Hell Teacher Nube 142

Some seem to understand the foolish mistake in bringing life back to the dead, but that doesn't stop others from wanting to gain this power for their own usage. Of course, what Nube understands isn't quite the same with a certain Itako...

#142: Hankon Incense is So Very Bad!

29.
SFX: Ki—n ko—n ka—n ko—n…
Student 1: Bye-by—e
Student 2: See you again—
Nube: Ahaha, today was one hot day—this day is—
Nube: Seems I—feel like it it—how about a tight glass of beer? Do I feel like it--?
Nube: Feels like—I seem it—do I feel I will while watching the Giants game? Seems so—
(TN: Nube’s “Giants” comment obviously is about the baseball Yomiuri Giants. As a side note: Yomiuri did rather well in 1996 when this chapter was published, but ultimately lost the Japan series to the Orix Blue Waves of Kobe, a team that has since merged to become the Orix Buffaloes)

30.
Izuna: That demon pager of that so, annoyin’ guy—I get it even if I ignore it—is this seriously easy feeling--? Seems so—If I go to a gas when I’m so hungry, he’ll come and it’s so very bad .
*Meaning:
It’s really a bother since my pager has rung many times for that extreme annoying guy and I pick up even if I ignore it. If I go for a meal at a gastro due to being extremely hungry, he’ll come and it will be the absolute worst.
(TN: Unfortunately, I have to admit that I almost blew it with this part, mostly because Izuna is speaking in mid-late 90s kogal slang combined with her slang tied to using the pager, leading to me being completely lost and forcing me to try my very best knowing it wasn’t going to be enough to even try to understand what the heck Izuna is saying here. Luckily, the chapter translates what she says and I sort of slanged it up a bit for English. However, there is one word that she brings up here that actually was easier to translate and was also tied to the title: “chouberiba”, which is an altercation of “beriba”, the Japanese way of saying “very bad”. While typically “chou” would give off the concept of increasing it to a “super” extent, here I decided to at least keep the attempt at 1990s teenage slang and made it “so very bad”, which is what also appears in the title of this chapter.)

31.
Nube: Hey—don’t teach strange words to my students—(Shoo shoo! Don’t come here! You’re contageous!)
Izuna: What: a person can seem like bacteria?
Nube: You two are associating with that delinquent girl again!
Miki: We just met with her on our way home—is that how it feels--? Seems like it.
Nube: Hey, Izuna! How about if you steadily go back to the country--?
Izuna: No way! I was born in an Itako house and ran away from home hating my training but—there are a lot of spiritual phenomenon in this town and I can make money with them—and can I have a feeling of my future dream for this: living in the city and not being late in being fashionable by being a super-favorable star spiritualist? Seems like it.
“Dream Izuna”: Hohohohoho

32.
Nube: Heh, you have a feeling of becoming an adult spiritualist--!
Izuna: Shut it! I’ll soon become a first-class spiritualist that surpasses someone like you, seems like it--!
SFX: Dobo…
Voices: What’s that—feels like it—go away—seems like it—
Noriko: ………
SFX: Jiwa…
Nube: What’s wrong, Noriko: you haven’t been well since this morning…
Noriko: My…my Pee-chan has…he died in a traffic accident this morning…
(TN: Just to make sure: the “pee” here sounds like “peh”, not “pee”; the basic sound of the “e” in Japanese is an “eh” sound, thus how it is pronounced here)
Kyouko: Pee-chan, Noro-chan’s pet dog?

33.
Noriko: Teacher, please, bring my Pee-chan back to life!
Miki: Ah, she’s standing out again. In spite of you being Noro-chan; in spite of you being Noro-chan.
Nube: Don’t be rash...it’s impossible even if I did it many times. Give up on it and please pray for it to rest in peace.
Izuna: ………
Izuna: Hmph, you’re not going to have your simple wish granted by that 0-ability teacher?
Noriko: Eeh?
Miki: Big-sis Izuna, you have some method?
Izuna: OK—King—leave this to Izuna!

34.
Caption: Noriko’s House
Sign: Nakajima
Noriko: That’s Pee-chan.
Sign: Peesuke
Izuna: Alright, hold on.
SFX: Gasa gori
Miki: Are you doing necromancy?
Izuna: Dummy, how can I do necromancy on a dog that doesn’t talk?
Izuna: It’s this.
Miki: Incense sticks…?
Izuna: These are called Hankon Incense, they have the power to revive the dead. Watch.
(TN: “Hankon Incense” or “Hankonkou” = “Anti-Spirit Incense” or “Anti-Soul Incense”; they were stated to have originally been mentioned by Tang Dynasty Chinese poet Bai Juyi as well as mentioned in Toriyama Sekien’s “Konjaku Hyakki Shuui”, the third book of his youkai series where the “return” kanji was used for “han” (though I don’t know if it was pronounced as “han” or “hen” for the first kanji) and referred to as “Return-Spirit Incense”. Just as a note: this is the same “hankon” which I used as “resurrection” earlier in chp. 91 in volume 11…I note that because of how it will be mentioned again later as the “Resurrection Jutsu” as it was then.)

35.
Izuna: They’ve been handed down since ancient times within my family…I brought them with when I ran away from home. I’ve gotten my hands on them because I’m an Itako thoroughbred. I’m different from that unqualified 0-ability teacher.
Izuna: Hankon Incense: it is created from the Hankon Tree, which is said to possess flowers and leaves that resemble the maple and whose aroma is emitted to 100 leagues. It’s been said that long ago, it was used by Emperor Wu of the Han and called back the soul of his dead wife…
(TN: “Emperor Wu of the Han”, known in Japanese as “Kan no Butei” [the “kan” of “Kanji” is in reference to the Han Dynasty when used as such] is notable as the man who expanded China over a vast period of territory to the height of Chinese control as well as securing the nation as a Confucian state)
SFX: Biku biku
SFX: Bikun bikun! | Ooooooh

36.
SFX: Oooh…oooooh…
Pee-chan: Ha ha ha
Noriko: Pee-chan!
Miki: Ge--…Ju…just a moment…its organs are out.
Noriko: Has he been healed, been revived>
Izuna: Ye…yes…
Noriko: Thank you, Izuna-san!

37.
Pee-chan: Ha ha ha
Nube: Huh? Wasn’t your dog dead?
Noriko: Eh? Ah, I said that—does it feel like it was miraculously saved? Seems like it…
Nube: ………Seems like it? Feel?
Noriko: !?
Pee-chan: Uuh…uuuh…
Noriko: What’s wrong, Pee-chan? Pee-chan.
Pee-chan: Gyauu | Doha | Gyauu

38.
SFX: Shubo
Izuna: Ahaha…the Hankon Incense was a bit not enough—
Noriko: Th…that’s good; then he’ll be healed soon, he’ll be healed.
Pee-chan: Haa haa
Izuna: Ah, yes. But since it won’t be enough again and can’t suffer, I should give you the remaining Hankon Incense.
Izuna: ………
Pee-chan: Kyu—n kyu—n…
Izuna: Pee-chan, kusun kusun. The frequency of his suffering is gradually increasing…

39.
SFX: Jiriri—n…
Sign: Hot Water Room
Nube: Eh!? Noriko-chan had gone on a walk with her dog and didn’t return!? Isn’t it already 11!?
Nube: Do you have any knowledge of her whereabouts!?
Miki: Um, well!?
Kyouko: I got a phone call around 9! Since she had business with Izuna-san, I told her where her house is…
Izuna: Eh!? Noro-chan? She didn’t come!?
Izuna: There’s a feeling… of something super-bad…
Nube: What…seems like it?

40.
Caption: Foreigner Cemetery
(TN: There are four areas with cemeteries for foreigners: one on Tokyo, three in Nagasaki, as well as those in Kobe and Yokohama)
Noriko: Quickly, if I quickly don’t get to Izuna-san’s place and save you…you’ve been in pain for already three minutes…
Pee-chan: Gyau gyau
Noriko: I’m already burning all of them.
SFX: Bo
SFX: Bashi
Noriko: Kya

41.
Noriko: Pee-chan, what’s wrong? Please, go back to normal.
SFX: Shuu…
Noriko: A~~n a~~n
SFX: Boko boko
Nube: What, Hankon Incense!?
Izuna: Y…yes, I brought it from my home…
Nube: Resurrection…I too tested a resurrection jutsu but…it failed…Hankon Incense isa much more simple item than that…you can’t revive well…
*Consult Manga Vol. 11
Noriko: Kyaaa!

42.
Zombies: Oooooooh…

43.
Nube: Noriko!
Izuna: Noro-chan.
Izuna: Now I’ll go to save her. Spiritual Power: Spontaneous Combustion!
SFX: Ki
SFX: Bashi Bo Ba
Izuna: Ku…their number is too many! Making matters worse, they can’t get hurt because their corpses!!

44.
Noriko: Noooo
Izuna: It’s my fault; because I used that Hankon Incense…
Kyouko: Nube
Nube: No good…even with the Oni no Te, their numbers are…
SFX: Bau bau bau…
Nube: ! That’s…a police helicopter…
SFX: Gachan!
Tube: Smoke Candle

45.
Noriko & Izuna: Kyaaa
Helicopter: Did something happen!? I’ll call the patrol car now.
SFX: Babababababa
SFX: Zazazazaza

46.
Nube: That will defeat the zombies. The Hankon Incense scattered with the wind and it’s effect dissapeared.
Zombies: Oooh…
Noriko: Pee-chan! Pee-chan!
Nube: I pity this but…enough already. We can’t have it suffer. Let’s let it rest in peace.
Izuna: It seems it was just suffering after all…It will be alright…I feel…

47.
Izuna: I…I was bad this time…sorry…I still haven’t become an adult spiritualist yet…maybe.
Nube: Well…what you did was rare; this wasn’t for a monetary value; you were thinking for a person…I think that’s major progress…it seems…
SFX: Fuan fuan fuan
Nube: What do we do: I broke a car window and the tombs are sloppy…
Izuna: Feel of running?

48.
Commemoration of 3 years of serialization:
NUBE-SENSEI’S ACCUSATION TRIAL
Defendant: Tamamo Kyousuke

(Evidence #1)
How’s it going? I always read Nube with enjoyment. By the way: I was reading manga vol. 2 and was thinking “Huh?” In “#13: Oni no Te vs. Fire-Ring Tail Jutsu”, there was a scene where Tamamo was raising the strength of his flames while naming spiritualists in order to test Nube’s spiritual power. Tamamo went up to the levels of “En no Odzunu -> Doukyou -> Kuukai”, but in truth I think that the order would be completely reversed, with En no Odzunu the strongest spiritualist in history. Didn’t he make a mistake…?
Caption: This is the proof

Nube: …This is suddenly a high-level identification……so then, shall we get an answer with Tamamo-sensei?
Tamamo: Fu: in truth, he’s saying that the order is reverse, with En no Odzunu the strongest in spiritual power.
Nube: In other words, you made a mistake?
Tamamo: Wh…what an idiot. Is it fine that the strength of spiritual power is not very dreaded to we of the youko race? What we dread rather, is the “benevolent” power of humans.
Nube: Understood. If we involve the perspective of “benevolence”, then Kuukai (Koubou Daishi) is the greatest…
Tamamo: Of course. I never have a reason to make mistakes.
Nube: But…Doukyou has a benevolence that’s high like that? He was called an evil priest that was called in line with Russia’s suspicious priest Rasputin but…
Tamamo: Th…that’s…
Nube: He was a person who didn’t have decent rumors, such as whether is we***r was large or did he seduce empress Kouken with it but…
Tamamo: Well this can’t be. I remember I have urgent business. We’ll continue this again another time. So then, adios!
Nube: He made a mistake after all…

Judgement:
Innocent. There were a few readers who realized this, and even those who realized it were favorably explained by Tamamo’s excuse. Everyone is soft on Tamamo…

(TN: I know I went into the three priests previously in chp. 13 in anticipation for this entry, but I think I need to go a bit further into Doukyou and his relations with Empress Kouken thus leading to his infamy: the short version is that he tried to use his connections with the empress, who ruled twice due to a period between her ruling period for ten years when her cousin Junnin ruled Japan as emperor, to become the de-facto leader of Japan. But various factors, leading up to the death of Kouken in 770, prevented him from ever reaching the throne and he ultiamtely died in exile. The full tale of his manipulations and attempt to control Japan and the Emperess can be read here: http://www.1-em.net/sampo/Nihonshi/PC/21.htm)

TN: Well, this chapter that had everything but the kitchen sink: slang of Japanese teenage girls of the 90s, mysterious spirit incense, dogs with their organs sticking out coming back to life, an all out zombie attack, Nube destroying other people's property, a police raid, confusing terminology that even I think I slipped up with, more girl slang in Japanese...and Noro-chan. And somehow...it worked. The crux of the whole chapter is for the most part the crisis regarding Noriko and her dog...and how Izuna for the most part thinks she can play god and use the resurrection power of the Hankon Incense without any knowledge of how screwed up reviving living things are. It's not like she wasn't concerned for Noro-chan when she used the incense, considering she just wanted to make her happy without any care or interest for profit (for once). But since Nube had his previous experience and Izuna just kept riding her Itako abilities (which she keeps screwing up regardless) on her sleeve, she really had no idea that she nearly would cause a zombie plague in Doumori because she wanted to revive another girl's dog. It's hard for someone to say that Noriko was selfish about her own desire considering that in some ways she sort of approached it similar to Makoto during the Kamaitachi incident (having been reminded of that with it being one of the most recently scanslated chapters), but when you go through a traumatic death of something you love, rational thought seems to be the first thing to go as you try to bargain in any method needed to get what you want back in your life, even if it lacks any and all sanity to the common man. And...is it just me or is it a tad ironic that Noro-chan nearly unleashed a zombie apocalypse...and yet the last time there was a chapter that "should" have been about zombies, it was Noro-chan who threw that idea away. (well her and Shizuka) At least all it takes is a bit of public property destruction to get rid of these zombies...unlike some people who think it's the only bit of horror that matters, I sort of don't like most zombie stories and rather they don't cross that line here. (well that...and no more teen-girl slang with how nuts I went with it!)