Ultimate Otaku Teacher: Part 1

Adapted from manga, this comedy series centers on a young man named Junichiro Kagami, who while educated in science is also the Japanese cultural archetype of a “NEET” (Not in Education, Employment or Training)—a guy who devotes all of his time to video games, comics, anime, and blogging about same. His exasperated sister forces Junichiro (at the point of a baseball bat) to take a real-world job as a public high-school teacher. Surprisingly, Junichiro finds that he can use gaming, social media, and anime philosophies to reach his students, and while a misunderstanding with a semi-delinquent girl soon gets him fired (which the otaku teacher doesn't mind at all), news of his unorthodox methods also results in him being recruited to lead a classroom at an exclusive academy. Here, Junichiro learns that one of his new students is, in fact, a leading manga creator going incognito; he reforms a fearsome bully jock nicknamed “Cyborg”; and he takes the entire class into a virtual-reality online fantasy RPG for character-building lessons. Obviously, the “real-world” high-school settings are barely more authentic than those found in typical anime fare, but there are plenty of amusing moments and insider references here for genre fans. Presenting the first 12 episodes from 2015 in a dual-language Blu-ray/DVD Combo set, rated TV-14, extras include episode commentaries. Recommended. [Note: Ultimate Otaku Teacher: Part 2 is also newly available.] (C. Cassady)