‘Hell Teacher: Jigoku Sensei Nube’ (2025) Netflix Series Review - A Decent Attempt

I came into this new take on the 2025 version of the series with a fair amount of curiosity, and for the most part, it delivers a lively mix of horror, school life, and quiet heart. The premise is straightforward: our protagonist, the homeroom teacher Meisuke Nueno (often called “Nube”), is more than your typical educator. His left hand hosts a demon’s power, and when strange spirits, yokai, and unexplainable phenomena begin emerging around the elementary school classroom he oversees, he leaps into action. The early episodes show one case after another – creepy dolls, haunted classrooms, possessed students – but layered behind each “monster-of-the-week” encounter is something more personal: a teacher trying to connect with kids who may not always understand what he’s doing, a self-sacrificing protector who nevertheless carries regrets, and a school community that oscillates between normalcy and the occult.

The performances here shine. Nube himself is written with enough depth that he isn’t just an invincible fighter but someone with vulnerabilities: he occasionally doubts himself, and there are moments where his interactions with his students, especially the younger, more insecure ones, feel sincere and grounded. The supporting cast does well, too: the students aren’t mere background fodder; they have fears and quirks and occasionally act in ways that push the story forward rather than simply reacting. The writing balances the eerie and the mundane nicely. There are scenes where a classroom prank leads to a haunting, or where a comforting chat with a child turns into an exorcism. Direction and cinematography lean into the mood: corridors are lit with enough shadow to feel unsettling, then brighten when Nube enters the classroom and shifts into teacher mode, giving a tangible sense of contrast between his supernatural role and his everyday role as educator. The soundtrack supports the shifts—tense when ghosts loom, gentle when kids share their feelings.

One of the things I really appreciated is how the show doesn’t treat all the supernatural incidents as identical. Some arcs are short and self-contained, others build a sense of unresolved dread: a soul trapped in a doll, a curse that doesn’t quite get exorcised cleanly, the lingering gaze of a spirit even after it appears “handled”. That sense of lingering unease is effective. It reminds us that Nube’s world doesn’t just reset after each episode; there are consequences and emotional remains. The series also takes time to explore the students’ emotional lives: bullying, isolation, and the fear of being different. In a few key moments, a spirit is revealed to be born of a child’s trauma or a teacher’s mistake, which gives the story more emotional weight.

At the same time, there are a few shortcomings that took me out of the story occasionally. The pacing can be uneven: when the show shifts into the monster-of-the-week mode, some episodes feel a little too formulaic—student frightened, ghost appears, Nube intervenes, resolution—but the transitions aren’t always smooth. There’s a sense that the show is trying to juggle too many tones (comedy, horror, school drama), and occasionally the comedic or light moments undercut the sense of fear or suspense. I also found that some of the character arcs, especially among the students, are introduced but then not always given enough time to settle or evolve. A kid who appears haunted might get a back story, get “helped,” and then vanish from the storyline, which diminishes the impression of continuity or growth. Also, while the visuals are quite good, there are moments where the budget seems to shrink: backgrounds flatten, fight sequences feel repetitive, and the consistency of animation slips a little bit in the more action-intense scenes.

Another tiny gripe: because the series tries to keep the mystery of Nube’s past and his demon-sealed hand alive, it sometimes withholds a bit too much. The show dangles hints about why he chose this life, what exact cost the demon’s hand imposes, but in the early half of the season, this mystery remains largely under-explored—which is fine if you expect a slow reveal, but for a viewer such as myself, it felt like it delayed some of the emotional payoff. Also, the student-teacher dynamic occasionally dips into clichés: the “troubled kid whom only the special teacher can save” has been done before, and though this version tweaks it with horror elements, I found myself wishing the show would lean harder into unpredictability rather than rely on familiar beats.

That said, the show’s strengths outweigh its flaws. By around episode three, I found myself invested in the kids’ welfare and curious about how Nube will manage the next crisis. The way the show uses the classroom as a stage for supernatural chaos is clever: it reminds us that children’s worlds and adults’ worlds overlap, and that when something strange happens, it affects not just one kid but the whole class, the teacher, and the school community. The tonal shifts—one moment a regular school lunch, the next moment a shadow seeping under the door—are handled with enough skill that I felt tension without losing empathy for the characters.

Visually and aurally, the show is solid. The backgrounds of the school have a lived-in quality: chalkboards with scrawled names, lockers slightly dented, fluorescent lights flickering when ghosts appear. The yokai designs are imaginative – creepy but not over the top, with enough visual novelty that I didn’t feel “seen this before” every time. The score does a nice job of underscoring both the creeping dread and the safe haven of the classroom. The direction often uses camera angles that tilt subtly during the horror moments, making standard school halls feel alien. All that adds to the immersive experience.

What surprised me positively was how the show pivots from purely external supernatural threats to internal emotional ones. A classmate’s fear of being ignored becomes the doorway for a vengeful spirit; a teacher’s guilt becomes a mirror for the demon’s power; the school setting, rather than just being a backdrop, becomes a character in itself. So while the early episodes might lean heavier on “scary ghost of the week,” you start to feel the show leaning toward something more: a story about protection, acceptance, fear of difference, and what a teacher is willing to sacrifice for his students.

In closing, watching this version of ‘Hell Teacher’ gave me both the fun of supernatural hijinks and enough character depth to care. It isn’t flawless—some episodes feel predictable, some arcs are underdeveloped, the mystery of the protagonist’s backstory drips slowly, but the good parts keep me engaged and wanting more. If you’re in the mood for a show that balances school-day normalcy with eerie shadows, and you enjoy when characters genuinely matter, then this series is well worth your time. I’m looking forward to how it deepens in the next course and hoping it resolves some of the open emotional strands I’m still curious about.

Final Score- [7/10]
Reviewed by - Anjali Sharma
Follow @AnjaliS54769166 on Twitter
Publisher at Midgard Times