Hell Teacher Nube 89

When you leave something alone for a long time, you can't expect it to just stay the same way, especially with creepy origins. When Akira leads Nube and his friends into a mysterious forest, he may be leading them to a forgotten danger...

#89: Tsurube Otoshi of the Forest of Death

48.
Voice: Aah, amazing---!!
Hiroshi: U—m, what did you get, a sickle beetle…no, and it isn’t a saw beetle. Ah, right, it’s an earwig.
Caption: Earwig: found in bathrooms
Akira: It’s a stag beetle!! It’s a different grade of insect!
(TN: This introductory panel regarding Hiroshi and Akira’s interchange on insects actually has a few puns that end up making the joke work. I had to wait to this point before explaining them but basically:
-The insect that Akira captured and tried to make Hiroshi remember was “kuwagatamushi”, which is Japanese for a “stag beetle”. The key part of it’s name that Hiroshi had a hard time remembering was the “Kuwa”, which is in reference to a hoe with a long blade with an acute angle.
-The first name that Hiroshi confused “Kuwa” with was “Kama”, which is a sickle, thus “Kamagatamushi” or “sickle beetle”.
-The second name Hiroshi stated was “Nokogatamushi”, which uses the “noko” for “saw” or “saw beetle”.
-When Hiroshi just gives up, he calls the insect “Hasamimushi”, which is just an “earwig”, a notable insect that is found to live in damp places…such as bathrooms)
Akira: I picked it up on a road right beside the oldest forest in Ookiyama in Kita Ward, also known as the “Forest of Death”. I’m certain that it’s full of them inside the forest.
(TN: While I don’t think the area of “Ookiyama” exists, Kita Ward is one of the 23 special wards of Tokyo, in the northern-central edge of the city and filled with several parks)
Hiroshi: Eh!
Hiroshi: Let’s go, let’s go, bug collecting in the Forest of Death.
Akira: We can’t: over there is no trespassing, being on an estate.
Hiroshi: Heh, you’re concerned of that?

49.
Nube: I’m concerned.
Hiroshi: Isn’t it fine; for the bugs~~
Nube: You can’t.
SFX: Ton ton
Hiroshi: There is a rumor that there are also Matsutake in there, tens of thousands of them.
(TN: “Matsutake”, also known as the “Pine Mushroom”, is a highly-sought after mycorrhizal muschroom known for its spicy-aromatic odor. These mushrooms are of the Genus Tricholoma)
Nube: Um, are you the owner of the forest in Kita Ward?
Nube: Yes, I’m certainly going to the forest for Matsutake hunting…no, I’m not; it’s for the education of children. There are tasty insects in there…right.
(TN: Nube’s dialogue here seems funnier in Japanese due to the structure of the sentence: he ends up telling the owner first he was going for the education of children, then mentions that he’s certainly doing it “for mushroom hunting”…and then adds in “not”; while obviously he’s saying he’s certainly not going in for the mushrooms, the Japanese made it funnier in that it made it sound like first he was “certainly doing it for the mushrooms”…before adding the “not” at the end)
Nube: It is a plot that the landlord has neglected for decades, but its fine if you go together with your teacher.
Students: All right---!!

50.
Narrator: And so the next day, 4:00 AM
Nube: This is terrible; no one really has entered in here for decades.
SFX: Gasa gasa gasa…
Sign: No Tresspassing
Nube: Hie—look at those mosquitos. Shall we stop this?
Miki: Ah, a Matsutake.
SFX: Dopyu~~~

51.
Nube: Ehe; ehehe; Matsutake!
Book: Mushrooms Illustrated
(TN: The “illustrated” is actually in Japanese “Zukan”, an “illustrated reference book”)
Kyouko: That’s…wrong, I’m certain of it. (to herself) It’s a mushroom that’s like it came out of Snow White.
“Dwarves”: Hi-ho…hi-ho…
(TN: Nothing really to say considering that many should know about the German fairy tale “Schneewittchen” or “Snow White”, but it is silly that dwarves would appear in Kyouko’s imagination with the mention of it)
Akira: Let’s go here.
Kyouko: By the way, can you pick Matsutake in the summer?
Akira: Well…
Nube: Matsutake, Matsutake.
Miki: Kya
Akira: Everyone, there has come to be buried dead pets in this forest. It has become a pet cemetery.
(TN: “Pet cemetery” is supplemented with “Petto no Haka” at this point, which likewise translates into “Pet cemetery” or “pet gravesites”)
Akira: With it famous as a pet cemetery, this here is where those from other towns came to bury them; within this forest are just graves. However, there came to be complaints emerging from the surrounding inhabitants and the landlord made no entry in here from several decades ago.

52.
Akira: Therefore, it was attached with the name of the “Forest of Death”. Various corpses are buried in here.
Miki: Oh—scary: it can’t be that there aren’t buried even human corpses.
Hiroshi: Can’t be---
SFX: Zakku zakku
Hiroshi: That’s…
Akira: Someone is burying something.
Hiroshi & Akira: !!

53.
Akira: This…is a lie! It can’t be that a human corpse really is…
SFX: Gasa
“Creepy”: Who are you?
Akira: Waaaa, Nube!!
SFX: Gasa
“Creepy”: Wait!!
“Creepy”: Chi, how could there be brats in this forest at this time! If they get away, then my plan of murdering so I can escape my debts will be lost!
“Creepy”: Hold on--!
Hiroshi: Waaa
Miki: Hiee
“Creepy”: Wait--!

54.
Hiroshi: Hieee, it can’t be that there would be a person who buried a human corpse.
“Creepy”: Hey—
Kyouko: What’s wrong with Nube!
Nube: This is the end…that scream now was…
Nube: Wh…what…this forest is strange.
SFX: Zaku…zaku…zaku…
Nube: Youki is climbing up from the bottom of the tree to the top. That’s…this phenomenon, it can’t be
SFX: Tokun…tokun…

55.
“Creatures”: Gii gii gii gii
“Creatures”: Gii gii gii gii gii gii
SFX: Zawa zawa zawa
“Creepy”: ?
SFX: Zu
“Creepy”: !!

56.
“Cat”: Giii—

57.
“Cat”: Giiii…
Akira: Wh…what is that!
Hiroshi: It’s spitefully going over there!
SFX: Zuzuzuzu
“Creepy”: Guwa!
“Creepy”: Gyaaaa!!
Akira: His arm became mummified…it’s sucking his life!
SFX: Zuru zuru
Miki & Kyouko: !?

58.
“Creatures”: Giii…
Kyouko: Waaaaaaa!
Miki: No~~~!!
Nube: Run away from here--!
SFX: Zuba
Students: Nube!!

59.
Nube: They’re “Tsurube Otoshi”. When corpses are buried in a forest of an old age like this, their souls are sucked into the trees and are changed into youkai, possessing the aura of the old tree. And further, it falls like dropping a bucket into a water well and sucks the life of people.
(TN: “Tsurube Otoshi” = “Falling Bucket”, thus the name being tied to the “dropping a bucket” part; in particular, “tsurube” is specifically a well bucket)
Akira: So…so, their true identities are the pets that were buried.
Miki: You can’t be joking~~many of them will emerge with it just being a pet cemetery in this forest~~~
Nube: Right: with just this many in number, already this can’t be managed by my hands!! If we don’t get out of this forest immediately…!
Tsurube Otoshi: Gii gii gii gii
Voice: Hold on!
SFX: Za

60.
“Creepy”: You won’t do that. Don’t move; it’s the real deal. With this, I’ll kill you on my own.
Nube: What is that!?
Hiroshi: That’s the murderer from earlier, Nube!
Nube: Idiot, stop this; you’ll die if you don’t run away too.
“Creepy”: Heh…all of you were running because you were going to die by having your life sucked by these monsters.
“Creepy”: I’ve somehow…been avoided by the Tsurube…If any of you do anything to avoid them, I’ll attack and you’ll go to that world.
Miki: Nube…

61.
Tsurube Otoshi: Gii gii gii
SFX: Zu zu
Akira & Miki: Kyaa
“Creepy”: Hahahahahahahaha, eat them.
Nube: Ku
SFX: Zu
“Creepy”: Otto?
SFX: Hyoi
“Creepy”: Eh?

62.
Tsurube Otoshi: Giiii

63.
“Creepy”: Uwaaa! You’re the one I killed and buried.
SFX: Zuzuzu…
“Creepy”: Guaa!
Nube: Now, run!!
SFX: Bara bara bara | Dodododododo
“Creepy”: Gyaaaa…

64.
Tsurube Otoshi: Giigiigiigiigiigii

65.
Police: It really is…his fingerprints match the criminal in our search. But…how did he become a mummy…?
Nube: Even if I told them the truth, they wouldn’t believe it. It has become a forest of youkai because there wasn’t any trespassing for a long time…later I must erect a small shrine and hold a memorial service…
Narrator: Tsurube Otoshi, a luminous body that dangles down from trees, is a popular youkai that has left it’s name throughout Japan. It is also called Sagari, Yakanzuru or Tsurubebi by region. You should notice them when you pass beneath an old tree.

66.
RETURN OF THE GREAT YOUKAI ENCYCLOPEDIA

#23: Tsurube Otoshi

What is called “Tsurube” is a bucket that draws water from a well. I want you to call to mind scenes where they’re drawing well water in historical plays. When you separate your hand from the rope, the Tsurube drops to the bottom of the well with incredible staggering force. In this way, a youkai that drops from up in the trees to above a person with incredible force is called “Tsurube Otoshi”.

Tsurube Otoshi is said to cry out “the Gii Gii emitted by a tsurube with the end of a night shift” while lowering and raising from the top of a large tree in a mass that’s like a ball that burns blue-white.

There are other similar allies to it like Sagari, which is a falling down horse head, and Yakanzuru, which is an object in the form of a kettle falling down. Also, it seems to have an ally together with the teabag.

Furthermore, there is an expression of “a Tsurube drops on an autumn day”, but with a meaning of the sun sinking extremely early in the autumn; it has no connection to the youkai.

(TN: A few notes:
1. It really is hard to make a discerning between a regular well bucket and a tsurube; while I used “tsurube” for the explanation here, it was merely just “well bucket” in the chapter since there isn’t too much of a difference honestly.
2. While it’s sort of tough to figure out too much on Sagari and Yakanzuru outside this entry, the “Yakanzuru” is notable as a creature that is similar to a falling youkai tea kettle)

TN: It's really hard to find something to say about a chapter where the trees themselves are haunted by the supernatural unknown (well known because they're the ghosts of dead bodies given new lives) but...

Tiny Voice: We're going to get you...we're going to get you...

But...I think I need to make this quick. Honestly, I didn't really expect Akira to be used again, but it is here that his usage does seem different than the last time. Whereas prior he seemed like a more generic kid character with a bit of brains and a bit of artistic talent, now he seems a bit more like someone a bit more knowledgable and capable considering all he knew of the beetles and the Forest of Death.

Tiny Voice: (louder) We're going to get you...we're going to get you...

(I knew I shouldn't have gotten that flesh-written book off the side of the road...it just makes the woods come alive...)

The youkai themselves were just...weird considering it were ghosts absorbed by trees, but for the most part the real creep was the murderer who seemed to wanted to use the woods as a burial ground to "clear his debts"...but of course we saw how that turned out. Never bury someone in a place where they can ultimately steal your life force and...and...turn you into...into...

(Sees an entire army of decaying undead and Lovecraftian monstrocities coming up to get him)

KLAATU BARADA NIKTO!!!!

(All of the monstrosities, branches and even the voice die away, leaving Ataru alone)

Groovy. (I lost my train of thought so we'll just leave with that...and here's a mushroom for me wasting my time with this entry)