Hell Teacher Nube 105

What does it mean to take responsibility, and by what means will the world take to make you? When Kaneda becomes strangely haunted by weird avian creatures, he is forced to find out why...or be tormented by them forever!

Vol. 13: The Yukionna who Vanished in the Winter Wind
#105: Youchou: Itsu Made

7.
Voice: Hey, hand it over! Did you say you’d hand it over for menko!?
(TN: “Menko” is a type of Japanese card game involving thick-cardboard cards that are slapped to the ground to turn them over, with those turned over collected by the one who does so. In many cases, the cards are collectable with the art on them)
Voice 2: Me…Menko aren’t suitable for American crayfish…
(TN: “American crayfish” are also known as “Procambarus clarkia” or “the red swamp crayfish” or the “Louisiana crayfish”. While a freshwater species native to the southeastern US, it is typically an invasive pest in other parts of the world. They are also known in Louisiana cuisine as “crawfish” or “ecrevisses”)
Voice 1: What’s that!?
SFX: Boka!!
Kaneda: You’re brazen, in spite of being a 3rd-year boy.
Caption: Kaneda Masaru: a rude guy who is the most selfish in Nube’s class.
Kaneda: I really love animals. Hyo—he’s huge.
“Voice”: How long~~

8.
Bird: How long~~~

9.
Kaneda: Gyaaaaa~~!!
Voice: How long?
Nube: What is that?
Kyouko: What is that “how long”?

10.
Kaneda: How do I know? That’s what I’m seem to say!
Miki: So it wasn’t—How much!
(TN: This is a weird joke that really works in Japanese but not in English: first of all, the words that’s being said by the birds that I’ve translated into “How Long” is “Itsu Made”, which is typically an expression used for “how long” or “until when”. However, Miki misassumes that what Kaneda heard wasn’t “Itsu Made” but “It’s Money”, thus I ended up giving a similar pun here regarding her asking if it was “How Much?” as opposed to “How Long”)
Kaneda: At any rate, that bird was a youkai for certain! Nube! Protect me!! I’m your dear student! It’s your natural duty! (Gya—gya--)
Nube: Well, we can’t have foolish stories forever; we’ve got class, class.
Kaneda: Huh--!? What’s that attitude!? In spite of you consulting it immediately if it was Hiroshi, you make this discrimination? And yet you’re a teacher!?
Kaneda: S**t~~~that biased guy—(Grumble grumble)
Sign: Boy’s Restroom
Kaneda: I’ll appeal this to the PTA! Oh—it’s going, it’s going; it appears to be a long pee.
SFX: Jobo jobo jobo (Pee pee pee)

11.
“Bird”: How long?
“Birds”: How long~~~
SFX: Basa basa
Kaneda: Gyaaa
Kaneda: I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I can’t pee forever~~

12.
Nube: Huh? The “How Longs” have increased?
Kaneda: It seems so. They’re getting noisy with their “how long”, “how long”. Well it’s not “I~~can’t endure this~~forever~~I have friends”!
(TN: The quoted section here is a song Kaneda is singing called “Kyou no Hi wa Sayonara”, which was written by Shouichi Kaneko and became a hit song for Ryouko Moriyama in 1966. As a note, the “itsu made” here that ties it to this is the first line which has “itsu made mo”, an expression that is used for “forever”)
Nube: You’re suitable for those birds. Isn’t that good?
Kaneda: No it is—n’t. It’s a bad feeling.
Kaneda: S**t, he won’t save me—will he? He’s a cruel teacher to a student of good conduct like me.
SFX: Butsu butsu butsu…|Basa…basa…
Shizuka: Hey~~Kaneda-kun, how long are you going to be idle with your sweeping?
“Birds”: How long~~how long~~

13.
Kaneda: Ye…ys, I won’t be idle forever; I’ll sweep this up!
SFX: Sa sa sa
Nube: That’s the “how long”? They’re truly spiritual bodies. And further, they can only be seen by Kaneda.
Kaneda: S**t~~it’s been a terrible day. I’ll get home quickly and play some games.
SFX: Gacha
Sign: Masaru’s Room
SFX: Dosa

14.
Kaneda: N? That stinks.
Kaneda: A—ah, they’re dead again. Why is it that they die when I don’t feed them for two or three days?
Kaneda: It’s great that I’ll keep anything, but I lose interest immediately, forget to feed them and they end up dying. (stinks~~)
Kaneda: Well, it’s fine but that’s because I can clean up this container and make it useful.
SFX: Gara…

15.
Kaneda: Urya! Urya!
Voice: Masaru; how long have you played that game; please get to bed quickly!
Kaneda: Chi, you’re bossy, you f**king hag…
“Birds”: How long
“Birds”: How long~~how long~~
Kaneda: Yeah, yeah, I’ll get to bed immediately.
SFX: Dota dota dota
Kaneda: I can’t play forever, going to bed immediately~~
Kaneda: Uuuh, those insistent birds…it can’t be that they won’t appear even in my bedside.
(TN: “Bedside” is a strange term of “yumemakura” or “on the bedside where one has dreams”)

16.
SFX: Chan chan chan
Kaneda: Uh—morning? I’m still sleepy. I have eight hours left of sleep…
“Bird”: How long
Kaneda: Wa~~I’ll get up, I’ll get up. I won’t sleep forever~~
Kaneda: Did you open the window? Damn you—

17.
“Birds”: How long~~how long~~
Kaneda: Yes, I can’t eat forever.
“Mrs. Kaneda”: What’s that, you’re fine already?
“Birds”: How long~~how long~~
Kaneda: Hi~~understood, I’ll run.
Kaneda: Uh, uh, Nube, sniff sniff~~ (hikku…hikku…)
Nube: Understood…they even attacked you in your sleep and caused you problems dangling with “how long”.
Kaneda: Uh, uh.
Nube: It’s a youkai that even I’ve heard of for the first time but…when I investigated, there they were.
Book: Youkai Encyclopedia
Kaneda: You have it!?

18.
Nube: They’re the youchou said to have the body of a bird with the face like a human, sharp fangs and tail of a snake—“Itsu Made”. They stay on top of roofs shouting out “How long? How long?”; many of them appeared in the warring period and they’ve been written about in “Taiheikei” and “Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki”.
(TN: A few things that have to be explained now considering we aren’t getting anything later:
1. First of all “Youchou” is akin to expressions such as “youkai” or “youki” where the “you” has a spiritual connection but it’s hard to really explain the “you” since it usually has a meaning of “bewitching” or “calamity”. Though in this case, with the “chou” kanji standing for “bird”, this makes it an easy translating into the “Birds of Calamity”, but I kept it as “youchou” to connect it back as if they were youkai birds.
2. While all of the “itsu made” yelled out by the birds is akin to “How Long” at this point, the “Itsu Made” of the birds name actually is a construct of four kanji that translates into “True Heaven By Means of a Haven”.
3. “Taiheiki” is a Japanese historical epic written in the late 14th century about the warring period between the Northern Court of Ashikaga Takauji in Kyoto and Emperor Go-Daigo in Yoshino. While many historical truths are written in it, there is also quite a bit of exaggeration and the supernatural even while explaining the fall of the Houjou clan.
4. “Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki” or “The Illustrated One Hundred Demons from the Present and Past”, is the second book of the Japanese artist Toriyama Sekien’s series of books regarding a collection of youkai and supernatural creatures)
Kaneda: Th…that’s just it? Don’t you know a way to exterminate—them? Will they be a neurosis for me!?
Nube: Anyway, that’s due to being few literature on them. Instead, shouldn’t we investigate the source of why they’re dangling after you?

19.
Kaneda: Damn this—I can’t rely on you—teacher!
Nube: Ah, hey.
Kaneda: If it’s come to this, then I’ll settle this myself!
Kaneda: However…what is the meaning of the “how long”? They’re using words that have some amazing meaning…
Kaneda: Is there something I have to do again…?
SFX: Ki—n ko—n ka—n ko—n
Students: See ya | Bye-by—e
Kaneda: How long…what is it they’re asking of me?
Kaneda: I don’t know…what are they saying that has to be done again by I, a flawless, perfect, genius handsome male…
Kaneda: Eh

20.-21.
Kaneda: !! Gee!

22.
Itsu Made: How long, how long, how long
SFX: Basa basa
Kaneda: Hiii~~
Kaneda: Uwaaa~~
Itsu Made: How long how long~~
SFX: Zazazazaza
Kaneda: Sa…save me~~~
Kaneda: I’ll get killed~~
SFX: Byu

23.
SFX: Bari bari bari
Kaneda: Nube!!
Nube: I did various investigations on the Itsu Made…I understand the reason they’ve come to do this to you!
Kaneda: Hu…hurry, kill them!!
Nube: No, the cause is here.
Sign: Kaneda

24.
Nube & Kaneda: !!
Nube: What, isn’t this a mountan of the corpses of bugs and fish!!
Kaneda: What; it’s because I throw them out the window when they die…
Nube: Dummy!! What were you thinking of these animals!
SFX: Goki!
Nube: The “How Long” being said by the Itsu Made is

25.
Nube: How long will you ignore these corpses? That’s the meaning.
Nube: Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan Koudai Reikan: small souls who were abandoned here, rest in peace.
SFX: Po po

26.
Itsu Made: How long, how long, how long
Nube: They have an alias: Shichou. They’re birds summoned by the souls of remains who haven’t had a memorial service. That’s why they well appeared in the Sengoku period when there were many weather-beaten corpses.
(TN: “Shichou” = “Death Birds”; not sure which to really use beyond this script)
Nube: Souls, just because they’re insects and fish, shouldn’t be seen as minor.
Kaneda: Uuuh.
Narrator: “Itsu Made” may be illusions seen by those who have been crude to a soul. If an animal dies for all of you who don’t have Nube-sensei by their side, you should properly make them a grave and give them a memorial service.

TN: A little song for the script:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FIK5F4zRN0Y (yeah it isn't the Japanese song mentioned here but it does mention "How Long" as well)

It's sort of strange that we never get too many tales regarding Kaneda in this series, considering that this is the last one he stars in aside from the other two that actually directly stars him (considering the ones that involve him have him more a supporting character alongside Hiroshi, Katsuya or some of the others) But in a way, only someone like him would make this chapter work: a boy who could show off vast irresponsibility even if he has it in him to do what is right but is too lazy or uncaring to do so. I mean, does anyone else have the audacity to just take some dead lizard and throw them out the window? Sure there is the whole aspect of the Japanese religion brought into this, but just bare with it considering the moral is the same: mourn them with respect and you don't get haunted by noisy birds trying to remind you of what you've failed to do. Though at the same time, the chapter does give an aspect in regards to merely not just the dead but respecting those who do die, making sure they make the transition as well as you yourself in doing so. Aside from that...yeah, Kaneda's family really isn't one you'd probably want to see again...