Kinnikuman 368

Even though Robin has finally defeated Mammothman's trump-card Big Tusks, the massive Choujin has released an even more devastating special move that has turned him to ice...to be thrown at Phoenix!? What's going on with him!?

Chapter 368: Scramble for the Kinniku Throne (95): The Epitome of an Earnest Match!

110.
Mammoth: I preserved the Ice Rock Gyro technique not for leading Team Phoenix to victory!! It’s a technique I preserved for revenge when I’ve been betrayed by you---!!
Announcer: Somehow the packed-in-ice Robin Mask, who was thrown by Mammothman’s Powerful Nose and revolved in the air, is being guided by Mammothman’s Powerful Nose and being thrown towards Phoenix and Omegaman---!!
Suguru & Neptune: An ally…
Mayumi & Bibimba: Split!!

111.
Omega: Guhe!!
Phoenix: Geho!!
Announcer: It’s a rebellion—Mammothman has caused a rebellion with Team Leader Phoenix---!!

112.
Announcer: Mammothman and Robin Mask’s Roulette Threads have avoided being completely severed by the duo falling to outside the ring---!!
Phoenix: Have…you gone mad? Mammothma…………n…
Suguru: Uoo—Mammothman, you’d be a massive force to these demons if you joined my Team Kinnikuman!!
(TN: Suguru’s expression here for “a massive force” is “kanabou”, which actually means “an iron pole” but can also be said as “a thousand troops”)
Mammoth: I am actually having a rebellion with Phoenix…but I didn’t say I’m joining Team Kinnikuman.
Suguru: Huh!?
Mammoth: I’ve always taken competition opponents lightly due to my own excess strength and have just had battles that were marginal. I hadn’t known the difficulty, pain and exhilaration of an earnest match due to this.

113.
Mammoth: …But with Brocken Jr. and Buffaloman of Team Soldier and this Robin Mask…fighting these three Idol Choujin has had me, who has always fought by seizing the initiative in a battle, conversely rolled up by the power of these battles of earnest matches with them…Unknowingly I’ve been fighting earnestly…And within them I’ve come to know what’s called “the epitome of an earnest match”—
Suguru: The epitome of an earnest match…
Mammoth: But after all that, I had to must win against Brocken Jr. and Buffaloman, even if I tearfully used dirty tricks, so I could lead Phoenix to the Throne of Planet Kinniku as a member of Team Phoenix…

114.
Mammoth: Bu…but I want to have an earnest match with just this Robin Mask, even if I throw away the mission for being a member of Team Phoenix!!
Mammoth: I don’t have time anymore. Before I am erased from this world, this…once, if its fine, then I want to fight until I’m completely satisfied
Suguru: Mammothman!!
Announcer: With Mammothman’s Prophecy burning progressing, Mammothman’s ankles are finally starting to be erased!!

115.
Mammoth: Uoo—here we go, Robin!!
Announcer: Mammothman, with a frantic form, has once again thrown Robin Mask with his Powerful Nose towards the air----!!
Mammoth: Ice Rock Gyro---!!
(TN: To tell the truth, the name of Mammothman’s technique can go either way: either “Ice Rock Gyro” akin to an icy meteorite…or “Ice Lock Gyro” referring to Robin being locked in ice…to tell the truth I really don’t know which to use but I’m so used to “Ice Rock Gyro” due to the meteor meaning that I kept it the former but choose whichever you want)
Announcer: The trapped-in-ice Robin Mask is once again revolving in the air with earth-shattering speed, like a balloon escaping the atmosphere---!!

116.
Bibimba: Suguru-sama, can’t you think of a means to defeat this technique somehow!!
Suguru: I understand, but the true form of this technique hasn’t been neatly grasped by me yet!!
Neptune: Robin—listen to me----!!
Neptune: Mammothman’s technique is the same as the principal of a tennis ball---! In short: nothing happens by throwing up just an ordinary tennis ball overhead, but if you add in a variation by flipping it with the fingers, it will revolve in the air, just like Robin Mask now!! The same as the tennis ball, Mammothman isn’t merely tossing him at the moment he tosses Robin Mask; he’s throwing Robin Mask’s body giving it rotation and twist with his Powerful Nose! Therefore, it comes to a condition like that when it’s set loose into the air!!

117.
Suguru: Samurai, I understand well your explanation, but did that reach the ice-locked Robin?
Neptune: …………
Mammoth: Ga—hahaha: I’m sorry Samurai, but it’s impossible for your voice to reach Robin with that.
Mammoth: Dorya—the finisher!!
Suguru: Robi—n!!
Announcer: Mammothman is falling coming to an Elbow Drop on Robin Mask, who has become completely trapped in ice!!

118.
Robin: Don’t worry, Kinnikuman, I won’t die in this.
Suguru: Robin!!
Robin: Unicorn Head!!
Suguru: Ooh—that’s the Anoalo Staff, the heirloom handed down for generations in the Robin Family which possesses a special characteristic of emitting flames----!!
Mammoth: What can you do with that thing; die---!!
Robin: Fire----!!
Mammoth: Uwa!!

119.
Announcer: A raging flame has spouted from the horn that sticks out to Robin Mask’s head----!!
Audience: AAH
Announcer: Robin Mask has escaped from the icy package he was locked in---!!
Mammoth: Ha—hahaha, even if you’ve seemed to have escaped from my ice somehow, the power of rotation and twisting that was added when I threw you with my Powerful Nose is still remaining in your body!

120.
Robin: What’s that---!!
Announcer: Robin Mask has seized Mammothman’s body---!!
Robin: This rotation and twisting power from when I was thrown by Powerful Nose that still remains in my body will be inverted into your body!!
Audience: Aah---!!
Mammoth: Uwaa---!!

121.
Mammoth: Guoo~~~!!
Robin: And if I threw your body adding in new rotation and twisting power like this---!!
Robin: Robin-Style

122.
Robin: ICE ROCK GYRO---!!
Suguru: A…mazing: its 2 times; no, 10 times the power of Mammothman’s Ice Rock Gyro!!

123.
Announcer: Robin Mask is waging an Ice Rock Gyro that’s more powered up to Mammothman---!!
Robin: Samurai, I heard well your tennis ball explanation, even inside my ice package---!!
Neptune: Robin………
Robin: Al—right, I’ll end it with a Robin Special!!
Announcer: And it’s a Robin Special, which not one person has ever stood up to, to Mammothman who has become packed in ice---!! Robin Mask’s victory is definite---!!

124.
Announcer: N…no, it’s not definite--!!
Suguru: Gee—Robin Mask’s ankles, which have caught Mammothman’s neck, are disappearing---!!
Meat: Just like Mammothman, that’s due to Robin Mask’s Prophecy also spreading little by little by the flames of the torch!!
Robin: Gu!!
Announcer: Robin Mask’s ankles have finally been erased, loosening the Roibn Special---!!
Mammoth: Guwa—hahaha: that’s unfortunate, Robin Mask.
Suguru: Aah…if it was just a bit more—with this, it’s the end of anything and everything~~~!!

125.
Robin: Mammothman, its taboo to be negligent to a Choujin in an earnest match---!!
Announcer: Robin Mask has captured Mammothman into a Tower Bridge, his highest and greatest special technique!!
Suguru: Do…do you see, Samurai: even in this crisis of his own existence being erased from this world, that Robin hasn’t stopped fighting yet, without even crying.
Neptune: Yes.
Announcer: Robin Mask is now rapidly falling aiming for the ring---!!
Suguru: He’s…such a cool man to this extent, that man Robin…since the moment I first met him eight years ago, he…he’s always had been cool!!

126.
Mammoth: Robin Mask, you’re a man isn’t very lucky. Look at the drop point directly below!!
Announcer: Directly below them is Robin Mask’s Roulette String---!!
Suguru: What!?
Robin: That thing isn’t connected to an earnest match----!!
Announcer: Somehow Robin Mask has cut his own Roulette String by his own hand---!!
Announcer: At this moment, Robin Mask’s Prophecy page has dropped into the flames of the blazing torch---!!

127.
Announcer: Robin Mask is straining the last power of his disappearing body, decisively landing with his Tower Bridge aiming for the nearby ring!!
Mammoth: If you don’t have ankles, you’ll land on just your knees!!
Suguru & Neptune: Robin, we’ll!!
Suguru & Neptune: Become your legs!!
Announcer: Kinnikuman and Samurai have become Robin Mask’s legs, completing the Tower Bridge---!!

128.
(SCRAMBLE FOR THE KINNIKU THRONE ARC)
SPECIAL VTR LXXXII (XXXXXXXXII)
ROBIN MASK VS. MAMMOTHMAN

TN: Oh boy...I know they're trying their best to show all of the emotion regarding Robin's essentially inevitable passing (you'll be seeing way more of that next chapter), but somehow it can't help but seemingly depicted just...wrong with this ending. I do sort of get that Robin needed help to complete the Tower Bridge considering he is losing his body bit by bit and that both Suguru and Neptuneman are trying to help him the best they can but...it just ends up leading to one of the most WTF moments of the fight next chapter. It feels more well intentioned now but soon it will just fall flat on it's face with unintentional stupidity.

But there is one thing I can comment about this chapter without spoiling: how the heck does every last one of Robin's matches in this part of the tournament inevitably require the use of the Anoalo Staff? But of course, as if it wasn't bad enough he was using the fire staff again (which sort of makes sense in some ways to melt the ice), the problem is less the logic..and more how it just suddenly appears this time around. I mean, let's go over how the staff was used in all three set-ups in this tournament one at a time:

1. The first usage of the Anoalo Staff was essentially a horrible moment but more or less a culmination of the match: Mariposa was taunting Robin in having it all match and, in his one moment of weakness, it falls out of his hand and connects right onto Robin's mask leading to the big turnaround. It's horrible how it just came into Robin's possession, but seeing him use it to finally get revenge on Mariposa probably made up for it...not completely but somewhat.

2. The second usage was actually the only time where we actually see Robin consciously use the staff...just before he's absorbed by Parthenon. Of course they end up using the "methane used to make Parthenon ends up igniting and destroying the pillars" bit but at least for once it was a conscious decision and ended up saving his life. (and winning the match but that's another story)

3. And now...I have no idea what just happened. Let's go over it step by step: the Anoalo Staff was nowhere to be seen throughout the match, Mammothman uses Ice Rock Gyro, Robin completely freezes and can't move anything at all...and then it suddenly grows out of his mask and he uses it to melt the ice. Alright, I get the intention: using the heat from the Anoalo Staff to escape from sub-zero temperatures but...yeah, it just randomly grew onto Robin's mask as he was frozen solid in a block of ice...it just writes itself, doesn't it.

So...yeah, Robin has nearly won the match and we have the "plot device from daddy" to thank. It won't ruin the next chapter but it does give us a bitter pill to swallow.

BTW: Mammothman is a story in himself with his sudden "I'm still evil...but I wanted a real fight" angle we finally see from him. (gives me a Younger Toguro feel thinking about it a bit more) But the weird thing: I don't mind it but he didn't seem to mind his "cheating" (Big Nose Fan, burning the Prophecy, taking the fall against Cannonballer) before so it just feels weird seeing he regretted it with his "warrior code".