Hell Teacher Nube 51

Dreams: the fantastic aspirations of one in what they hope to strive for. But what horrible things happen when a dream is lost, possibly forever!? That revelation is about to be found out...by several of Nube's students!

Vol. 7: The Erethral-Body Pulling Game!
#51: The Dream-Eating Baku

7.
Announcer: Japan has finally risen into the limelight at these 2002 World Cup finals! Right now, Tateno Hiroshi, who has pulled upwards to this point the Japanese, which had been called a soccer third-world country, is surely going for the goal…!
(TN: This is a really weird but strangely timely introduction to this chapter considering the history that was unknown at the time. While this “fantasy” by Hiroshi assumed that Japan would become massively dominant and reach the World Cup finals in 2002, no one at this time in 1994 knew that Japan itself would actually win the right (alongside South Korea) to host the 2002 World Cup, which lead to an automatic bid! [the announcement was made in 1996, two years later] While the Japanese did make it past the group stage in 2002, they ended up losing in the first bracket game to eventual 3rd place winner Turkey…so I guess they miss not having Hiroshi being real)
Audience: Wa—wa—
SFX: Ba
Announcer: Otto—a skilled goal!!
Announcer: They’ve done it! Tateno has achieved a hat trick against champion Brazil--!! He did it: Tateno of the world, the man who changed Japanese soccer--!!
(TN: Well at least they got one thing right: Brazil did make the ’02 finals…and won the whole thing against Germany in the finals)
SFX: Wa—wa—wa—
Hiroshi: Hahaha, I’m a genius after all~~
SFX: Shuuu
Hiroshi: Uh

8.
SFX: Zuzuzuzuzu…
Hiroshi: Uuuh

9.
Blackboard:
Composition Topic: My Dream
(TN: Nube writes the assignment twice but it has the same meaning: “Boku no Yume” is “My Dream” using the male “I”, while “Watashi no Yume” uses the female “I”)
Kyouko: My dream: Class 5-3, Inaba Kyouko
Kyouko: My dream is to be a stewardess in the future. Even so, I’ll be going to foreign nations and be cool with a fluency in English.
Caption: Airplane

10.
Miki: Gufufufu…you say you’re a stewardess!?
Caption: Sakki! (Bloodthirst)
Miki: Kyahahahaha: a…stewardess! This crude, muscle girl~~!? E—hihihi, that’s 100% impossible!
SFX: Don don (slam slam)
Kyouko: Wh…what, Miki: what did you write?
Miki: My dream is much more realistic! Um—I will be a sexy idol like Hosokawa Fumie in the future—(image) Uhuh.
Kyouko: At most the best you can do is to be a huge-breasted AV actress. (Ke)
(TN: An “AV Actress” is a Japanese term for a Japanese porn actress, whose performance can go anywhere from a bikini shoot to full hardcore porn. However, that doesn't stop certain of these actresses from actually making the mainstream...)
Miki: What did you say, small chest!
(TN: Miki refers to Kyouko as an “eguremune”, an expression for a small/flat-chested female)
Kyouko: Are you doing that, Holstein!
(TN: While Kyouko refers to Miki literally as a “Holstein”, as in the notable breed of dairy cow commonly seen as the major milk producer around the world)
Nube: Um well…
Nube: Quit that! Can’t you quietly write your compositions~~!!
SFX: Gya—gya—gya—

11.
Nube: Well what’s this, Hiroshi: time will be up very soon and yet you haven’t written anything at all?
Kyouko: Ara—Hiroshi’s dream was decided; wasn’t it to get into the J-League and go to the World Cup?
(TN: While I’m not sure I mentioned fully prior, the “J-League” is Japan’s soccer association, fully being established as of 1993 after previous attempts at Japanese soccer)
Miki: Can’t he even write with feeling~~right now~~?
Hiroshi: Shut up! I don’t need to be a soccer player or anything! Don’t decide as you please.
Hiroshi: I feel bad; I’m going to the infirmary.
Nube: He…hey, are you alright? Your face is ghastly pale.

12.
Sign: INFIRMARY
Hiroshi: What’s wrong; I should have wanted to be a soccer player that much and yet somehow, I come to lose my willpower with a feeling it’s no good no matter what I do…
Hiroshi: It’s because I saw that nightmare yesterday…I was extremely losing well up to part way and yet…
Voice 1: Super-clumsy! Weak! Trash!
Voice 2: They were all lucky shots up to now!
Voice 3: You don’t have talent! Quit!
Voice 4: Kill yourself, kill!!
(TN: The “kill yourself” part was “kubi” which is usually used either in firing or just in someone’s death)
Hiroshi: No! I’m scared…! I lost it---! What exactly is wrong with me; all of my self-confidence has disappeared in one night---!
Kyouko: Hiroshi…what’s wrong with you?
Hiroshi: Uuh.

13.
Sign: Inaba
Kyouko: It will be fine: Hiroshi did fall down even returning but; I don’t know what had happened but he has to speak about it immediately.
Kyouko: If you take soccer from him, then what does he really have left~~it’s no good to simply trhow away your dream; dreams are…
Kyouko: Valuable.
Kyouko: Attention, please; attention please. Ladies and Gentlemen, this is a pen; and so on and so forth.
(TN: Um…yeah, Kyouko’s completely speaking in English in her dream and…was doing alright until she randomly says “this is a pen”, the infamous “introductory sentence” many Japanese learn when they take up English. So…if she says it, that probably means she’s not as fluent as she wants to be…let alone the “nantara kantara” at the end which is the “and so on” part…shouldn’t you be doing some safety instructions if you’re a stewardess…yeah, it’s her dream, I'll keep quiet)
Kyouko: This is my vocation after all, fufu. (out loud) Please fasten your seatbelt.

14.
SFX: Gura gura | Dodo—n
Kyouko: The engine!
Announcer: A state of emergency has occurred! This plane will crash in one more second. Goodbye.
SFX: Kya—wa—
Kyouko: Nooooo~~~
SFX: Dogagagaga

15.
Kyouko: U…ugugu…n…no…uuuh
SFX: Zuzuzuzuzu…
Sign: Hosokawa
Miki: Ku—
Miki: (dream) Ah~~men are all my slaves~~kneel down and call me queen~~
Voices: Miki-cha—n, Lovely~~
Announcer: It’s Hosokawa Miki, participating for the 5th consecutive year in Kouhaku with a flashy costumer that becomes more extreme year after year; next year she’ll only undress further!!
(TN: Kouhaku, also known as “Kouhaku Uta Gassen”, is a yearly music show airing on New Years Eve on broadcaster NHK [airing that night and usually ending before midnight] where the most popular musicians of the year [usually split between “red” women and “white” men] are invited to compete for victory of their side. Appearance is just as crucial as the song in the competition and the production is crucial for either side to reach for victory)

16.
Men: Thank you very much. Thank you very much.
Sign: Waiting Room
Principal: Fu fu fu, you were good, Miki-kun; the best.
Miki: Principal.
Miki: Please, please let’s stop this already……
Principal: What are you saying; you don’t have any redeeming features except your huge breasts. The one who made you a star was me.
Principal: Quietly listen to what I say, uhahahaha---!!
SFX: Biribiribiri
Miki: Aah, nooo~~if I become a star like this, then I don’t want it anymooore~~!!

17.
SFX: Zuzuzuzuzu
Miki: Aah!! Aaah, no, nooo~~~
SFX: Disenhearted…
Nube: What’s wrong? All three of you together have a terrible complexion? Did you somehow eat some bad thing going home from school?
Kyouko: La…last night…
Kyouko: I had a nightmare.
Miki: Me too.
Hiroshi: Me too.
Nube: Hahaha, that’s dumb. Forget about it.
Hiroshi: But somehow it was different from what’s seen…I’ve been attacked by super-hopeless feeling…

18.
Kyouko: I don’t have the willpower to live anymore.
Miki: It’s complete darkness up ahead…
Hiroshi: What’s really wro—ng with me; it’s just a dream.
Nube: ………
Nube: Hm—m, they’re scared of dreams. Is it a nightmare? What is this……
Nube: The animal greater than fantasy called the “Baku” is said to eat dreams. It’s form resembles a bear, it’s head is small, it’s fur is black and white speckles and has small eyes like an elephant…but this is said to be a good youkai that eats just nightmares…
Book: YOUKAI ILLUSTRATED ENCYCLOPEDIA
Caption: *Annotation: the animal “baku” that exists presently is a completely different creature.
(TN: While this chapter is mostly commenting on the youkai known as “baku”, “baku” is also the Japanese word for the tapir)
Nube: But, well, that’s because this isn’t hitting at that legend.
SFX: Dota dota
Voice: Teacher!!
Katsuya: Hiroshi and the others are committing suicide!
Nube: What’s that!?

19.
Hiroshi: Please forgive me for my misfortune before I go.
Child 1: Wa—
Child 2: Kya~~
Child 3: Don’t be hasty~~
Nube: Hold on—
Nube: Hang on!! What’s the matter with you? You extraordinary energetic guys are
Nube: There really aren’t lights in their eyes!!

20.
Nube: I’m holding an exorcism immediately; everyone, go outside.
Katsuya: Nub, what exactly are haunting them?
Nube: A baku.
Katsuya: A tapir? (It has some force…)
(TN: Yeah, as I went into with the caption, Katsuya confuses the “baku” with the actual “baku” animal, which is the tapir)
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan Koudai Reikan—spirit following Hiroshi and the others, show yourself!!

21.
Nube: That’s the perpetrator sucking the dreams from all of you. People who have their dreams sucked up don’t have what they live for and are tormented with a feeling of hopelessness…
Katsuya: Th…that’s the creature beyond fantasy that is said to eat dreams…
Nube: No, you’re wrong: look closely.
Katsuya: Ge!!

22.
Creature: Oooooooooh

23.
Katsuya: Hii…its numberless human spirits…!
Nube: Yes. These people are people who all died halfway to their dream.
Nube: People all live possessing dreams. People hold great endeavor with all their might facing their dreams, but those who die without achieving their dreams come to have regrets of this world and can’t rest in peace. This is an assembled spirit that gathers from the spirits of these people.
(TN: “Assembled spirit” = “Shuugourei”)
Nube: They are starving for dreams and hopes; therefore they go near dreaming people and suck up these people’s dreams. However, no matter how many it sucks, it ultimately can’t satisfy the dreams of these strangers. On top of that, the people who have their dreams sucked away are too hopeless and commit suicide.
Nube: And thus unite with this assembled spirit, coming to wander around for eternity. That is the true form of the baku!
“Spirits”: Uuuh…aaah…
Nube: To have them rest in peace…they must be shown the road towards their correct dream.

24.
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan Koudai Reikan Byakue Kanzeon. MNow this once, show a meeting light to the dead.
Katsuya: He’s opened a door to the spirit world!
Ghosts: Ooooh, the light. Its hope…it’s rescuing me, it’s rescuing me.
SFX: Bashu

25.
Nube: The meeting light from the spirit world becomes a light of hope in continuing to the next life for the dead. This light should have shined even when they died, but at that time their regrets to this world was too strong and they hadn’t seen it.
SFX: Shuuuuu…
Nube: With this they can rest in peace but…I’m sorry: if I had realized it much sooner, then all of you would have ended up without your dreams sucked away…
Kyouko: But it’s good. My dream wasn’t completely sucked.
Miki: A~~ra, you haven’t thrown away that dream to be a stewardess yet; the rate of success is highly against your will.
Kyouko: Wh…what are you say—ing? How about if you give up being a star and become an AV actress!?
Nube: It was good…they were attacked…
Katsuya: They’re fanatics—huh—
Miki: I’ll be participating for 10 straight years in Kouhaku.
Kyouko: I’ll seriously will be flying into the skies!
SFX: Gya—gya—gya—
Hiroshi: Well, practice, practice.

26.
(TN: This volume was the announcement of the results for the first Nube popularity poll…nothing really to explain here, I’ll be for this volume writing the main box with the captions from top to bottom)

1st Place: NUENO MEISUKE (25,154 VOTES)
It’s natural to say it’s natural because he’s the main character. There are voices who say it’s weird he isn’t popular with ladies even though he’s a splendid love actor, but I think if it was him currently, he isn’t popular after all. (However, he only talks stories of spirits!)

-His serious face is quite scary. (#50: The Red Vest)
-When he was friendly with Zashiki Warashi
-Middle-School-era Nub is more handsome than now!? (#42: The Ghost of the 4th Lane)
-He was called Parallel Bar Nu-chan when a student. (#6: The Kappa of the Parallel Bars)
Right Caption: I PROTECT THE STUDENTS!!

TN: I do think Kyouko is right about Miki's aspiration: if she really wants to go anywhere using her boobs, then she should probably start in AV than go the whole actress/idol route. Heck, even Fumie Hosokawa (who they mentioned) technically started in graveure work...and since that is sort of the limit in softcore AV work and seeing how Fuumin did actually have a bit of a career in other means, then Miki would actually have a potential future...but yeah, she wants true stardom, not just stardom for her boobs (or...whatever the Principal was doing to her in that spirit-influenced nightmare...seriously, the Principal, Miki must hate him to make him a villain) Then again at least it made more sense then Kyouko's dream...yeah I know it's a dream and you probably can get away with anything in them, but to be a stewardess who is "fluent in English" and just go around saying "This is a Pen" is just silly. (well at least she didn't take Tazawa's English course...but you have to read Otokojuku to get how messed up that can be) Anyway, this was a silly chapter for the most part, rather freaky considering it involves dreams being smashed to bits...but not really (see the ending, it's not like either of those three lost anything other than a temporary set-back) and the whole "monster baku turned out to be dead humans fused together" gives me a whole horror comic vibe. (yeah this is supposed to be a horror comic but with the crazy stuff Nube pulls you wonder sometimes) Though I think one thing I should probably make note of about now: it seems peculiar so early in the 2nd year that Katsuya is starting to truly emerge as one of the crucial students in the class. I say it's about now that Katsuya does start actually stepping away from some of the "others" in the class (like Shuichi, Kaneda and particularly Akira whom he had been fighting with for the 5th position for a while) and becomes one of the main students. Yeah you could start sensing it near the end of the 1st year with his appearances even with Akira still hanging around, but you know that he has truly started to emerge as one of the "big 5" with everything that has happened. (there is another student who will have a similarly, maybe more meteoric rise to "near-major" status...that one has already been introduced but you'll understand as the series goes along) But until then, I leave you with this: DID THOSE THINGS IN MIKI'S DREAM LOOK LIKE Fs?