Kinnikuman 357

The match may have already started, but Omegaman is already setting the pace with an opening blow that may have just destroyed Geronimo! Has this initial Omega Catastrophe Drop really ended the battle before it begins!?

Chapter 357: Scramble for the Kinniku Throne (84): The Choujin Hunter’s Target!!

67.
Omega: Omega Catastrophe Drop!!
Announcer: Omegaman has struck to the stone-wall canvas the top of the head of Geronimo, who was the contents wrapped around by his giant fingers----!!

68.-69.
Robin: The…”catastrophe” of Catastrophe Drop has the meaning of “cataclysm”, a tragic end.
(TN: A bit of explanation: Omega Catastrophe Drop is (well, except for the acknowledged Greek letter) an attack entirely spoken in English. Robin’s explanation gives the Japanese meaning for “catastrophe”, which is “hakyoku”…but since it ended up having the meaning of “catastrophe”, I ended up having to translate it with the synonym meaning it also has: “cataclysm”. BTW: having Robin explain it really makes me miss the onscreen announcers, who I found out, made the explanation in the anime and Muscle Fight)
Suguru: Eeh—so then, Geronimo will have a tragic end by one hit of that technique…in short, he’s going to his death---!?
Announcer: This is Omegaman’s Catastrophe Drop, which has swallowed the entirety of this assembly hall in a swirl of fear! At any case, if we had thought that Geronimo had been swallowed by Omegaman’s giant fingers, then whatever exactly had happened to Geronimo’s body within those giant fingers in the next instant already couldn’t really be taken by the naked eye!!
Announcer: It is here that we just now think we want to see through the process completing the technique on Geronimo within the giant fingers by using a special X-ray Device on the Catastrophe Drop that we had taped on the VTR!!
Audience: Ooh, it’s the moment Geronimo did the Elbow Drop to Omegaman!!

70.
Audience: But Omegaman has expanded his giant fingers, sealing up Geronimo!!
Audience: It is here that we really can’t see Geronimo’s body anymore!!
Announcer: It is here the X-ray device has taken the inside of the giant fist!!
Announcer: Omegaman has reversed Geronimo’s stance and taken each of Geronimo’s legs with his armpits and froze each of his arms with a Key Lock!!

71.
Suguru: That’s the stance of a Tombstone Driver!!
Robin: No! Hardening into a typical Tombstone Driver leaves an opening for both arms and both legs by the way the technique is done on just the torso; escaping from that technique is simple!!
Robin: However, since Omegaman’s technique is decided by taking the legs with his own pits and both arms into a Key Lock on top of that, he’s completely sealed movement in the way it’s performed, making it absolutely impossible to return the technique!!
Announcer: Well, with that, Omegaman, who has perfectly sealed Geronimo’s arms and legs, fell into the stone-wall ring as such---!!

72.
Suguru: A stone-wall ring isn’t a normal mat: its sand that’s hardened by water. Having the top of the head fall onto there will shatter Geronimo’s skull and he can’t escape from instant death!! Stop—that technique immediately---!!
Robin: Stop, Kinnikuman: that’s the image of a VTR. Geronimo already in the aftermath of taking the evil power of Omegaman’s Catastrophe Drop!!
Suguru: So…so then, Geronimo’s head is already torn apart……
Announcer: The VTR image surely has shown Geronimo’s head skewered into the stone-wall ring by Omegaman’s Catastrophe Drop!!

73.
Suguru: I didn’t understand it preoccupied by the terror of the Catastrophe Drop earlier, but watching the VTR on slow, a mass of ash flew aiming for the stone-wall ring from outside of it!!
Suguru: That mass of ash was also from when I and Satan Cross were fighting in the Magic-Square Death Match…
“Voice”: SUGURU! SUGURU!
Suguru: Right: it was then, when my neck was being hung by the manipulators of Satan Cross’ Defend Suit…
Suguru: …Within my fading senses, a similar mass of ash as this flew out and suddenly widened in front of my eyes; it was thus that a vision of big bro Ataru, who should be dead, appeared and strongly encouraged me in how to escape from Satan Cross’ manipulators.

74.
Suguru: If that ash is the same ash as back then…
Announcer: Geronimo is on the verge of falling---!!
Geronimo: Ge—
Suguru: Big bro Ataru!!

75.
Omega: Fuo—fuofuofuo: do you understand why my technique is called the Catastrophe Drop---!!
Announcer: Somehow Geronimo has become prey to Omegaman’s Catastrophe Drop while passing through the process of this sort of hell---!!
Omega: HAHAHA
Robin: This hellish drama has developed within Omegaman’s giant fingers…
Robin: I’m certain, Geronimo, that it was painful…it would have been better if I was Main Body in your place and standing in the ring…
Suguru: Robin, when everyone was rooted down by the menace of Omegaman’s Catastrophe Drop, another separate drama was occurring in the stone-wall ring.
Robin: A separate drama?

76.
Suguru: I alone saw it! The form of a savior revived from neither heaven nor hell but from the world of darkness!!
Geronimo: …………
Omega: What……
Robin: OOH
Announcer: Geronimo, who we thought had died from taking Omegaman’s one-hit certain-kill Catastrophe Drop, is miraculously alive---!!

77.
Omega: How…stupid; my timing for performing the technique, falling speed, height: all for smashing Geronimo’s head should have been theoretically perfect, and yet!!
Geronimo: Fufufu: the greatness of Team Kinnikuman……
Geronimo: Is in its miraculous reversal plays that transcend theory---!!
Announcer: The revived Geronimo has flung away Omegaman with the legs inserted around his trunk---!!

78.
Announcer: Geronimo’s miraculous reversal play was successful---!!
Robin: Geronimo, what exactly was the method you used to escape from Omegaman’s Catastrophe Drop!?
Geronimo: Th…that I don’t really know either. But as I was captured in Omegaman’s Catastrophe Drop
Geronimo: In just a bit, I would crash into the canvas of the stone-wall ring…at the moment I thought “it’s too late!”…Someone appeared from within the canvas and seemed to catch the top of my falling head…

79.
Robin: ………!!
Robin: Is that the savior you said!
Announcer: What---!? Ash that was transported from somewhere and scattered in the center of the ring suddenly is soaring into the air though there isn’t even wind---!!
Omega: N? Suppose this ash is!?
Omega: Is a thing thrown out so it could save Geronimo by the man I’m chasing---!?
Neptune: This is bad! The ash of the Prophecy for Kinniku Ataru will be stolen by Omegaman!!

80.
Neptune: Return, ash of Kinniku Ataru---!!
Suguru: Big bro Ataru is!!
Omega: Uh!!
Geronimo: I don’t know whatever this ball of ash is, but I don’t have a reason to hand you this ash that saved me!!
Robin: GERONIMO!!

81.
Announcer: Facing against Omegaman, who was stealing the ball of ash, Geronimo has dealt a tackle and gone into the water of the moat---!!
Suguru: Ooh: the mass of ash is making its escape to within the audience!!
Robin: Those two haven’t come up from falling into the moat!!
Suguru: What!?
Geronimo: What’s going on!? This is Osaka Castle; how could there be this wide space within the castle!? Geee—there is this super-large water world within the moat!!

82.
Omega: I shall tell you: this stone-wall ring that we fought on until earlier is a 3-D world, as it’s called by humans; the water-filled moat that surrounds around the stone-wall ring has become an entrance to the world of another dimension.
Omega: Thus, even with how narrow the 3-D world is inside Osaka Castle, once we have jumped into this other dimension, we gain this huge finals battleground.
Geronimo: I get it: since there are many hinderers that can help me in a 3-D battle, you created this other-dimensional space so you can isolate me from all of them…
Omega: Fuofuofuo: your judgment was quick as expected.
Geronimo: …However, there are Choujin mummies and tombs scattered randomly in this other-dimensional space!!
Omega: Fuofuofuo…its natural there are many Choujin mummies and tombs, anyhow: that’s because this here is the entrance to the Choujin Graveyard, a block of hell for Choujin who died of sickness and in battle!!

83.
Omega: Now I will tell you: what exactly is my purpose for joining Team Phoenix aside from defeating Team Kinnikuman!!
Omega: My profession is as a Choujin Hunter who takes bounties and executes criminal Choujin who run rampant through space. One day, I got a call to my place from Choujin Enma, the Graveyard Guard who operates the Choujin Graveyard…
(TN: As many may know, “enma” is the Japanese term for “Yama”, the lord of death originally found in Vedic mythology but has been adopted by Japanese culture as the guard of the underworld. The original basis in Vedic Mythology is Enma/Yama was the first person in history to die, thus being the first to head to the underworld and, thus, it’s ruler. Many manga and anime have had their own version of Enma/Yama...and of course this is the one tied to the Choujin Graveyard from a while back)
Enma: Choujin Hunter Omegaman: I want you to search for this Choujin and take him to the Choujin Graveyard.
Omega: That Choujin is Perfect Choujin Neptuneman!!
Omega: That man was defeated by the Kinnikuman/Terryman team in the Space Choujin Tag Tournament and should have gulped down an explosive and committed suicide so he could maintain his Perfect Choujin honor…
Enma: Of course!!

84.
Omega: If it is, then the corpse of the suicide-committing Neptuneman should have been transported to this Choujin Graveyard.
Enma: However, while we have confirmed his death and issued his entrance permit, the vital corpse of Neptuneman hasn’t arrived at all---!!
Omega: So then, what exactly is going on!?
Enma: There’s only one thing I’ve thought of! Neptuneman, who should have been a exploded to death in the Space Choujin Tag Tournament, was secretly revived by someone and is alive in the Living World!!
Enma: Even if they’re alive, a Choujin that I’ve approved entrance into the Choujin Graveyard once will have to die once again and must be entombed in the Choujin Graveyard by whatever it takes! Omegaman, kill Neptuneman and take him to the Choujin Graveyard without fail!!

85.
Geronimo: …………
Geronimo: So…so then, Neptuneman is alive and threw out that miracle ash so he could rescue me---!?

86.
(SCRAMBLE FOR THE KINNIKU THRONE ARC)
SPECIAL VTR LXXII (XXXXXXXII)
GERONIMO VS. OMEGAMAN

TN: There is really little to say except...INSANITY STRIKES AGAIN! But...yeah, I'll list it off and explain one by one:

1. First of all, we have to start with the continuing evolution of the insane magical properties that the "ash of Ataru's Muscle Prophecy page" suddenly has one match after another! It was insane enough knowing what we already did: that Ataru, who was supposed to be "erased from all means of existence" thanks to his Muscle Prophecy page being burned, keeps "re-existing" whenever his ash is thrown out by Neptuneman. (we'll get to him in a moment) Alright, it was crazy at first seeing Ataru speak to Suguru to get out of Samson Teacher's grip as we saw before...but it worked since it was just a moment of inspiration between brothers. The second time, when Ataru's ashes combined with Suguru to complete the Muscle Spark...that was even more ludicrous but considering Ataru had his own Hellfire Inner Strength, you could see it helping Suguru make sure he completed the move. But this time...it's Geronimo, not even Suguru! Why would Neptuneman waste the ash on Geronimo to stop the Catastrophe Drop!? And furthermore...why in the world would the ash of the Muscle Prophecy suddenly become tangible arms that would soften the blow of the Catastrophe Drop!? I mean it just seems like ever since Ataru lost his body, he proves time and again he doesn't even need it...heck, he doesn't need anything but burned up embers of paper that isn't even his physical self yet he can create physical, tangible things to help other Choujin!! If Choujin become more uber as "Muscle Prophecy Ash", then why don't we just burn the whole book and have the ashes of every Choujin in existence throughout all history fight sometime...I mean, it's not like "being erased from all existence" is going to stop them, is it!?

2. Here we go again with yet another "specially set-up arena"...but what makes it weirder is that Omegaman set it up but it's just an extra-dimensional realm without him being an extradimensional Choujin...and they don't really explain it except "the water leads to the Choujin Graveyard". I mean, it sort of made more sense with Black Hole (or even Pentagon) to have extradimensional fights...because they are Choujin who could manipulate that sort of thing. To tell the truth, though, it is neat that the water world is bigger than the ring they were fighting in before but I sort of wished Omegaman explained he had extradimensional abilities to better show that off instead of it just feeling like "yet another bribe to Harabote" like most of these fights in Osaka Castle.

3. And now for the biggest, stupidest head-scratcher in the chapter...and boy it drives me mad. The strange thing is it actually comes from a concept that actually finally makes sense and would have been better if it was explained before or in a different way: the introduction of the "Choujin Enma" who controls the Choujin Graveyard and the process by which dead Choujin are finally accepted on the other side. It is obvious there are a lot of supernatural factors in this universe (from the Choujin Gods to Satan to...I wouldn't even be surprised if there was a "Choujin Flying Spaghetti Monster" at this point...and of course some would say Jesus...but we all know his name is Buffaloman) so having an Enma being the guardian of the Choujin Graveyard makes sense knowing my myth...and my manga/anime. (we got Enma in DB, YYH and such, so why not Kinnikuman?) But of course, therein lies the problem that leads to a lot of the trouble in this arc: if a Choujin "dies", then at what point does one "stay dead" and what point does one have the capability to live again? In some ways, I actually like the concept of "if Enma judges that 'it's their time', he'll sign the paperwork and allow for them to have entrance to the Choujin Graveyard", thus leading to a final, accepted "death". But then...if there is a time, why in the world is he so fickle about it? What is the big deal that Neptuneman somehow was revived after he exploded and now is running amuck on Earth? Then again...with how many Choujin have died and come back for a long time now, at what point does Enma even do the paperwork to accept them into the Choujin Graveyard? Is there a differentiation between "good" or "evil" or it's just "they have to die in battle....or in sickness"? (pay close attention to the latter, it's a massive plot point later on, nudge nudge, wink wink, say no more) Is it just that stuff like "they get killed by Buffaloman's forces during the Seven Devils arc" not worthy of him completing the paperwork yet it is fine and dandy to speed it through with "they committed suicide by blowing themselves up in space to stop an invasion of Perfect Choujin"? And heck, what about those who appeared "evil" but came back later regardless like Black Hole or The Ninja...shouldn't they have been tracked down by Omegaman too or were they just not important enough...or just that he didn't care and let them go back up somehow or another? (there are others...but we'll get into those next chapter...and one or two of them are just rather questionable considering the Choujin Graveyard earlier in the arc) Then again considering this is a domain that has special rocks used by nutty mad scientists to revive Warsman, I guess I'm not surprised by the incompetency of the world of the dead.

All that complaining said, there is one thing I did sort of wish for in this chapter that I really miss thanks to a clip: the onscreen antics of the announcers. I know it probably is filler in a manga and had given way to the announcer bubbles (combined with the innane audience reaction shots), but hearing the comedic moment done in the anime explaining the "catastrophe" in Catastrophe Drop, it made me miss those two in actual manga form...they give explanations more life compared to...Robin.