Hell Teacher Nube 84

There are many times where Katsuya's mischief has lead to problems...but nothing as bad as this. When doing something that is possibly unspeakable, can even Nube protect the delinquent student from the wrath of...a god!?

#84: Kirin

127.
Sign:
Don’t Catch the Carp!
The fish in this pond belong to the god.
Myoujin Shrine
(TN: While there is such a carp as “koi”, “koi” in general has a meaning of “carp”, so thus no translating it directly as “koi”. Likewise, the shrine also states that the carp belongs to “kami-sama”, but since there are so many gods within Japanese religion, I ended up making it “THE god” so it wouldn’t just feel monotheistic like Western religions)
Katsuya: This carp that I’ve come to catch is huge. A carp that can particularly be made into sashimi will be bought high at the fish market.
Katsuya: It’s been said I can’t kill them by the shrine, but if I catch them alive, even the god won’t complain.

128.
(Title page…CRUNCH!)

129.
Man: Hiiiii Gyaaaaaaaaa
SFX: Zuru
SFX: Giro
SFX: Zo…
Katsuya: Hi
SFX: Goki
SFX: Piku piku

130.
SFX: Gieee
SFX: Ga ga ga
Katsuya: Uh uh
SFX: Gata gata
Announcer: This morning, a man’s slaughtered corpse was discovered in Doumori Harbor.
Hiroshi: Scary—
Announcer: The man was identified as serial murderer Satsujin Suruo (45) from his possessions. This man committed atrocious crimes of killing 13 people, only mistresses……
(TN: This is another weird name pun: though his real name uses different kanji, the reading ends up being similarly “satsujin suru o”, which is “a man who is a murderer”)

131.
Katsuya: Th…that was…that man…
Nube: I’m changing the channel.
TV: Working Old-Man Nougyou Chiba-san (51)
(TN: Another name pun: “nougyou” is “agriculture”, while “Chiba” refers to “Chiba prefecture”, which has the second-highest agricultural production in Japan outside Hokkaido…even though it’s within the Greater Tokyo area)
SFX: Kachi (click)
Katsuya: Ah, that man---! The man who was eaten by that monster with soppy internal organs and stains of blood—
Nube: Eh!? The Working Old Man!?
Nube: What was that!? A one-horned horse that resembled a dragon!? Understood.
Nube: Hmm…that was Kirin.
Hiroshi: A giraffe?
(TN: This is a weird language pun that actually nearly confused even me at one point: “Kirin” is the name of the creature, but the same word is for “giraffe”. Making matters worse: while “Kirin” uses two specific kanji for its reading, the same exact kanji and the same exact reading stand for both “Kirin” and “giraffe”! The only real explanation I can come up with: when the Japanese first saw the giraffe with its weird face and the horns on its head, they thought that it was the legendary creature…though weirdly enough, giraffes are actually in the same family as cows, thus explaining their horns)
Kyouko: What is it: that horse shouldn’t be scary at all?
Nube: You can’t act stupid with Kirin.

132.
Nube: Kirin is esteemed with benevolence as a god-beast of heaven. Its spiritual power is exceedingly high, at the level of a god. Also, Kirin is said to be the judge of heaven, without mercy to bad people; they present it with a grave crime and it thrusts them down to hell.
(TN: Not sure if I made a term for this or not, but “god beast” is in reference to “shinjuu”, which literally translates into “god-beast”. I translated it as such so it wouldn’t be confused)
Katsuya: So then, the murderer…sh…should it concern me!?
Nube: Hahaha, its fine: Kirin rarely attacks people.
Nube: If you’re not a bad man.
Katsuya: It can’t be…huh…at most, I killed one fish…

133.
Katsuya: Heh, that horse is stupid…
SFX: Gacha
Katsuya: There’s nothing to be scared of with some horse, haha…
Katsuya: Waaa!!
©Tsunomaru
Katsuya: Wh…what, is this the manga poster put up by Manami? It’s threatening…
(TN: I guess now I can sort of explain the joke: the “poster” is of the main character of the WSJ manga series “Midori no Makibaou” by Tsunomaru. As you can see, the series is about a horse…but in actuality it’s a gag/humor/sports series that takes place in the world of horse racing. The series ran in Jump between 1994-1997)
Sign: Jump
SFX: Gata
SFX: Oooooh
Katsuya: !!

134.
Nube: What, Kirin came to you? Why?
Katsuya: Well, actually~~I killed a carp at the shrine~~~
Nube: Did…did it see that!?
Hiroshi: Well well, that horse will be defeated by Nube.
Kyouko: He’ll do away with it as always.
Nube: That idiot…even with how it’s me…that god-beast…

135.
Hiroshi: Even so, don’t be affected by that scary thing~~so you took the shrine’s carp.
Kyouko: That’s really like you, Katsuya! You’re a scoundrel!
SFX: Kuu~~n Kuu~~n
Kyouko: Something is making a sound
Kyouko: !
Dog: Kuu~~n Kuu~~n
Hiroshi: How did a dog get in there…
Katsuya: What—do we do?
Kyouko: We don’t have reason to ignore it.
Hiroshi: Hey, steadily catch it, Katsuya.
Katsuya: Hi—
Kyouko: It’s because you’re the tallest.

136.
Katsuya: Puha—cough cough
Katsuya: Really, what would you have done about the dog when I may have been killed…
Hiroshi: Well well.
Kyouko: You would have been saved by Nube.
Dog: Kuu~~n
SFX: Pero pero (Lick lick)
Katsuyas: You’re filthy~~dummy.
Nube: Alright, let’s go Katsuya.
Hiroshi: Nube! We’re going together too.

137.
Nube: Both of you please go home.
Hiroshi: What!? It’ll be fine, nothing at all.
Nube: You’re always getting in the way every time! I thought I said this since before, but you can’t play around with an exorcism!
Nube: Let’s go.
Hiroshi: Ke, what was that—
Kyouko: In spite of us being there and saving as well.

138.
Katsuya: What is this?
Nube: A barrier. People go in here and aren’t affected by that.
(TN: Again, “barrier” is in reference to “kekkai”, the magical or spiritual protective guard)
Nube: Katsuya…this time won’t be as simple as it seemed to be up to now. Our opponent is a god-beast…As to say: a variety of god…
Nube: Speaking clearly, its spiritual power is incomparable. Even if this was 10,000 to 1, the odds aren’t with us…
Kyouko: Then……
Nube: But be calm: I will protect just you, even in exchange for my life.
SFX: Gogogo…
Katsuya: Even though he’s saying it, he’s resolutely uneasy with his prior speech.

139.
SFX: Gaka
SFX: Ga ga
Nube: …It has come.
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan Koudai Reikan: Byakue-Kannon, lend me your power.
SFX: Paa

140.
SFX: Bari bari bari
Katsuya: You’ve done it!! It can’t get inside the barri—er!!
Nube: …!!
Nube: That horn…!
Nube: The horn of Kirin, which values life and hates murder, generally engulfs the flesh and becomes spherical, like it can’t hurt other living things…Clearly it is angry. Has Katsuya touched the anger of the god…
Nube: Kirin, in truth this boy killed the carp that are the envoys of god. But forgive him; he’s by no means a bad person…
SFX: Gua
Nube: !!

141.
Katsuya: Hiii, it destroyed the barrier!
Nube: It’s in a different league after all…s**t!! Even so, even if you are a god, meddling with my student is…
SFX: Supa
Kyouko: The Oni no Te!!
Katsuya: Hi~~Nube~~

142.
Nube: Guaa!!
Katsuya: Nube!!!
SFX: Zatsu
Katsuya: Ah…ah…

143.
Hiroshi: Uwa—it’ll hurt Katsuya!!
Kyouko: Katsuya—run away, quickly~~
Nube: No good…it’s as if his body can’t move, like it’s bound hand and foot!! This is the spirit power of a god-beast…we can’t win! I was extremely…
Katsuya: I’ll take your judgment…

144.
Dog: Kuu~~n Kuu~~n
Hiroshi: Ah.
Kyouko: That’s…the puppy Katusya saved earlier…
Katsuya: Heh…
SFX: Ka

145.
Nube: Merely one good deed has lightened your crime. Kirin is an impartial judge of heaven.
Katsuya: Uwaaa~~~h
Nube: We—ll, I’m hungry. How about we go eat some ramen?
Kyouko: Ho…hold on a moment, what about the Oni no Te!?
Nube: Aah, this will regenerate in a week if it has even an aura.
Katsuya: Ge~~you aren’t human after all—
Nube: Shut up.

146.
RETURN OF THE GREAT YOUKAI ENCYCLOPEDIA

#19: Kirin

Does your father or mother drink beer? If they drink Kirin Beer, then you should look at the bottle label. That strange horse that is drawn on there is Kirin.

By hearing “kirin”, by any rate you’ll recall the long-neck giraffes that are in the zoo, but this is a completely different creature. From saying that, since there aren’t giraffes in Japan, there came to be said “since they resemble Kirin, we’ll call them ‘kirin’ when they translated into Japanese the English “giraffe”. The origin of this name is with it growing horns and a pattern that is like the scales of a fish on its body.

Well, giraffes have two horns, but Kirin has one. (That’s complicated) It’s called a one-horned horse and there is an association with the Unicorn of the West. Actually they’re similar allies. It is said that the one-horned beast live as distributed as Kirin in China, Japan and Indonesia; as Unicorns in all of Europe; and again called Kalkadan in Arabia, Africa and the Middle East. There is also the one-horned beast called Kaichi in other parts of the Orient and they more resemble sheep than horses. They’re calling of the judges of heaven rather is more these Kaichi than Kirin. These two are separate god beasts, but due to many points where they resemble closely, you can consider it the same being that was met within the “Nube” story. Other than that is the god-beast called Ryuuma, but since it has two horns, it is a different being.

Kirin prize life and is said to go without killing any small insect or even step on living grass. From this, Kirin, even if it’s called a god, is said to be a god not for humans but for nature and animals. If you think as such, then you can understand Kirin’s anger towards Katsuya, who killed the carp. The Western unicorn is similar in points in not being emotionally attached to humans, but because its nature is quite brutal and further appears weak to beautiful girls, it is more inferior than the Kirin in the point called benevolence.
(TN: I sort of wish I could make any further comments here, but for the most part it’s really hard to find anything on the other creatures mentioned here, including Kaichi and Kalkadan. I already mentioned the weird “Kirin/Giraffe” confusion in the script…and the unicorn part pretty much explains itself. Well OK, maybe I do have a few things to go into:
1. Kirin Beer was originally founded by a Norwegian American William Copeland in 1870 as “Spring Barley Brewery” (three years after the Meiji Restoration) and didn’t actually take the “Kirin” name until 1907. It is now one of the largest brewery companies in Japan with stakes in many other facets including soda, engineering, real estate and medicine.
2. The proper name for the “god” in Chinese is “Qilin” or “Xilin” and literally has the nickname of the “Chinese Unicorn”. Just so we couldn’t get confused and due to the Japanese reading being tied to the brewery, I decided to go with “Kirin”.
3. Strangely the connection between “kirin” and “giraffes” actually exists way before the West got involved: one story includes that these long-neck bovines were seen discovered by the Chinese through explorer Zheng He’s exploration of Africa in 1414, though they may have been connected even further back. They were given the “Kirin” name due to many attributes that were similar, including it’s vegetarianism, quiet nature, lack of disturbing nature, and its weird ossicone horns)

TN: Kirin...giraffe...kirin...giraffe...kirin...giraffe...oh, sorry about that. It's just that going back and forth so much between the two names in this script (and certain giraffe things I've been looking at) have just made me enter a lull regarding the two being so similar and yet so different. Anyway, this chapter just felt weird considering...it just seemed so misleading. It all starts with a guy murdered by the Kirin who was essentially a mad murderer of humans, yet did nothing to plants or animals to give the Kirin's wrath (as we find out later). On the other hand, Katsuya catches a carp, lets it flop around for a bit...and he ends up nearly getting Nube killed and his Oni no Te ripped apart because of it. We don't even see the carp die, let alone it was alive long enough for Katsuya to throw it back in the pond. So...how in the world does he suddenly become the victim of a Kirin just because of a flopping carp? All he just had to do was return it to the pond when he saw the beast and none of this would have happened! (especially since...yeah, it was still alive) This isn't like the incident with the Ushi no Koku curse where he was literally bound by the curse of a freakish female...this was all because Katsuya didn't get the chance to put a carp back due to being freaked out as heck! Regardless of that, he did learn his lesson...weirdly the dog really has no further connection and was mostly a device for Katsuya to get back in the god's graces, but at least he got a good scare out of it. Though honestly...while I don't mind the ways we get Katsuya cursed or troubled, this just felt rather weak and easily solvable...at least at a point where it wouldn't lead to, you know, the Oni no Te to be ripped apart.

(goes back to thinking about giraffes...)