Ask John: Why Aren’t There More Anime Like Onegai Teacher?

Question:
How come there are not many anime like Onegai Sensei? I noticed that there are barely any anime that deal with student-teacher relationships and if they do, in most cases the teacher is a male and the student is a female. Are there any reasons for this?

Answer:
Before moving in an answer, I’d like to first address an introductory point. To the full extent of my knowledge, there has never been an anime production titled “Onegai Sensei.” More than once I’ve encountered English speaking anime fans use the title “Onegai Sensei” to refer to the 2002 television series Onegai Teacher. The literal, proper Japanese title for the series is “Onegai Teacher” with “Onegai” spelled in hiragana, and the English language word “Teacher” spelled in Katakana. “Onegai Sensei” is not the original title for the series, nor is it an alternate title for the series. “Onegai Sensei” is simply an incorrect name for the series.

Anime series including Onegai Teacher, Kodomo no Jikan, and Natural focus primarily on students attracted to a teacher. And anime series including Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, Rizelmine, Love Com, and Mahou Sensei Negima include sub-plots involving characters attracted to their teacher. The DearS and Mahoromatic anime series parody this convention by depicting sexy teachers that want relationships with students but are constantly rebuffed. Examples including Kodomo no Jikan, Love Com, Negima, and Natural all illustrate young female students attracted to older male instructors. Onegai Teacher is unusual in the regard that it depicts a younger boy attracted to his older female teacher. While Iwaki Tomonori’s crush on his female teacher Natsumi isn’t the primary plot thread of Rizelmine, it is a prominent development in the series.

We can’t forget the many of these anime titles that deal with romances between a teacher and student are created for male viewers. Depicting an attractive young girl falling for an older man may be taken as a humorous sort of wish fulfillment. Male viewers can watch these anime and imagine that they themselves are the object of an attractive young girl’s crush. Being the object of affection is far less strenuous and anxiety inducing than feeling attracted to an unapproachable older woman in an authoritarian position. Onegai Teacher works because Mizuho is at least as eager for a relationship with Kei as Kei is attracted to her. Developing the couple in Onegai Teacher is easy. The difficulty and humor arise from sustaining the relationship. In effect, anime which depict young men pining for an older woman may evoke nervousness and fear in young adult male anime fans because the situation strikes too close to real life. Average male anime fans, who may not be especially outgoing, may be nervous about approaching women, so having a girl make the first move is far less emotionally stressful, and more relaxing to watch than a reversed situation.