebra’s body is just bones in the blink of an eye!!

155.
Ramen: So then, if Brocken was a Choujin, he would have become like that Zebra long ago, but Brocken, by casting away being a Choujin and becoming a human, doesn’t have to worry about this.
Suguru: Should we be glad? Should we be sad…?
Soldier: Wh…why, Brocken? Why did you abandon being a Choujin for me…
Brocken: I…I don’t understand why I did either. I now can only say one thing.
Brocken: I can say this is the ultimate fulfillment. I hadn’t tasted this in my period with Kinnikuman’s Idol Choujin. I’m saying that I have the greatest satisfaction in a fight at the limit where I bet life-and-death

156.
Soldier: B…Brocken…
Brocken: Uo!
Announcer: As he’s being hit by the Rainbow Shower, Brocken Jr.’s prided tattoos on both his arms are slowly disappearing---!!
Ramen: The tattoos on both of Brocken’s arms are proof that he’s a Choujin; in short, that those are disappearing is that he’s completely become a flesh and blood human…
Phoenix: Heey, Prisman, don’t you have a method to defeat this small-fry Choujin by yourself—
Prism: It’s needless to worry, Phoenix-sama.
Prism: In truth, Brocken Jr. has acquired the power to withstand my Rainbow Shower by changing into a human body, but…however, by just him himself becoming a wall so he can protect Soldier, he doesn’t have the power for a counterattack.

157.
Prism: As is, if we pass this time, with Brocken Jr. reaching the limit of his physical strength
Prism: He certainly will come to not be able to prevent my Rainbow Shower!
Prism: That moment will be the match!!
Announcer: So then this really won’t be a victory for Brocken Jr. in abandoning being a Choujin if this happens as in Prisman’s eerie speech!?
Brocken: That way won’t rise: soon it will set, Prisman. How will you really move forwards with that just as you’ve planned?
(TN: There is a bit of a pun in how Brocken Jr. is commenting on Prisman’s plan: the kanji he uses here is “hi”, which has a reading of “way”, but also has a reading that stands for “sunshine”. You should be able make an inference from there on what Brocken is speaking of)
Prism: Ge…Um…What’s wrong with me? My Rainbow Shower is weakening in power!!
Prism: It…can’t be!?

158.
Prism: D…damn, the sunset!!
Brocken: Prisman, your Rainbow Shower extracts and fires the Seven Capillaria Rays from within the sunlight you take into your prism body! The sun, so you say, is the thing called the life of your Rainbow Shower; however, with the sun sinking in a sunset, it’s all over Prisman.
Brocken: Take this—my human-bullet gun tinged with Rainbow Shower----!!
Announcer: It’s Brocken Jr. facing towards Prisman with a Flying Cross Chop that includes his anger!!

159.
Phoenix: Brocken Jr., it’s nice you’re exterminating Prisman but…
Phoenix: Don’t forget that Soldier is here!
Announcer: Phoenix has switched the technique he waged on Soldier from the Canadian Back Breaker to an Argentine Back Breaker!!
Brocken: Captain Soldier!!
Buffalo: Hey, why is just Brocken Jr. that’s looking good---!!

160.-161.
Robin: Kinnikuman, you have to loan power to Buffaloman. Now open that parcel that you’ve brought.
Suguru: Huh, Robin Mask, you’ve seen the contents of the parcel!?
Robin: Kinnikuman, I’ve had a long fellowship with you. I knew what you were thinking without looking at the contents.
Suguru: Buffaloman, this is from the Choujin Tag Tournament of last year…the time has come where I finally return the thing I’ve borrowed from you.
Announcer: Somehow, from inside the parcel appears to be both of Buffaloman’s Long Horn, which were placed inside Kinnikuman’s left arm to substitute for a broken bone
Announcer: When Kinnikuman took on his left arm the Hell Missionaries’ Cross Bomber in the Choujin Tag Tournament last year----!!
(TN: Yeah it seems very strange to go between pages but considering 160. and 161. appear to be a double page, it was fine to split the two into two separate “announcer comments due to the splitting of the page)
Audience: Ooh!!
Suguru: Long Horns, return to Buffaloman as before----!!
Buffalo: Th…these are!?
Suguru: After the Tag Tournament ended, I immediately had another surgery and had a newly created bone implanted into my left arm. Therefore, I’m returning the Long Horns to you---!!

162.
Buffalo: Right then: with my Long Horns returned, I can fully release my healthy hundred-fold 10 Million Power---!!
Soldier: Uwa!!
Phoenix: Die, Soldier!!
Buffalo: The one who will die is you---!!
Buffalo: Revived Hurricane Mixer!!
Announcer: Buffaloman has saved Soldier from his absolute crisis with his priceless 10 Million Power---!!

163.
Buffalo: Well, Brocken, we, the trio of Team Soldier, is finally all present in Ring A. Now it’s our turn to show them our dread!!
Brocken: Buffaloman, I’m happy for your feelings…how…however, it’s already too late for me…I can’t fight alongside the power of both of you…
Brocken: Buffaloman!!
Brocken: I leave Captain Soldier to you---!!
Suguru & Robin: Aah!!

164.
Announcer: Somehow Brocken Jr. has thrown a Drop Kick to both of his allies---!!
Announcer: He’s caught onto an iron pole at once, escaping their falling crisis---!!
Buffalo: Brocken Jr., you’re being so reckless towards your allies! Do you care about this conflict---!!
Brocken: Captain Soldier, Buffaloman, forgive me…
Brocken: There’s nothing else that can be done…
Brocken: But to do it…like this.

165.
Prism: What’s wrong: Brocken Jr., who was great with that much power until earlier, has suddenly changed; he’s come to not have vitality in his facial expression and his whole body has broken down…this far…
Phoenix: Right, I understand: the body of a Choujin is many hundreds times stronger than the body of a human…
Phoenix: Brocken, the wounds and damages you’ve taken due to our attacks when you still had a strong Choujin body have been enhanced just by changing into a feeble human body.
Phoenix: Becoming a human has become your ruin.
Mammoth: I’ve always given a good shaking only to Choujin, but its fine once in a while to kill a feeble human for sport…
Announcer: With Mammothman of Team Phoenix joining in Ring A, what is the sole Brocken Jr. intending to cook up by taking on these three!?

166.
Soldier: Did you hear, Buffaloman: Brocken, who has become the feeble body of a human, has misgivings in becoming a hindrance himself with fighting alongside we Choujin and has driven us from our Ring A, determined to confront them by himself…
Buffalo: Aren’t you being too cold, Brocken!! Shouldn’t all of us have vowed we would all be together when we die at the moment we formed as Team Soldier----!!
Brocken: Forgive me, you two: I only have this unskilled way of life after all!
Mammoth: Pao—
Announcer: Mammothman has flung Brocken Jr. high into the air with his elephant nose---!!

167.
Buffalo: Ge—that stance!?
Mammoth: Pao—
Announcer: Now Mammoth man is going into the air aiming for the arched Brocken Jr.---!!
Phoenix: Choujin Decoration Tree!!
Buffalo: Brocke~~~n!!

168.
(SCRAMBLE FOR THE KINNIKU THRONE ARC)
SPECIAL VTR XLIV (XXXXIV)
BUFFALOMAN VS. KINNIKUMAN SUPER PHOENIX

TN: Well, I know I'm probably about to go on yet another long-winded rant (then again when am I not these days regarding Kinnikuman) but it really is something that really has to be addressed now that we're finally at this point where the revelation was made. In a way it's sort of about Brocken Jr....but it's also about his dad...and Germany in general in the Kinnikuman universe.

I guess the best place to start is way back in the first Choujin Olympics, when Brockenman was first introduced. At the time, the Choujin who were brought about seemed to all signify and represent a certain stereotype that Yudetamago wanted to parody about each country and use them as wrestlers in one way or another. Thus why we had Choujin introduced like Robin Mask (the proper British gentleman), Ramenman (the crazed Chinese martial artist), Skyman (the Mexican luchadore) and even ones that were obviously offensive but not really realized due to the un-P.C. ways of Japanese culture at the time like Kintaman and Amazonman. In a way, Brockenman was a bit of both but probably more the "un-P.C." part: whenever many Japanese think of Germany, they end up thinking of the Nazis, whether they want to or not. While some could say it may tie to the alliance the Germans and Japanese had up to and during World War II, it was sort of a cultural belief that never went away even after Hitler died and Germany became known for other things. To the Japanese, talking of the Nazis after WWII was more about cultural recognition than for anything the Nazis believed in and the sick, twisted things they did. (heck, if anyone here has seen the second Urusei Yatsura movie, which is an out-and-out classic, Ataru's class spends the early part of the movie trying to set up a coffee shop with the theme of the Nazis complete with a Panzer tank that shoots live rounds!) Thus why it was easy to accept Brockenman in the first Olympics, partially because he was supposed to be an intentional cultural stereotype...and partially because Ramenman ripped him to shreds, sort of making it seem like everything he was and maybe everything he stood for really was not something that should be emulated or emphasized with to the kids reading the series. It really should have ended there, with Brockenman split in two and other German stereotypes parodied later on or just some weird Choujin (yeah, they got really weird after that first Olympics) being around representing Germany.

But then along came Brocken Jr. I guess in a way he was created due to how unexpectedly popular Brockenman was as a means to not revive him and to sort of give a love-and-hate connection to Ramenman. But the first problem, which really didn't seem like a problem at the time, is that he is still essentially a younger version of his father. Brocken Jr. still dressed in the soldier-like outfit akin to a Nazi and held a similarly brutal style. (though he had the Red Rain of Berlin as opposed to breathing poisonous gas) At the time you really could just think about the whole thing as merely just being a tribute to Brockenman or merely just that he was his father's son: since Brockenman was a Nazi-theme, Brocken Jr. had to have a Nazi-theme as well. It happens with wrestling as it does with superheroes, so it seemed to feel appropriate in that context. There was one peculiar scene back when Brocken Jr. was introduced involving soldiers, but I didn't think anything of it at the time either: they were probably just part of Brocken's posse or entourage, maybe even just some regular soldiers of a German army facility.

But then this chapter comes along and the truth is finally revealed: Brocken Jr. isn't merely just emulating his father by dressing as a Nazi and fighting as a mere Choujin for Germany...BROCKEN JR. IS AN ACTUAL NAZI IN THE S.S. LIVING IN WHAT ESSENTIALLY IS A MODERN NAZI GERMANY! In other words...NAZI GERMANY STILL LIVES IN THE UNIVERSE OF KINNIKUMAN!!!!! I know it was essentially a means to try and explain how Brocken got his powers and how he transformed from a human to a Choujin but...still...HE'S AN ACTUAL, HONEST-TO-GOODNESS NAZI!! HE'S IN THE S.S., WHICH IS NOTABLE FOR ENFORCING THE HOLOCAUST! HIS ENTIRE TRAINING PROGRAM AS A CHILD IS ESSENTIALLY THE TRAINING OF THE HITLER YOUTH!!! AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF, NOT ONLY DOES BROCKEN DRESS LIKE A NAZI BUT HE....AND ASSUMABLY HIS FATHER AS WELL...GAIN THEIR POWERS FROM AN OCCULT SKULL THAT TRANSFORMS THEIR BODIES INTO CHOUJIN BODIES, MOST LIKELY TIED TO HITLER'S OWN BELIEF IN THE OCCULT!!!

So basically...with Germany essentially being Nazi Germany officially in this chapter once and for all...it just make one wonder: how could this happen!? How in the world could the world of Kinnikuman be a world where there is a country still literally ruled by Nazis? How could the Nazi create a means by which they can turn normal men into their glorified "uebermensch" that rise above normal men as Choujin? (and yes, I'm saying "uebermensch" because it's true: Choujin in Japanese -> Superman in English -> Uebermensch in German) Heck, does this mean that the "Choujin" are the glorified "Master Race" that the Nazis themselves had been trying to strive for? (yeah I know that's nebulous but some say the "uebermensch" phenomenon was tied to the "master race" concept of the Nazis...even if was more tied to Germanic Aryans) Heck, then there is this question: how in the world could a device that can turn human into Uebermensch/Supermen/Choujin remain in the Brocken family for so long and not end up just creating a whole entire race of Nazi warriors that could conquer the world if they wanted to!? And of course there is this: why the heck wasn't Goleman on Team Phoenix instead of Team Big Body, where we could have at least finally have the ultimate showdown for someone who would take offense that a member of the S.S. who possibly was tied to the annihilation of his people and it would be a cool, glorious moment!?!!?? (yeah, wishful thinking)

Yeah...I know I went way...off tangent but this chapter just made me worry so much that I had to let it out. Besides...this is a manga where the Incan Empire still exists (so says Koubellman and Benkiman), so having Nazis still running amuck is nothing compared to a lot of other continuity weirdness. But...it did make me think.

Oh yeah...about the rest of the chapter...I'll be getting into Brocken himself next time (among...other things), but at least we finally have Buffaloman get his Long Horns back. Though I really don't get how easy and casual it was for Suguru to just get a new bone, re-extract Dr. Bombe's horrific work and reform them into those horns. But it is just way stupid regardless to even think of that Rafiki-faced nightmare again so let's just drop it as is.