Shintetsu Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo 23

Though momentarily side-tracked by the plight of the returning Tennosuke (by...giving him more plight), Team Bo-bobo head forth to take on the Nagoya Brothers themselves...but can they defeat the local guardians of the famed city!?

Shinsetsu 23: The Shinsetsu Bo-bobo Corp vs. The Nagoya Brothers!!

44.
Kakuouzan: The "A-Class Gourmet 4-Ninshuu" have been defeated by some people.
Sakae: That now was Bo-bobo. They've run out and are coming up.
Pokomi: That Bo-bobo, he's actually big brother's...
Caption: POKOMI
Kakuouzan: KUKU...IT'S AS WE'VE READ FROM BABUU-SAMA. THEY'RE COMING TO RESCUE POKOMI.
Sakae: THE DAY HAS FINALLY COME FOR US TO BECOME THE NEW NEO-MARUHAGE THREE DAIOU.

45.
Kakuouzan: NAGOYA'S SCENERY, WHICH WE CAN SEE FROM HERE, IS ALL THE MORE PRETTY TODAY.
Sakae: YES, THIS IS THE GREATEST TOWN......
Sakae: N
Kakuozan: UWAAAAAAAA
Sakae: WHAT ARE THOSE~~~~!!!?
(TN: While it really is hard to tell what most of these guys are [aside Tennosuke under plastic], Don Patch is dressed akin to Arale-chan, in reference to Akria Toriyama's 1980-1984 manga series "Dr. Slump")
Bo-bobo: SHINSETSU HANAGE SHINKEN OUGI: ASSAULT! NEXT DOOR IS NAGOYA CASTLE!!!
(TN: Bo-bobo's attack is a reference to the TV show "Totsugeki! Tonari no Bangohan", a Japanese series on Nihon TV since 1985 involving a roming reporter who invades Japanese homes to find out what they're having for dinner)
Don Patch: GUGYAAAA!!

46.
Bo-bobo: ORAA, DIDN'T YOU BLUNDER WITH THAT LANDING! THAT'S WHY WE HAD TO BE UNIFORM AS NINJAS---!! THAT IMAGE OF ALL OF US RESPECTIVELY FLYING DIDN'T WORK!!
Don Patch: SPE---AKING OF THAT!!
Sakae: WHERE DID THEY COME FROM!?
Namerou: ...WELL, I'LL DO AS I PLEASE LATER.
Beauty: AAH, BO-BOBO! HE-KUN'S LITTLE SISTER IS OVER THERE......HOW CRUEL...
Kakuouzan: RIGHT...YOU'RE BO-BOBO? WE'VE WAITED FOR YOU.
Kakuouzan: I'M TRUE GENERAL LEADER OF F-BLOCK, NAGOYA KAKUOUZAN.
Sakae: SIMILAR: TRUE VICE-LEADER NAGOYA SAKAE. WE'LL DEAL WITH ALL OF YOU.
Bo-bobo: ALL OF YOU NEO-MARUHAGE WILL ENTIRELY BE WASTED BY THE SHINSETSU BO-BOBO CORP!!!
(TN: Note Gaou: he's wearing the infamous "Stone Mask" that awakens vampiric powers from Hirohiko Araki's "JoJo's Bizarre Adventure" from primarily Pt. 1, in particular awakening the supernatural powers of villain Dio Brando)

47.
Beauty: KYAA, THIS IS THE AURA OF A TRUE LEADER...
Sakae: WELL SHOW US, BO-BOBO. EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU---!!
Bo-bobo: I'LL SHOW YOU: THIS IS OUR-----
Bo-bobo: EVERYTHING-------!!!!
Truck Kanji:
Gaou's: HUSBAND AND WIFE
Front of Don Patch's Truck: LOVE
Don Patch's Flag: CONGRATULATIONS
Front of Tennosuke's Truck: CONGRATULATIONS
Tennosuke's Banner: BOUND FOR CONGRATS
Sakae & Kakuouzan: GUBAAAA!!
Beauty: KYAAAAA, WHAT IS THAT-----!!!?
Bo-bobo: THIS IS A GENUINE NAGOYA FLASHY WEDDING CEREMONY!! ALL OF THESE TROSSEAUS ARE RIDING ON THE TRUCKS...IT'S BEST TO TAKE THEM: EVERYTHING IN OUR HOUSE!!!
(TN: "Trosseaus" is in reference to the entire bridal outfit, including the dress and veil)
Sakae & Kakuouzan: GUWAAA
Beauty: EVERYTHING IS FALLING DOWN IN DRIPS BUT

48.
Bo-bobo: NEXT, TENNOSUKE: PURURUN COMBINATION!!
Tennosuke: ROGER
Tennosuke: DOCKING TEN-CHAN
Bo-bobo: SHINSETSU HANAGE SHINKEN CHOUOUGI: KONNYAKU ROBO: TOKOROTEN'S GREAT COUNTERATTACK!!!
(TN: I assume this is in reference to something...but this really threw me for a loop and I really couldn't figure it out)
Sakae & Kakuouzan: WHAT!?
Beauty: THEY'VE TAKEN OUT THE OUGI THAT THEY HAD ALREADY SENT OUT IN NAGOYA CASTLE FOR A BIT SINCE EARLIER.
Tennosuke: GO---DEATH HAND MACHINEGUN!!!
SFX: NYURURU...
Tennosuke: EH!?
SFX: PLOP PLOP

49.
Sakae: SHACHIHOKO SHINKEN OUGI: SHINING INNER CITADEL PALACE!!!
Tennosuke: GYAAAA, BETRAYED BY KONNYAKU!!
Beauty: AH, TENNOSUKE-KUN!
Tennosuke: What's that...
Tennosuke: PURUPURU SHINKEN OUGI: JUMP SUPERSTARS'S COME-BACK THREE-STEP JUMP!
(TN: First of all, Tennosuke makes reference to the video game "Jump Superstars", a game released by Nintendo in 2005 whereas players can play as some of their favorite Jump characters in one video game. [I'd make a reference to "Jump Ultimate Stars", the sequel game from 2006, but there is actually a reference to that game later on in Shinsetsu] While Bo-bobo and Don Patch are playable in both games...Tennosuke isn't aside as an ally character. Second, Tennosuke's reference to the "triple jump" is in reference to the abilty of certain characters to do a triple jump on their own...while others need an ally card to do the move)
Sakae: WHAT THE!!?
Bo-bobo: CRITICAL MOMENT OFFENSE AND DEFENSE: OUTBREAK OF THE MAYONAISSE WAR!!
(TN: Bo-bobo attacks back at this time with an infamous attack that actually originally came not from JSS but from "Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo: Ougi 87.5 Bakuretsu Hanage Shinken" (Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo Ougi 87.5 Explosive Fist of the Nosehair), a Game Boy Advance Bo-bobo game from 2002. The attack became notable enough to be used in later Bo-bobo games by Hudson, the maker of the Bo-bobo video games)
Tennosuke: GYARAPAAAA
Beauty: WHAT'S THAT!?
Bo-bobo: With that, the intruder has dissapeared.
Beauty: INTRUDER!? THAT WAS YOUR ALLY.
Bo-bobo: N--N
Beauty: !!

50.
Bo-bobo: ...BUT TENNOSUKE NOW HAS IGNITED A FIRE IN MY SPIRIT. LET'S GO: SHINSETSU HANAGE SHINKEN CHOUOUGI...
Bo-bobo: CONGRATULATE JUMP SUPER STARS NEWEST GAME, CREATING EXCITEMENT FOR WINTER!!!!
(TN: Staying with the "Jump Super Stars" references, it was around this point in 2006 that "Jump Ultimate Stars", the sequel game, was made public in Japan, therefore leading to this "congratulatory attack" in excitement for the Jump-game sequel)
Sakae: GUWAAAAAA
Kakuouzan: THEY'RE POWERFUL---
Beauty: WHAT IS THIS!!? EVEN IF IT'S INCORRECT, DON'T GET DISTRESSED ABOUT JUMP SUPER STARS' NEWEST GAME!!!

51.
Beauty: ...But it's amazing. The way they fight is extremely absurd, but it's certainly pushing down the Nagoya Brothers.
Sakae: GU...THEY'RE GREATER THAN ANTICIPATED.
Kakuouzan: SAKAE, LET'S GET SERIOUS...
Sakae: WATCH! OUR MASTERED SHACHIHOKO SHINKEN UTILIZES IT'S TRUE POWER FOR THE WHEN FIRST DONE AS A PAIR...
Kakuouzan: THIS MAIN POINT WILL BE EXPERIENCED BY YOU
Sakae & Kakuouzan: SHACHIHOKO SHINKEN KIWAME OUGI: OWARI'S UNIFORMED HALIBERDS OF ULTIMATE-HARDNESS KINSHACHI!!! WE ARE UNEQUALLED UNDER THE HEAVENS.
(TN: This is possibly one of the hardest attack names I've had in a very long time, so hard that I have to split it up to several notes in order to explain it:
1. "Kiwame" = "Extreme" or "Mastered", thus the whole comment about the "Mastered Shachihoko Shinken" above.
2. As I mentioned before, "Kinshachi" are the golden shachihoko on top of Nagoya Castle.
3. We have both "Shachi" and "Hoko" as part of this technique separated and with even two different kanji. The "Shachi" obviously has to do with "Shachihoko", but the "Hoko" is a different kanji separated at the end of the attack name, which has the meaning of "halberd", in reference to. Making matters worse: while it can merely be used as "halberd", a "Hoko" in general is an actual weapon that is a general samurai spear with four prongs, heavy and unweidly in use compared to the later-devised "yari" spears.
4. "Owari" is in reference to the "Owari Province", a province in ancient Japan that included a chunk of Aichi prefecture, including Nagoya. It was central during the warring periods with both Oda Nobunaga and Totoyomi Hideyoshi native and Tokugawa Ieyasu establishing his shogunate here.
5. And to finish this nightmare fully, the actual attack in Japanese is "Saigou Kinshachi no Owari Touitsu Hoko", just for those who don't believe all I just said)

52.
Don Patch: INTERESTING! BUT THE ONES GIVEN THE NAME "UNEQUALLED UNDER THE HEAVEN" ARE THOSE WHO FIGHT FOR US!! THE TWO GREAT MEN WHO ARE HERE!!
Captions: CHOUHI PATCHTOKU | GAOU UNCHOU
(TN: Once again, we have a "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" references:
-Don Patch's "Chouhi Patchtoku" is in reference to "Chouhi" or "Zhang Fei", a general of Shu Han.
-Gaou's "Gaou Unchou is in reference to "Unchou or "Guan Yu", a general of Liu Bei)
Beauty: .........Who are they already...
Don Patch: GO, LET'S FIGHT!!
Game Grid: (left to right) PATCH | GAOU | KAKUOUZAN
Beauty: EEH!? IS THIS A FIGHT BY SIMULATION!!?
Narrator: 3 minutes later
Beauty: THAT'S FAST!! THEY'VE ALREADY LOST
Don Patch: IN THAT CASE, WE'LL HAVE A MATCH IN MY FAVORED ONE-ON-ONE FIGHTING. UOOOOO
Caption: KAKUOUZAN
Narrator: 3 seconds later
Beauty: DON PATCH-KUN------!!!

53.
Bo-bobo: I'LL ATTACK THESE TWO ENEMIES!!
Jar: ECONOMY TOOTHPICKS
Beauty: WITH TOOTHPICKS!? IT'S IMPOSSIBLE
Kakuouzan: DIE
Bo-bobo: Quite a pair of kitchen utensils.
Kakuouzan: DRAGON-LIGHT STAB!!!
(TN: "Ryuumeitotsu" = "Dragon-Light Stab")
Bo-bobo: GUA
Beauty: BO-BOBO!!
Sakae: COMPLETELY GOT HIS HEAD----!!
SFX: PAKA
Sign: ZETSUBOU RECITAL
(TN: For those who don't remember from the original Bo-bobo, "Zetsubou", which translate literally into "Despair", is the bag-headed warrior from Cyber City who once fought Bo-bobo in a bungee match and even allied with Bo-bobo in the battle with Hydrate. He'll be appearing a couple times from here on)
Sakae: WHAT!!?

54.
Zetsubou: Lost, lost kitten-chan~~~where there are you~~~
(TN: Zetsubou is "attempting" to sing "Maigo no Koneko-chan" or "The Lost Kitten", a song usually taught to little children)
Zetsubou: Even if~~you hear me, you can't understand~~~even if~~you hear your name, you can't understand~~~
Zetsubou: NYAN NYAN NYANYAN
Zetsubou: DESPAAAIR-----!!!!!
Sakae: WHAT JUST IS THAT!? WHAT IS IT!? I DON'T GET THE REASON!!
Zetsubou: DESPAIR---DESPAAIR---
Zetsubou: DESPAAAAAAAIR
Sakae: HE'S ANNOY---ING!!!
Sakae: I'LL KILL YOU...GE

55.
Sakae: WHAT IS THIS!? TOKOROTEN!? FROM WHERE?
Caption: I CHALLENGE YOU---
Tennosuke: THE TOKOROTEN IS MY FRIEND
(TN: Tennosuke is reciting the catch-phase of Tsubasa Oozora, the lead character of the WSJ 1981-1988 series (and subsequent franchise) "Captain Tsubasa" by Youichi Takahashi. The actual line is "The Ball is My Friend"...but of course, this is Tennosuke. BTW: while the "10" could be seen by some as merely just a Tennosuke joke, Tsubasa actually uses the #10 as his main number during the entire course of the series)
Sakae: THAT TOKOROTEN AGAIN!!! WHY ARE YOU AT THE DISTANCE OF SAKAEEKI TELEVISION TOWER!!!
(TN: "Sakaeeki" or "Sakae Station" is a train station in Naka-ku, Aichi Prefecture, which is in the heart of Nagoya. This is around the "Sakae" area, which includes the Nagoya TV Tower, usually sited as the symbol of the city. It's approximately 3 miles from Nagoya Tower to Nagoya Castle, thus the "distance" between the two points. BTW: this area probably explains one of the two names of the two Nagoya Brothers for Sakae, with Kakuouzan referencing "Kakuouzan Station" in Chukusa-ku, the eastern part of Nagoya known for it's parks)
Sakae: Those merely worthless tricks means nothing to teamwork. How about that, Shinsetsu Bo-bobo Corp?
Kakuouzan: WE'LL KILL YOU ALL TOGETHER.
Bo-bobo: EXCELLENT, NAGOYA BROTHERS: IN THAT CASE, WE'LL SHOW YOU THE TEAMWORK OF THE FOUR OF US AS YOU WISH!!

56.
Bo-bobo: TAKE THIS: SHINSETSU HANAGE SHINKEN CHOUOUGI-----
Bo-bobo: NINETY-NINE NIGHTS, NAGOYA-EDITION!!!!
(TN: "Ninety-Nine Nights", or "Tsukumo no Yoru" [though merely just called "NINETY-NINE NIGHTS" in Japan as well] is presumably in conjunction to a video game released in April 2006 in Japan on the X-Box 360 and is actually a collaboration of Japanese "Q Entertainment" and South Korea's "Phantagram". Although part of the "crowd combat" game system, where hundreds of foes can be fought at once, it was extremely notable for it's advanced graphics at the time)
Don Patch, Tennosuke & Gaou: GUGYAAAAAAA

57.
Bo-bobo: THIS IS OUR---
Bo-bobo: TEAMWORK----!!!
Beauty: THEY'RE NOT EVEN SERVANTS IN YOUR TEAMWORK!!
Don Patch: BO-BOBO, I'LL KILL YOU...
Tennosuke: Seriously kill you.
Beauty: That it is.
Sakae: GUAA...HIS POWER IS EXCEPTIONALLY INCREASING. HE'S...
Sakae: REALLY STRONG!!
Don Patch, Tennosuke & Gaou: GIIYAAAAA
Bo-bobo: FINI----SH: COME, MY TRUMP CARD!!
Sakae: WHAT? A TRUMP CARD!?
Kakuouzan: IT'S A BLUFF!! HE DOESN'T HAVE ONE.

58.
Bo-bobo: SHINSETSU HANAGE SHINKEN CHOUOUGI: HIMEJI CASTLE: HIMEJI SLICE!!!!
(TN: It may seem strange to have Himeji Castle from Hyougo Prefecture finish them off, but this actually has precidence and connection to another manga: in an infamous incident in Yudetamago's "Kinnikuman", Himeji Castle actually flies and fuses with Nagoya Castle, becoming one "Fighting Castle" during the "Scramble for the Throne" tournament...it's best not to ask considering the whole scenario as to how and why it was done was stupid)
Everyone: GYAAAAAA
Beauty: THE CASTLE CAME---!! HIMEJI CASTLE CAME---!! AND IT SLICED NAGOYA CASTLE----!!!
Sakae: YOU S**TS
Kakuouzan: WE STILL...HAVE OUR HALBERDS...
Bo-bobo: WE'LL TELL YOU, NAGOYA BROTHERS: ONE TOOTHPICK IMMEDIATELY BREAKS, BUT WHEN THREE ARE PUT TOGETHER...

59.
Bo-bobo: NOTHING CAN BREAK THEM!!!!
Attack Caption: HANAGE SHINKEN OUGI: THE TEACHINGS OF MOURI ARE ABSOLUTE!!!
Beauty: NO, THAT'S WHY TOOTHPICKS USUALLY BREAK!! THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH MOURI MOTONARI
(TN: "Mouri Motonari" is a prominent daimyo of western Chugoku during the Sengoku period of the 16th century. His most famous incident though involved a lesson he taught to three of his sons involving snapping arrows, teaching them that one alone doesn't do a thing, but three together can do anything)
Sakae: GUHAA...
Kakuouzan: OUR HALBERDS...
Bo-bobo: Don't mock Mouri Motonari. We won by knowing the Sengoku Law of "The Three Toothpicks".
Bo-bobo: Let's return Heppokomaru his little sister.

TN: Let me get this off my chest first: this chapter...was long. Long...hard...and with so many cultural references that I had to keep putting it down and coming back to it all day today. (well that and all the other stuff going on in my life). The last chapter even (with it's weird local food references) was a breeze compare to this monstrosity of a battle. With that said, the chapter initially felt sort of alright and fun...but something just didn't quite feel right about it. Once again there was this weird unshakable feeling I got doing this chapter that something just...wasn't right about it. Thinking it over a bit, here are a few problems that just came up:
-First of all is probably the main problem that I mentioned in another chapter: too many pop culture references. It's Bo-bobo, I know, and there are the occasional pop culture references if only in conjunction to something going on. But here it just felt like throwing out pop culture references for the sake of pop culture references, from Don Patch randomly turning into Arale to Tennosuke's little trick as Tsubasa to that "Ninety-Nine Nights" reference...a reference to a video game that seemed special in some ways and not others and not just a game from the Nintendo that Sawai admitted to loving! OK, I give them props for the "Jump Super Stars" bit (the triple jump one linking to Bo-bobo's own games...not quite sure about the "sequel announcement one"), but to just throw out pop culture references instead of just having bizarre humor with a bit of pop culture if needed just seemed to make it a major problem. I'll keep repeating this: Bo-bobo isn't like "some other shows/manga" and doesn't need pop culture to make crazy, classic comedy.
-Secondly...once again, the villains feel like a let-down after all the build-up. The Nagoya Brothers did feel like a legitimate threat from how they were treated at the start...but the "leader" Kakuouzan did hardly anything signficant and only fought in one chapter going down easily with his brother. Remember: we had multiple chapter fights with the likes of Plain Bread-Chan...and even Yokohama Joe, a minor villain used with Don Patch's revival! Meanwhile, Sakae barely has a fight with Tennosuke (yeah...it's Tennosuke, that's obvious) and went down like a punk this time...and his big brother, the big leader of the duo, merely had that one team attack and failed miserably! If the Nagoya Brothers were meant to be a threat, then why was this fight so rushed...and why did they seem so punked? I mean this isn't even some minion whom I'd expect at least one chapter fights of: these two are supposed to be block leaders, so why the heck are they such failures to convey their threat!?

Something tells me there is more to this than we can't quite see at this time...but hey, with Pokomi saved, all is right and maybe the story can continue...pending any surprises or anything. I mean, Pokomi is Heppokomaru's little sister, it's not like she's an evil threat too...I think.