Kinnikuman 42

It's been a while, but the strange and powerful Choujin warrior returns! Of course, now he has other worries on his mind, such as his upcoming final match with Robin Mask in the Choujin Olympics!

Chapter 42: Kinnikuman’s Explosive Proposal

6.
Terry: I’ll kill him--!!
Natsuko: Terry, st…stop!
Terry: Let go, Natsuko!
Natsuko: Kya!!
Meat: Wa…Terryman!
Suguru: Wh……what are you doing!
Natsuko: SHUT UP~~~~!!

7.
Guard: Hey, what are you doing, stop it.
Terry: THAT PIGGISH MAN--!!
(TN: Terry calls Suguru “Butaman” or “Pigman”, connected with his running gag of looking like a pig)
Suguru: ANNOY~~~ING!!
Terry: I’ll kill you………
Narrator: The curtain on the Choujin Olympics semifinal closed with the headline of “Terryman defeated!” And then…
Paper: DEADLY STRUGGLE: TERRYMAN DEFEATED
Terryman’s Unexpected Foul Play
Narrator: An encouragement party was held for the Choujin Olympics finals, Robin Mask vs. Kinnikuman, at the Seiyouken in Ueno, Tokyo.
(TN: Seiyouken/Seiyoken is a notable restaurant in Ueno, originally opened in 1876 as a Western restaurant but now known as a high-priced but classy restaurant with a nice ambiance)

8.
Man 1: Hey, this is an amazing match announcement.
Man 2: Well this is the first time the Choujin Olympics finals are in Japan……it’s not unreasonable there are so many famous people gathered.
Natsuko: A news reporter isn’t surprised by this.
Boy: Yudetamago-san, why haven’t you appeared on “Zoom-In Morning”?
(TN: “Zoom-In Morning”, Japanese name “Zoom In!! Asa!”, is the biggest morning show in Japan, airing on NTV from 1979 through 2001 as I may have explained before)
Yudetamago: Cause I hate TV…
Girl: Wa—he’s like Chiharu Matsuyama.
(TN: Chiharu Matsuyama is a notable Japanese singer/songwriter who emerged in the late 1970s)
Kazuo: Hurry then, don’t come to ask for his appearance.

9.
Harabote: Well, the Choujin Olympics have finally come towards the finals…the over 100 Choujin we had initially have now come down to only two. So then, Shall I formally introduce the advancing finalists.
Harabote: The representative from England, Robin Mask!
Harabote: And the representative from Japan, Kinnikuman!!
Suguru: Ah…

10.
Nashimoto: I’m Nashimoto from the Afternoon Show…
Nashimoto: Robin Mask-san, what are your impressions on the V2………..
Reporters: Can you tell us who pleases you? Who are you facing in your next defense!? Do you have plans while in Japan!?
Suguru: ………...
Suguru: Hey~~you guys, is this about the match!!
Nashimoto: It’s decided: Robin Mask will win.
Suguru: Oh, of course.
Meat: IT’S NOT “OF COURSE”. YOU’RE ACTING STUPID, PRINCE.
Suguru: Ooh…I was…

11.
Suguru: Hey, does any one of you guys see me as a hit in the sport…
Suguru: YOU MISTAKENED WITH SPOT--!!
(TN: Strange language joke: both “sport” and “spot” as in “spotlight” are in hiragana “supotto”…though I’m surprised Terry would pull that joke after the anger he had prior)
Suguru: N!

12.
Suguru: EXCELLENT
Suguru: You have eyes that see…I’m certain you’ll be promoted. Even editor-in-chief isn’t a dream.
Suguru: What are you called?
Torishima: To…Torishima…
Suguru: We…well—what were you doing?
Sash: Reporter
Torishima: Actually it’s because I had a film roll left……
Announcer: WELL, NOW WE’LL EXPLAIN THE RULES.

13.
Harabote: The rules until now for the finals won’t change…an endless one-round match that will be resumed as a deathmatch until whichever KO or gives up.
Harabote: The meeting place is National Stadium. The date and time will be April 4th, the gong at 4 PM.
(TN: “National Stadium” is also known as Olympic Stadium or “Kokuritsu Kyougijou”, is a notable arena from the 1964 Tokyo Olympics and mostly known today for it’s usage in football and rugby games. Furthermore, note the 4s, the unlucky number in Japan. Of course, April is the 4th month so it’s essentiall 4/4 at 4PM)
Natsuko: Three “fours”……
Terry: This is the Olympics of Death.
Robin: Please hold on, chairman!!
Harabote: What is it, Robin-kun. Are you unhappy with these rules?
Robin: No, I’m not unhappy on that…

14.
Robin: It’s Kinnikuman………
Suguru: What are you saying? You shouldn’t be unhappy with me!
Robin: Chairman, the difference in the true power between me and him is too much. It’s too easy to KO him. However, it’s impossible for him to do it to me.
Suguru: WAIT, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN!!
Suguru: Huh…
Robin: You don’t have a finish hold that will defeat me!
Meat: He………he frankly revealed the prince’s weakness.

15.
Robin: For there, I was thinking this but, how about using the 3-count rule?
Harobate: “3-Count” is throwing both shoulders to the mat, one – two – three…that?
Robin: With that, even Kinnikuman, who has no finish hold, should have a chance.
(TN: The expression Robin uses here is “man ga ichi” or a 10,000 to 1 chance)
Harobate: Well, shall I approve of it?
Reporters: Great, Robin Mask.
Meat: He’s done something amazing even for the prince…
Suguru: Well……Fi—ne!
Suguru: GENTLEMEN!!
Suguru: For the loser of the Choujin Olympics finals, that winner will~~
Reporters: The winner will!?

16.
Suguru: HOW ABOUT THEY TREAT THE WINNER TO GYUDON!?
Meat: If they did that, they’d lose their popularity.
Suguru: …………
Suguru: Well then, how about a large gyudon with pickles on it!?
Mayumi: You’re so petty, really……
Suguru: We~~ll, so then~~~
Suguru: Explosive proposal #2…the finals loser……

17.
Suguru: HOW ABOUT THEY’RE EXILED FROM THEIR HOME NATION!?
Everyone: WHAT~~!
Meat: Well…well if you lose with that, you’ll be exiled from Japan……
Suguru: Robin Mask will be exiled from England too!
Mayumi: YOU IDIOT! THAT WISH IS WEAK
Robin: Fascinating. Shall we go by that rule?
Meat: REALLY, WHAT IS WITH PRINCE’S PROPOSAL

18.
Harobate: So then, I approve of the “National Exile Rule” and the “3-Count Rule”.
Everyone: WAAAA
Meat: REALLY, WHAT HAS PRINCE DONE.
Voice: What are you worried about?
Meat: Ah……
Man: Don’t worry about tomorrow. Fine, I’ll sing for you!

19.
Man: Poppoppo~~~Hatopoppoo~~~~!!
Meat: That’s too much to worry about!
Meat: What was that guy now…
Kinkotsu: Kukuku…
Kinkotsu: Muhyohyohyo, Kinnikuman. Before you become exile from home, we’ll have some fun…
Kinkotsu: Hello, growler Iwao at the zoo…can you hear me?
(TN: Kinkotsuman refers to Iwao here as “damigoe”, which is Japanese for “death growl”. This was as close as I could make it and keep it short)
Iwao: Who’s a growler…
Kinkotsu: WA—
Kinkotsu: An…anyway, start the operation. Niitakayama no Bore, go—forth!
(TN: “Niitakayama no Bore” is a codeword in the Japanese for the attack on the American base of Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, which occurred on December 8th, 1941. (American time: December 7th))

20.
Iwao: Roger!
Sign: Monkey
Iwao: Operation Niitakayama no Bore is to make animals grow huge with the Monster Gun, which will make any living thing grow immense. It’s a simple operation for attacking the party at Seiyouken…
Iwao: Kukuku…first of all I’ll start
Iwao: By punishing those guys…

21.
Canadian: WA—
Iwao: DAHAHAHA
Iwao: O—K, that’s for playing around……shall I go start the operation…
Man: Well then, even if it’s Hanako’s pen…I’ll clean it thoroughly.
Man: N?

22.
Man: HIE~~WHAT ARE THOSE FOOTPRINTS…
Signs: LION / BEAR

23.
Suguru: Really, he’s old enough to know better.
Kinkotsu: We’ll have as much fun as possible until the monster animals come. Muhyohyo
Man: IT’S TERRIBLE—
Voice: Hey…what have you come here for…
Man: OUT…OUTSIDE, OUTSIDE!
Robin: What!?
Robin: OK!
Everyone: AAH…

24-25.
Everyone: WH…WHAT IS THIS!?
Kinkotsu: Muhyohyohyo, this is it for all of you.
Terry & Meat: Kinkotsuman!!
Kinkotsu: Now! Monster Animals, kill all of the Choujin--!!
Terry: GOD DAMN
Suguru: Hold on, you can’t with your wounded leg!
Terry: Kinnikuman…………
Suguru: How’s this Robin Mask. Well use these guys to show off before our battle!
Robin: Shall we!
Suguru: Fine, we’ll go do this first…

26.
Man: HOLD ON!!
Man: Please, don’t kill these animals. They’re just merely being controlled.
Suguru: Bu…but.
Bear’s Shirt: YOUNG JUMP
(TN: The bear with the shirt is actually a reference to Mac Bear, the first mascot of the Shueisha seinen magazine “Weekly Young Jump” which began in the same year as Kinnikuman: 1979. He’s since been replaced by another ursine mascot, Buddy Bear, in 1999)
Suguru: OWA—
Robin: It seems I’ll have to handle this!

27.
Meat: Ah! Watch out. He isn’t becoming huge!!

28.
People: Ooh! Lo…look, the animals have returned to normal. And they aren’t hurt at all.
People: As we expect of Robin Mask!!

29.
Everyone: WAAAA
Kinkotsu: GE…
Kinkotsu: S**t, I’ll remember this!
Meat: It seems the prelim match had Robin Mask tactically raise his sleeping power…
Suguru: If that’s sleeping power, then Robin Mask won’t be able to take me either!
Suguru: How’s that, no one get near me
People: WA—
Meat: If so, then we must really go searching for our next permanent home…

TN: Well, it feels really strange, like awakening from a long nap. But somehow or another, with the end of my Bo-bobo translations, my translations of Kinnikuman returns...in a really weird place. Let me run it by you like this: yes, the final match between Kinnikuman and Robin Mask has been translated...but outside that, the stuff that came befoere and after that in vol. 4 of the series hasn't been. So while I essentially picked up where I left off last time (just as Terryman had lost to the British Choujin), I'm pretty much going to be jumping from here to there in my translations, doing a lot of the preliminaries, then skipping to the after-match stuff which builds up to our next major arc. Hopefully you paid attention to what I said cause I'm not saying it again.

As for the chapter, you can start to sort of see the way that the Choujin power seems less about Ultraman parodies now and are starting to direct in the definitive style of "everything being done by wrestling" which the whole arc has mostly been starting to build on. The conditions though do show one major weakness regarding Suguru's evolution as wrestling comes into the forefront more and more: he has no finishing moves! While he does start developing them eventually (starting around the next arc), you have to wonder if Robin is just being a gentleman or is just so confident of victory that he wants to make Suguru at least appear to have a tiny, maybe microscopic chance by making the match 3-count. Likewise, Suguru's idea of the expulsion rule...well, somehow it reminds me of other manga doing it but since it's older it may have influenced them...or was influenced by something else, I dunno. Robin's defeat of Kinkotsuman's animal minions was an interesting show of his power as well as showing part of the evolution of the powers beyond just "eating garlic and growing". And finally: was it just me or was Robin Mask dancing with what appears to be the first appearance of Alisia!? (we sort of see her a bit later soon but the pic of the girl he danced with really looked a bit like her...well at least in her formality)