Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 211

It's the ultimate battle of contrasts: the refined French noble Michele vs. the dirty Japanese brawler Togashi in the latest Daibukai finals match! But with Togashi inhaling the scent of death, can he find a way to survive long enough to win?

Chp. 211: Countdown to Death!

129.
Togashi: UOO---!!
Michele: The life left in you has one minute left…In this one minute, lament in your bad luck in coming to fight me.

Toramaru: Uoo! How could it be that the scent of the rose flowers be poison---!! Ho…hold on, To…Togashi~~~~!!
Momotarou: …………!!

130.
(Title page…Michele is an arrogant bastard, isn’t he?)

131.
Togashi: Y…you: do…doing this mocking behavior----!!! It…it’s come to this: y…you’re coming with me----!!
Michele: Fu: it’s futile how many times you get up in that condition.
Togashi: Guwa!!
Michele: But holding an easy match like this is too wretched even for me. I shall give just one chance to you.
Michele: This is the only key that will save you.
Togashi: Wh…what…………!?

132.
Michele: Inside this iron ball is inserted an antidote that goes against the poison-incense you’ve breathed. In other words: if you take this, then you can be saved.
Michele: Well, I give you this.
Togashi: ………!!
Michele: But then, this is an iron ball that has a 5cm wall thickness. It can’t be broken so easily.
Togashi: UOO---!!

133.
Togashi: Nuoo---!!
Togashi: Y…you a**hole----!!
Togashi: Th…this iron ball is so hard!!

134.
Michele: Well, what’s wrong? The countdown to death has already started.
Toramaru: To…Togashi, your guts-----!! Fi…fighting spirit, put in much more fighting spirit----! Wh…what are you doing not splitting that one ball-----!!
(TN: “Fighting spirit” is the Japanese expression “kiai”, which some places have used, thus why I made a comment about it)
Date: What a person, this guy Michele. A person doesn’t give a chance………………!! He’s enjoying himself with this act of inevitable death which he’s betting Togashi’s life.
Momotarou: I…I have heard of this…………!! The torture method called “La Melvelle”.
(TN: Somehow it’s really hard translating from Japanese to English…but this essentially is translating Japanese to French…to English. As is, I just approximated it and will leave the rest to the following Minmei commentary for the moment)
Commentary:
La Melvelle: Possibly mislead by their boredom, this was devised as a dreadful torture method for a prisoner party, reaching the utmost limit of decadence for the aristocracy of the House of Bourbon of 17th century France; this is La Melvelle: said to be the watching and enjoying a prisoner who has taken a poison acknowledging an antidote and wriggling in pain against an iron ball that is impossible to break. The iron ball of La Melvelle has significance and even today exists in museums in various parts of France.
-From “Western Civilization – Their Maturity and Decadence”, Minmei Publishing
(TN: While many times Otokojuku has a ton of strange ‘historical characters’, for once the Minmei entry actually uses one that existed: the “House of Bourbon” was the ruling party in France from the 16th century through the French Revolution of 1792, while also ruling several other areas around Spain and Italy up through the 19th century. It was in the 17th century that the Bourbon held their most decadent period, notable for the reign and luxury of King Louis XIV)

135.
Togashi: KURYAA----!!
Togashi: ………!!
Michele: Fu, it seems you’ve given up at last. Now you mostly don’t have even your remaining time.
Togashi: Do…don’t mock me…………!! To…to Togashi Genji, Otokojuku First-Year, the…the words “give up” isn’t known.

136.
Michele: !?
Togashi: Kuu!!
Michele: …………!!

137.
Toramaru: Wh…what is he doing, th…that Togashi---!! He…he’s suddenly starting to climb the Toudou statue above the tower----!!

138.
Togashi: HERE WE GO---!!
Toramaru: Wh…what----!! Th…that Togashi, he at once jumped down from that high place aiming for the iron ball below----!

139.
Toramaru: Aah!! N…no---! The ball is unperturbed----!! E….even Togashi’s do-or-die dive can’t be used on it----!!

140.
Michele: Fufu, that was foolish; breaking the iron ball with that stupid method……!!
Michele: !!

141.
Togashi: St…stupid method……!? Heh, I…I did truly take it, the antidote……!!
Togashi: Th…this is a real blockhead, that’s what it is………!!
(TN: The “blockhead” here is sort of a two-sided pun: the word Togashi uses here is “ishiatama”, which has a literal meaning of “stone-head” or “blockhead”, but is also used for “an inflexible person”. Besides, its funny hearing Togashi call himself a blockhead)
Michele: …………!!
Toramaru: Uoo!! You’ve done it, Togashi—y…you’ve brilliantly escaped from the countdown to death---! Ri…right, you prepared to the stones under your hat----!!

142.
Voice: Do you intend to play forever, Michele?
Togashi: !?
Voice: Can’t you thoroughly bring this to end?
Gouki: This still must be done by you. Wasting useless time on this sludgy fundoshi guy opponent is unforgivable.
Michele: Cenrtainly, commander.
Togashi: Sl…sludgy fundoshi guy………!!
Gouki: KILL HIM!!

143.
Michele: The tips of the thorns and stalks of these next red roses are smeared with a quick-acting deadly poison that will defeat an enemy with even a scratch. With this, I can take this match in a breath without being roundabout in killing you with a smell anymore!!
Togashi: Ooh!! Go…good, come at me!
Michele: MEIOUTOU OUGI: KILLING ROSE FRAGRANCE!!

144.
Togashi: Th...these things are dumb---!!
Togashi: Nu!?
Togashi: Hu—h? What’s wrong, out of ammo already? Even so, you’ve acknowledged it’s useless no matter how many poison roses you throw at me!!

145.
Michele: Fu, fool……concentrating on the caution of avoiding and you didn’t even notice the pain. Please look closely; at your own back.
Togashi: Wh…what……………!?
Togashi: WH…WHAT----!!
Togashi: Uoo---!!
Togashi: Gugyaa---!!
Toramaru: To…Togashi---!! To…Togashi’s been killed~~~~!!

146.
Michele: Fu, the status of me and you was way too different after all.
Michele: Now, who will it be: who will be my opponent next!?
Voice: A…aren’t you being a tad quick on that?
Michele: UOO!!

147.
Togashi: Hehhehhe: I’ve…I’ve fully caught you. Lo…look closely, at the rose that stabbed into my back………………!!
Togashi: Th…this thing is a purple rose thrown by you at the start that was dyed with blood, turning it red………In…in other words, I stabbed myself with this……………!! Th…this was misunderstood as a thing that you threw and stabbed me with now and made you negligent.
Michele: Y…you………!!
Togashi: Be…be relieved that this sonny has his bally-balls. So…you’re actually a woman; with this, I don’t have a reason to crush you!!
Michele: Uguoo~~~!!

TN: You know, for some funny reason I actually sort of wish that Michele was exactly like Lady Oscar and was a woman fighting as a man on the Meiou Island team...it probably would end up being the ultimate mockery for Togashi on one hand, but likewise it would prove that there can be female brawlers as well. But just as well, having Togashi crush Michele's testicles may just make him more womanly eventually...perhaps. One thing I do like about this chapter is something that Date himself brings up that has been a consistent problem in this series: the enemy giving their opponent a chance just to play with their emotions like there is a chance for them to win. I guess some could perhaps say that the villains do this to allow the enemy to have a means to have a come-from-behind victory, but personally I think this is just part of Miyashita's satire: with villains giving heroes a chance, it just sort of shows the heroes spitting in their face when they do actually succeed. Of course, with Togashi being the blockhead that he is, having him defeat the iron-plated ball by smashing it with his head not only proves that...but just shows why Togashi is one of the best characters, one who just figures things out on the fly to win instead of just going with style or substance of a kenpo ability. And isn't that what Otokojuku is about?