Hell Teacher Nube 93

The future is never set in stone, but the words of some prognosticators may be more absolute than others! When a sensitive student in Nube's class discovers a horrible omen at a traumatic moment, will this ultimately bring her down!?

#93: The Predicting Youkai: Kudan

128.
Narrator: In 1836, there appeared a youkai called “Kudan” in the mountain recesses of Kyoto. It spoke human speech with a form with the face of a human and the body of a cow ; it made an ominous prediction and before long died. The story was reported even in the “Kawariban” newspapers of the period and came to be a topic among people. After this, there were reports by eyewitnesses in focus in Kyuushuu and Shikoku.
(TN: A couple things:
-“Kudan” is translated with a kanji that stands for “case”, “affair”, “as said” or “item”
-A “Kawariban” is an old Japanese newspaper that stands for “tile block printing”, printed using clay printing blocks.)
Noriko: I’m go—ing!!
Caption: Nakajima Noriko (Nickname: Noro-chan): A carefree girl who is the biggest crybaby in class 5-3.
SFX: Dota dota dota
Mrs. Nakajima: Noriko---!! Your lunch money! Your lunch money!
Noriko: Mother! Don’t do that; running around with that body! What will happen if you tumble down!?

129.
Noriko: Because my little brother or sister is in there.
Kyouko: Morning—Noro-chan.
Noriko: Good morning, Kyouko-chan.
Kyouko: Today we’re on duty in the rabbit pen. I’m going to draw their water.
Noriko: Alright.
Noriko: Ara, she gave birth to babies.
Bunnies: Pi—hi~~
Voice: Kudan
Voice: Kuda~~n

130.
Baby Rabbit: Kuda~~~n

131.
Baby Rabbit: Noriko will die in water.
Noriko: Wh…what is…this…
Baby Rabbit: die in water, die in water, getageta gegege—ta getageta
Baby Rabbit: Ge
SFX: Doba—
Baby Rabbit: Ge—
SFX: Doku Doku
Noriko: N…

132.
Noriko: Nooooo!!
Nube: This is…Kudan.
Hiroshi: Eh!? The guy who married Marcia!?
Kyouko: That was Gitan.
(TN: This is a weird joke that needs explanation: “Marcia” is in reference to “Marcia Kazue Nishiie” (her name is her stage name), a singer who is a 3rd generation Brazilian on her grandmother’s side and was notable as a singer and TV actress in this period. The “Gitan” in reference here was Ootsuru Gitan, a notable writer who developed several novels, movies, TV shows and even manga, most notably the films “Freeway Speedway – Megalopolis Expressway Trail” and “Wangan Midnight”. The duo married in 1994, but has divorced by 2004)
Nube: Kudan is a youkai born from livestock like cows once a century. It is born and it immediately predicts in human language.
Nube: And then it dies as it is. It’s an irresponsible youkai.

133.
Noriko: Wi…will the prediction be successful?
Nube: Not at all; it’s probability is lower than the forecasts of Super Keiba’s Izaki-san. (Hahaha)
(TN: “Super Keiba” or “Super Horse-Racing” is a notable news-broadcast for horse racing that aired on Fuji TV between 1987 to 2007. One of the prognosticators for the horse races is Shuugorou Izaki (born Kenji Nunome), who actually worked for predicting horse races on Fuji since 1983 and worked for “Horse News Uma”, a notable horse-racing publication in Japan)
Izaki: Gehihi gehihi
Hiroshi: What?
Kyouko: That’s good…but Noro-chan is quite shocked.
Noriko: Yes…it’s alright, I’ll take a break in the classroom…
Nube: Hey, come here a moment.
Nube: In truth…it’s dangerous.
Hiroshi: Eh!?
Kyouko: Yeah yeah: you used up your salary again. How much do you want?
Nube: Wrong.
Nube: The prediction of Kudan is 100% successful.

134.
Hiroshi: It’s 100%?
Kyouko: Isn’t there a way to escape it?
Nube: Yes…just one.
Nube: Kudan are born simultaneously as a male-and-female pair. The female predicts catastrophe and the male informs of the method to escape this catastrophe. The earlier Kudan was the female. Somewhere, a male Kudan should have been born…
Nube: I’ll search for its place of birth. All of you will not let Noriko get close to water.
Hiroshi, Kyouko & Miki: Right!!
SFX: Ja--…

135.
Kyouko: No way: if it’s the wiping, then I’ll do it. I—already love doing this cleaning!
SFX: Sasa
Noriko: Then, I’ll change the goldfish’s water…
SFX: Ba!
Miki: Kieeei: I’ll do the goldfish!
Noriko: Strange…is there something wrong with everyone…
Boy: Ah.
SFX: Zaba
SFX: Tsuru
Noriko: !!

136.
Noriko: Watch out----
SFX: Zudodododo | Gon Gan Gan
Hiroshi: N…no no, there is water in the corridor. (Aha aha aha) Be careful.
Noriko: Th…thank you…
Noriko: It really is…strange.
Sign: Girl’s Restroom
Noriko: Water, it’s water…it can’t be…the prediction earlier…
SFX: Mishi

137.
Noriko: Kyaaaa!!
Kyouko: The water….the water—
Hiroshi: Noro-chan!
Miki: No, we can’t open it!!
SFX: Oooooooooh
SFX: Gobo gobo…

138.
Nube: Noriko!!
SFX: Zaza—baki
Noriko: Cough cough
Sign: Nurses’ Office
Noriko: Right…right then. The prediction was correct…
Nube: Kudan is a messenger of God…Thus, it’s prediction is absolute. Because it’s the power of God, it can’t be changed by humans no matter how much spiritual power.
Nube: But that one other male Kudan was born somewhere. If we can ask it, then we’ll know the way out. Be calm: I approximately know the place through the judgment of a Fuuchi.
Page: Map of Doumori Town
Kyouko: Clever.

139.
Nube: The place is…Doumori Town 2—5—10, I’m certain.
Noriko: That’s…my house…
Nube: Eh!?
Hiroshi: Wh…what does that mean…!?
Ritsuko: Ah, Nakajima-san: it’s terrible. We’ve gotten a contact from your home.
Ritsuko: It’s your mother…

140.
Sign: Doumori Hospital
Noriko: Mother!!
Mrs. Nakajima: The labor pains have suddenly started. It seems like a premature birth.
Mrs. Nakajima: I’ll be fine. I’m certain I’ll give birth to a healthy baby.
Noriko: Mother…!!
SFX: Batan…
Sign: Delivery Room

141.
Nube: I’m certain this is some mistake. Kudan appears only from livestock.
Kyouko: We have to start over.
Nube: Damn it, did I make a mistake!?
SFX: Su
Noriko: What’s inside mother’s belly is a Kudan…my little brother or sister is a youkai…it has a destiny to be born and immediately die…
Noriko: Right…if I die as was predicted to me…
SFX: Karakara…
Noriko: Then the male Kudan may not be born anymore.

142.
Voices: Noriko will die by water. Die by water.
SFX: Zazazazaza

143.
SFX: Ba!
Nube: Idiot, cut it out! I said that Kudan don’t appear from humans!!
Noriko: You’re lying: what’s being born is Kudan, a youkai!
Voice: Ogyaa ogyaa
Voice: Ogyaa ogyaa
Voice: Ogyaa ogyaa ogyaa ogyaaa

144.
Nurse: Congratulations. It’s a healthy baby boy.
Little Nakajima: Ogyaa~~ogyaa~~
Nube: Noriko’s house! The Kudan was still born in your house somewhere!
Sign: Nakajima
Birds: Pi—pipipi…

145.
“Chick”: Noriko’s curse is a curse of her ancestor disgracing the land of a water god of Myoujin Shrine. She should prepare an offering to the water god of Myoujin Shrine. (Ge ge ge)
“Chick”: Giee~~Bushu—
Narrator: The prediction of Kudan has been absolute since long ago. There is also a proverb that says “Kudan no Gotoshi”, where there is no mistake at all.
(TN: “Kudan no Gotoshi” literally translates into “as it was said”, therefore the meaning of “it is exactly as stated, no mistake”)

146.
RETURN OF THE GREAT YOUKAI ENCYCLOPEDIA

#26: Kudan

A youkai said to have the face of a human with the body of a cow. Within the “Nube” tale, it was used as a general term for all human-faced animals, not limited to cattle. Records have been left where it has appeared in various parts of Japan since long ago; the most relatively recent appeared in western Japan in the closing years of World War II, where it was known to predict Japan’s defeat. Also, there was left a record that a fish Kudan who appeared in Saga or Nagasaki predicte the prevalence of cholera during the Edo Period.

Komatsu Sakyou’s novel “Mother of Kudan” had written of a Kudan that was born to a human, but that actually hasn’t been recorded. It merely seems to be the bird of a child who had a cow’s face with a human’s body. The famed “Minotaur” (“Taur” is “Cow”. “Minotaur” has the thought of “The Cow of King Minos”) seemed to be that, but that can’t make predictions; it just has a brutal nature.

(TN: A few things:
1. The major period of cholera during the Edo period in Japan took place during the “Third Cholera Pandemic”, which began in 1852 in Russia and spread east to affect a major section of East Asia, including Japan. Though it lasted through 1860, Japan continued to have outbreaks of the disease through 1902.
2. Sakyou Komatsu is a notable Japanese sci-fi writer who has been given the title as the “King of Japanese Sci-Fi”. “Kudan no Haha” or “Mother of Kudan” was published in 1975.
3. It was really tough to really figure out how to present the “minotaur” comment here: while it is obvious with its prominence in Greco-Roman myth, it’s name with the “Taur” part works better with the Latin version of “Minotaurus”, where “Taurus” is the Latin word for “Bull” or “Cow”)

TN: Ah, Noro-chan...I never thought the day would come when you would get your own highlighting chapter! (well considering she's been in the series for a while and has become more prominent since vol. 8, if not a couple other moments, the moment was bound to come for her...then again Shizuka hasn't had her turn yet...and won't for a long time) Honestly this was an extremely well done chapter, in particular with how it seemed like it was going to go in one direction...but instead goes in another. The factor that Noriko was distressed both with the Kudan and with the pending birth of her brother showed that she was more stressed out than typical, bringing her close to the breaking point with the fear of a problem with her mom's delivery and with the sudden prediction that water was going to kill her. The factor of the Kudan was freaky, but in a way it felt more incidental compared to Noro-chan's own development and problems in dealing with the stress. The scene where she nearly jumps from the hospital is probably the most telling of it: Nube knew the Kudan was not her emerging brother, but she was so stressed and disturbed both about her possible death and the possibilities of her unborn brother being a youkai that she was willing to sacrifice herself just to save him. It brought way more humanity to what could have been a typical chapter, allowing for us to see Noriko as she is and what she stands for a in a way we hadn't with her in the background...and allowing for her character development to a point that pushed aside the actual focus on the youkai problem she had. One would just wonder if Noro-chan will get the chance to get any more development beyond this...