Hell Teacher Nube 202

Once upon a time, there was a mischievous busty blonde girl who could get away with nearly anything. But when she discovers a book that makes her part of the story, can her teacher and classmates lead her to a true happily ever after!?

#202: Fairy Tale Miki-chan
(TN: The original Japanese title of this chapter is actually more interesting due to the Japanese word for "Fairy Tale", which is "meruhen", a Japanese pronounciation of the German "Maerchen", which is the Japanese word for "fairy tale". While both have the same title, "Meruhen//Maerchen Miki-chan" had that neat alliteration)

163.
(Typically I don't talk about cover pages if they're the first page of a chapter, but this one sort of is tied to the chapter itself...you'll see why in the next page. And yeah, Nube is angry at Miki for...some reason, but he usually doesn't need much to be angry at Miki)

164.
Miki: Hey, we're walking in a rush! Ow ow ow, don't be reckless.
Nube: Was it you!? That stole all the persimmon fruit on campus and ate them! You're an outrageous girl, really!
Miki: I get it, I get it, since I apologize, let me go~~~
Nube: I was promised by the Principal to be given one when they ripened and yet! (S**t~~)
Miki: ...He was angry over that...
Nube: Principal--! I've discovered the offender.
SFX: Gara
Sign: Principal's Office

165.
Nube: !!
SFX: Nun
Nube: Gyaaaa!! Namu Daiji Daihi Kyuugu Kyuunan...
Principal: Hey hey, Nueno-kun, he is a graduate of our school.
Nube: What a lie! That's a youkai human that's become a human and has failed at it.
Principal: Pardon me.
Principal: Sorry sorry about that youkai thing...he's always saying that when he makes a judgement in happening to see a person but... (Ha ha ha)
Caption: Can't come to follow that up.
Principal: ---Well, what's your business? Have you come to return the 100 yen that I loaned to you recently?
Nube: Actually, the persimmon thief offender was... (No, wait a bit for that...)

166.
Principal: --So, where is the criminal
Nube: Eh--it is...Ah! She ran off!
Voice: ...Phew.
Sign: Book Preporation Room
(TN: It's tough to really say that this is a "library", since the term used on the sign is "Tosho Junbishitsu", which literally translates into "Book Preporation Room". With that, I believe this is for the most part a room with books for preparation for class, usually by teachers or students...but don't quote me on this)
Miki: Really...he said he was getting angered over that foolish thing? I'll hide in here for a little while--
Miki: Even if I do that, it's just old books in here...I'm certain they put in here books that have come to not be read. They've come to be well in a library but they're in this place.
"Voice": ...Write...
Miki: Eh. Did someone...who said that?
SFX: Zuzu...

167.
SFX: Dosa
Miki: !?
Miki: ...A hand-made picture book...? Hmm...it's quite promising...
Book Title: The Flower-Garden Princess
Miki: Well then..."Once upon a time...there was a beautiful princess in the country of flower gardens."
(TN: A slight noticification for those who don't know: in Japanese, they generally start a lot of fairy tales with "mukashi mukashi", which would typically be translated as "long long ago", but is generally translated as the typical fairy tale beginning in English of "Once upon a time...". Likewise, the name of the "country" in this tale is literally "Hanaen", which literally translates as "Flower garden"; I decided to translate it due to it not really literally being the country of "Hanaen" but my guess being the "country of flower gardens")
Miki: "The country of flower gardens was a small country, but they sold flowers to other countries and lived richly"
Miki: "However one day, there came a king who loved war of another country. He said if he wasn't presented with a flower that possessed petals of seven colors, he would destroy the country of flower gardens."
(TN: The "seven colors" here is basically "rainbow", but it isn't presented as "rainbow" but as "seven colors". The term "nanairo" is literally translated as "the seven colors of the prism", thus you could say he wants a "rainbow flower", but the technical term to translate it right is "petals of seven colors" with inference that it is the seven colors of the rainbow)

168.
"Book": Even with however much of the kingdom of flower gardens, that flower did not exist. The princess made a decision so she could protect her country.
Miki: Huh? It's written only that far. The rest is blank pages. Did they lose interest midway?
SFX: Para
"Voice": Write the continuation...
Miki: ...Eh?
Miki: ?
"Voice": Write the continuation...
Miki: It
"Voice": Write
Miki: It can't be.
"Voice": The continuation...!
SFX: Basa
Miki: No~~what is this, it feels eerie----

169.
"Book": Wr~~ite~~the~~con~~tinu~~ation~~
SFX: Guwa
Miki: Hii, n...no~~~don't come~~~
SFX: Bashuu
Miki: Kyaaaa---!
SFX: Shuuu...
Makoto's Book: Ivan the Fool
(TN: The book Makoto has in his hand is "Iwan no Baka" (known in English as "Ivan the Fool"), which refers to a series of Russian folk tales about a simple-minded man who, unlike his brothers, always seems to find a massive amount of luck and success in whatever endeavor he ends up in by listening to his heart over his mind, leading to him being wealthy, successful and in the arms of a beautiful princess. [of note: "fool" didn't have a negative connotation in Russian and was a word tied to simple men] One of the most notable versions of this tale was written by Russian literature hero Leo Tolstoy in 1886, who uses an archetype of the tale to show how a simple, pious brother who works the land is able to defeat a devil and become leader of a kingdom as opposed to his brothers who believed in violence or in wealth by intellectual means. Tolstoy's version is seen by some to be a hint of his leanings towards "Christian anarchy", whereas the country can be overthrown through a revolution lead by the teachings of Jesus Christ by peaceful means and that war mongerers and intellectuals will be punished compared to those who do work in hard labor such as farming or building the nation)
Makoto: ? What is this book?
SFX: Pira

170.
"Book": "Once upon a time...there was a beautiful princess in the country of flower gardens."
Miki: Eh? Where am I?
Makoto: What is this? It's just like Miki-chan.
"Book": "The country of flower gardens was a small country, but they sold flowers to other countries and lived richly."
Miki: Ju...just a minute, what is this?
"Book": "...He said if he wasn't presented with a flower that possessed petals of seven colors, he would destroy the country of flower gardens."
Miki: Isn't this that book from earlier?
Makoto: Somehow the tale and her lines are mismatched.
Makoto: This is fun. I'll show it to everyone.

171.
Voice: Hee---
Hiroshi: Ahaha, it truly is just like her.
Kyouko: It's like her likeness.
Hiroshi: But this ends part-way. Beyond "The princess made a decision so she could protect her country."
"Book": Write the continuation...
Hiroshi: Eh?
Hiroshi: ...Did you hear something now?
Kyouko: Not really.
Hiroshi: Was it a mishearing? (to himself) A continuation...huh...
Hiroshi: Alright, I'll write a continuation!
SFX: Kaki kaki
"Continuation": The princess fought the king in pro-wrestling.
Kyouko: Eh!? Just a moment, stop that Hiroshi!
SFX: Gara
Nube: Is Miki here!?
SFX: Sasa

172.
Nube: Really! Where is she hiding? I'll find her and take this out on her!
SFX: Pisha
Hiroshi: Oh.
SFX: Para para
Hiroshi: !?
Miki: Gyaaa---
Flag 1: Fight Princess
Flag 2: Fighting Spirit
Hiroshi: The drawing was put in on it's own!?
Katsuya: Insane!!
Kyouko: How--did that happen!?
Kyouko: I'm certain that's a magic book! Let's show it to Nube.
Hiroshi: Ye...yes...

173.
Kaneda: Well well, there isn't a reason we've decided that it's magic yet, so lets give it various tests for a bit more.
Kaneda: He he he...this'll be fun since she resembles Miki.
"Continuation": Without doing pro-wrestling, the princess fought him by becoming a modified human.
(TN: "Modified human", known in Japanese as "Kaizou Ningen", is a type of cyborg which became rather notable and prominent due to the works of Shotaro Ishimori, primarily due to two of his most famous sci-fi franchises: the manga/anime series "Cyborg 009" and the hero series "Kamen Rider", both of which [well the latter from the start] involved humans modified with mechanical parts, making them enhanced beings but still human in appearance, thus making them "modified humans")
SFX: Pan!
SFX: Pira
Miki: I'll kill you, Kaneda.
Kaneda: Hahyahagiha
Kyouko: Pl...please stop that.
Kaneda: You're saying that, Kyouko? You truly want to write since you're always being embarrased by Miki.
Kyouko: Th...that isn't it.
Hiroshi: Though you're saying that, you're holding a pen.

174.
"Contiunation": Suddenly Miki (crossed out) the princess became gouged out by becoming a negative-D cup in her chest.
SFX: Beko
Miki: What is this?
Kyouko: Fufufu, kukuku...
Hiroshi: ...That isn't connected to the tale at all.
Kaneda: It was a simple distraction.
Kyouko: How about you too, Noro-chan? You do want to get your revenge for always being tormented by Miki. (Ah--thoroughly)
Noriko: Eh? I...I don't really for...for that.
"Continuation": Ultimately the princess couldn't rescue her country and did death-like heavy labor every day in a destitute farm, becoming poor.
"Worker": Get to work
SFX: Pishari (Slap)

175.
Kaneda: Th...that's cruel~~~!!
Hiroshi: Hie~~~she has that quiet face and she's really done that amusing thing...
Noriko: Eh, but what I wrote was...
Katsuya: Don't write those cruel things! Miki is so pitiful!
SFX: Ba!
Kaneda: Katsuya
Hiroshi: What, are you serious? Isn't this a picture book--
Katsuya: Hold on, Miki. I'll save you.
SFX: Kaki kaki (write write)
"Continuation": One-shot turnaround! The princess became a sexy dancer, went around the world, earned money and protected her country.
Miki: Uhu--h
"People": Grea--t grea--t, truly do it--
SFX: Medetashi medetashi (Joyous joyous)

176.
Kaneda: Ooh, amazing---
Katsuya: The rest will be further amazing developments
Hiroshi: Oh, just a moment, that's doing too much.
Noriko: Eww, enough.
Kyouko: What are you thinking! This is a children's story! A fairy tale!!
(TN: Kyouko's reference to the book is first as a "douwa", which is also a word for "fairy tale" but literally is "children's story", thus why I translated it as such instead of "fairy tale", which was the usage of "meruhen" again)
Hiroshi: Shut up: what are you saying at this late hour---
Katsuya: Stop it, you'll tear it up.
SFX: Wa--Gya-- | Dota bata
Nube: Hey, so Miki ultimately wasn't...N?
SFX Gara
Nube: Th...this is...
Nube: What is this? Miki is being kept in this book!
Hiroshi, Kyouko & Katsuya: Eeh!!

177.
Nube: Mhmm...this book was written by a 5th grader who loved children's stories 20 years ago. This child made this book as extremely important, it was lodged into its heart and changed into a Tsukumogami.
Nube: However, this child suddenly was hospitalized with a sickness...they graduated where the children's story was interrupted. This book has been continuing to wait for it's master who will write the story's continuation all along these twenty years.
Kyouko: Even so, what happened to Miki?
Nube: Somehow she did a thing that seemed like it angered it.
Hiroshi: What will you do, Nube?
SFX: Kaki kaki (write write)
Nube: Right, for the moment...
Nube: Ahaha
"Continuation": "But ultimately since the princess was a superhuman, she was sold to an exhibition pen."
Sign: Rokurokubi
Miki: S...s**t.
Kyouko: Nu...Nube...
Hiroshi: It's because even Nube has been embarrased by Miki...

178.
Nube: !
"Book": Shape up~~~~
"Book": You're writing only stupid stories~~~write the continuation properly~~~the correct conclusion to the story~~~or else this girl will not return~~~
SFX: Oooooh...

179.
Kyouko: Nube...
Nube: No good...the Oni no Te will tear up even Miki. Ultimately we must write the correct conclusion to the story...
Nube: However...the correct conclusion must be known by this book's author...! This'll be impossible! Though he is a former student of 20 years ago!
SFX: Gara
Nube: N
"Ugly Man": Oooh
Nube: Gyaaa!!
"Ugly Man": Th...this book is what I wrote when I was a 5th grader. This thing was still remaining here...

180.
Nube: He...he is?
Principal: Don't you know? He's the famed children's book author: Mr. Meruhen Tougou. A graduate of ours.
(TN: As I mentioned before, "Meruhen" is Japanese for "Fairy Tale"; but here since it is used for his name, I ended up calling him "Meruhen")
Hiroshi: Meruhen Tougou?
Kyouko: Th...that guy wrote the book?
"Book": Write the continuation
Meruhen: Ah, that's right. I'll write it now.
"Continuation": The princess went on a journey in search of a flower that possessed petals of seven colors; at the end of her hardships, she received Rainbow Seeds from a witch.
"Continuation": When she sowed the Rainbow Seeds, hundreds of rainbows emerged in the sky and became the form of a flower. It was surely the flower with petals of seven colors...the king of the neighboring country who saw this cleaned his heart, stopped the war and returned home.

181.
Meruhen: I was sorry...I neglected you...all this time...!
"Book": Beautiful...what a pretty story. Thank you!
SFX: Bon!
Miki: Wa
Hiroshi: Ooh~~~that's good, that's good.
Kyouko: Wonderful, wonderful.
Miki: You all~~~
SFX: Goki goki

182.
Nube -sensei's
(Useless) SUPPLEMENTAL EXPLANATION
#37: Fairy Tale Authors

Among fairy tale authors, the most famous is ultimately Hans Christian Andersen, who has been called the "the father of fairy tale literature". This author, who was born in 19th century Denmark, produced fairy tales that reached 150-160 which were within his lifetime. These many works are difficult to find people who say they don't know of them, with works of fairy tales such as "The Little Match Girl", "The Little Mermaid", "The Ugly Duckling", "The Emperor's New Clothes", "The Steadfast Tin Soldier", "Thumbelina", "The Snow Queen", etc. (incidentally, the way he is called "Andersen" is a thing that is a peculiarity of Japan; in truth, it is pronounced as "Andersen" or "Anasun". It wouldn't be understood even if you say "Andersen" to the Danish.)

Charles Perrault of 17th century France published legend collections that were the origin of folklore such as "Cinderella" (which is thought of as "Cendrillon, the Ash-Wearing Princess" in French), "Puss in Boots", "Sleeping Beauty", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Donkeyskin", "Bluebeard", "Hop 'o My Thumb", etc. There are many where the contents are relatively cruel, in particular those like "Little Red RIding Hood" come to have tragic endings where they end with her eaten to death by the wolf. (Afterwards, the Brothers Grimm changed to a happy ending where she is rescued by the huntsman)

The Brothers Grimm were German of the 19th century; the fairy tale collection they published were successful during Andersen's childhood. They too had stories that overlapped with Perrault's fairy tales due to collecting data with basis in legends. They had "Sleeping Beauty", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Hansel and Gretel", "The Musicians of Bremen", "The Wolf and the Seven Young Kids", "Snow White", etc.

(TN: A few things:
1. As we've seen prior in several other chapters referring to them, the Japanese names for various fairy tales are rather strange and refer to something different or peculiar compared to the English or the other names. Outside a few notable examples I'll be getting into beyond this, I'll now explain the "Japanese" names for all the tales here split up by the various authors they were introduced with. [though a couple you may remember from previous discussions] Outside a couple of examples, you can probably do a search to find out all you need on all these tales if you want a read of them:

Hans Christian Andersen:
-"The Little Match Girl" = "Macchi-uri no shoujo" (The Match-Selling Girl)
-"The Little Mermaid" = "Ningyouhime" (Mermaid Princess)
-"The Ugly Duckling" = "Minikui Ahiru no Ko" (The Ugly Duckling/Duck Child)
-"The Emperor's New Clothes" = "Hadaka no Ousama" (The Naked King)
-"The Steadfast Tin Soldier" = "Namari no Heitai" (The Lead Soldier)
-"Thumbelina" = "Oyayubi HIme" (Princess Thumb)
-"The Snow Queen" = "Yuki no Joou" (The Snow Queen)

Charles Perrault:
-"Cinderella" = "Shinderela" (I'll get into the Perrault version and the peculiarities with his version in another note due to the entry mentioning a bit regarding it's name)
-"Puss in Boots" = "Nakagutsu wo Haita Neko" (The Cat Who Wore Long Shoes/Boots)
-"Sleeping Beauty" = "Nemureru Mori no Bijo" (The Sleeping Forest Beauty)
-"Little Red Riding Hood" = "Akazukin" (The Red Hood) (Like Cinderella, I will need another note to go into the changes...maybe for Sleeping Beauty but definitely for this story)
-"Donkeyskin" = "Roba no Kawa" (The Donkey Skin)
-"Bluebeard" = "Aohige" (Bluebeard)
-"Oyayubi Tom" (I had to make mention of this separately for a reason: the name that is used here is the name that essentially translates into the fairy tale "Tom Thumb"...but there is a massive difference between "Tom Thumb" and "Hop 'o My Thumb", which must be mentioned separately in another note considering that this note incorrectly makes "Hop 'o My Thumb" as "Tom Thumb")

The Brothers Grimm:
-"Hansel and Gretel" = "Hanzeru to Gureeteru"
-"The Musicians of Bremen" = "Bremen no Ongakutai" (The Bremen Band)
-"The Wolf and the Seven Little Kids" = "Ookami to Nana-hiki no Koyagi"
-"Snow White" = "Shiroyuki-Hime" (The Snow-White Princess)

2. Though many in English and even Japanese pronounce "Hans Christian Andersen" name as "Andersen" in the literal sense, the Danish pronounciation as stated here does actually have a different sound making it sound, as mentioned here, as "Anasun" if you heard it spoke by a Dane as opposed to someone speaking it as if it was English.
3. Charles Perrault, who lived between 1628 and 1703, was notable for working under the court of grandiose French king Louis XIV as a secretary and showed interest in tales even to the point of appointing the creation of 39 fountains at Versaille in honor of the 39 fables of Aesop. After losing his post at the age of 67, he released his famed "Tales and Stories of the Past with Morals", with the subtitle of "Tales of Mother Goose", which took in many of the folklore he collected over the year and introduced the fairy tale genre to modern audiences.
4. "Cinderella" is probably one of the most famous tales to emerge from Perrault's fairy tale collections, with a French pronounciation of "Cendrillon" and a proper title of "Cindrella or the Little Glass Slipper", even though the tale existed since antiquity. In Perrault's version, he introduced the element of the fairy godmother and the magical glass slippers which have kept in many later renditions of the tale. Perrault's intention with the tale essentially is twofold: the importance of inner beauty alongside outer beauty...and the sad truth that sometimes even if you have everything to bring you success, it may not be enough without the "edge" of something like a fairy godmother. [thus you could say it is more or less "sometimes you need something a tad extra to be successful even with all you have"] Strangely not really mentioned is that the Brothers Grimm also had their own Cinderella, where her success comes from a tree growing on her mother's grave and where the stepsisters in the tale end up as blind beggars when they try to interfere with Cinderella's means of gaining what she desires, as well as improviing her image as a strong-willed individual at the expense even of the prince.
5. Like "Cinderella", "Little Red Riding Hood" also has a strange history that goes through both Perrault and the Brothers Grimm. Though existing prior with various weird concepts and renditions [such as Red eating the grandmother before encountering the wolf or the wolf being a werewolf], Perrault's version was very grim where Red sews her own fate, giving the wolf instructions to her grandmother, having her grandmother eaten by the wolf and then her own fate with the wolf eating her. Perrault's moral from this is a simple message of "Don't talk to strangers", particularly if they're seductive like a wolf to a young lass. The Grimm version not only has the huntsman kill the wolf but grandmother and Red teaming up to kill another wolf!
6. For the most part "Sleeping Beauty" is the same for both the Perrault and Brothers Grimm version, but some say that the Grimm version takes the name of "Briar Rose" with essentially the tale as known to the world. Perrault actually had a sequel tale involving an evil mother-in-law related to the prince who was of ogre lineage and tried to eat their children.
7. Probably one of the biggest mistakes and one of the strangest cases in this is the usage of the tale of "Tom Thumb" as a work by Perrault...when in actuality it's not really true. While Perrault did write a tale about a diminutive hero, his tale was actually "Hop 'o My Thumb", which involved a small hero who protected his "big brothers and sisters" from an ogre and possessed a special set of "seven-league boots" which gives him super speed. The "Tom Thumb" legend did not come from France but instead from England, where it was known from the 17th century with one of the first tales printed in the language who, surprisingly, was tied with Arthurian legend and was born no bigger than his mother's thumb thanks to an enchantment by Merlin. While they are similar heroes, the factor of "Tom Thumb" being used in the place of "Hop 'o My Thumb" is more or less just used probably due to the knowledge more of the former than the latter even in Japan.
8. Before I forget: The Brothers Jacob and Wilhem Grimm were 19th century brothers who were notable both for their collection of fairy tales collected throughout their homeland of Germany and Europe (thus somewhat paralleling Perrault due to similar sources but different interpretations), as well as were notable for writing a definitive German dictionary based on their folk tale works, which would help create the modern language and preserve many of the legends of their nation.)

TN: So...I'm probably just a bit confused by this but...why the heck did the book suck Miki in the first place? I get that it wanted an ending to it's tale, but it didn't really need to make her part of the action outside finding a perfect heroine. Heck, there really isn't any real explanation: the book had a heroine in the princess of the kingdom, thus all that happened is it took Miki and replaced the princess with her, leading to...well, everything that happened. I get the whole idea of it being a Tsukumogami and that these things have really weird attributes, but the rules behind the creation of a perfect ending and the sucking in of Miki just seemed to throw it off and just make little sense regards to what was happening. (and made one wonder why she was being tied up with tentacles randomly) Aside from that little nitpick, this was a fun chapter showing...well, what happens to someone like Miki when she finally seems to get what she deserves. Obviously no one was going to give the true ending outside Mr. Meruhen (then again you have to wonder why the book reacted how it did...my guess is it sensed Meruhen there and it wanted to be finished with it's master around) so seeing them screw around with Miki after all she's done just felt rather fun seeing what they would come up with, from Hiroshi's pro-wrestling to Kyouko and Noro-chan's bits to...well, Nube punishing her for those persimmons. The one character I sort of felt more interested in surprisingly is Kaneda: after a few lesser chapters as of late with the big fat bully, he had a fun usage this time around and was rather prominent in making Miki suffer somehow and in dominating the usage of the book. (you would wonder how some others would use it but obviously it was mostly those who had run ins and problems with Miki...or in Katsuya's case, is a massive perv for her)

Though I do have one thing to say: as fun as this chapter was, there are some dark clouds starting to emerge over this series...Nube is about to go through a major change that will affect the rest of it's run somehow and will pretty much remain for the remainder of the series. And that begins...well, next time. (it's not as massive and probably not as major as I make it out to be but it will affect how the series is done for the rest of the run in some ways...)