Nūbē Characters - Yōkai

This is a character guide to the manga & anime series Hell Teacher Nūbē, focusing on the major yōkai characters who frequent the town of Doumori and several other phenomenon connected with them. This guide is separated into the various kinds of yōkai that appear in the series, such as the oni (like Nūbē's Oni no Te), the yōko and other kitsune-based beings (connected with Tamamo), yuki-onna and other mountain spirits (connected with Yukime), and other persistent yōkai characters who appear more than once in important or semi-important roles.

Oni

The Oni within Nūbē are extremely powerful demon creature that literally come from the depths of hell to cause havoc and destruction upon our world. Unlike many oni depictions within popular Japanese culture, these oni are a hybrid combination of the classic horned loin-cloth being and Western devil beasts with claws, horns and immense strength and demonic powers. All of the oni, particularly the Oni no Te and its connections, are beings from an eight-tiered hell, where various devils and demonic beings become more powerful the deeper you head. The demon trio come from the 6th tier of this hell, Shonetsu (焦熱, which translates into "scorching heat", but in the combination 焦熱地獄, "shonetsu jigoku", can stand for Inferno or Burning Hell). Each one has climbed their way through the upper levels of hell until they have reached a passage into the human world: near a spinning sphere in the playground of Doumori Elementary.

Oni no Te (Baki)

The first and possibly most powerful of the oni we encounter, this is the being living as Nūbē's left hand from the beginning of the series. Sealed under a black glove, this being is unleashed whenever the teacher needs it, allowing for him to access a greater extent of his spiritual power through this demonic limb. While the beast appears to be under Nūbē's control at first, the Oni slowly starts having a life of its own and unleashing its tremendous full power. And while the teacher is himself an exorcist, he cannot control the oni on his own, which would lead to him being controlled and devoured. The key to this control lies inside the oni itself, in the spirit of his former teacher Minako-sensei, locked away within the demon after her tragic sacrifice to save her former student. She uses her own spiritual power to hold back the Oni, allowing for Nube to access its power without becoming consumed by it. Unfortunately, because she is needed to keep the beast at bay, Nūbē is constantly looking for a twofold way to both finally control the Oni once and for all and free his former teacher from her imprisonment inside the creature that has become his left hand. Later in the series, we discover that he is the eldest (and most dim-witted) brother of a trio of oni siblings, but still extremely powerful if left to his own devices.

Zekki

The middle brother of the Oni trio, Zekki (絶鬼) is the most cruel and heartless beings Nūbē and his allies face. Although he appears like a young teenage male, he is an extremely powerful and dangerous being who takes pleasure in killing anyone who gets in his way: male or female, young or old. His greatest peculiarity is the usage of musical terms (and even a baton) to describe the carnage and destruction he creates.

Zekki comes to the human world after three years of climbing in search of the man who now possesses his brother Baki: the exorcist-teacher Nūbē. After easily thrashing Izuna, he makes easy work of Nūbē, Yukime and Tamamo in order to see the hidden 'power' the teacher supposedly used to seal Baki in his hand. Once he realized that Nūbē did not seal his brother on his own, relying instead on Minako's control from inside the oni, he decides to stay his hand no longer. The battles between the trio and Zekki grew more desperate, with Nūbē on the losing side despite the help of a true demon-sealing bracelet. After sacrifices made by Nūbē's students, Yukime and Tamamo, Nūbē voluntarily unsealed the oni inside his hand and was apparently consumed by Baki. He retained his human heart, however, and after defeating Zekki was revived by the mermaid Hayame.

Seiyū: Hikaru Midorikawa

Minki

Minki (眠鬼) is the youngest, but just as destructive (and annoying) female sibling of the oni family. Although she possesses similar power and abilities to her older brothers Baki and Zekki, the source of her (and possibly all the oni) power comes from a pair of panties that she wears. (according to legend, most of an oni's spiritual power comes from their underwear or loincloth) When she accidentally loses her panties in the human world, she is forced to cross over to get them back, even if it means making everyone at Doumori Elementary nude in the process. Although she sort of gets them back (they were being worn by the perverted Ishikawa-sensei), Nūbē seizes them and, in a strange move, makes the Oni-girl join his class. His belief was that outside her panty-powers, Minki was a quiet, nice girl who needed to learn a few things. Although she seemed rather strange at first, Minki showed a protective, kinder side than she initially portrayed, even protecting her classmates just as Nūbē does. But at the moment she got her panties back, Minki regained her full, demonic power and attitude, fighting against her teacher and particularly showing hatred for the males of the class. But at the climax of her rampage, just as she prepared to destroy her teacher and school, her panties fell off her body once again, making her drop her attack and nearly destroying her in the process. Nūbē saves her, however, believing her to be different from the other Oni and choosing to give her a second chance in the human world.

After nearly destroying the school and Nūbē, Minki becomes both a valuable student and a key ally in his battle to protect his students and fight against intruding enemies and yōkai. Although she does not contain all of her Oni power as she did with her panties, she does have enough to occasionally play naughty tricks on her friends and classmates. (she slowly does seem to accept them as friends, but has a hard time doing so due to her own circumstances) She is also able to assist her teacher in a valuable way: as he faces a couple enemies that force the Oni no Te away from him, Minki is able to fuse with Nūbē to allow for her Oni power to be used by him. A key difference between her and Baki's arrangement, though, is that the teacher is able to use a fuller extent of Minki's power due to theirs being a conscious partnership. Outside of battle, Minki not only sees Nūbē as her teacher, but her "big brother" as well, as her 'real' big brother is sealed in his hand. This leads to some rather awkward situations between the meaning of being a human sibling to being an Oni sibling.

As a final note: Minki is the only member of the Oni siblings that does not have a full demonic form. Although she can exhibit oni appearance such as her scantly clad appearance and demonic hands and feet, this form takes more of a human appearance than either Zekki or Baki. (possibly showing an influence from the American comic series Witchblade) Just as peculiarly, two horn-like protrusions that allow for the formation of her long pigtails remain visible both in "human" and "Oni" forms.

Other Oni

Although the Oni trio of Baki, Zekki and Minki are the main Oni in the series, other oni (and likewise devils) either inhabit or are connected to the world of "Hell Teacher Nūbē":
*Zenki (前鬼) and Kōki (後鬼): Two oni that at one time threatened the world, until the great exorcist En no Gyoja took both of them down with the assistance of the "Gyokirin".
*Namahage (なまはげ): Known in folklore of the Akita province as demon who appears on New Years Eve to punish bad children, this oni with a killer instinct and a sense of justice came to the human world hundreds of years ago, choosing to stay due to his like of human love and emotion. But when he senses an evil one, particularly on New Years Eve, he goes forth to strike them down without any remorse. Normally, though, Namahage goes under the disguise of Momotarō Oga ("Oga Momotarō" 男鹿桃太郎), a slightly incompetent news reporter and self proclaimed "evangelist of love and justice".
*Beelzebub (ベベルブブ): Similar to the oni, this winged black "devil" is summoned to the human world by witch/teacher Mami for a personal manservant/lover. Although he exhibits great power, he is extremely incompetent and never seems to do exactly what his boss wants (though he's been rejected by women for over eight-hundred years).

Kitsune/Yōko

Long a well known yōkai, the kitsune are a group of animal spirits usually connected with foxes. While any fox is a kitsune, there are special foxes, known as yōko whom are some of the most spiritually powerful beings in existence. Yōko are known to have many different abilities at their disposal, such as the creation and manipulation of illusions and fire, as well as the ability to use a special "transformation jutsu" that can allow them to blend in with humans, usually to cause chaos and mischief within our world. At the same time, the kitsune and yōko are also connected with inari, local harvest festivals in Japan upon which play an integral role within.

Tamamo/Kyōsuke Tamamo

Tamamo (玉藻), also known as Kyōsuke Tamamo ("Tamamo Kyōsuke"玉藻京介) in his human form, is the most important of the yōko in the manga series, a powerful being who is both Nūbē's ally and ultimate rival. First arriving at Doumori Elementary as a bishōnenous male teacher who wins the hearts and minds of his students and fellow staff, his true intent was to seize the skull of Nūbē's student Hiroshi Tateno which is his 'perfect skull' for transforming into a human. When Nūbē was forced to come to Hiroshi's rescue, the two got into an intense battle upon which the true form of the golden fox-creature was revealed and nearly defeated Nūbē. Due to Hiroshi's courage, however, Tamamo was defeated, though not for good. He returned soon after, intrigued by Nūbē and how his powers was amplified when fighting for his students. He learns that it is the power of the human heart, and not understanding it, tries to know more by creating situations that force Nūbē to fight or via simple observation. Tamamo also abandoned his teacher's disguise to work as a doctor in Doumori Hospital, where his 400 years of knowledge accumulated to cause misery went into healing others, which he thought would be a good way to learn more about humanity.

Having existed and trained his spiritual powers for centuries, Tamamo has become adept in many spiritual powers and abilities that he holds even without perfecting his "transformation jutsu". He is a master of "illusion jutsu", able to manipulate anyone to see whatever he portrays as long as there is motion. (even to the extent of creating clones of himself off the display of video game screens) Offensively, he uses a "yōko foxfire jutsu", allowing him to create and control a powerful fire-based attack which he can increase and power and intensity to burn his opponents. He can also handle certain other spiritual abilities like Nube's such as assisting in controlling spiritual energy and even the "youshin jutsu". When not using spiritual power, his main weapon is a paw-like neck catcher, which primary function is the extraction of suitable skulls for his "transformation jutsu", but can also be broken apart to surround himself and an opponent within a barrier for more powerful attacks. In the manga, it was revealed that the skull he was currently using in the course of the series came from a dead mountain climber, who was a well-to-do college student. The encounter between Tamamo and the student's fiancee marked one of the important turning points in his character development.

At the start of the series, Tamamo merely seems like a powerful yōkai who manipulates and fights as a means for his own selfish desires. After fighting alongside Nūbē and class 5-3 and solving a number of youkai problems, he grew fonder and fonder of the human race, to the extent that he would use "Megido", his most powerful fire-based ability, in order to destroy Zekki, the younger brother of Nūbē's Oni no Te. Tamamo also found himself unable to take Hiroshi's skull even when the opportunity presented himself later on, having learned too much of the human heart. This is a problem for him, as without a suitable skull his mental and physical faculties would eventually erode, leaving him to die as only a shell of his former self.

In the manga liner notes for Volume 2, the author stated that Tamamo was intended to be a direct descendant of the Nine-Tailed Kitsune who was notorious as Tamamo no Mae. However, the fox appeared later in the story and was less than fond of Tamamo, thus leaving the name to be most likely an allusion, perhaps out of respect.

Seiyū: Toshiyuki Morikawa

The Golden Nine-Tail Kitsune

Considered to be one of the most powerful yōkai in existence, The Golden Nine-Tail Kitsune ("Konmougyokumen Kyūbii no Kitsune" 金毛玉面九尾の狐) is one of the only beings that can overpower even the Oni. In ancient times, this kitsune made its way across India and China to Japan, where it last appeared 800 years ago as Tamamo no Mae, the wife who bewitched the Emperor Toba. Based within a chamber beneath the "Sesshou Stone" in Nasuno, Tochigi Prefecture, it has an immense hatred for humans and only desires either the death or lack of exposure to these "lower beings". Nūbē is forced to undertake various tests from this powerful 3000-year old yōkai when Tamamo slowly falls apart due to his failure to complete his "transformation jutsu" abilities. Besides having immense abilities in illusion, transformation and fire, it can also summon a special "Trial Jar" for its yōko followers to deem their worthiness by undertaking escape without the use of their powers. Eventually, the fox also grew interested in Tamamo's fondness of humanity, and grants him enough power to continue living in his current form.

Tsuwabukimaru

Tsuwabukimaru( 石蕗丸) appears when Tamamo becomes very sick, reminding him of his path to complete his "transformation justu" in order to prevent from turning into ashes. He is a young kitsune who holds a great deal of admiration for Tamamo, and does not want him to die. Not understanding the relationship the Tamamo now holds with humans, he was intent on getting Hiroshi's skull and was only stopped at the last second by the person he himself admired. He blames Nūbē for Tamamo's slide into weakness and his eventual degradation, although he was still convinced to lead the teacher to the Nine-Tailed Kitsune. Tsuwabukimaru dresses and acts like a ninja, attacking with two sharp blades attached to his arms and moves along with the wind. Despite his male name, it is suggested that the skull he uses to take human form may be that of a girl, as Nūbē teased Tamamo about him when he showed up. His personality, while straightforward and determined, is also slightly naive and ditzy.

Mountain Yōkai

In the northern Tohoku region of Japan, there exists a collection of various yōkai associated with the local elemental natures of their region, such as rock, wind, snow and ice. The guardian of these yōkai is a powerful mountain god whose word regarding his spirit is law, dominating them and forcing them to either obey or face the consequences. These beings have a detached nature from humanity, carrying a cold, emotionless existence similar to the cold winds that blow in their region: they merely exist alongside humans and the fate of these humans are determined by their whims. However, the nature between these mountain yokai and humans would eventually be challenged by one yuki-onna and the man that she loves...

Yukime

One of several yōkai created in the mountains of northern Japan, Yukime (ゆきめ/雪姫) is a 16-year old yuki-onna whose life and existence was complicated due to her love and emotions for Nūbē. The connection was originally made five years prior, when the spiritualist, then a college student lost while skiing in the mountains, saves the young girl yōkai from a hunter determined to kill her before she grows up to bewitch and harm his village.

After Nūbē saved her life, Yukime made a promise that she would eventually find him so they could be together "in eternal love". The meaning of this was eventually made clear when she came down to Doumori, intent on bringing home her beloved Nūbē... frozen in ice where he would not die, to live with her "for eternity". She still has a warm heart, however, and her love for Nūbē was real, and Yukime was convinced that he shouldn't be brought to the mountains thanks to the efforts of Nūbē's students; when she tried to attack them, the until-then frozen Nūbē de-froze himself and told Yukime that she should leave, and so she did... for some time, since she returned and decided to stay in Domori, working as an ice skating coach at the local skating rink and trying to win his heart.

Due to being a yuki-onna, Yukime possesses several powers and weaknesses due to her connections with snow, ice and the cold. Yukime's main ability is the creation of snow or ice from her body, using it as a means to freeze any target she can see or point at. Her freezing power is useful in offensive attacks, the creation of roadblocks to stop larger targets, and even can be used to concentrate light like a magnifying glass. (not to mention its useful for making shaved ice, which according to Nūbē is the only good thing Yukime's power is for) Yukime also possesses a slight healing ability and, due to her cold connections, has a natural talent for figure skating.

Unfortunately, being a yōkai of snow has its weaknesses: she can not stand intense heat and can only remedy certain areas by freezing an area to a much colder, more tolerable temperature. Furthermore, Yukime can not make hot foods nor can she wear certain black clothing for fear of melting certain parts of her body. But Yukime does have a cute remedy for temperature problems: when she becomes too hot, she wraps her entire body into a snowman to cool herself down, and can drive Nūbē crazy when she pops out of it... completely naked. While many of these heat problems were eventually remedied through a revival later in the series, Yukime does occasionally still have problems with hotter temperatures.

While Yukime becomes a valuable ally and nuisance in Doumori, it is her relationship situations involving her and Nūbē that drives most of her character through the series. After her first appearance as a "yōkai of the chapter", she eventually holds a love/hate relationship with the teacher, with several attempts by the yuki-onna to get Nūbē to fall for her leading to some acknowledegment, but further frustration for both of them. Making matters worse is beautiful and ultra-sensitive Ritsuko-sensei, whom Nūbē originally desires and whom eventually begins to return some of her feelings just as Yukime is starting to get through to him.

The tension builds to a breaking point when another of the Mountain God's servants tricks Yukime into capturing the teacher, making her believe that Ritsuko's sacrifice is needed to make her human and win over Nūbē. When Yukime tried to kill kill Ritsuko-sensei and ultimately failed, believing that Ritsuko had no fault and that it wasn't fair to injure her, the youkai told Yukime that he was simply sent to test if she still possesses the cold yuki-onna's heart and bring her back to the mountains if she does, or kill her if she had indeed sympathized with humans.

Nūbē finally came to save Ritsuko-sensei and Yukime, and after saving Ritsuko he apologizes to her and admits his love for the latter. It was too late, however, as a severely injured Yukime used the last of her powers to help destroy the youkai and turned into snowflakes in Nūbē's arms. As Miki and Hiroshi cried, Kyouko asked Ritsuko if Yukime was truly dead, and she told her that she probably wasn't and that her snowflakes might allow her to be reborn later.

While Nūbē believed her to be dead, Yukime was, in fact, not. Like Ritsuko said, Yukime's snowflakes were carried away to her mountains, where the Mountain God used them to create another yuki-onna in her place, with the exact same looks and the exact same name. This Yukime, however, had a cold heart and did not hesitate to kill a human. Nūbē found her during a winter school trip, where she tricked him away from his class in order to kill him. He allowed her to attack him, but not without invoking fragments of the original Yukime's memories and fragments of her warm heart. Confused, the "new" Yukime fled without killing Nūbē and his class.

Yukime returned to Doumori later to find closure to her conflicting feelings, and realizing she did love Nūbē, decided to stay and reconcile the two halves of herself. Although she did not remember much of her life before, it was implied that Yukime eventually recovered all of her memories. Her personality was also changed from the aggressive yuki-onna youkai to a balance between her childish former self and assertive new identity.

In the anime, there was an alternate world created in Kyouko's dreams and subconscious, created by a youkai that had possessed her in her sleep. In that alternate world, Yukime had grown into a full-fledged yuki-onna and still was at Doumori, but she wasn't with Nūbē anymore since he was in a catatonic state after being almost murdered by another youkai. (note: although the chapter existed in the manga, Yukime was not in the original chapter since she had yet to return to Dōmori at this time)

Seiyū: Yuri Shiratori

The Mountain God

The kami of an unnamed mountain in an unnamed province that was Yukime's birthplace. He is her creator, a being of nature that is outside of human understanding. His greatest priority is the balance of nature, which caused him to grow displeased at Yukime's intention to live in the human world with Nūbē. As far as he was concerned, Yukime was created to bring snow and balance to the mountain's winters, and taking her away disrupts that balance. Nothing else matters in the equation. The Mountain God sent servants after her, but after they were all defeated by Nūbē, his displeasure grew in a more grotesque form---namely by causing the people in nearby villages to grow tree branches all over their skin. Yukime and Nūbē attempted to placate him failed, and they would have died in the Mountain God's wrath if not for Nūbē's father, who used himself as a human pillar to seal away the kami's anger and allow his son to finally live a happy life.

The Mountain God's appearance is that of a gigantic human face and hands on a large rock cliff. Trees grow above him and pools of magma bubbles beneath him.

ervants of the Mountain God

After Yukime disobeys his orders regarding the persual of Nūbē, the Mountain God sends several other yokai of the mountain after her and her beloved, each one using a different tactic to separate the two!
* [http://www.obakemono.com/obake/ippondatara/ Ippon Datara] (一本ダタラ "Ippon Datara"): A yokai with the appearance of a disfigured, one-legged monk, he comes to Yukime stating that the only way that she can ever gain the love of a human is to become one by freezing the body of a beautiful woman. (who in this case turns out to be Ritsuko-sensei) Using the power of his one-eye, he abducts the female teacher, leaving her slightly frozen for Yukime to finish the job. But his true intention was to have her kill in order for her to regain the cold heart she had lost, thus becoming a true yuki-onna again and allowing her to rejoin the Mountain God! Yukime releases Ritsuko-sensei, but Datara freezes her and stabs her with icicles for her betrayal! Eventually, while Nūbē and Yukime were able to defeat him, she had been too worn down by the assassin to last too much longer...though when she fades away, she finally does have Nūbē's acknowledgement of his love.
*Kodama Mice (こだまねずみ "Kodama Nezumi"): Originally from Akita Prefecture, these small spies sneak in to Yukime's satchel after she returns to Doumori following her revival. Watching Yukime until the time was right, they have the ability to inflate themselves like balloons until they ultimately burst, killing anyone that has broken the law of the Mountain God! Though they nearly wipe out Yukime, Nūbē and his class, he is able to save everyone with a well-timed sutra prior to explosion!
*Tsulala (つらら "Tsulala"): Although she appears like a mature, buxom black-haired woman, she is actually Yukime's identical twin sister! In their youth, the two of them spent plenty of time together, but Tsulala consistently played practical jokes on the white-haired yuki-onna which consistently made her get reformed or shredded into snowflakes! But when she appears before her sister and Nube, it is as a messenger from the Mountain God sent to either take her back peacefully or kill her, believing she will only bring bad luck to Nūbē if she stays with humans. Tsulala's own abilities allows her to manipulate ice, but her specialty is to create ice copies of any object she sees and use it like a living, working model! (including machines and animals) In the end, Yukime defeats her by creating a giant ice magnifying glass, weakening her ice abilities to the point of being unusable. (but unlike the other messengers, Tsulala does get away)
*The Stone Tengu (岩天狗 "Iwatengu"): An extremely powerful yokai completely made of stone, he is the very last and strongest of the servants of the Mountain God, pursuing Nūbē long after his master had been destroyed! After Nūbē and Yukime finally get engaged, he pursues the potential groom the day before and of his wedding, creating illusions with his "Anxiety Wind" to make the teacher realize the horrors of getting married to a yuki-onna! Making Nūbē experience a sleepless night, he nearly drives him to his death...until the power of Baki (the Oni no Te, by this time working alongside the teacher better) saves his life! Although the tengu further increases his wind powers by increasing his nose's length and even unleashes the ultimate wind abilities, he is ultimately crushed when Baki is fully released, as Nūbē realizes that he can live happily ever after with a yuki-onna.

Yukibe

Yukibe was a child who looked like a mixture between Yukime and Nūbē, whom everyone assumed was caused by their union. His real origin, however, was solely based on Yukime's powers. Apparently, as a yuki-onna reaches maturity, she develops a power to create a snow-child who would play with her before flying off into the mountains, a way she brings winter to the world. Yukibe possessed the freezing power that Yukime has, and he caused a great deal of havoc before finally flying off, bringing snow to Doumori. Although this is Yukibe's only real appearance, Nūbē consistently is reminded of him whenever he imagines the idea of him and Yukime having a real child, giving him further disgust over the relationship between a human and a yuki-onna.

Other Yōkai of Note

While many, many yōkai appear within Nūbē either as threats or assistance to the class and the citizens of Doumori, certain ones has multiple appearances and a consistent connection with the characters in the series.

Zashiki Warashi

Zashiki Warashi (座敷わらし) is a small, child like yōkai known for being a bringer of good luck towards anyone that is even near it. Merely being within its reach gives a bit of luck to a person, but befriending it can allow it to follow you around giving luck to you for much longer periods. Usually she can not be seen by normal people, though.

Nūbē initially encounters this yōkai after having a particularly lucky steak at a pachinko parlor. (though it is unknown if it was the cause of his good fortune) After feeding it some senbei, it follows him back to school where it causes one good thing after another for the students in his class (even Hiroshi gets an 80 on his test because of it, which is good considering how non-booksmart to the point of idiocy he is) He tries to convince the yōkai that they don't need it, scaring it away, but it returns to end up saving Hiroshi from a possibly fatal accident. In another incident, Zashiki Warashi reveals a power of reversing fortunes, making the yuki-onna Yukime become befuddled by disasters, the worst of which was witnessing a date between her beloved Nūbē and Ritsuko-sensei!

Zashiki Warashi's last major appearance revealed that there was more to the yōkai than originally suggested. She was revealed to be the dead spirit of a poor young girl who lived fifty years ago. The girl cared more about others and helped them out even though she had so little. She eventually caught pneumonia and chose to wish for the health and happiness of everyone around her instead of herself even as she laid on her deathbed. Nūbē and his class chose to give thanks to Zashiki Warashi for all it did, holding it a party for all its done for them and even allowing her to see her mother one more time. But even so, Zashiki Warashi's work is never done.

Kuchisake-onna

The Kuchisake-onna {口裂け女) is a legendary yōkai of strange circumstances, even in the world of Nūbē. Some legends say that she is the result of horrific dental surgery from 80 years ago, giving her a gaping mouth and jagged teeth. She wanders around various towns with bandages hiding her mouth, asking children if she's pretty before removing them and scaring them away! In actuality, the Kuchisake-onna is the result of an animal possession, the result of an encounter with the grudge of an inugami giving this female their demonic-appearing mouth. The students of Nūbē's class encounter a kuchisake-onna after hearing the former legend, trying to fend themselves off with pomade to escape it. But the teacher is able to show them their error, using the Oni no Te to remove the spirit and show the beautiful female underneath the beast! This one particular kuchisake-onna (her name revealed later as Honomi) is later revealed to be the youngest of three kuchisake-sisters, all of whom live together and occasionally get into trouble due to their infamy and connection with the legends behind their mouths.

Hayame (Mermaid)

Hayame (速魚) is a sweet but extremely ditsy mermaid who occasionally assists Nūbē...even though he usaly ends up regreting it. She usually takes one of two forms when she appears: either that of a typical mermaid (nude with her long green hair covering her bosom and an orange fin on the bottom) or in a human form which she can access by magically turning her fin into two human legs (unfortunately, the formation of legs usually has her revealing her privates after transformation, much to the embrassment of any male that happens to be near her at the time). Like the mermaids of Japanese legend, she has the ability to grant immortality to anyone who eats her flesh, as well as the ability to reverse the same immortality from someone who eats her liver. Similarly, her blood also has healing properties: one small drip can instantly heal anyone of all of their wounds, even fatal ones. But there is a small drawback to Hayame's healing properties: the receiver of her healing blood is rendered a complete idiot for a short period of time after being healed. Also, Hayame possesses the ability to control and manipulate people's emotions by singing, similar to the mythical sirens.

Hayame actually came to become connected to Nūbē by strange circumstances: introduced as the mummified corpse of a mermaid possessed by the priest Oshō, the teacher ends up giving it some of the spiritual power of his Oni no Te in when the idiot priest forces him to try and revive it. Though the project seemed a failure after Nūbē spent thirty minutes giving it spiritual energy, the corpse did revive overnight and the awakened female chose to thank the teacher by giving him the gift of immortality. Unfortunately, when Nūbē did meet the living Hayame, he thought she was a crazy overworked student who was losing her mind due to cram school. When he finally realized the truth, he apologized and discovered that she was mummified after being away from the sea for two hundred years after coming ashore for a festival. He subsequently declines her immortality offer, but ends up having his life saved by her after nearly killing himself to save a child.

Although Hayame finally returns to the sea after this incident, she consistently drops in to Dōmori one way or another, leading to Nūbē getting stuck with her time and again. Many of her actions ends up making her look like a juvenile teenager instead of the long-lived yōkai she is. She ends up getting caught by scientists when she just wants to buy a CD player and even wanted to use her singing abilities to get on a local talent show. But even with her faults, Hayame continues to show a caring, helpful personality that chooses to assist those in need. (even if it does sometimes screw everything up)

Seiyū: Wakana Yamazaki

Kudagitsune

The kudagitsune (くだ狐) are small, long animal yōkai known from the Tohoku region who live in tubes and are commonly used as the assisting yōkai of itako such as local spiritualist Izuna Orimoto. Unseen by average humans, they are able to fly about doing the task of the one who controls them, whether it is investigating information for the user, communication or to fly inside a human's body to gather needed thoughts. All kudagitsune are usually under the control of whomever it is born to or raised by, but can be easily controlled by beings of greater power. Tamamo, for example, is able to stop or control them due to being much simpler animal yōkai than himself.

Most of the kudagitsune within Nūbē belong to Izuna, who uses them as both her help and servants. Keeping hundreds of them within her own apartment of various shapes and sizes, they end up cleaning up and looking after her until they are needed. Those that Izuna keeps for duty are kept in small lipstick vials which she releases for the need of herself or for others. Another user of kudagitsune include Nūbē himself, who ends up creating one named Baco when the energies of one kudagitsune combined with the energy of the Oni no Te, giving birth to a demonic-appearing yōkai that assists the teacher when not living inside a pen. Other kudagitsune are used by the villainous Priest Kanran, who keeps several kudagitsune on him including his most powerful one in his left eye-socket.

The most powerful and legendary of the kudagitsune within the series is Gedo, a giant, but slightly dumb being with immense potential for power. Born once every three-hundred years in the heart of a mountain in Tohoku, he has the ultimate potential of releasing the "True Treasure" of whatever your greatest desire is. The giant kudagitsune unexpectedly ends up in the hands of Izuna, who ends up giving birth to him and forced to protect it from the evil Kanran, who desires the treasure that Gedo may unlock.

Kesaran Pasaran

Although it appears at first like a small white fuzzball, Kesaran Pasaran (ケサランパサラン) is an extremely useful and lucky yōkai to whomever encounters it. Unknown in its origin (though one legend suggests it as a gift from angels), Kesaran Pasaran is notable for bringing good luck and happiness to anyone who encounters it. More intriguingly, the amount of the small fuzzballs can quickly multiply if kept within the vicinity of face powder for a period of time: the more Kesaran Pasaran, the more good luck! The yōkai is initially encountered by Miki during a Christmas party, who initially uses its luck abilities and its multiplication trick to grant all her desires, but ultimately ends up saving her friends and giving a happy holiday to the entire town in the process. Later on, the Kesaran Pasaran are revealed to be the "yōkai of ultimate good", saving both the town of Dōmori, and ultimately the world, from the unleashed power of the ultimate evil yōkai: Yamato no Orochi!