Hell Teacher Nube 90

When dealing with spiritual powers, even words aren't immune to the power of the supernatural. When Miki discovers something she isn't supposed to know about Kyouko, it may finally allow for her to gain...complete domination over her!?

#90: Imina

68.
Narrator: Long long ago, there started to exist a thing called words. Words were thought to possess a terrible power.
“Side Comment”: Note: This work is “Nube” for certain.
Man 1: This is called a “stone”. Do you think it’s a good name?
Man 2: Yes, it’s fine.
Man 3: Isn’t it fine?
Man 4: If it’s fine by you, then it’s fine.
Caption: I’m sorry, Naniwa Kokichi-sensei.
(TN: While honestly I really have no idea what this has to do with him, Kokichi Naniwa is a mangaka who, at the time of this Nube chapter, was notable for the WSJ gag series “Ousama wa Roba ~Hattari Teikoku no Gyakushuu~” (The King is a Donkey ~The Bluff Empire Strikes Back~), which ran in Jump from 1994 to 1996.)
“Caveman”: You, stone.
“Caveman”: Stone, you’re in the way; fly off.
SFX: Fuwa

69.
Narrator; Like such, the words themselves were lodged with spiritual power and said to become as they were said.
Narrator: In particular, from knowing a name
“Caveman”: Bird.
“Caveman”: Fall!
Narrator: The being with that name could be freely controlled…
Narrator: Spiritual power in words…this is said to be Kotodama and is used even in the present. Even if you don’t know it is…
(TN: “Kotodama”, which is literally translated as “spoken soul”, has a meaning in the soul or power of language. As such, it will stay as is in Japanese)

70.
Voice: Ge--!? What is that---!? That feels ba—d!
Kyouko: My umbilical cord. I found it in my bureau.
Makoto: Show me, show me.
Noriko and Shizuka: Hee, interest—ing.
Miki: Stop that. I have a bad feeling from it.
Hiroshi: Huh, a tail!?
(TN: This is turning into a weird Hiroshi bit due to language manipulation: the Japanese word for “umbilical cord” is “heso no o”; the last “o” is the “cord”, but Hiroshi misinterprets “o” into another “o”, which is “tail”…trust me, it gets stranger)
Kyouko: Everyone is attached to it when they’re born. They take it off from birth.
Hiroshi: Eh!? Eh? Eh?
Hiroshi: We…well, perhaps they’d transform into giant monkeys on moonlit nights if humans didn’t take it off?
SFX: Shira~~
(TN: And this is why I was holding off on the rest of Hiroshi’s little confused bit: Hiroshi’s idea of “humans having tails that have to be removed or else they’d turn into giant monkeys” is in reference to a trait held by Son Goku in Akira Toriyama’s “Dragon Ball”. When Goku was introduced, he was merely “a boy with a monkey tail” and had a trait of turning into a giant monkey (known by many as an “Oozaru”) whenever the moon is full at night. The only way for Goku to not change is if his tail was removed…or the moon destroyed. Aside from Goku, it is later revealed that all either of his race or those who are children of them (like Gohan) also have the same tail and monkey problems)

71.
Kyouko: You~~are you really a 5th-grader!!
SFX: Gaa—
Miki: Well, well.
Miki: An umbilical cord is a tube that ties an embryo to their mother.
Hiroshi: What’s that, hahaha.
(TN: Well considering Hiroshi barely knew his mother when she was alive…)
Katsuya: He—y, let’s play Horse—ride~~
Hiroshi: Let’s do it, lets.
Kyouko: Me too!
SFX: Koto
Miki: I can’t g—o. All of you should get plenty of exercise well in spite of this f**king heat.
SFX: Karan | Kasa
Miki: What’s this paper?
SFX: Kasa kasa

72.
Page:
Name: Inaba Kyouko
Imina: Ooshiritsukuyo-no-Hime
(TN: “Imina” is Japanese for “The Taboo Name”; as for what Kyouko’s “Name” is, I’ll get into that in a moment)
Miki: Imina? What is this…is this a pen name…
Miki: But I’m laughing at this Ooshiritsukuyo-no-Hime. Gyahahaha…there’s a person with this nickname!
Kyouko: Here I go—
Miki: Does she know—

73.
Kyouko: There
SFX: Da!
Miki: He—y, Ooshiritsukuyo-no-Hime, since you’ve gotten to have that butt, take a seat on your big butt, princess!!
(TN: For the most part, Miki ends up saying “Ooshiritsukuyo-no-Hime” twice, but the second time literally is what exactly it stands for/means:
-“Ooshiri” – “Big Butt”
-“Tsukuyo no” – “Take a Seat”
-“Hime” – Princess)
SFX: Zude—n!

74.
Noriko & Shizuka: Are you alright? Kyouko!!
Hiroshi: Amazing—you made that sound.
Katsuya: Did you miss the floor--?
Miki: ………
Kyouko: Strange, what was that? My conscious suddenly became distant.
Miki: ?
Nube: What? Imina?
Miki: Yes, it seems like an alias; do you know of it?
Nube: Yes.
Nube: Long ago, Names were Kotodama and possessed an extremely strong power. Thus, you can control another and freely manipulate them by knowing their own name.

75.
Nube: With that, people hide their own true names; that is Imina. And they habitually use a fake name…for example: you in particular have a true Imina with your “Hosokawa Miki” as your fake name; if it was known, then you would come to do as told by that person…
Nube: Well, it is superstition—but…
Miki: Thank you, Nube.
Miki: Well…she’ll come to do as I say…ku ku ku…
SFX: Gacha
Kyouko: Just a moment, Miki, where are you going being idle with your bathroom cleanings? Hurry up and do it!
SFX: Mu
Miki: You do it, Ooshiritsukuyo-no-hi-me.

76.
SFX: Goshi goshi | Gapo gapo | Kyu kyu
Miki: Right, right, o—hoho (Good girl, good girl)
Miki: Ishishishi…this is convenient.
Hiroshi: Hey Kyouko: I have these tickets for the Marinos game but can you go with?
(TN: The “Marinos” are in reference to J-league soccer team Yokohama Marinos; in existence since 1972, they are one of the best and longest-running top-level soccer teams in Japan. After merging with the Yokohama Flugels in 1999, they are now known as the Yokohama F. Marinos. One note in particular: the Marinos were considered the best team in Japan in 1995, when this chapter was written, sitting on top of the J. League by the end of the year)
Kyouko: OK (heart)
Hiroshi: Actually I planned on going with Katsuya but—since he’s—got some business to do…
Kyouko: Well—nothing I can do—let’s go—alright?
Miki: Ooshiritsukuyo-no-Hime, please reject this.

77.
SFX: Lero lero lero
Kyouko: Pat pat to my butt
Hiroshi: Miki, can you go together with me?
Miki: Waa, how dreamy; anyone is fine if it’s female; from Hiroshi too—
Kyouko: Huh?
Miki: Ku ku ku…this is delicious, I can’t stop this. She’s doing my homework, treating me…
Miki: You’ve steadily escalated this. You can’t, Miki, Kyouko is your close friend.
Fan: Ryou (Cool)

78.
Sign: Swimsuit Sketching Rally: Participation Charge: 200 yen
Miki: Aaah, but I did.
Nube: Hey, Miki.
Nube: I’ve heard that you’ve grabbed onto Kyouko’s weakness and are treating her like a slave recently, but
Miki: She’s a slave…Kyouko’s my close friend.

79.
Miki: Are we?
Kyouko: Ye…yes. (to herself) Strange…I can’t disobey Miki…
Nube: ………
SFX: Ki—n ko—n ka—n ko—n
Kyouko: Hey, Miki…I do have that SMAP picture book that I borrowed the other day but…
(TN: SMAP is a popular Japanese idol group originally formed by male idol talent agency “Johnny & Associates”. Making it’s major debut in 1991, their biggest period of popularity was in the mid 1990s due to it’s interest by Japanese women and are still popular and huge successes even today.)
Miki: Th…that’s a valuable thing; return it.
Kyouko: A…actually…I spilled coffee on it…sorry…

80.
Kyouko: Sorry! Because I’ll reimburse you for it!
Miki: Dummy! That isn’t anywhere anymore since it’s a limited edition!
Kyouko: Sorry…
Miki: This isn’t a question that it ended up in an accident! Ooshiritsukuyo-no-Hime, somehow die!!
Miki: This is terrible, terrible.
Miki: Kyouko!?

81.
Nube: What’s that!?
Sign: Staff Office
Nube: You used her Imina after all?
Miki: Uwa—h, I’m so sorry, fully scold me afterwards~~
Nube & Miki: !!

82.
SFX: Hyuu
Miki: Ooshiritsukuyo-no-Hime, wake…
Nube: Stop! If she wakes up now, she’ll lose her footing!
Nube: Is that Kyouko’s Imina?
Miki: Y…yes…
SFX: Tan!
Miki: Nooo!!

83.
Nube: Ooshiritsukuyo-no-Hime, float!!
SFX: Buwa

84.
Miki: She…she’s floating.
Nube: The power of Kotodama…if this is well used by a person who possesses spiritual power, then they can do this too. Whether it’s a lie or the truth, the holy priests of Ancient Egypt floated huge stones and created pyramids with this power.
(TN: Nube refers to “holy priests” here as “Shinkan”; while usually in connection to Shinto priests, there was no Shinto in ancient Egypt so I adjusted it accordingly)
SFX: Dosa
Miki: Kyouko!
Miki: Sorry, sorry, I won’t manipulate you anymore.
Kyouko: Hmm?
SFX: Su
SFX: Zu | Pooo…

85.
Nube: The best to know of another’s Imina is just that person’s parents. I’m erasing your memory of it.
Narrator: An Imina may be possessed by you as well. And your parents occasionally use the Imina and manipulate you so you won’t do bad things…perhaps.

86.
RETURN OF THE GREAT YOUKAI ENCYCLOPEDIA

#24: Imina

It is also called “The Posthumous Name”. It is the real name.

There is a famous story where in the closing years of the Kamakura Period, Emperor Godaigo, who was known for the “Kenmu Restoration”, was praised for his successes of overthrowing the Kamakura Bakufu and awarding the character of “Taka”, which is a character of his own Imina, to military commander Ashikaga Takauji. (Since that time, “Takauji” came to be known by that character). This was a catastrophe and after that, the emperor’s family came to manipulate the mind of Takauji and ended up carrying out an unnatural death ahead of emperor Godaigo running away from the capital. This was the Nanbokuchou Period, as it was called in public. Afterwards, Japan rushed into the dark ages, which were nothing but wars in the Muromachi and Sengoku Periods. Of course, it’s reasonable that the source is the complex circumstances of the era, but by looking at this, it’s eerie that you can think that an Imina seemed to be an impetus of all of this. History scholars deny this, but…

Incidentally, Imina are used just by people of high standing; at present it’s come to only be used by the royal family. Again, in regards to people who have died, they put out their living name and are also said to have an Imina. At present, rather, those who use it are typical.

(TN:
1. “Posthumous Name” is based on the kanji which also has a reading of “Imina”; since I couldn’t use “imina” twice with the two names, I referred to that one as “posthumous name” with the general “Imina” as “Taboo Name”
2. The “Kenmu Restoration” is an event that occurred between 1333 and 1336 at the tail end of the Kamakura Period leading into the Muromachi Period. At the time, emperor Godaigo attempted to bring the emperor back into the main focus of Japanese power over the military. However, the restoration failed and the emperor’s position remained weakened until 1868’s Meiji Restoration
3. Ashikaga Takauji was a general who worked alongside Emperor Godaigo initially in securing Kyoto during the fall of the Kamakura Shogunate, but eventually sided with the samurai leading to the establishment of his own shogunate as of 1336 even while continuing to work alongside the emperor.
4. The whole story regarding the character in the name of Ashikaga Takauji can only really be understood by seeing the characters by which his name was set up with. The “Taka” in his name initially was the “taka” that stood for “high”; but after being awarded the character by the emperor stands for “revered” or “exalted”.
5. The “Nanbokuchou Period”, also known as “the period of the Southern and Northern courts”, was a period where two Imperial courts existed in Japan: one controlled by Godaigo (The Southern Court) and once with Takauji (Northern Court). It has lead to problems even in the 20th century with the continued battle for the legitimacy for who is the proper heir of the Japanese court.)

TN: First of all: the final notes at the end are really screwed up but I tried to make them work as best as possible. The whole history of the Kenmu Restoration is just a whole lot of politicking and betrayal and such and I tried to summarize it as best as I could. However, it essentially boils down to this: commander helps emperor regain power, it falls apart, Japan is screwed for 500 more years of war and military control. Whether or not it has to do with the power of a kanji...we'll never know.

Moving on to things that have nothing to do with the Kenmu Restoration: the chapter is really tough for me to equate considering...it's Miki...again. Honestly though this chapter at least had Miki seeming to show strange aspects of conscious amidst all of her playing around with Kyouko's Imina, to the point where she actually showed doubt and trouble by what she was doing...even though she was doing it anyway. In fact, the build-up of the chapter showed Miki going from curious about the power to using it for a couple simple things, to doubting it...to abusing it...to ultimately misusing it leading to Kyouko's near death. While Miki chapters tend to blend together now with how much she seems to be obsessed with something to her downfall, the idea of her doubting or debating what she was doing was wrong, even for a moment without it being devious or fake, seemed to show that maybe even she has done this sort of thing to the point of knowing that not everything she pulls really is to the benefit of herself or anyone around it. Sure Miki keeps doing it...but that's part of her personality. Oh...is it just me or were there a lot of great facial expressions in this chapter? Just look at Miki's "oblivious" face when leaving Nube after finding out about the Imina...or Kyouko's first "blush" when invited with Hiroshi. Sure the dialogue bubble has something to do with it but I just liked the facial expressions by them this time.

BTW: if you want me to put up a SMAP song for the chapter, forget it. I know little to nothing on them and they don't interest me at all.