Hell Teacher Nube 97

Sometimes there are opponents that are so powerful and know you so well that even you can't handle them! For Nube, this opponent is one that drives deep into the heart of what he is...and may finally make him go for broke!

#97: The Strongest Enemy!?

27.
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan Koudai Reikan Byakue Kanzeon: Ha---!
SFX: Katsu
Nube: I’ve been holding a secret from my students…I’ve been possessed by a spirit recently… (out loud) Ku.
SFX: Za—
Nube: I stay behind after school and have been doing a self-exorcism on myself in the gym storehouse; it’s been a week today. (out loud) Chii (internal) This really isn’t where I can have an appearance of weakness; I’m stubborn to not show this kind of thing to others!
Nube: I…may be killed by it.
SFX: Don
Nube: Haa haa haa (to himself) This surely is Nueno Meisuke’s greatest enemy; right, it’s name is…

28.
Nube: Binbougami.
(TN: Binbougami will be given more information in the chapter and the encyclopedia, but I can say that it literally translates into “The God of Poverty”)

29.
Nube: Haa haa haa
SFX: Ki—n ko—n ka—n ko—n
Nube: Damn this…it was no good today either……
SFX: Patan
Kyouko: Ah, it’s Nube.
Kyouko: Nube! Today is payday.
Miki: Treat us to ramen!!
Nube: No way!!
SFX: Dodo—n

30.
Kyouko: Wh…what? It’s just ramen.
Miki: You always treat us on payday!
Nube: Ku…I have no choice; I’ll be frank just to all of you.
Nube: I now have been possessed by Binbougami.
Kyouko: What? That’s a typical thing.
Miki: What’s with you now?
Nube: You all~~~
Nube: A week ago…I was going to save a mother and child who were committing double-suicide on top of a bridge. That mother and child were possessed by Binbougami and were suffering. I attempted to exorcise it but…

31.
Nube: I angered Binbougami and it possessed me. Binbougami is called “Kyukki” in Chinese; when you’re possessed by it, you become poor to the extent of being chewed to the bone and come to be strangled to death. You’re tormented to the point of getting into debt of tens of millions; sell your home and your plot of land and committing suicide. This is completely different from ordinary poverty.
(TN: A couple things:
-Though the name is from Chinese, the kanji in Japanese for “Kyukki” has a translation of “The Demon of Destitution”
-Nube does literally go “sell your home and your plot of land”, which in Japanese is “Ie mo dochi mo uri”, with “dochi” as literally standing for the land or plot where your home is located on)
Nube: All luck abandons you and you come to not have money at an incredible might. Bottomless poverty! Eternal poverty! That’s
Nube: Me right now! For that reason, I don’t have—a cent of money to treat all of you!
Nube: Farewell!
SFX: Hyuuu~~

32.
Kyouko: You’re kidding~~that’s a lie because you don’t like treating.
Nube: Well if it’s true!
Miki: Hey, isn’t it that you have an obvious allowance?
Kyouko: Here, it’s here! 300 yen for a bowl of ramen for a grand-opening sale!
Sign: Chinese Cuisine: Mangan Zenseki
(TN: “Mangan Zenseki” is Japanese for “Manhan Quanxi”, the Manchu/Han Imperial Feast notable during the Qing Dynasty and prepared as a 300 dish feast featuring some of the strangest and bizarre cuisine)
Kyouko: This is an extremely-expensive-seeming restaurant.
Nube: Is it really 300 yen?
Hiroshi: It’s consistently extremely expensive.
Miki: It’s because it’s on sale.
Waiter: Here you go.
SFX: Don…
Nube: It’s cheap to have this for 300 yen.
SFX: Zuru zuru zuru
Waiter: The grand-opening sale was until yesterday. Starting today, its 3,000 yen a bowl.
(TN: Remember: 300 yen is typically about $3.00; 3,000 yen is $30.00)
SFX: Bu
Kyouko: You’re kidding!?

33.
Nube: Idiots—
Nube: I’m going to the bathroom!
Water: Ah, Mr. Customer, in there is the kitchen…
SFX: Ban!
Chef: Wa
SFX: Gacha—n | Parin Parin
Cashier: The tablewear in this restaurant was all Keitokuchin (Note).
Note: Extremely expensive Chinese-made porcelain
(TN: “Keitokuchin”, also known in the US as “Jingdezhen”, is porcelain produced in the town of the same name in China. Producing earthenware since the 6th century, it’s a peculiar bluish-white porcelain. It became more varied by the 18th century, but Europeans discovering their secret ended up reducing some of its value, even though it’s considered extremely valuable and expensive even today)
SFX: Pi po pa
Nube: …………my wages are terrible…
Nube: That’s why I wasn’t going to tell you!
Kyouko: You really are possessed?

34.
Nube: I was lying? On this terribly stubborn spirit…
SFX: Boro
Nube: Hey, wait: my precious 100 yen.
SFX: Kikikikiki
Nube: Ah.
SFX: Doka—n
SFX: Shuu— | Kacha
“Tough”: Hey you~~~flying out there and doing that to my new Benz. Reimburse me, reimburse---!!
Nube: Aah…
Miki: It seems for real.

35.
Narrator: Several days later: Nube didn’t have left even merely small change on hand.
SFX: Geso—
Cup: Cup Noo(dles)
Ritsuko: Well, how are you doing, Nueno-sensei?
(TN: Somehow having Ritsuko-sensei just call Nube “sensei” or “teacher” though they’re equals never felt right, so I adjusted it into “Nueno-sensei”)
Nube: Somehow or another I don’t have money; it’s already been five days and I’m not eating well.
Ishikawa: What, you’ve been distant about it, in spite of us loaning if you told us.
Ritsuko: That’s right.
Nube: Ishikawa-sensei, Ritsuko-sensei, is this for real!?
Nube: Th…thank you!
SFX: Shu—shu—
SFX: Pi—
Nube: Hot

36.
Nube: Wa—
SFX: Hira hira
SFX: Hi—
SFX: Bo
Nube: Oh—
Caption: Passing-through goat
Ritsuko: I hate people who get rough with money!
Ishikawa: We won’t lend to him anymore!
Caption: In~~my hand~~when~~I hold it~~everything~~will disappear~~it~~a rule~~
(TN: While the caption beneath mentions this is the theme song to “Lupin III” [the famous thief created by Kazuhiko Kato under the nickname “Monkey Punch”], this song is specifically “Lupin Sansei no Uta – Sono 2” (Lupin the III’s Song – Number 2), the theme from the original 1973 TV series, as opposed to the similarly famous theme song from the 1978 TV series)
Nube: You~~
SFX: Ki
Nube: I can’t take this anymore! I can’t forgive you, Binbougami!!
Sign: Hot Water Room
(TN: The sign here is actually “Kyuutoushitsu”, which is “Hot Water Room”, which I assume is the only room where water can be boiled in the school)

37.
Nube: You’ve been mocking me and I’ve been patient in cutting you with the Oni no Te because you’re a God Dependant (note), but I can’t pardon you anymore! I’m cutting you in two!!
Note: Gods who are dependants on the major gods
(TN: This is a weird scenario, but basically Shinto has a whole class of beings who are known as “Shinshi” who act either as messengers or dependants tied to the gods. As a “God Dependant”, Binbougami is thus a Shinshi)
Sink Sign: Be Careful With Water!!
Nube: Dissappear and become nothing!!
SFX: Gawa
Binbougami: Fue fue fue
Binbougami: You’re selfish; you’re needy; I’m happy; you shouldn’t make me much angrier. Can you truly cut me so easily?
Nube: What?

38.
Binbougami: But then…even other than myself, my family is to the extent of the number of the stars in this world. Even if I’m erased, one of my allies will immediately take you.
Nube: Wh…why? Why…to me…
Binbougami: When you’re possessed by Binbougami, they gain a quality of becoming poor. You are sad and pained when you don’t have money. A Binbougami is fine possessing a human who possesses this feeling of despair and getting the most comfort. (Fue fue fue)
Voice: Nueno-kun, it’s terrible. Your apartment is on fire!
SFX: Don don

39.
Nube: Huh!? I kept on the iron in my room! A small fire!? (to himself) Stupid…I truly turned off the switch and yet….
Voice: At any rate, get out here because your room is burned up and it’s causing trouble.
SFX: Gachan! | Nyari
Nube: S**t…I have no home, no furniture…no clothes…my bank savings are negative, the money I’ve had loaned by friends and acquaintances is near a million…
Nube: I can only put up and live in a tent on campus; because I now can’t be reluctant towards setting even the Night-Watch Room on fire.

40.
Nube: Uuuh, I’ve lost everything…
SFX: Shiku shiku
Nube: You…however this is, go away…why can’t you separate with a normal exorcism…
Nube: I’m in despair.
(TN: Nube’s comment here is “Zetsubou da”; somehow I could have just said “this is hopeless”, but considering how he’s a “Zetsubou-sensei” now and in such despair, I figured to make a silly connection to that)
SFX: Nyari
Voice: Nube.

41.
Kyouko: Why are you so down? That’s not like you, Nube.
Katsuya: We’re coming in for a party!!
Miki: It’s cool that you’re living in a tent at school!! We’ll come every day!!
Nube: All of you.
Binbougami: …………
SFX: Wai wai gaya gaya
Ritsuko: Ara, what a dreamy interior.
Principal: Really, you didn’t even get permission from me.
Principal: There’s nothing we can do about Nueno-kun’s poverty.
Ootsuki: It’s plasma.
Vice-Principal: Well, it’s a revelry.
Ritsuko: If it’s like this, we’ll make merry every night.
SFX: Wai wai | Gaya gaya
Nube: Hahahaha…

42.
Yukime: Nueno-sensei---! You’ve been possessed by Binbougami!? Even so, I love you!
Kuchisake Sisters: Go—ahead, go—ahead.
Zashiki Warashi: Kusu kusu
Hayame: Please let me return the favor without fail now.
Nenekogappa: It’s Nenekogappa-pe--!
Oshou: Hey you—I’ve brought the karaoke—(Gahaha…)
(TN: Like Ritsuko earlier, Oshou made a reference to Nube as “sensei”, but I sort of didn’t know how to really formalize it since he really isn’t that close to Nube…so I just made it “hey you”)
Tamamo: Fu: Nueno-sensei, in spite of coming to show your depressed face, you’re an extremely busy person.
Tamamo’s Bag: Inarizushi
(TN: Tamamo’s bag is referring to “inarizushi”, a type of snack that typically is just fried tofu filled with sushi rice; considering the connection of foxes to “inari”, somehow…it fits)
SFX: Do—n
Everyone: Ahahaha…Waa—

43.
Kyouko: How could this many people gather here!
Tamamo: Hmph.
Yukime: We heard that Nueno-sensei was depressed…
Oshou: Osu-na, osu-na. (Gahaha…)
(TN: Oshou repeating “osu-na” over and over just makes me imagine him saying something akin to “yo yo yo!”, with “osu” being Japanese slang for “yo”)
Nurarihyon: Who am I?
Student 1: Gyaaa! There are youkai here!!
Student 2: We saw Nube’s ruined form.
Student 3: It’ll be great if you enjoyed yourself!
Nube: Everyone…

44.
Nube: Ahahahaha, wha---t is this!
Nube: What? Isn’t it that I haven’t lost anything? My students, allies and friends are here for me; how could I be depressed? Even if I don’t have money and am poor, isn’t it that there’s nothing to worry about for me?

45.
Everyone: Ahahaha…
Binbougami: Oh brother…I possessed you and it came to that there. (it’s so joyous…) I thought I had hope with you.
Everyone Ahahaha…
Binbougami: However it comes to, there are people who don’t despair; people who possess “aspirations” other than money. They’re who I hate the most…

26.
RETURN OF THE GREAT YOUKAI ENCYCLOPEDIA

#29: Binbougami
In a certain place, there was an extremely poor man. One day, he saw it was because a small being with the form of a person that fell down from his shoulders; this was Binbougami. Due to Binbougami falling from his body, he was delighting that he was finally released from poverty but what Binbougami said was “Binbougami have been packed tightly in your body from the top of your head to the tips of your toes. You were too full of them, there came to not be a place in there and I carelessly just fell out”. The story says that the man was poor for a long time from then on.

Like that, Binbougami are terribly stubborn and won’t let go until you die once you’re possessed by it. In truth they’re a bad spirit. However, there is also this story.

In a certain place, there was a poor married couple. Even though they were poor, the couple didn’t complain with discontent and worked with eagerness. And then one day, when looking due to hearing weeping on their ceiling, there was a Binbougami who said “I’ve come to not be in this home due to both of you working eagerly your entire lives. Before long, a god of good fortune has come and driven me out.” The couple, who thought this was sorrowful, protected the Binbougami and drove away the god of good fortune that had come. And then the seedy Binbougami was spoken well about even as it lived in a home on that street up to then. After this, the couple continued to work with eagerness in their lives. Before long, the deteriorated home became affluent. One day, when suddenly looking up, a sole god was smiling there. It was the Binbougami, but it was wearing pretty clothing now and had become a god of good fortune who possessed a figurative magic wand. The diligence of the couple had transformed the Binbougami to a God of Good Fortune.

The element of predestiny which says you are rich or poor; good fortune or bad by birth is strong, but there is vitality in brushing this away—if it is, then naturally you can open up to fortune. There are people who say that good fortune comes at the gate of smiles. Wish me luck for that as well.

(TN: The only weird comment this time is “Uchide no Kodzuchi”, which is translated here as a “figurative magic wand” but in actuality refers to the magic mallet of the Japanese Tom Thumb tale “Issun-boushi”, as I mentioned back in vol. 8)

TN: (sighs) I really don't want to talk about this chapter. I really, truly don't want to talk about this chapter! If I have to read it again...uh, maybe I need to clear up a few things first.

First of all, considering the timing of this chapter, this for the most part is the first of several chapters that could be considered the 2nd anniversary of the Nube series in WSJ. (since it's now been two 48-chapter cycles since the start) I don't mind Nube celebrating the second anniversary of it's existence with something that gives a little bit of a look back at what it is and where it's been. Heck, the first year anniversary with the haunted house rocked, mostly because it cleverly used all (well...most) of the youkai from the first year and turned them all loose inside a place to scare away a group of bullies. It's all in the way it is done...and here, I really don't think it was done that well.

It really isn't the concept of the chapter, though, it's the execution. The idea of Nube being haunted by Binbougami, a youkai that personifies his own poor lifestyle and taking it to an extreme, is a neat concept. Considering we know Nube hardly makes any money, the fact that this youkai of all of them would be such a nuisance is appropriate. Its more the way that it just seems to be obvious that everything is going to go wrong that pretty much drives me nuts. Heck, the moment the students dragged him just for ramen at the expensive Chinese place, it obviously was going to turn into a disaster...and it just got stupider with what happened to the other teacher's money. (even though I like the idea of Ishikawa and Ritsuko trying to help to get Nube out of the funk...the passing goat was just way too convenient though)

And don't get me started on the ending and how they got rid of Binbougami. Obviously it was going to turn into one of those "money isn't everything" endings (sure Nube probably could have figured it out if his head was clear and didn't have this guy pursuing him) but the way it was done with everyone suddenly showing up out of nowhere and throwing that party...way too convenient. Heck, it was just so convenient that it felt like it was ironic it was all happening all at once making it obvious that Nube would snap out of it! OK, it wouldn't feel so bad if it was way smaller, maybe with a few students and a couple of the teachers...and maybe Yukime considering she would know somehow or another. (heck, one chapter suggested she appeared at the school every day to woo Nube...so wouldn't she know already of the hell he had with Binbougami?...besides it's her only appearance this volume and the next time she shows up...well, no spoilers but this is the last time Yukime shows up under the better of conditions for a while) But to have all those cameoes...all at once...all just to chase Binbougami...yeah, it did get too much. (though one thing I liked even if I may not admit it at first is the appearance of the Nurarihyon God...considering he's the exact opposite of Binbougami, I somehow think it was his appearance that chased the poverty being away more than the teachers, students and other youkai)

So...well, at least we're past the two-year mark. That's probably all the else I can say for the moment. Hopefully things will get better from here...well at least the third year gets more interesting with the storylines coming. (what with Tamamo back and some of the other stuff that will start soon)