Hell Teacher Nube 221

While Nube is rather knowledgeable about youkai, even his information comes from a notable source, whose legends are about to be reinterpreted in the most peculiar way...

Volume 26: Formation! The Doumori Youth Spiritual-Assault Association
#221: Youkai Painter: Toriyama Sekien

8.
Hiroshi: Nube! It's a youkai!
Nube: What!! Which is it!?
Nube: Hm--m, understood.
Sign: Classical Characters (Japan)
(TN: The sign in the area of the library was in Japanese "Koten Moji", with the "Koten" referring either to "classical" as in "the classics" in books or literature or as in an older version of language as in a "classical" form of writing. I assumed this was tied to the former, but the "moji" here refers to specifically "characters" as in the characters of the Japanese language. Therefore, I believe that this section was essentially classical literature written in the original classical style of Japanese instead of more modern or recent script, thus why I kept the sign as is as "Classical Characters")
Narrator: Whenever Nube investigates about youkai, the books drawn by one painter of the Edo Period have always become essential material.
Narrator: This painter had knowledge about youkai more than anyone and left behind youkai drawings in the hundreds: in other words, a youkai expert. And...somehow all of you know him. The youkai designs in current manga and movies mostly have his drawings come to be the basis.

9.
Narrator: This person's name is Toriyama Sekien.
Narrator: What...kind of man exactly was he...
Caption: The Edo Period: Terakoya - Toriyama-juku...
(TN: A couple notes we have to go over here:
-"Terakoya" is an educational institution of Japan that went back to the 17th century Buddhist temples which were locations where children, usually for those not of the ruling class or samurai, went to learn how to read and write.
-The "juku" ending to the Toriyama institution is a kanji used for lessons and typically used for schools in the Edo perido and beyond. Usually the "juku" ending is typically used for private or cram schools in more recent times)
Kyouko: Toriyama-sensei...
(TN: Another note I have to speak of: we're going to see a lot of "familiar faces" playing roles in the past in this chapter. We're going to refer to them by their actual character and not by their "past life character" just so we don't get confused by who they're supposed to be)
Miki: Sekibe--
(TN: Yeah...obviously Miki is referring to Sekien by "that name", thus it should be obvious who he is playing)
"Teacher": Quiet, we're in the middle of class.
Kyouko: Ritsuyakko-san the geisha is passing by.
(TN: Just a reminder for those who don't know: "geisha" are generally female entertainers knowledgable in art and dance, though many seem to more prefer them tied to more "risque" arts...)
SFX: Shanari shanari
"Voice": What?

10.
Nube: Ritsuyakko-sa--n (heart)

11.
Hiroshi: U--m...it is this area...
Hiroshi: The genius painter...Toriyama Sekien...
SFX: Dododododo
Nube: Ritsuyakko-sa--n (heart)
SFX: Becha | Ha ha

12.
Nube: Well well, you're beautiful today as well.
Ritsuko: Se...Sekien-sensei...
Ritsuko: Wh...what is it today? Are you going to show another scary thing?
Nube: No way, since I've obtained good washi, I was going to do a portrait...
(TN: "washi" is a type of paper made in Japan, usually made from natural materials from either the gampi tree bark, mitsumata shrub or paper mulberry to more easily obtained ones like bamboo, hemp or rice)
Nube: Here, chee-se
Kyouko: Really, that Sekibe
Miki: It's because he's delerious for Ritsuyakko the geisha.
Ritsuko: Well, it's dreamy.
Characters: Ritsuyakko
Ritsuko: Ara? And that's...?

13.
Nube: Of course, a Haigorei. (I had to draw you altogether exact, ha ha ha...)
(TN: Considering this is a variation of the "Haigorei" joke Nube did back when Ritsuko was introduced in #3, I just want to remind that a "haigorei" or "back spirit" is a protective spirit akin to a "Shugorei")
SFX: Ooooh...
Ritsuko: Gyaaaa~~~
Ritsuko: I hate you! I hate you! Stupid Toriyama-sensei!!
SFX: Boka Doka Baka Gusha
Nube: Gyaaaaa!
Hiroshi: Th...that's Toriyama-sensei?
Kyouko: Yep, that's Sekibe.
Nube: Hmm hmm
Nube: You're Ichitarou.
Hiroshi: Yes. Please make me a pupil. I am a big fan of your drawings, teacher.

14.
Nube: You--are, you--are? Then I'll give you an autograph.
Hiroshi: Ye...yes.
Signature: Toriyama
Hiroshi: That's the wrong person!!
Caption: We...we're sorry, Toriyama-sensei.
(TN: Obviously the wrong Toriyama was used for this joke, with that little Goku inferring "Akira Toriyama", the Dr. Slump/Dragon Ball mangaka, not Sekien Toriyama)
Nube: Well, I can't refuse those who come. If this run-down place is fine, then live here without reservation.
SFX: Mishi mishi
Hiroshi: Is this person really the genius painter? Somehow he's different from his image~~
Nube: Guwa--
SFX: Baki!
Hiroshi: I have my promise.
Nube: I teach the children of the neighborhood. Study together with them here.

15.
Narrator: Toriyama Sekien was an official painter of the bakufu who drew in the current of the Kanou-School, and was a famous cultured person of the era. Aside from ukiyo-e and illustrations for picture books, he had a taste for haikai and, as he saw free time, he taught studies to the children of the neighborhood with his techniques and knowledge.
(TN: Quite a few things to remind ourselves about or go over here:
-"Bakufu" is the Japanese pronounciation for "shogunate"
-The "Kanou School" refers to a style of ink-on-paper art that was popular and notable in Japan mostly during the Tokugawa period, up until the Meiji period
-"Ukiyo-e" or "pictures of the dreaming world", is a style of art that usually show scenes of landscapes and many leisurable pursuits such as the theater. It was notable not just as a style of art on paper but woodblock prints as well
-"Haikai" (which usually translates into "comedic") is a type of comedic poem notable for it's wit and it's interest in the commoners of Japan. These would eventually evolve into the modern haiku.
-The posters behind Nube/Toriyama is a little poem that usually is used to help teach the characters of Japanese, typically known as "Iroha". It is a poem used that has every character of Japanese used once and exactly once, including various archaic characters no longer used in Japanese and the "N" which is not used as "n" but as the character "mu", thus representing both)
Hiroshi: Ke, a genius painter? Isn't he a mere id--iot? I'm somewhat dissapointed.
Kyouko: What? Sekibe is a splended teacher.
Miki: He--is. He--is.
Hiroshi: Right. Show me a good thing of his. Please let me hear this.
Miki: Stu--pid, stu--pid, we're running off. Heave-ho.
SFX: Koso koso
Hiroshi: So he's acting stupid after all?
Kyouko: Here.

16.
Hiroshi: It's...an amazing number of youkai pictures...Is this teacher...a youkai geek?
Caption: Bibliography/ Toriyama Sekien, "Gazu Hyakki Yagyou", Kokushou Publication Society
Kyouko: There isn't particularly a reason why teacher draws youkai pictures as he likes. The pictures in here are all evidence that teacher has saved people from evil spirits.

17.
Miki: Teacher is actually an extremely strong spiritualist. He's defeated youkai and evil spirits and saved people throughout Edo. These pictures in here are all youkai that he's defeated up to now.
Hiroshi: Him? I can't believe--this. Show me proof.
Students: Goodbye, teacher--
Nube: Take care and get home.
Hiroshi: He's headed out somewhere.
Miki: Go after him. You'll see teacher's real form.
Hiroshi: He fell into a ditch.
Nube: Wa--

18.
Hiroshi: Wh...what is he doing?
Kyouko: Searching for youkai with a crystal ball.
Kyouko: Recently in this vicinity, there have been rumors of the emergence of a youkai called "Uwan". Already three people have gone missing.
(TN: Since it won't be appearing in the Supplemental this time, a brief bit of information: appearing originally in Aomori Prefecture, "Uwan" is thought to not really be a physical manifestation but merely a sound that emerges in an old building when one enters it. Most times the youkai is harmless due to not having form, but some do try to give it form in their works, such as what we're going to see with Toriyama)
Hiroshi: Uwan?
Miki: It's voice speaks "Uwan" suddenly as you're walking, if you don't answer back with "Uwan" immediately, it will pull you in and kill you.
"Youkai": Uwan
"Man": U...uwan
Hiroshi: Oh---...

19.
Nube: Youki!
Kyouko: Did it appear!?
SFX: Zaza---
Yukime: Sekien-sensei---(heart)
SFX: Zapa---n
Sign: Warning: Kappa will appear
Nube: Nowa---
Hiroshi: W...what's that!?
Nube: He...hey, Kawame-kun, let go.
(TN: Yeah, Yukime's "kappa name" is "Kawame", which is Japanese for "River Woman"...it doesn't work as well but that's what you get)
SFX: Basha basha
Kyouko: That's Kawame-san the kappa.
Yukime: I love you, teacher---!!
Kyouko: Since she was saved by teacher having been caught by a fisherman and going to be killed five years ago, she's been having dreams all along of marrying teacher.
Nube: Gabo gabo

20.
Yukime: Here, say ah---I made it putting my heart into it. Is it tasty?
(TN: Um...Nube can't breathe)
Yukime: Hey, shall we take a bath next? And--then--with--that...uh (heart) Kawame's heart is pounding (heart)
SFX: Gabo gabo gabo
Yukime: Ah, teacher.
Nube: Buha---! I...I was getting killed.
Tamamo: Fu, Sekien-sensei, you're as uncouth as ever.

21.
Tamamo: My interest in you is gushing out. Ca--n't we have a talk about the "love" of humans together?
(TN: Um...this is just getting wrong...even for Tamamo)
Miki: Oh boy--even Tamasaburo the tanuki has appeared.
Kyouko: Tamasaburo has been researching about love since he was defeated by teacher.
Hiroshi: A...a tanuki?
Yukime: Hey---don't do harm to my Sekien-sensei---!
SFX: Pyu--pyu--
Tamamo: Mu
Tamamo: You kappa (Tantan tanuki no shiwanobashi) Pummeled Stones of Senjoujiki
(TN: A couple things:
-The expression that Tamamo states in tanuki form ends up being one tied to a folklore: usually there is a song that many tanuki sing that goes "tan-tan tanuki no kintama" or "the testicles of a "tan-tan" (plain) Tanuki. However instead of speaking of testicles, Tamamo instead sings of "shiwanobashi", which is "smoothing out wrinkles" and usually is used for the recreation of the elderly in Japanese. Somehow considering the nature of tanuki, I would probably assume that the "shiwanobashi" is actually referring to not the tanuki's testicles but their scrotum, which is also quite wrinkly and part of the tanuki's obsessive usage of that part of their anatomy.
-"Senjoujiki" is a term usually tied to tanuki that stands for "1000 tatami mats", which in legend is the typical size of a tanuki's scrotum, which is very flexible and stretchable, as Tamamo...um, is displaying)
SFX: Zudodododo
Tamamo: Sekien-sensei is going to talk to me.
SFX: Dodododo | Basha basha
Nube: Uwaa
Yukime: Teacher is mine.
Hiroshi: It's...the Great Youkai War.
(TN: Hiroshi is referring to "Youkai Daisensou", which as mentioned prior is tied to the original 1968 film [known in the US as "Youkai Monsters"], not the remake that came out after this chapter in 2005)

22.
Hiroshi: Aw--w, he's an idiot after all. Can he exterminate youkai? Isn't he possessed by youkai--?
Kyouko: N...no, those two are special...
Hiroshi: I'll quit entering into being a pupil after all. I'm returning to the country. See ya.
Hiroshi: Chie...he's actually that thing?
"Voice": Uwan
SFX: Ba
Hiroshi: U...Uwan!
SFX: Zazazazaza
Hiroshi: It....can't be...

23.
"Voice": Uwan
Hiroshi: Uwan
"Voice": Uwan
Hiroshi: Uwan
"Voice": Uwan Uwan Uwan Uwan Uwan
Hiroshi: Uwan Uwan Uwa...Hi...n...no good, I didn't answer...
Uwan: Uwan
Hiroshi: Waaaa!!

24.
Hiroshi: Damn it, am I going to be deceived by some youkai?
Uwan: Uwan
SFX: Gara gara gara
Hiroshi: Hi...those rocks with his voice...
Hiroshi: Waa~~~

25.
Nube: Don't lay a hand on my student!
SFX: Ba----n
Hiroshi: Sekibe-sensei!!
Nube: Step back: this thing has already killed three people.
Uwan: Uwa~~~n
Nube: Guwa
Uwan: Uwa
Hiroshi: Teacher!

26.
SFX: Shuuu...
Nube: Ku
Hiroshi: Teacher!
Nube: Be calm: I won't lose to this guy. I'll fully show him the way I draw.
Hiroshi: Eh...
SFX: Za Za | Su
Kyouko: It's alright. Sekibe utilizes 100% of his power when he protects children. His special technique was made from the head hair of Ennetsu Zekki, an Oni who massacred people and rampaged through several countries in the Sengoku period...
(TN: "Ennetsu Zekki" is "Zekki of Scorching Heat"; admittedly I would have probably though Baki would have been the Oni but I can't say it's a mistake or not because this is what is down and I rather stay authentic so it stays as is)
Kyouko: The Oni no Fude
(TN: "Fude" is a writing brush, thus it would be "The Oni Brush", but I kept it as "Fude" to keep consistancy with the "Oni no Te")
SFX: Bari bari bari bari
Nube: Haaaaaa~~~!!

27.
Nube: Akuryou Byouin
(TN: "Byouin", the term used instead of "Taisan" for Nube's sealing of Uwan, literally stands for "art seal", with the "seal" not be the "sealing away" like some would suspect but the kanji for the seal that's a synonym for "stamp". Also note the brush having the "Sutra of Byakue-Kannon" on it and the stylized "Oni" used to seal it away)
Uwan: Hii

28.
SFX: Sa sa sa
SFX: Shuuu
Nube: Exorcism complete!
Miki: Wa---
Kyouko: Sekibe
Hiroshi: A...amazing...this is Toriyama Sekien...my...master...
(TN: The "shishou" here isn't merely "teacher" like "sensei" but a master as in the period this tale took place)
Hiroshi: I had failed to recognize this, teacher!
SFX: Ba!
Nube: Eh?
Narrator: And so, Ichitarou became Sekien's pupil. Afterwards, he became an ukiyo-e artist and changed his name to Kitagawa Utamaro.
(TN: Not sure if we ever went into him, but Kitagawa Utamaro is one of the more notable ukiyo-e artists, stated to be one of the main artists who ended up influencing many French artists in the 1800s into the creation of the Impressionist movements which changed art in the West. According to many historical accounts, he was a pupil of Sekien and began his own work in the Kanou School, but eventually switched to Ukiyo-e in middle age. And like Hiroshi's character, his full name was "Kitagawa Ichitarou")

29.
Narrator: In the future, the name of Sekien grew hazy with the fame of Utamaro, but
Nube: Alright, shall we go to eat soba?
Kyouko: Ya--y
Narrator: Sekien's works changed into the forms of manga and movies and even today continues to present dreams to children.
Nube: Understood, it's "Uwan"...
Hiroshi: Nube, do you understand it?
Kyouko: The acts of whatever youkai? Quickly exorcise it.
Nube: Alright, let's go.

30.
Nube -sensei's
(Useless) SUPPLEMENTAL EXPLANATION
#46: Toriyama Sekien (2)

This is being said just to be sure, but the tale this time is fiction. Since it probably isn't the truth that Toriyama Sekien was a spiritualist or was friends with kappa and tanuki, don't believe in those.

Well then, even though Toriyama Sekien was Supplemental Explanation #2 of Volume 18 of the manga, he was a man who was the foundation of the youkai drawings of Japan as a famous youkai painter who was active in the Edo Period, as was explained. A person who drew youkai drawings similarly was known as Kawanabe Gyousai, but ultimately #1 was Sekien.

The painting books that were produced by Sekien included "Gazu Hyakki Yagyou", "Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki", "Konjaku Gazu Hyakki Shuui", and "Hyakki Tsuredzurebukuro". All of them were published as art-print books and were best sellers at that time. The youkai that were drawn in those painting books have become the base form of the youkai design in present manga and movies.

There isn't a reason that states that those youkai drawings were all Sekien's original designs. According to Sekien himself, many of them had reference in "Sengaikyou" (A painting book that was taught to be a work of Hakueki, who saved it from the Great Flood of Yu as an ancient geographic work of China) and "Hyakki Yagyou" of Kanou Masanobu.

Furthermore in 1788, Sekien died at the age of 77, but his art collections have continued to be published even after death.
(TN: A few notes:
1. I've probably mentioned a lot of Toriyama Sekien's works in the past, but with all of them listed, let's just list their Japanese and English names one more time:
-Gazu Hyakki Yagyou = The Illustrated Night Parade of One-Hundred Demons
-Konjaku Gazu Zoku Hyakki = The Illustrated One-Hundred Demons of the Present and Past
-Konjaku Gazu Hyakki Shuui = Suppliment to the Hundred Demons of the Present and Past
-Hyakki Tsuredzurebukuro = The Illustrated Bag of One-Hundred Random Demons
2. Kawanabe Gyousai (Kyousai) is a notable artist and art critic of late Edo and early Meiji period (who lived 1831 to 1889) who mostly was notable as a sketcher and characaturist but made several works about folklore and youkai like Sekien.
3. "Sengaikyou", also known by it's proper Chinese name of "Shan Hai Jing", is a classical Chinese text that spoke of the geography of the land prior to the Q'ing Dynasty, usually speaking as such through strange mythological creatures that appeared in each part of the nation. It does so through speaking of the mountains and rivers of China, thus the Japanese name (which literally translates into "A Sutra of Mountains and Seas")
4. "The Great Flood of Yu" was the historical fiction tale of a massive flood that nearly covered China several tims except for being stopped by the future "Yu the Great", the founder of China's Xia Dynasty, known to be the first Dynasty of historical China during the neolithic period around 2205 BCE.
5. As mentioned prior, "Kanou Masanobu" was the founder of the "Kanou School" of art which Toriyama Sekien as well was part of.)

TN: Again, this is probably going to be a response with rust on it because I translated this on Sunday...and it's already Saturday.

It's sort of obvious that this chapter was more or less a fantasy tale allowing for the characters of Nube to be reinterpreted as characters from the past tied to the tale of Toriyama Sekien. But with that said, it was a fun chapter which...well, obviously it wasn't going to be the real truth, but at least it was more about reinterpreting the Toriyama legend with the Nube characters and sort of showing the cast off in the Edo period. Somehow I really though the idea of Toriyama being this "painter" who captures youkai through his paintings (literally) was a neat concept, though I sort of wonder a bit about whether Zekki was the actual Oni that he got the hair for his brush from or just a mis-interpretation. (Baki's the Oni Nube has as his hand, Zekki...well we're still sort of getting him off our backs) The tale itself, though, felt more like a reinterpretation of an earlier chapter, only throwing in a few characters and ideas we've had since...like Tamamo and Yukime. (yeah, those two are special...though in Yukime's case, I doubt the relationship with her as a kappa would have lasted long if he can't breathe any time he goes to her place...or do we really need Tamamo attacking with "that"?) It really isn't one of those chapters where you have to think too hard about it, and that's probably why it ended up working.