Sakigake!! Otoko Juku 216

With a bit of trickery, Gekkou has removed the massive elephant Punjab from the match...but now the real battle begins with his master Raja Mahal! And he's going to need to stretch his fighting to the limit to win against this Indian warrior!

Chp. 216: Wonderful Rama Yoga!

47.
Toramaru: Y…you’ve done it, Gekkou---!! Th…that monster elephant was knocked into the depths of hell----! We…we don’t have anything to be afraid of anymore with that!!
Togashi: Th…that Mahal was an elephant-using guy; cooking him will be easy as pie---!!
(TN: Togashi uses an expression here of “chochoi no choi”, which is essentially slang similar to “Easy as 1, 2, 3” or “easy as pie”; the latter worked with the “ryouri suru” that follows it in Japanese; besides, considering that Gekkou did something similar way back with Centaur, I doubt he’s done for that easily)
“Chinese”: Fufu: foolish boys. He only defeated the elephant. They don’t know anything.
“Chinese”: To Mahal, Souzou Rikukan Touhou exceeds only mere fun. That guy is the man who has mastered the summit of India’s Rama Yoga, stated as the highest wonderful limit to the body in the world.
Gouki: Wonderful…………!?

48.
“Chinese”: Fufu, as I said. From here, we’ll come to see this wonder in our eyes!!
Raja Mahal: I pity you, Punjab……………!! Your regrets will be cleared with the mangling of his body.

49.
(Title page…Gekkou is in a terrible position now considering Mahal wants to rip him to shreds…I hope his prediction doesn’t come to pass)

50.
Raja Mahal: Let’s go!!

51.
Gekkou: Is that the weapon called Kipchak, handed down since ancient times in India?
(TN: This one really seemed to drive me crazy and I am sure that there is something more to it but basically the “Kipchak” which this weapon is called isn’t usually used for this Indian weapon but typically used for a group of Turkic people who lived in Siberia and progressed within a range reaching from the Aral Sea to Hungary. There probably is a proper name for the weapon but at this time I really can’t say what it is and just have to go with “Kipchak” like Miyashita wants us to)
Gekkou: But your skill with them is still inexperienced. You truly have tremendous force, but your defense is soft, just with gaps!!
Gekkou: HA!!

52.
Raja Mahal: HAN!!
Gekkou: NU!!
Raja Mahal: FUNU, my defense is sofá……!!
Gekkou: …………!!
Togashi: Wh…what the, wa…was that an optical illusion now---!!
Toramaru: Th…the body of that Mahal guy abnormally bent for a moment and avoided Gekkou’s kon---!!

53.
Raja Mahal: I won’t even move a step from here. Now, you should test and see if this was an optical illusion or not once more.
Gekkou: Nun!!
Gekkou: Ku!!

54.
Raja Mahal: Fufu, do you understand with that?
Raja Mahal: The essence of my Rama Yoga, possessing three thousand years of history, is that not just my muscles but even my bones are at my will!!

55.
Toramaru: Uoo—lo…look at hi…his body---!
Togashi: I…I don’t believe this!! He…he’s transforming his body like he’s an amoeba---!
Date: Nuuu, th…that’s Rama Yoga, which I’ve heard of in this world…!!
Commentary:
Rama Yoga…The mystique of yoga, which has been generally transmitted in India, is widely known, but among them, the one that has the alias of “Black Yoga” and that is dreaded for it’s numerous secret mysteries that are close to wondrous is Rama Yoga.

Its peculiarity is to change even the composition of the cells of bone, making it possible to transform them freely. And like its alias as “Black Yoga”, it has been suppressed by the Maharajahs of the time consequently for its terrible fighting strength that can rival a thousand soldiers by one who develops it into a miraculous murdering grappling style and its successors have reported to have died out.
-From “Even Indians are Surprising! The Wonder of Yoga”, Minmei Publishing
(TN: Well one thing I finally realized with this entry: “Raja Mahal” is just a rearrangement of “Maharajah”, thus his name)

Raja Mahal: With perfect defense and offense, there isn’t a blind-spot for me---!!
SFX: NUGU!!

56.
Raja Mahal: Die---!!
Gekkou: Gu!!
Gekkou: Ha!!
Raja Mahal: !!

57.
Raja Mahal: Fu, you couldn’t help running into the sky? Understood; if you’re there, then my attacks won’t reach you.
Raja Mahal: But what do you intend to do if I knock down this kon?
Gekkou: I’ve caught you, Mahal. You should look closely at your feet.
Raja Mahal: N!?

58.
Raja Mahal: Huh!? Th…this is!!
Raja Mahal: Nuuu!! I…I can’t get my…feet out---! Y…you set down bird lime on the ground!!
Gekkou: If I in the air were to be taken down to the ground, then it’s natural you’d have to get near the kon. You were prideful in your power and were unprepared.
Toramaru: Gr…great, Gekkou---!!
Togashi: Wi…with that, that guy can’t move!! He can take this match at once---!
Gekkou: Don’t think badly, this is what’s called a match!!

59.
Raja Mahal: HI!!
Raja Mahal: UAOOO!!

60.
Raja Mahal: Haaa…………
Gekkou: Sleep carefree………!!

61.
Togashi: Y…you’ve done it---!! Ge…Gekkou won---!
Toramaru: Y…you weren’t a great man compared to your steaming mouth, you elephant-using guy!! Uwahhaha, no, that’s not it!! That was Gekkou was excessively too strong----!
Hien: …………!!
Toramaru: !?
Togashi: What’s wrong, Hien: you have a depressed face!!
Toramaru: Gekkou was extremely worried before he went out, but Gekkou had a great victory as such. With that, shouldn’t you be returning that memento pendant that was entrusted to you, even with him having any chance!
Hien: Th…the memento has…………!!
Togashi: HUH!!

62.
Voice: YOU WERE WAITING THERE FOR A MOMENT. EVEN IF YOU HADN’T HAD A SINGLE OPENING UNTIL NOW, THERE’S FINALLY AN OPENING IN THAT FLAWLESS YOU.
Gekkou: HUH!!
Raja Mahal: Take back your kon!! RAMA YOGA OUGI: CHOUHATSU KINBYOUSHA!!
(TN: “Chouhatsu Kinbyousha” = “Stretching-Discharge Mottled-Muscle Shot”)

63.
Gekkou: Nuha!!
Momotarou, Togashi & Toramaru: GE…GEKKOU---!!

64.
Gekkou: Guku, y…you………
Raja Mahal: Fufu, the caught can be deduced as you. Even stepping in the birdlime was all in the calculation……………!!
Raja Mahal: It should have been said……!! My body that has mastered the secret processes of Rama Yoga is entirely at my will……! When I took your kon in my back, I at once matched the shape of the kon and transformed my muscles, having you think I’ve been pierced with the kon!!
Gekkou: I…I was mistaken…e…even the blood was a blood bag……!!

65.
Gekkou: E…even as I die, Otokojuku hasn’t died……………! I…I ask you for…the rest……………!!
Toramaru: Ge…Gekkou……!!
Raja Mahal: Have you realized: this is the terror of Mahal!! Now you should come, the next daredevil of Otokojuku!!

TN: When I first saw Raja Mahal back a few chapters ago, I mentioned that he seemed to remind me of someone from a certain fighting game. And now we've seen him in action, I think it's safe to say my speculation: somehow I think this guy inspired Dhalsim from "Street Fighter II". I know there are probably people out there yelling at me saying "Ataru, what the heck are you saying!?" But think about it: this chapter came out around the middle of 1989 and involved an Indian using the weird powers of "yoga" to give himself a super-flexible body. Sure they had to make a few changes (no turban, make his limbs stretch as opposed to just giving him a super-defense with it, make him breathe fire for projectiles, infer to Punjab through the elephants in his stage), but I seriously think that Raja Mahal is an inspiration for Dhalsim...maybe this won't go the same path as Senkuu (along with Polnarff) inspiring Benimaru at SNK, but that's something between Jump and Capcom.

As for the chapter itself...I sort of knew when Hien got those pendants that somehow Gekkou wasn't going to last. It was a weird way he had to go (Mahal literally squishing his body to let the kon seem like it pierced through, then bouncing it back), but unfortunately this series telegraphs these things rather easily sometimes. Gekkou was a good one, but now he's with Raiden...which means Hien may need to step in to stop the Sanmenken's current problems somewhere!