Nūbē Characters - School Staff

"Nūbē Characters - School Staff" is a character guide to the manga and anime series Hell Teacher Nūbē, focusing on the staff of Doumori Elementary. The guide is separated into two separate categories: teachers of the 5th Grade and other teachers and staff of the school.

5th Grade Teachers

Nūbē (Meisuke Nueno)

Meisuke Nueno ("Nueno Meisuke", 鵺野鳴介), commonly known as Nūbē (ぬ～べ～), is a 25-year old man with two jobs. First off, he's a powerful exorcist who deals with the affairs between humans and yōkai in his adopted home of Doumori. Second, and just as importantly, he's the teacher of class 5-3 of Doumori Elementary, both guiding and protecting them from the spiritual encounters they face. Both jobs are equal and important to him in their own ways: he chooses to protect the innocent and punish the wicked, both human and yōkai, focusing primarily on those still young and innocent enough to have the need of a guardian.

Nūbē is trained as an exorcist to have many means of facing his yōkai encounters. His most powerful of these tools, though, is the Oni no Te (鬼の手), the result with a battle with a powerful oni, leaving him forced to seal its power within the stump where his left hand should be. This grotesque appendage, usually sealed within a black glove on his left hand, allows him to use his own spiritual energies combined with the powers of the oni both to attack evil opponents and for other means, such as communicating with other yōkai or freeing spirits. While Nūbē typically is able to control the power, he is usually only able to use a fraction of its true powers and abilities, for the oni is so powerful Nube himself can't control it. The oni is actually being held by Nube's Sensei, who died being consumed by the oni when trying to save Nube. Nube's teacher is also a powerful exorcist, and the reason Nube wanted to became a teacher.

Other than the Oni no Te, Nūbē uses other spiritual artifacts for his battles. The Sutra of the White-Robed Goddess (白衣観音経 "Byaku E Kanon Kyou"), a white paper-like sutra, is used by Nūbē to surround and seal certain yōkai phenomenon to either hold them down or exorcise them without the need of the Oni no Te. He also possesses a crystal ball which can make certain spirits and phenomenon visible to the human eye, and a set of prayer beads he can attack with or use as part of his summonings. He also eventually creates his own kudagitsune, a product of another kudagitsune he borrows from itako-girl Izuna and his Oni no Te, and has mastered several spiritual techniques such as the "youshin jutsu" (a technique where he can create a separate spiritual body that moves about by itself whenever he is asleep or meditating), and the separation of his physical body and spirit in order to transcend into other realms.

Personality-wise, Nūbē can be both a great, fun-loving guy or a serious, focused man dependent on what you see him for. On matters of either spiritual or educational importance, he is a serious individual focused on doing the job perfectly. Not only does this allow him to conquer one yōkai crisis after another, but it also allows him to be a bit obsessive towards making sure his students learn what they need to and don't fool around or forget anything. (a problem considering the underachieving attributes of several of his male students). Outside his work, though, Nūbē is a fun, almost happy-go-lucky guy with too many faults to his name. He is always chasing after beautiful women (especially the more buxom ones), spending the little money he does have on pachinko, and consistently starving his way to payday while living off whatever they serve in school or the freebies he can get, or finding a way to get rich quick (even if it means using the Oni no Te to do so), all the while trying to avoid the scorns or troubles that his rivals throw his way. While he doesn't like living the teacher's life a good chunk of the time, Nūbē does find that it does has its rewards.

Seiyuu: Ryoutarou Okiayu

Ritsuko Takahashi (Ritsuko-sensei)

Head teacher of class 5-2 of Doumori Elementary, Ritsuko Takahashi ("Takahashi Ritsuko", 高橋律子) is considered the madonna (term for "beautiful unmarried woman") of the school. She is very serious and dedicated to her job as a teacher, but at the same time is very edgy when it comes to the unknown, in particular the spirits and yōkai the school constantly encounters. Unfortunately, her nature is a double-edged blade for Nūbē: while her beautiful exterior makes him desire her and all the things he wants to do to her, her oversensitive nature towards the supernatural makes him tease her all the time about it...and face her wrath as a result.

At the start of the series, Ritsuko-sensei is probably the last person Nūbē would ever end up with in a relationship. Every time he tried to win her heart, she would knock him away due to being too scared of his spiritual obsessions. But as the series progresses, she slowly gains the courage to face the yōkai menaces...and as a result, slowly realizes how Nūbē is helping all those in need...and even begins to appreciate what he does both for students and all those he assists. But while her feelings slowly makes her try to become closer to the male teacher, it ends up attracting scorn from Yukime, the yuki-onna who sees herself as the one who is the teacher's true love. The love triangle between the two teachers and the spirit girl becomes a key theme in the later part of the manga, as Nūbē is forced to decide between feelings and emotions and figure out which he wants to spend his life with.

Seiyuu: Michiko Neya

Ishikawa-sensei

Ishikawa-sensei (石川先生) is a teacher found alongside the 5th Grade teachers, most likely the gym teacher for that grade. Consistently running around in a jumpsuit and with his messy hair, beard and glasses, he occasionally assists in the issuance of advice and known spiritual information out of what he has known and experienced. However, he is also somewhat of a bad influence himself, known for keeping cards for various porn shops in his jumpsuit. (as Nūbē accidentally discovers one time when they fall out of a borrowed suit) Although it is unknown whether or not he really is a 5th Grade teacher, Ishikawa-sensei is commonly seen alongside the 5th Grade teachers, thus his inclusion here. He also has a tendency of avoiding showers up to more than a month, and has a fetish for wearing women's undergarment, which turned out working against Nube when Minki, the sister of the Oni no Te (Baki) comes from hell to reclaim them.

Seiyuu: Yoshiyuki Kouno

Ootsuki-sensei

The hot-blooded head of class 5-1 of Doumori Elementary, Ootsuki-sensei (大月先生) is another exorcist/teacher combination. However, unlike Nūbē, he believes that all phenomenon are a result of plasma, not spiritual power. Unfortunately, these beliefs lead to the two teachers consistently feuding over what is the true nature of the many problems that persist in and around the school; while the students in both classes also face off due to the loyalties to their home-teacher's beliefs. Using his own scientific knowhow and research, he uses several devices and inventions that allow him to research and take out any of these threats. (sort of similar to the scientific research and inventions done in Ghostbusters). Although Ootsuki-sensei appears a couple prominent times early on, he merely fades into the background as the manga goes on.

Seiyuu: Yasunori Masutani

Other Staff Members

The Principal

The administrative leader of the elementary school, the principal consistently tries to do a good job in keeping his school running smoothly and without error even with all of the crazy spiritual phenomenon going on under his watch. While he may or may not have known that Nūbē was both an exorcist and a teacher when he started working at this school, he soon prides it as a valuable asset to assisting in his staff.

The Vice-Principal

Not too much is known about this flat-topped, glasses wearing administrative outside being an associate alongside the Principal in running Doumori Elementary and consistently being in the background along with his boss and the other teachers and staff of the school.

Mami Kuroi

One of the newer teachers at Doumori Elementary, Mami Kuroi ("Kuroi Mami", 黒井まみ) is the head of the first-grade class of 1-3. However, opposed to Nūbē's exorcisms, her interests and studies are in the occult and witchcraft, having studied in a German university and across Europe to further her own knowledge and skills in such. (although she looks like a little girl, she's actually 28 years old, several years older than the more experienced Nūbē) Unfortunately, Nūbē does not like her obsession with the evil arts and yells at her from doing them. Unfortunately, it doesn't help that her 1st Grade classroom is two floors down from his 5th Grade class, forcing him to occasionally feel the influence of her magic unknowingly. (until he comes down and puts a stop to her nonsense) Some of her various magic skills include various curses, summonings, transformations, voodoo dolls and even flying on her own little broomstick. (not to mention a flat-top hat that rises into a witches hat whenever she does her magic)

When Kuroi-sensei first arrives at the school, she is immediately smitten by her male staff-mate and decides to use her magic to try and win him over. (including sealing his Oni no Te inside a cute hand-made glove) But after consistently being yelled at by Nūbē, not to mention possibly seeing both Ritsuko-sensei and Yukime go after him, she decides to summon her own demonic love slave in the form of the "Western Devil" Beelzebub.