Series: Kick of the Gods — the daily-life manga of ANCHORAGE, a kickboxing gym with 4 locations in Fukuoka, Japan.
About this episode: Episode 12, first published in Japanese on July 12, 2014, under the title "⑫ 健太兄ちゃん。キャラ模索中" (Kenta-niichan: Searching for a Character). Kenta sulks that kids love Ryota more than him, even though his smile is just as good. While Ryota is out, Kenta tries out a "Kenta-niichan" big-brother character, holding the mitts for the kids to boost his popularity with them. Then the mighty god Krishna arrives looking for Ryota — and calls Kenta "mister." Kenta insists he is a kid, but the punchline is Krishna's superhuman strength sending Kenta flying into the gym wall. Ryota realizes today was the day the mighty Krishna was due to visit, and grumbles that gods should warn them in advance. Note: this episode is a July 2014 archive; it is not current event or schedule information.
Panel 1
- Kenta: "But I'm not as popular with kids as Ryota. Why?"
- Kenta: "Me — pushed even further back, till I'm just the shape of a shadow."
- Kenta: "My smile hasn't lost!"
- Caption (kept as in the original): "(Ryota-sensei, popular with kids too thanks to his carefree, refreshing smile.)"
- Kids (kept as in the original): "(Kids: "Sensei!")"
Panel 2
- Krishna: "Hey, mister. Is Ryota-kun here?"
- Kenta (spiky bubble): "Huh! You little…!"
- Kenta (oval bubble): "No — I'm a kid!"
- Kenta: "If it's Ryota, he went off to Yagaime Central Park to watch Kinnikuman…"
- Kenta (kept as in the original): "("'Mister,' huh…")"
- Sound effect (kept as in the original): "(sound effect, kept as in the original)"
Panel 3
- Banner: "Kenta Smile♡"
- Kenta: "Alright! Until Ryota-niichan comes back, Kenta-niichan will hold the mitts for you — let's play at punching!!"
- Kenta (thinking): "A chance to boost my popularity with kids!!"
- Free writing (kept as in the original): "(sparkle)"
Panel 4
- Ryota (yellow box): "When gods come, tell us in advance — it's dangerous."
- Ryota: "Ah! Today was the day the mighty Krishna was coming!"
- Sound effect (kept as in the original): "(BANG!)"
- Sound effect (kept as in the original): "(sound effect, kept as in the original)"
Notes
- The outside title "The Mighty Krishna" introduces Krishna, the superhuman-strength god, who debuts in this episode.
- The free writings — the Panel 1 caption ("Ryota-sensei, popular with kids too thanks to his carefree, refreshing smile"), the kids' "Sensei!", the red "Chi" sound effect (Panel 2), "Kira" sparkle (Panel 3), the "BANG!" sound effect and "Nn" (Panel 4), and the building signs "ANCALE" and "Hakata Tama" — are kept as in the original in the image, following the practice of earlier episodes; their translations are given in the dialogue above.
- The Panel 3 banner "Kenta Smile♡" is translated in the image (in Simplified Chinese, Thai, Indonesian and Vietnamese the ♡ is dropped because the fonts do not contain it).
- Speaker attributions for the Panel 2 spiky bubble, oval bubble and large bubble (all Kenta), and the identification of the Panel 4 man in glasses and a green shirt as Ryota, follow the tail directions and the context; they are noted here because the original does not label them.
- The park name "Yagaime Central Park" and "Kinnikuman" in Panel 2 are transcribed verbatim from the original handwriting; "Kinnikuman" is read as a reference to the wrestling manga/anime Kinnikuman. "Ryota-niichan will be back" in Panel 3 renders the original's "凌太兄るまで" (until Ryota-niichan comes back).
- Hakata Tama is the ramen shop right below the gym (see Episode 11's footnote).
- This is an archive episode from July 12, 2014, from the very start of the series. Nothing in it is current event or schedule information.
Original Japanese version: https://www.anchorage.asia/manga/901/
Next episode: Ep. 13 — Kenta ♡ Mika-san’s Long-Awaited Wedding
Visit us in Fukuoka: ANCHORAGE kickboxing gym — trial lessons for visitors available via our inbound booking pages (Klook / ActivityJapan).