A time when demi-humans have slowly begun to be accepted into human society but remain rare, and most humans have little knowledge about them. High school biology teacher Tetsuo discovers he has three demi students, along with a new demi coworker, and hopes to learn more about their lives.

This short (12 episodes + an OVA) series was really fun and enjoyable! The idea is that many mythological beings are actually demi-humans–born to humans (all the demi characters have human parents, and the vampire actually has a human twin) and generally embodying only some of the aspects ascribed to their mythology. For example, the snow woman (yuki-onna, a Japanese legend) can chill the air around her when experiencing negative emotions, cries ice and is very susceptible to heat, but can’t hurt people or freeze them.

A large part–but not all–of the series is focused on Tetsuo interviewing (formally and informally) the girls, and thus the viewer gets to see the difference between “real” demis and their legends. Hikari the vampire–my favorite character–is cheerful and enthusiastic, drinks blood from packets occasionally, and is sensitive to the heat, but doesn’t need to attack people, isn’t repelled by garlic, and doesn’t turn into a bat. She does, sometimes, have “itchy teeth” and just needs to nom on things without breaking the skin–usually her human twin sister, as seen below.

The show walks a line between teacher Tetsuo’s curiosity and prying too much, and occasionally I think it landed on the side of Things You Shouldn’t Discuss With Your Students (like, how does biological process X work in your body?), but to the show’s credit it didn’t linger there, and I think maybe it could have been trying to actually show that Tetsuo was sometimes getting so caught up in his research interest that he was forgetting whether something was actually appropriate?

The show also addresses his relationship with the students–there’s actually a whole episode dedicated to the question of “do the demi girls rely on him too much? Should Tetsuo step back from seeing them so often?”, and I also want to note that at no point is it implied that Tetsuo ever is interested in any of his students. He’s very much a teacher/mentor and remains in that role; the demis actually come to like him so much because he’s one of the few humans who is willing to openly ask them questions about their demi sides.

The difference and tension between “demi” and “human” is part of the show, especially because most demi-humans don’t seem to have demi ancestry. The girls’ classmates are reluctant to ask any questions about demis, or even to acknowledge their differences. Kyouko the dullahan can crack a joke about being headless and her classmates are unsure how to respond–laugh? Make their own joke? Awkwardly change the subject (bingo)–when all she wants is for people to not pretend that, like, her head isn’t sitting on a pillow on her desk.

There’s a secondary plot following new math teacher Sakie, a succubus who can cause arousal with just a touch, or even being in just close proximity. This is something of a disability–she has to take the first and last trains each day to avoid crowds, can’t live in an apartment complex, is always covered neck-to-toe and wears glasses to obscure her face, and obviously tries to avoid touching anyone.

Tetsuo, who understands proper adult behavior and manners, works very hard not to show if she affects him because obviously she is his Valued Coworker who doesn’t want to cause problems. Apparently this doesn’t happen often (or hey, maybe he does have super willpower) because she is blown away that he can continue talking to her like a rational human. Seriously, this guy attracts demis like black shirts attract my white cat’s fur, all through the power of Normal Conversation and Remembering His Manners.

Pictured below: Sakie under the impression that Tetsuo is immune to any aphrodisiac affect; Tetsuo not understanding the idea of flirting and trying his darndest to stay cool.

Verdict

English dub? Yes, and it’s great. Hikari the vampire in particular, I loved her enthusiasm and ability to sound like an actual teenage girl. Tetsuo also sounded just like an affable adult, very natural.

Visuals: Pretty standard. I didn’t notice any wonkiness in the characters or backgrounds, but also nothing that really made it stand out. The opening and closing sequences are really fun, though: the opening has the demi characters in front of their demi caricatures, and the closing is a sweet sequence showing art being colored in.

Worth watching? Yes! It’s a fun high school comedy more from the perspective of a teacher, and I really enjoyed all the characters. I hope we get another season, because I think it would have benefited from more episodes. It tries to follow a lot–Tetsuo, each of the individual demi students, and succubus teacher Sakie as well–so some bits (Sakie, tbh) got less than they needed.

(There’s really 2 stories this series wants to tell: one about demi-humans in human society overall, and one that goes in depth with each character, their specific quirks, and relationships. It doesn’t have time to do both. And while the students’ stories at least can overlap with each other because they’re all friends, Sakie, like Tetsuo, has more alone time or time-with-secondary-adults by virtue of being not a student. And so any time really focused on her and/or her+Tetsuo together required more plot set-up. I’m definitely not saying this is bad, just that it would’ve been stronger if it had had more episodes in which to tell its story.)