Given how tumultuous Japanese school life can be, it's no surprise that it's the subject of a lot of anime series. Whether the creators are just venting their frustrations or just looking back at nostalgic daily lives, the industry has gotten a lot of mileage out of school anime. With that in mind, an often understated portion of school anime is the teachers themselves.
They are, in fact, the defining quality responsible for shaping Japan's youth. Good teachers should be given the same respect of some of anime's most gilded heroes, whereas bad ones should probably be fired.
10 Best: Shizuka Hiratsuka (My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU)
Shizuka Hiratsuka is the idyllic image of what a high school teacher should be, especially within Japan. Not only does she deeply care about the education and futures of her students, but she even takes the extra special time to get to know them and help them wade through their own problems.
That's what made her a pivotal part of My Teen Romantic Comedy, namely as a guiding force for the Service Club. Without her guidance, Hachiman, Yukino, and Yui wouldn't have the mindset let alone the confidence to do half the things they did. Japanese Language teacher in school, life mentor after school, Shizuka Hiratsuka is the total package.
9 Worst: Ginpachi-sensei (Gintama)
In near total contrast to Shizuka Hiratsuka, Ginpachi-sensi could care less about his students. In Gintama's parody of high school anime and a means of transitioning between different scenes, the beloved comedy anime has a special segment called "Ginpachi-sensei," in which, Gin takes the role of a teacher taking the class/the fans' questions.
And, in grand Gin fashion, he kind of dodges quite a few direct answers and changes the subject entirely. When a class begins arguing whether or not Home Alone 2 is a good movie, one begins to wonder whether Gin's students will have a bright future.
8 Best: Noburo Taki (Sound! Euphonium)
A lot of credit should be given to the traditional teacher giving kids the practical knowledge that they need for everyday life. However, the role of artistic and extracurricular teachers should never be understated. These after school heroes can play as much of a role, if not a greater one, in disciplining students and helping them sort through their futures.
Sound! Euphonium's Noburo Taki is one such music teacher that seeks to bring out excellence within a music department that has nearly lost its sense of competition. He encourages his students to work hard, brings in special guests from his network, and even inspires the kids to really hunt down their dreams.
7 Worst: Souichi Nishimura (Baka And Test!)
Baka and Test! takes place in a dystopian, albeit colorful, world where children's school lives are dictated by their test scores. If they do well on tests, they'll get advanced equipment and snacks. If they do poorly, they'll get broken tables and a teacher that barely wants to be there. What makes things worse is the idea that if a student's grades ever drop down far enough, they'll have to deal with the remedial teacher, Souichi Nishimura, aka "The Demon."
Nishimura has become a villain within his own right, as he terrifies the students from every dropping into remedial courses. While this might seem like a positive, there's rarely a moment where someone's life is truly turned around during his sessions, and he's mostly used as a weapon by the students themselves to sabotage each other.
6 Best: Shouta Aizawa (My Hero Academia)
Shouta Aizawa may not look the part of the involved teacher, given his crass stare and tendency to lecture while in a sleeping bag. However, never underestimate this guy. Besides being one of the most competent Pro Heroes around, Aizawa is also a strict yet fair teacher that looks to create the best teachers possible.
While is he is infamous for expelling students on a whim, Aizawa does a great job training the students that do stay and pinpointing their areas of improvement. With experience and patience in hand, Aizawa keeps people hopeful for the next generation of heroes.
5 Worst: Nozomu Itoshiki (Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei)
Nozomu Itoshiki is likely the opposite of what a teacher should be. Instead of prepping his students for a bright future, he'll try to convince them of the worst, corrupting their outlooks for the worst possible future or convincing them to not even try to fix things in the first place. A lot of this is seeded within Nozumu's own problems.
He is a pessimist whose outlook on life is either depressing if not outright fatalistic. His attempts at steering his kids away from having any positive outlook in life is either his way of sharing truths or just trying to breed a world that looks more like him. In either case, he needs to focus on other things besides teaching.
4 Best: Fuutarou Uesugi (The Quintessential Quintuplets)
The Quintessential Quintuplet's Fuutarou Uesugi may be the only tutor listed here, but he does have the unenviable job of teaching a group of whimsical, entitled sisters. It's not as if the quintuplets themselves are impossible to teach, but they've individually made it hard for themselves to have any interest in learning.
When that disinterest becomes enabled by each other's disinterest, they just become a teacher's nightmare. Fuutarou Uesugi gets major points for doing what most teachers can't, and that's actually get these girls' attention. This is due to his own intelligence, dedication, and capacity to relate to the girls at a personal level. Given that he's teaching what is essentially an entire class, Fuutarou is a pretty good tutor.
3 Worst: Eikichi Onizuka (Great Teacher Onizuka)
Great Teacher Onizuka has quite the gilded history as one of anime's best. This manga/anime series helped inspire various fans to seek life outside of school and to fight for themselves. Leading the charge of such ideals is none other than hoodlum-turned-teacher, Eikichi Onizuka. This brash educator has taken on spoiled children, dangerous delinquents, and manipulative kids head on and helped them find themselves.
As admirable as this might be, his exact methods are controversial. To do the above, Onizuka has broken into kids' homes, fought students, and constantly wrecked the principle's prized car. This isn't touching on his lecherous behavior. On top of that, he never really gets around to teaching actual school subjects. As good as believing in oneself can be, learning math and science should also be a priority.
2 Best: Koro-sensei (Assassination Classroom)
Assassination Classroom's Koro-sensei really can do it all. Using his camouflage abilities, various tentacles, and even Mach 20 speeds, he's managed to teach, inspire, and protect an entire classroom that is simultaneously trying to assassinate him. Even then, he also helps train them to be better assassins.
Put in charge of the worst students within the entire school, Koro-sensei puts in alien amounts of effort to get his kids interested in learning, whether that means giving special attention, curating lessons, or even planning special events. He's everything that a good teacher should be and can only dream of.
1 Worst: Gaku Yashiro (Erased)
Few teachers get any worse than Gaku Yashiro in Erased. While he may appear like a kind and attentive teacher on the surface, that demeanor is only hiding the very antagonist of the entire series. Gaku uses his position as a teacher to stalk little girls that he will later kidnap and murder.
He'd go on to frame the murders on an innocent citizen and attack Satoru's family within the distant future. He is the very embodiment of evil and a strong example of teaching's worst nightmare.