"To be average is to be free from the burden that you are exceptional" - ChatGPT
Abikura-kun never longed for the cheers of his peers or the benefits of greatness. Entering his second year of high school, he only hoped to go through the motions and get by in the background. For Abikura-kun, mediocrity IS the way of life. By keeping his friendships at a comfortable distance and surrounding himself with ordinary people, illusions of grandeur wouldn't come within a 20-foot pole of our protagonist.
Abikura-kun's new semester begins just as he hoped... until...
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| Hiyori Hiwamura, the eponymous Yowayowa Sensei, enters Abikura-kun's life |
Hiwamura is far from the ordinary sensei Abikura had hoped for. She is an evil demon who chants curses at her students and keeps talismans in her notebook. Dubbed “Kowakowa Sensei,” or “Scary Teacher" by the student body, Hiwamura poses a threat not only to the mediocre high school life Abikura longed for, but also to the safety of the entire school... or so it seemed.
Using misunderstandings as a catalyst to initiate a story is common in all forms of media. They give the characters a goal: to clear up the misunderstanding.
Hiyori Hiwamura is not some evil entity looking to gather the souls of the student body. She is just a cute, clumsy girl fresh out of college who dreams of becoming the best teacher she can be.
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| Yowayowa Sensei being cute as she practices giving lectures |
The bleeding forehead? She just tripped and hit her head on the door. The talismans in her notebook? She simply wrote down all her students' names and seat numbers so she could memorize them more quickly. The curses she was chanting? She just has a very reserved and shy personality, which makes it hard for her to enunciate and express herself.
Hiwamura is a severely limited person. Her body is incredibly weak. Where one would warm up before exercising, for Hiwamura, the warm-up is the exercise. Her weak voice is not simply the result of her shy personality, but is also exacerbated by her body’s inability to exert enough effort to produce a loud voice. She is so clumsy and uncoordinated that not seeing her fall at least once in an episode is a miracle.
But though severely limited, Hiwamura is a very dedicated person. Aside from the aforementioned techniques she uses to memorize her students' names, she practices her lectures after school. She practices jumping rope for the school sports festival, which is still a few months away. She crafts props for the test of courage during the school trip. She visits a truant student every day to leave notes in hopes of getting her to attend school. She even tries to learn how to use a camera when she becomes the Photography Club's adviser.
Hiwamura is best-girl material. Yowayowa Sensei's English translation, “Weak-willed Teacher,” is an affront to this extremely lovable character. How dare these uncultured swines insinuate that Hiwamura—the next great waifu—is anything but a strong, determined woman?!
Hiwamura is the perfect female lead for Abikura-kun. Her drive for self-improvement is an infectious disease that coaxes Abikura-kun into actually becoming a better person rather than settling for mediocrity. This pairing will surely lead us to a wholesome story of improvement and self-discovery...
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| Did I write “wholesome”? Because Yowayowa Sensei is anything but! |
Yowayowa Sensei is an unapologetically LEWD anime. Within the first five minutes of the first episode, Hiwamura's succulent knockers were already out. This includes the very cozy OP song, by the way.
Ecchi scenes in anime are very common. We usually have the onsen scene where the male lead somehow gets trapped in the bath while the female characters get in. Tsunderes slapping the crap out of the male character after accidentally getting their panties exposed is another common trope. But Yowayowa Sensei is just so in-your-face with its ecchi that it warrants admiration.
Granted, the level of ecchi in Yowayowa Sensei is not for everybody. But it is a great exercise in suspending disbelief.
Hiwamura exposes herself to Abikura-kun basically every episode. And yet, the relationship between the two still seems relaxed and cozy. Insanely inappropriate. But cozy.
There are no violent retaliations from a tsundere. There is no anxiety between the two after the episodic explicit incident. The two basically accept and understand that there is no malicious intent whenever they find themselves in awkward situations. It's embarrassing... sure. But for them, it seems normal.
This approach to the ecchi scenes gives Abikura-kun's character development more gravity. Abikura actually steps up and becomes the class president. He even gets a truant student to return to school. He starts a photography club. During the school trip, he doesn't allow the weather to get in the way and manages to get the test of courage to proceed.
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| Abihura-kun getting one of the personalized perfect attendance awards Hiwamura made |
This is far from the kid who relished mediocrity and was content with being a background character in his own story.
Yowayowa Sensei is anchored by two well-crafted leads. The supporting characters—the over-dotting sister, the airheaded childhood friend, the perverted gremlin who used to be a truant, and the senpai photographer who loves the allure of the barely clothed—are there to put the leads in different situations.
There's nothing wrong with the supporting characters per se. It's just that they are what they are... tools. Mukubayashi's eventual confession, which we all knew was coming, fell flat. She simply isn't fleshed out enough. Luckily, the aftermath was well-written and did not take away from the cozy vibe of this ridiculously lewd show.
Yowayowa Sensei is not for everybody. Binging it is not recommended because there is such a thing as too much ecchi. But it is a decent show. If you just need to shut down and watch two well-crafted characters navigate insanely provocative situations, Yowayowa Sensei is a good show. But if you want more than wacky, sexy situations, move on.
If you're looking for an ecchi anime set in an office, check out Ganbare, Douki-chan. Read my review here: Ganbare, Douki-chan Review: Cute, Funny, and a Little Too Ecchi
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