Bobobo-bo bo-bobo 220

Bo-bobo and Don Patch: trapped. Beauty: helpless. All other allies: nowhere to be found. Shigeki X: in control. Now with our heroes in the ultimate worst-case scenario, only one person remains to stand up against their greatest threat...yes, the tokoroten.

Volume 21: Hajike Legend: Forever…!?
Ougi 220: Adult

7.
Narrator: Long ago, when the Maruhage Empire controlled the entire world, there was merely one stubborn country that would not surrender to them…
Sign: SHI * GE * KI
Narrator: The country’s name was the “SHGEKI EMPIRE”. Like the Maruhage Empire, this empire had a massive power effective from the Shigeki Ball. The people were united by these politics of fear. The former emperor of the now destroyed Shigeki Empire is Shigeki X.

8.
Narrator: SUMMARY
SFX: DADADADADADA
Narrator: Bo-bobo’s team was facing their ultimate pinch.
Beauty: HAA HAA…
SFX: BAN
Don Patch: GOBOBOBO
Bo-bobo: GABOBO!!
SFX: BAN
SFX: BAN
Shigeki X: ……So, shall we settle with the remaining tokoroten?
SFX: GRAB
Tennosuke: DAMN--! I’M USELESS COVERED WITH ALL THESE KOALAS---!!

9.
Tennosuke: WAKE UP, BEAUTY!! I’M ALL ALONE!! I’LL TAKE A MEMORIAL PICTURE TOGETHER WITH THE KOALAS. COME BACK QUICKLY TOO BO-BOBO! HE’LL KILL ME!
Shigeki X: It’s hopeless…entering into the X-Space is the end. Their bodies will be chopped for eternity by a hundred-million X-cutters. SEE! THE X WILL DYE AND THEY’LL DIE.
Don Patch: 6x + 7x = 58
Bo-bobo: 6x + 8x + 7x…
SFX: SLASH SLASH SLASH
Book: Math
Tennosuke: AAH, THOSE KIDS ARE STARTING TO READ WHAT THOSE X’S EQUALS!! THEY’RE REALLY BEING DYED IN X!!
Bo-bobo: HAA HAA…THIS IS BA—D. AS IS, WE’RE ONLY GETTING CHOPPED UP. WE’RE ONLY BECOMING SKELETON ME—N.
SFX: GOBOBO
Tennosuke: REA—LLY!!?
Tennosuke: UOOO, I’LL SAVE YOU NOW!!!
SFX: BAM BAM
Shigeki X: IT’S HOPELESS. WE’RE IN A DIFFERENT SPACE-TIME.
Tennosuke: THAT’S…THEN MUST I REALLY OVERCOME THIS WORST CASE SCENARIO ALONE?
Don Patch: BONKYUBON
(TN: “Bonkyubon” is a more recent phenomenon in Japanese women known as “big-small-big”, to increase sizes around the bust and behind but shrink the size in the middle)
SFX: WALK WALK
Tennosuke: ……IT’S USELESS……BUT I’M JUST TOKOROTEN…

10.
Shigeki X: Chi…he really is a pathetic one……I’ve lost the will to kill him. Tofu…you take him.
Wandering Tofu: RIGHT!!
Tennosuke: TOFU…!?
Tennosuke: THEN THAT’S A DIFFERENT STORY!! COME AT ME!!!!
SFX: GASHA—N
Forehead: Processed Food Representative-Chan
Shigeki X: HOO…HAVEN’T YOU GOTTEN KI—LLER.
SFX: GRAB
Tennosuke: HIIII, DON’T BE ABSURD EITHER!! IT WASN’T FOR YOU
SFX: CLUNK
Tennosuke: I was talking about the square man.
(TN: Yeah, though Wandering Tofu is cube, Tennosuke called him a “square man” here)
SFX: Figit figit
Wandering Tofu: SHIGEKI-SAMA, PLEASE STAND DOWN. THIS TOKOROTEN IS MINE……
SFX: SU…
Tennosuke: I’VE WAITED FOR THIS…! COME AT ME NOW
SFX: CRICK CRICK
Wandering Tofu: !!

11.
Wandering Tofu: HIM…
Shigeki X: HA HA HA, WHAT AN INTERESTING GUY
Beauty: …BO…BO-BOBO
Bo-bobo: KU, BEAUTY’S IN DANGER!! IF WE DON’T THINK OF A WAY TO GET OUT OF THIS X-SPACE QUICKLY…PLEASE TENNOSUKE!! HOLD ON UNTIL WE RETURN!!
Tennosuke: LEAVE THIS ONE TO ME
SFX: DON
Bo-bobo: EEH, WHA…WHAT? WHAT?? HEY, WHAT WAS THAT SPEECH NOW!!? (It’s annoying but)
Wandering Tofu: YOU ARE HELPLESS NO MATTER HOW MUCH YOU BEG, YOU FOOL----!!! A TOFU’S FACE HAS THREE SIDES!! YOUR LIFE HAS ALREADY BEEN CUT!!
SFX: WHOOSH
Tennosuke: I’m different from how I was then…That’s because a man can be greatly reborn in three days.
SFX: GOOOO
Wandering Tofu: NOT EVEN A DAY HAS PASSED
Tennosuke: !!?
Wandering Tofu: LET’S FIGHT

12.
Tennosuke: PURUPURU SHINKEN CHOUOUGI: INFINITE AFTERIMAGE SPLIT “TEN TENS”!!!!
(TN: The actual name is “Ten Jyuu”, with the “Ten” referring to “heaven” (or Tennosuke’s name) and the “Jyuu” for the number “Ten”…but somehow the English pun was too good to skip)
Goisu: WHAT IS THIS OUGI!!? WHERE DID HE GET THAT POWER……UNBELIEVABLE
Tennosuke: SELLING TOKOROTEN NEEDS AN UNKNOWN STAMINA TO STAND SUMMER HEAT!
Wandering Tofu: !!
Wandering Tofu: IT’S USELESS…
SFX: WHIRRRRL
Wandering Tofu: PURUPURU SHINKEN OGUI: TOFU CORNER!!!
SFX: WHAM
Tennosuke: GOFU!!
SFX: CRACK

13.
Goisu: NO, YOU DON’T HAVE ANY BONES!!!
Tennosuke: PURUPURU SHINKEN OUGI: NPPA!!!
(TN: NPPA = Non Purupuru Attack)
SFX: WHAM
Wandering Tofu: GUHA!!
SFX: CRA—CK
Goisu: NEITHER OF YOU HAVE ANY BONES AT ALL!!
SFX: WHOOSH
Tennosuke: LOOK! THIS IS MY TRUE FORM…
Wandering Tofu: GU…SUMMER MAN
Tennosuke: PURUPURU SHINKEN CHOUOUGI: TOKOROTEN SOLAR SYSTEM!!!!
SFX: GA
Wandering Tofu: FUWAAAA, I’M MELTING---!!
Goisu: DAMN----!! THAT TOKOROTEN REALLY IS A SOLAR BATTERY--!!!?
Wandering Tofu: ST…STOP!!! IF I’M HIT DIRECTLY BY THE SUN’S RAYS, THE MORNING GLORY SEEDS PLANTED IN MY FACE LONG AGO WILL SPROUT!!
(TN: “Morning Glory” is a type of flowering plant within the “Convolvulaceae” family, also known as “Asagao” in Japanese)
SFX: GROW GROW GROW
Goisu: EEH!!? YOU HAVE SUCH A THING!!?

14.
Tennosuke: YOU SHOULDN’T BE SPLIT AWAY FROM OTHER FOOD ITEMS, EVEN IF YOU ARE A BIT KIND TO LET THOSE MORNING GLORY LIVE IN YOU~~
SFX: WHIRRRL
Tennosuke: IT’S BEST YOU KNOW THE BLOOD-SMEARED LIFE THAT I’VE WALKED…
SFX: GA
Tennosuke: PURUPURU SHINKEN TOBACCHIRI OUGI: TROUBLE CLAW!!!!
(TN: This is a weird pun that really only works in Japanese: both “trouble” and “claw” have the same reading of “kurou”, thus it is essentially a huge pun. BTW: “Tobacchiri” = “Blowing”)
SFX: GYUOOOO
Top Middle: PENCIL BOX
Middle: SPECIAL SALE
Wandering Tofu: GUWAAAAAAAA
Wandering Tofu: ID…IDIOT!! HIS LIFE IS FLOWING INTO MY HEART!!! WHAT...WHAT IS THIS CRUEL, SORROWFUL LIFE…HIS BURDEN IS TOO MUCH…
Wandering Tofu: I’M DEFEATED!!!! GOHA
SFX: BLOOM
Goisu: AH, THE MORNING GLORY BLOOMED

15.
Shigeki X: SHIGEKITEKI SHINKEN OUGI: DISORDER X!!!!
SFX: SLASH SLASH
Tennosuke & Wandering Tofu: GYAAAAAAAAA!!!
Goisu: TO TOFU TOO--!!?
Shigeki X: IDIOT, IT SHOULD BE FOOLISH TO HAVE LOYALTY TO YOUR OWN SUBORDINATES…
Shigeki X: THAT SCENARIO IS ANNOYING. THOSE YOU CAN’T USE ARE CORPSES. DON’T LEAVE A TRACE OF EXISTANCE, EVEN A HAIR.
Goisu: THIS IS…THE FIRST TIME………
Shigeki X: N?
Caption: INEDIBLE
SFX: CLUNK
Card:
Name: TOKORO TENNOSUKE Expiration Date: XX/XX/XX
PO Box: KANTEN PREFECTURE, PURUPURU CITY, SECTION JELLY – 10-10
Address: ADDRESS UNKNOWN
Born: XX/XX/XX
Invalid if eaten
Shigeki X: This deals with all of it. Shall we go report it to Bi-bibi-sama………
SFX: BIRIBIRI
SFX: POKE
Shigeki X: !

16.
Sign: ULTRA QUIZ
(TN: The scene here is a reference to the Japanese TV series “Trans America Ultra Quiz”, a popular Japanese game show event from the late 70s through the 90s involving normal Japanese people winning their way from Tokyo all the way across the United States from Los Angeles all the way to a final quiz show down in New York)
Shigeki X: WHAT IS THIS------!!? MY X-SPACE HAS BEEN TRANSFORMED!! WHAT’S GOING ON!!?
Don Patch: With this space, the only path remaining was to become foreigners and for us to go to New York…Of course, of course, the answer was an OX quiz.
Bo-bobo: LOOK AT THIS QUESTION!! AN O!! THE ANSWER HERE IS OBVIOUSLY AN O!! THUS IT BECAME A CIRCLE, DUMMY
Problem 2: At night, a luffa flies in the sky 2m.
(TN: Luffa here is a reference to a species of vine that can grow and be turned into a particular sponge used for bathing)

17.
Goisu: I DON’T GET THE REASON AT ALL---!!! BUT IT REALLY HAS BECOME A CIRCLE---!!!
Bo-bobo: Thanks to Tennosuke’s assistance, we got a question with an O answer…THAT’S HANAGE SHINKEN OUGI: NOSEHAIR MILLIONAIRE!
Caption: Answer is X
Don Patch: !!
Shigeki X: KU…THE X-SPACE IS ALREADY POWERLESS WHEN IT CHANGED SHAPE!! IT’S ALREADY IMPOSSIBLE TO IMPRISON THEM
SFX: CREAAAAK / GOOOOO
Bo-bobo: WITH THIS WE’LL DESTROY THIS SPACE AND DEFEAT YOU!!! BO-BOBO FUSION--!!!
Don Patch: OK
SFX: BOSHU
Tennosuke: I’VE WAITED FOR THIS--!! MY MISSION’S ACCOMPLISHED!! THE STRONGEST FUSION WARRIOR WILL COME TO KILL YOU---!!
Goisu: EH!? REALLY? HE’LL BECOME ONE OF THOSE TWO!?
(TN: And Goisu knows of Bobopatch and Patchbobo?)
Tennosuke: EXPLOSIVE BIRTH!! OF THE DREAM FUSION WARRIOR!!!
SFX: CRA—SH

18.
SFX: SHUUUU…
Tennosuke: WHO-----!!!? WHO ARE YOU------!!!?
Woman: I AM ADULT WOMAN
Tennosuke: ADULT WOMAN!!?
Woman: I can only stay in this form for one minute.

19.
Tennosuke: WAIT, YOU ARE A FUSION WARRIOR!!? WHY AREN’T YOU BOBOPATCH?
Woman: Well.
Tennosuke: CAN’T YOU FIGHT!? YOU SEEM SO REALLY WEAK
Woman: Well.
Tennosuke: ARE YOU LISTENING TO WHAT I’M SAYING?
Shigeki X: HA HA HA, IDIOTS!! YOU’RE GOING INTO X-SPACE AGAIN
SFX: GOOO
Tennosuke: GYAAAA, SHIGEKI’S COMING--!!!
Shigeki X: HYAHHA---
SFX: GAKIN
Shigeki X: WHAAT!!? SHE STOPPED IT!!?
Shigeki X: AND YET WITH LIPSTICK!!? WHAT IS SHE!!?
Narrator: Essentially, Bo-bobo Fusion is an ultimate Ougi where power is temporarily powered up from a super fusion of cells and cells.
Narrator: …But with a fusion occurs under a unique environment, circumstance or under a lucky star…
Bottles: INSECTICIDE

20.
Narrator: It causes a rare ten-million to one mutation, producing a super warrior.
“Goku”: COOLER—
(TN: The reference is really strange but bare with me: if you remember the original concept of Super Saiyans in “Dragon Ball”, it was supposed to be a unique transformation which occurs in one particular Saiyan in a very, very long time, particularly one who appears in times of great crisis. Of course in DB, that Saiyan happened to be Goku, who awakened the SSJ power against Frieza. But aside from the whole “well the other Saiyans and half-Saiyans awakened it later” bit that happens post-Frieza arc, note that the one Goku is yelling out for isn’t Frieza…but his big brother Cooler, who only appeared in two movies created by Toei. And of course, since the 5th DBZ movie occurs essentially after Goku defeats Frieza…and when he was still the only SSJ, then it makes some sense)
Tennosuke: EEH!! THAT WOMAN IS THAT AMAZING PERSON!!?
Woman: Su
Narrator: The true power of the created being………
Narrator: IS LIGHTLY 100 MILLION TIMES GREATER FOR A FUSION WARRIOR
SFX: BO—OM
Shigeki X: WHAT-----!!! (With lipstick!!?)

21.
Shigeki X: IT CAN’T BE…MY TOWER…STOP----
Shigeki X: GUWAAAAA
SFX: GIN
Woman: OTONA
(TN: "Otona" is Japanese for "Adult", but the Kanji in the name of her attack essentially translates into “Lady Panther”)
Caption: EST DESTROYED
Shigeki X: GUWAAAAAAAAAA!!!!
Tennosuke: COUGH COUGH…THAT WOMAN IS AMAZING. SHE DESTROYED THE EAST TOWER! ISN’T SHE INCREDIBLY STRONG--!! WITH HER IT’S AN EASY VICTORY!!
Tennosuke: AH, IS SHE THERE!! WITH BEAUTY! UM, CAN I PLEASE HAVE YOUR NAME OR OFFICIAL NAME
Junko: ADULT WOMAN. MY OTHER NAME IS YOKOHAMA JUNKO.
Tennosuke: YOKOHAMA!? JUNKO!?

TN: I think it's time to tell you a little story now that we've finally reached this point. This story is simple: it's about why am I translating a series that is so out of the spotlight. Why is it that I'm doing the work for a series that hasn't been in Jump for over a year now, a series many people call bizarre and many others think of as stupid or ridiculous. (many of whom watch American shows which, while I refuse to name them, are much stupider and more obvious in their humor and extremely overrated IMHO) Well to tell the truth, part of the reason if you haven't followed up until now is seen directly in this chapter by way of one character...who should be obvious by now knowing me and reading what I've written before. I guess it all started because I am a big Bo-bobo fan in the first place: it's an extremely fun and underrated series, probably ignored to many shonen readers and blasted by those who don't get it. I somehow got it...and somehow when I saw Viz was only releasing Hallelujah Land a long time back, I decided to get the whole series in Japanese on my own. It was worth it, both to get ahead of the anime where it was in the English dub and to go further to see the insane twists and turns the story took much later on. I knew Japanese (somewhat even if I admit I'm not perfect) and used a bit of that and a bit of my own interpretation to get what happened through the story. However, after the anime's end in the US, the series started to seem to depart from the spotlight. Viz decided to bring more Bo-bobo over in their Shonen Jump magazine, but they still hadn't started from the beginning: they started from Cyber City. I was a bit dissapointed: what about all those brilliant earlier arcs that came before Halekulani and Giga: didn't Viz care at all? I went to check on a certain manga distribution page to see if there were translations to maybe at least fill in the gap...and that's when I saw it: the translations were only up to the end of volume 2! Sure they had the beginning and C-Block, but the series was dead and most likely was going to stay dead here. Heck, all they needed was two more chapters and they would have been starting A-Block, allowing for the real true exposure of Tokoro Tennosuke to appear in this country outside the anime! (which, BTW, really wasn't being rerun at all and who's DVD deal fell through without the backing of a huge company like Viz or Funimation) Being a Bo-bobo fan...heck, being a Tennosuke fan, I was outraged: wouldn't people want the original Japanese story...or even just the manga version to see how Sawai's art evolved? Wouldn't people who read the English manga want to see everything before Hallelujah Land...heck, wouldn't anyone even maybe eventually see the series after the anime!? That's why I went into action: though I haven't had any translating for years (I did some Nube in college but only did 9 volumes...and tried to join a couple groups but I always the last to know anything so I quit them), I wanted to at least see A-Block out there for anyone who wanted it, to see Tennosuke fully revealed and hopefully to see everything that happened.

And here we are now: my 200th Bo-bobo chapter...and it's mostly a Tennosuke chapter...yeah he was brought to the forefront in my 3rd chapter but still (almost said he was introed there but he was introed way back in chp. 2 with that cameo...). In fact, this chapter is probably the biggest Tennosuke moment in the series, going from joking about "not being tofu" to revealing his personal hatred of tofu...to finally releasing all his sorrow and anger on the most powerful tofu warrior in the series, taking him down! I didn't plan for this to be my 200th, but that's just ironically how it turned out...and in fact, just seeing Tennosuke throw that final attack that brought down Wandering Tofu down (though it was Shigeki X who actually sort of killed him after that...) was just such a monumental moment for his character, showing that after all his cowardice, sorrow and Nu jokes, he is one of the forgotten formidable forces in the series...maybe no Bo-bobo or Don Patch, but he does get a lot of the best gags. In a way, while I can't specifically said I translated all the way from A-Block to the depths of the final block of the original just for this moment, I'm sort of happy that this was the moment that was included in my 200th translation project for the series.

Oh, and as for the rest of the chapter...well OK, this chapter is just epic in other ways outside the final Tennosuke/Wandering Tofu showdown. The defeat of the X-Space and the rise of Yokohama Junko is just so epic yet so natural in the Bo-bobo way, turning an attack against itself and turning it into a gag that actually makes sense! (as is Tennosuke's expression and Shigeki X's arrogance as she makes her move) Probably the only problem I did have with the chapter is the continuing evolution of uselessness of Goisu: not only is he now no longer have no real reason for revenge but he's officially become a de-facto tsukkomi with Beauty down and Heppokomaru still not saved! You do have to wonder why Gunkan could have him as a brother...but that's a tiny blemish on an ultimate chapter!