Kinnikuman 85

With the Defense Corp and Bibinba around, Suguru's life just keeps going from bad to worse...but how much worse can it really get? You have 30 seconds: good luck. (cues Jeopardy theme)

Chapter 85: Aim for a Million Yen!

60.
Yudetamago: We’ll look at Suguru’s room this time everyone.
Suguru: I don’t want it!
Captions (clockwise)
-Meat-kun’s Personal Kaijuu Encyclopedia
-An opened newspaper, obviously.
-Corner clothes wardrobe
-The only piece of exercise equipment in the room.
-This book is Veneer.
-A post-eating gyuudon bag
-This bag is used for trips
-A black-and-white TV, a monument naturally

61.
Narrator: Denen Choufu—
Suguru: Unu~~you’re not serious…………
Suguru: Every newspaper only has articles about Bibinba and the Defense Corp~~
Suguru: Like this!
Article: Bibinba and Defense Corp Eliminate Another Kaijuu
Suguru: And this!
Top of Article: AMAZING DE
Banner: Exile Kinnikuma

62.
Meat: It’s terrible, Prince!!
Suguru: OWA—
Suguru: Wh...what, Meat!!
Meat: It’s terrible. We’ve eaten through our rations.
Suguru: So go buy some.
Meat: We’ve had money problems…
Meat: Prince, at this rate, we’ll end up dead~~~!!
Suguru: Wait! Do…don’t lose your mind!
Suguru: We don’t have money, so I’ll earn it. I should be able to ask for a Kaijuu elimination.
Book: KAIJUU ELIMINATION REQUEST BOOK

63.
Suguru: Here, tell me who’s scheduled!
Meat: Prince……
Meat: With the Defense Corp getting them, there isn’t one Kaijuu elimination request.
Suguru: WHAAT!?
Meat: I guess the prince has become unemployed.
Suguru: Uooo, the recession storm has finally reached the Choujin World----!!
Voice: He~~y, is that Pigman~~
Suguru: N?

64.
Toshi: Fuhahaha, with Bibinba-chan, there’s nothing we can do but living up profiting with Kaijuu extermination.
Suguru: Ah…
Toshi: Ah…
Toshi: Stu—pid, who did this?

65.
Suguru: Owa~~this is horrible~~~!!
Meat: Please don’t cry, Prince!
TV: So, it’s the second-half of the million-yen quiz…
Host: Questions start!
Questioner: If the “Wild Horse” is Terry Funk, then who is the “Young Horse”!?
All signs: MILLION YEN QUIZ
Host: How’s that everyone? Your time limit is 10 seconds! 10 seconds.
Suguru: The answer is Dorry Funk Jr!
Announcer: Yes! The Fat Pair!
Fat Pair: Dorry Funk Jr.
Announcer: Yes, correct!
Meat: He…got it.

66.
Announcer: What has water above and fire below--?
Suguru: Isn’t it a bath…
Announcer: Which is heavier: Godzilla or Takamiyama?
(TN: Takamiyama Daigoro, born Jesse James Wailani Kuhaulua, is a famous sumo wrestler, born in Hawaii and the first foreigner to take a rikishi division title)
Suguru: Godzilla!
Announcer: How much is a large gyuudon, pickles, miso soup and egg at Yoshinoya?
Suguru: 650 yen.
Announcer: A cow, a fox and an elephant have come home. How do they say it?
Suguru: Mou kon zou!
(TN: This is a bit of a weird riddle but essentially it’s like this: the actual response in Japanese is “mou konzou”, which is Japanese for “we’re already home”. Therefore, the riddle involves how the speech of three animals would speak this out, which obviously involves each one speaking their “animal talk” to say the following expression. Of course, it’s all in the “Japanese” way that animals speak: “mou” is the Japanese equivalent of “moo” for a cow, “kon” is the yelp of a fox, “zou” is the onomatopoeia of an elephant)
Meat: He…got them all right!
Announcer: We—ll, one more question right by the Fat Pair and they’ll gain one million yen. So here’s the question!
Suguru: A million.
Announcer: How do you read “shinbunshi” backwards?
Suguru: Even read backwards, it’s “shinbunshi”!
(TN: This joke actually involves reading it in Japanese, where both back and forth it’s “shi-n-bu-n-shi”. BTW: “shinbunshi” is “newspaper” in Japanese.)
Fat Pair: Even read backwards, it’s “shinbunshi”.
Announcer: Yes! Correct!

67.
Suguru: YA—Y, I DID IT—
Meat: Prince! That’s it. We’ll get on the quiz and win a million yen!
Suguru: OK, I’ll apply immediately!
Caption: Defense Corp—
Bibinba: OK, fine.
Toshi: This is Veneer…
Bibinba: Huh?
Sign: QUIZ
Bibinba: Suguru-sama is on TV—
Toshi: What is that pig doing!? Peeping? Rape?

68.
Announcer: We—ll, with the first half of the million yen quiz over, Kinkotsuman’s Mystery pair is on top.
Caption: For what reason are the Kaijuu combo on the quiz…
Suguru: S**t—I’m so pitiful in front of a live audience.
Announcer: Question: Which Russian master is known for books including “Anna Karena” and “War and Peace”?
Suguru: Mu! It’s a pro-wrestling question, my specialty!
Suguru: Ivan Korof!
Announcer: That’s the Russian Mystery.
(TN: This is a weird joke but essentially Suguru confused “bungou”, which is a “literary master” with “kaigou”, which is translated as “powerful mystery” and which is part of the nickname of Russian wrestler Ivan Korof)
Announcer: And again, I’ll spin your gondola as your penalty!!
Meat & Suguru: KYA—OWA—

69.
Announcer: We—ll, the next question comes from me, fufufufu…
Announcer: Question! What is this mark!?
Suguru: The Kin Mark, the Proof of the Kinniku Clan!
Announcer: Wrong: that’s the JIS Mark, which is put on pencils!!
(TN: The JIS Mark (which I assume is the reference for the mark of the Kinniku family) is a mark used in Japanese products to identify those that the government discern have met the standards set by them)
Suguru & Meat: OWA--!!
Suguru: I’ve got motion sickness.
Meat: Prince…Prince, you can’t give up yet.
Meat: Well then, we’ll win this with my power!!

70.
Announcer: What is the debut single of Momoe Yamaguchi!?
Meat: “Toshigoro”!
(TN: Momoe Yamaguchi is a notable teen idol of the 1970s who released songs and appeared in movies in a period between 1973 and 1980. "Toshigoro" was her first release in '73, both as a song and a movie of the same name)
Announcer: Ooh, the Red Stranger Pair finally got a correct answer!
Announcer: Question! What’s Giant Baba’s real name!?
Meat: Shouhei Baba!
Announcer: Question! What is Yudetamago’s birthplace--!?
Meat: Osaka--!
Announcer: We~~ll, this is incredible. With Meat-kun’s actions, they’ve gone from last place to matching the top Mystery pair---!!
Bibinba: You’re great, Meat-kun!
Toshi: I hate that Pigman, but I’m rooting for Meat-kun!

71.
Meat: Prince…I’m…I’m already exhausted.
Suguru: No…! Meat!
Announcer: Well, due to those successive right answers, Meat-kun has broken down!
Announcer: Fufufu…however, cruely, the quiz continues!
Announcer: Now, however answers this question first will gain a million.
Announcer: So, question!
Announcer: How do you read Yamamotoyama backwards!?

72.
Announcer: Yes, Kinnikuman!
Suguru: Even read backwards, it’s “Yamamotoyama”!
Announcer: Sorry, you’re wrong!!
Suguru: Eh……
Announcer: Yes, Mystery Pair!
Kinkotsu: Reading it backwards, it’s “Mayatomomaya”!
(TN: Another weird Japanese joke involving language but with a twist. Like the “shinbunshi” joke, the right answer involves reading the characters in reverse, which is “Ma-ya-to-mo-ma-ya”. However, what ends up tricking everyone is that “Yamamotoyama” (which is “Yamamoto Mountain” in Japanese) is made of three kanji, two of which are the kanji for “Mountain”, which is read as “yama”. Because people reverse the kanji, they tend to think the answer is “Yamamotoyama”, but the real answer is “Mayatomomaya”)
Suguru: AAH~~~
Announcer: Congratulations, the million yen goes to the Mystery Pair! So see you next week everyone!
Suguru: Owa—Meat, I said forgive me…

TN: This is probably a significant, but also a slightly strange chapter in the saga of Kinnikuman. For one thing...it's Suguru on a quiz show. Somehow the storyline of someone who actually "knows all the answers but freezes up in the limelight" is an old, well known tale in stories so that isn't new in any ways. Probably the most interesting factor was, well, seeing how much weird Japanese trivia I could research and get out of it. (plus we get to see Kinkotsuman foil him...just this once but for the last real time he shows up outside the later "crowd shot" stuff) But on the other hand, you could see this chapter as a major and important turning point towards the direction of the story as we see it. By now, Suguru is approaching his lowest point in regards to who he is and where he's been. Sure he's finally getting respect and won the Choujin Olympics, but nearly everything he had both in the past and more recently have been chipped away one by one. His title was revoked due to that stupid "get back in time" incident, a rival group has been taking away all of the Kaijuu he used to fight preventing him from at least making a bit of income, and he finally has a girl who likes him in Bibinba...but she ran off with the Defense Corp and he really hasn't any real reason to go back to Mari or Natsuko. In a strange way, not only is the book closed on all the success Suguru had in the olympics, but everything in his old Kaijuu hunting days have been taken away as well. It really feels the book is being closed on Suguru's past...before we head forwards towards his future. Sure we got one more slight arc coming up but the chapters after this move Kinnikuman to what many consider to be his prime period and the stuff that everyone really wants of the series...but it is interesting that the old era was revisited for a while as they prepared to head towards the era of the new from '81 on!