Hell Teacher Nube 92

As horrible as tales of spirits and youkai get, sometimes the strangest of tales...may also be the saddest. When a horrible ghost appears around Doumori, it may have peculiar reasons why it is stuck in an inescapable rage!

#92: Strangeness: The Violet Hag

107.
Sign: Tonarimachi Elementary
SFX: Ki—n ko—n Ka—n ko—n
Boy: I’ve got to go, it’s already 5. I’m late for my coaching…
(TN: It’s really hard to say what the boy is late for, but the term he uses is “juku”, which is either a “private school” or “coaching”. Considering the boy’s baseball outfit, I went with “coaching” to broaden the idea)
SFX: Tatata
Narrator: It…appeared at the school gate when it came to be 5 o’clock…

108.
(Title page…yeah, that’s a horrifying old lady)

109.
SFX: Su
Boy: Hi…
“Old Woman”: Kieeee!! Kiee!
SFX: Zuba gusa Do gukyaaa
Boy: Gyaaaaa!!
“Old Woman”: Gi…
SFX: Shu
Boy: Uuuh…

110.
Voice 1: The Violet Hag. (Zawa zawa)
(TN: The original name of this youkai is “Murasaki Babaa”, but it has a direct translation as you can see here as the “Violet Hag”; due to that, I chose to translate the name of this youkai)
Voice 2: It attacked a Tonarimachi student. (Zawa zawa)
(TN: This is actually a really weird line considering the introduction: while “Tonarimachi” typically stands for “the next town”, the fact that the name of the school where the attack occurred is “Tonarimachi”, I chose to keep it in Japanese)
Boy 1: He possessed a violet-colored towel and it barely saved his life.
Boy 2: The Violet Hag runs away when she sees violet-colored things.
Boy 3: She chants “violet, violet” and disappeared.
Kyouko: I have violet-colored ribbons.
Miki: I have a violet-colored T-shirt.
Voice: Soft, you’re soft.

111.
Hiroshi: Violet-colored soccer ball.
Makoto: Violet-colored knapsack.
Katsuya: Violet-colored underwear.
Kyouko: All of you have amazingly—bad taste, having clearly said those.
Nube: All of you.
Nube: Stop with the pain in your eyes. It’s terrible that you’re pasted with that tone.
“Caption”: Violet
Nube: That is merely a rumor.
Miki: Liar.

112.
Miki: Originally, the Violet Hag was a grandmother who had a lot of affection for her grandchild. Every day, when it came to be 5, she seemed to have come to meet with her grandchild at the school gate.
Nube: So then, this composition is mine…
(TN: Yeah…we’ve seen Miki do a couple of these already but now she’s doing these explanations just as much or more than even Nube)
Miki: However, her grandchild was a tormented child.
Bully: He—y
SFX: Ga
Miki: “My grandchild was killed”, the grandmother said.
Miki: But the school’s side thought that their addressee was elderly and didn’t hear her story. On the contrary, they persuaded every day that it was an accidental death to the grandmother.
Miki: “I don’t want to hear their stories anymore”. Not wanting to hear anyone’s stories, the grandmother lopped off her own ears…and then died.

113.
Miki: From then on…the grandmother became a spirit, frequently appearing in schools in various places and coming to slash at students without discrimination. That is the Violet Hag.
Nube: So then, what’s with the violet?
Miki: Well…that’s…
Nube: Foolish, it’s merely a rumor. (Ha ha ha)
Nube: Hahaha…
SFX: Ki
Nube: But…it is true that something has come. An evil something…

114.
Caption: After School
Nube: It’s rippling with the feeling of a strong maliciousness. It’s moved to behind the school building.
SFX: Za za
Nube: Over there?
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan…

115.
Violet Hag: Haa—haa—haa—
Nube: Understood…she’s changed into a half-demon, but she’s a helpless, sad Fujourei. I’ll have her rest in peace.
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan Koudai Reikan Byakue Kanzeon…

116.
SFX: Zuba
Nube: Huh…
Nube: !! She has no ears…
Nube: It can’t be…it can’t hear the sutra!?
Miki: Not wanting to hear anyone’s stories, the grandmother lopped off her own ears…
Nube: Was the rumor true…
Violet Hag: Kieee!

117.
Violet Hag: Gi…
Violet Hag: Gigi…
SFX: Shuuu…
Nube: Violet…? She truly ran away with the violet-color…
Sign: Calabash – 3-3
(TN: The “Bottle Gourd”, also known as Lagenaria siceraria or “calabash”, is a type of squash that is cultivated either for food or, as originally used, as a bottle. There are varieties of this plant that, as seen here, have violet-colored flowers)
Nube: Right. It’s color.
Sign: Art Lab
Kyouko: What’s wrong, Nube? Have you suddenly awakened to art?
Nube: No; at any rate, mix up the paints of the colors that I say to.

118.
Nube: Colors presents various images to the hearts of humans. To a condition where white is purity and red is passion.
SFX: Bi—
Nube: That is called “Shikidama”; that’s because the spirits of colors that dwell in color by color convey a meaning that is possessed by their own color into the heart of a human.
(TN: “Shikidama” literally translates into “color spirit”)
“Spirit”: I’m green, my meaning is quiet.
Nube: Even in the present, people who are called color coordinators know the meanings of Shikidama and utilize them skillfully for goods.
“Spirit 1”: Reddish brown is the general color for buying lightheartedly.
“Spirit 2”: Black is high-class.
Nube: But ancient sorcerers divided up colors much more minutely, show appropriately the meaning of colors one by one and could even transmit sentences with them.
(TN: Considering the script on the page, I’m not going to translate the color chart in Nube’s hand)
Kyouko: Hee
Kyouko: Can you do it too, Nube?
Nube: Yeah…I’m starting to but

119.
Nube: With that…”Your mother has an outie” Ehem.
Color 1: Go
Color 2: Cry
Color 3: With
Color 4: Your
Color 5: Mother
(TN: This is a really weird bit considering that it really doesn’t work unless it’s in Japanese, mostly due to what I assume is Nube trying to make a sentence with the Shikidama. The original sentence Nube is trying to speak is “Omae no Kaasan Deebeesou”, with the “Deebeesou” being a pronounced version of the word “debeso” or “a protruding navel”, generally known as an “outie bellybutton” as I wrote it. However, the Shikidama didn’t say that but instead said “Omae no Kaasan de Beso”: while “omae no kaasan” is the same “your mother”, the “beso” is “weep” or “cry” and the “de” isn’t connected directly but instead is used as a modifier for the “omae no kaasan”, the person that the sentence wants you to weep with. Furthermore, the structure of the two sentences makes it way harder to match perfectly with the Shikidama Nube set up: while the first one has Nube make an emphasis of “your mother” being the one with the “outie”, the second has “your mother” as the word being modified as the one whom they want you to weep with. As a modified word, it usually ends up appearing later in an English sentence, even if it’s the same pattern for both sentences in Japanese, therefore preventing the Shikidama meaning to work word-for-word alongside the English one. Honestly, whoever works on this should take great discretion in presenting it, either trying to explain the modifications between the two sentences or just keeping the joke in Japanese with a translation of both versions of the sentence)
Kyouko: Right. I say this man has to be helped by a person…
SFX: Ki—n ko—n ka—n ko—n
Katsuya: Yo, it’s already 5. What will we do?
Miki: The rumor has spread and everyone went home before 5.
Hiroshi: Be—calm, be—calm, as long as we have these violet-colored things.
Hiroshi: Here, she’s not here.
Hiroshi: I’m not scared—after all, it’s a spirit of an old-woman…

120.
Violet Hag: Gi gi….
Hiroshi: !!
Hiroshi: Waaaaa!!
Violet Hag: Kieee~~
Miki: It…it appeared!!
Miki: He—y, violet!
Katsuya and Makoto: Violet, violet
Violet Hag: Kiee kiee~~

121.
SFX: Giro
Katsuya: Uwaa~~she’s angry!
Hiroshi: She isn’t disappearing!
Nube: She’s become to accustomed to it because it’s been used on her many times without understanding the meaning of the violet-color.
Kyouko: Come in here! Into the school.
Hiroshi: Nube!!
Hiroshi: Tear her up with the Oni no Te!!
SFX: Dota bata dota
Nube: No…I have an idea!
Hiroshi: Hiii
Violet Hag: Kieeee!!

122.
Violet Hag: !
Hiroshi: Wh…what: drawing paper with colors on them!?
Kyouko: They’re Shikidama: there’s meaning to each separate color.
Violet Hag: Gigi…
Kyouko: Nube is conveying his sutra by combining it with these colors!

123.
Shikidama: Lost
Shikidama: Soul
Shikidama: Go to the light of tranquility.
Violet Hag: Gigi…
Hiroshi: This grandmother who died having shut away her ears…
Kyouko: She can’t hear the sutra…therefore; we’re transmitting it with colors she can see with her eyes.
Hiroshi: Understood.
Nube: Well, let’s finish this.
SFX: Kuru
Nube: Well come here! 1, 2

124.
Shikidama: Violet (Rest in Peace)
SFX: Ban!
Caption: Violet denotes “that world” or “God” in Shikidama.

125.
Violet Hag: Ooooh.
“Grandmother”: I can see: the light that is meeting me from that world has a violet-color.
Nube: Violet truly is the color that guides to that world. But showing her just that can’t have her rest in peace. Just the violet will just merely scare her.
Hiroshi: A—ah, I’m hungry. Treat us to ramen.
Nube: No, um…it’s the day before payday!
Kyouko: Nube’s Shikidama is always the red of “going in the red”.
(TN: “Going in the red” or “deficit” is literally in Japanese “Akaji” or “Red character”)

126.
RETURN OF THE GREAT YOUKAI ENCYCLOPEDIA

#25: Shikidama

Long ago, there was a program called “Goranger”. It was an incredibly popular program and even now they are televising the sequel of the sequel of the sequel of…(ellipsis)…the sequel. (Speaking to the adult readers, the show televising now is one called “Ohranger”. To know detailed about it, please ask the kids in your neighborhood.) These Goranger were a monumental program that effectively utilizes Shikidama.

Goranger introduced five youths and they wore combat uniforms respectively of five colors, but they utilized Shikidama by their color-coding. First of all, with a manner of the hot-blooded male protagonist was “red”, displaying “fighting spirit” and “passion”; the cool lover was “blue” of “calm” and “composure”, the comical comedian was the “yellow” of “friendly”, the lone girl member is “pink” of “sensuality” and the most child-like member was the “bright green” of “youth”, each respectively were named “Akaranger”, “Aoranger”, “Kiranger”, “Momoranger” and “Midoranger” respectively and thus the reason they said “The five of us together are “Goranger”. The combination of these colors havne’t steadily changed and have been inherited with the sequels afterwards. (there are situations where “green” becomes “black” but) I want to applaud the staff in those times for thinking of combining these miraculous colors.

(TN: A few things:
1. I was sort of afraid we were going to end up doing this someday with Makoto’s references to them; but here with this encyclopedia, I’m going to have to give a few notes and notations regarding the history and popularity of the various Super Sentai series created by Toei in supplement to Nube’s comments, considering that they are a crucial note to this entry. First of all: “Himitsu Sentai Goranger” (Secret Sentai Goranger) is notable, as stated here, as the grandfather and the first in the Super Sentai series, originally airing in 1975 to 1977 and created by notable creator of various hero and sentai concepts Shotaro Ishimori. For the most part, the description of the characters and the concepts, including the colors used for them, match up exactly with how Nube described them. However, strangely enough Goranger wasn’t really considered part of the Super Sentai sequence until around the period of Ohranger, which was around the time of this chapter in 1995 (published in this manga in 1996)
2. While Super Sentai had a consistent popularity, it wasn’t exactly as super-popular consistently at first. While Goranger itself was popular, its follow-up series “JAKQ Dengekitai” (from 1977) never really had the same popularity and for the most part seemed to bring an end to the concept. It wasn’t until 1979’s “Battle Fever J”, made as collaboration between Toei and Marvel Comics and using concepts developed from other live action shows, including and most importantly the usage of mecha and giant robots, which it became the consistent and popular genre with kids that it has remained even at the time of the translation.
3. By the publishing of the volume, the year was 1996 when Ohranger was still on the air up to the end of February. It’s follow up…well, we’ll get into that at another time but it had a particular connection to Nube.
4. “Lover” here is actually “nimaime”, which is “an actor in a love scene” or “second member”, while “comedian” was “sanmaime”, representing the “third member”.
5. The name of all five Rangers I kept in Japanese since it’s for the most part an abridged version of the colors that were mentioned above: “Aka” = “Red”, “Ao” = “Blue” etc. The only slight difference is “Momo”, which is “pink” but was represented above in the literal Japanese of “pinku”, which it was when explaining the purpose of the colors for the five Rangers.)

TN: Well we had "Kakuranger" and we had "Ohranger", so I think it's time to get a bit of the original with this Encyclopedia:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E95yD2z7cWE

(You got to love the 70s-style...)

This was just a strange chapter thinking it over both in the scenario and the resolution. The concept of the colors manipulating words and giving feelings is something that I had a bit of knowledge about (see the usage of red and yellow in fast food logos...hungry yet?) Somehow it did become obvious regarding that being the resolution with the old woman chopping her ears off preventing her from hearing the means to escape. But at the same time her freaking out from the color purple even from flowers without knowing what they were...it obviously made sense with the ending but at the same time it was a tad confusing just to get to that moment. My only other comments are two:
1. That whole line about the bellybutton/weeping just took a lot out of me and really was a tough one to explain.
2. I think Kyouko needs ribbons more often...then again this is probably like the second or third time she had them...and the first time was back when she was possessed by the evil Shugorei!