Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube

Hell Teacher Nube — A classic series coming back with more of a reboot treatment than any semblance that belongs to the realm of readaptation. For the uninitiated, it'd be best to say that with the current climate of the AniManga industry, where we're all entertained by shows from just about anywhere, mostly featuring the usual Isekai/fantasy slop that we've been so blindsided to since the COVID years, to the minority that looks interesting from a general angle but ultimately belongs to the pack of shows that just end up not holding their weight altogether. Now, don't go for a moment to think that this "quantityover quality" rhetoric only exists now, because just about every decade in anime has series that belong to the mediocre-to-average quality, and the past is not spared either. This, then, brings us to the case of veteran mangaka Sho Makura and his famous series Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube, which, surprise surprise, used to belong to Shueisha's juggernaut Weekly Shonen Jump magazine from August 1993 to May 1999, capping at 31 volumes total. Even with its own anime adaptation back in the late 90s, a new generation of producers thought that it would be a nice idea to bring this series back from the grave, which is how we got the "rehashed" 2025 series that's shown here in 2 split cours, the first of which premiered this summer season. This dark fantasy, action comedy-horror series about Meisuke "Nube" Nueno and the students of Class 5-3 of Domori Elementary School, dealing with supernatural disturbances in the usual episodic monster-of-the-week formula that's best known for at the time, sees the titular MC of a unremarkable teacher go around the school not just to teach the group of rowdy students who just see him as just insufferable as any other teacher they've been with, only to have them recognize that they are the cause of all of the supernatural circumstances that's happening around the school, forcing Nube to intercept with his spiritual abilities, much of it delving from his Demon's Hand that can put any spirit or monster to rest. Sounds typical, yes? At least the story plot is for its time, covered with its own restored normalcy and lessons to be learned. What makes Hell Teacher Nube enticing is in its characters, some of which would go on to form rivalries with the titular teacher himself in the pursuit of whatever affiliation that Nube has going on. The students of Class 5-3, comprising Hiroshi Tateno, Kyoko Inaba, and the rest of the class student body, are just about as rowdy as any middle-schooler can get, and though immature at times, they at least do know when to give up their facade and request help from Nube most of the time. The recurring antagonist character is that of the kitsune/fox spirit Kyosuke Tamamo, the handsome teacher who presents much of the animosity of Nube himself, often being the centre of all the supernatural disturbances that happen no matter where he could be, much less the other teacher on the opposite end of the other homeroom teacher, Ritsuko Takahashi, whom Nube and the students fancy a lot as their school's "Madonna." However, the former is a damn try-hard to win her heart over, only to get intercepted by her pushbacks due to the fact that she cannot reason with him dealing with the supernatural. And once again, where story and characters go hand-in-hand with the times, this is as typical as it gets for 90s storytelling. Even with Studio Kai's "remake" of the series, there is quite a change when compared to its older anime cousin. If you remember not too long ago, there was a similar treatment with David Production's readaptation of the popular Urusei Yatsura, where it was marketed under the "All-Stars" moniker, where select content from the manga would be adapted into the series for a brand-new skin. And with Hell Teacher Nube here, that treatment is pretty much exactly the same as the planned rhetoric above, being heavily episodic in nature. Sure, it isn't as bad as it sounds, but for a series that's a bit less long than said series above, the renewed series' dynamic can feel out of place at times, especially for a series that has even less recognition and that only caters to the hardcore fans of the series to begin with. As for the overall animation, it just looked drab and felt lacking and subpar at times, with the story beats helping where animation was needed the most. Even the OST is below average, though J-Rock band Shintenchi Kaibyaku Shudan: Zigzag's OP can be kind of decent and good at times, and Chilli Beans's ED just truly gets lost in the sea of listenership. Still, for a reboot/remake series, you could do far worse than experiencing a long-lost "legend" like Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube, and this is only the first half to go, with the 2nd half in winter next year. It's a decent experience; I'll give it that for the foresight to see what will be up for then.