Doki Doki School Hours

Doki Doki School Hours (せんせいのお時間) is a Japanese four-panel manga series by Tamami Momose. The manga was serialized in Manga Life and published by Takeshobo from 1997 to 2013.

An anime television series adaptation was animated by J.C.Staff and aired on TV Tokyo from April 4, 2004 to June 27, 2004. An OVA series, titled Sensei no Ojikan Gold (せんせいのお時間 ご～るど), was also animated by J.C.Staff and continued from where the TV series left off. These episodes were released onto the DVDs of the TV series, one episode for each DVD. Both the TV series and OVA were dubbed into English by Ocean Productions using their Blue Water Studios and have been licensed for release in North America by Geneon Entertainment. However, the OVA was folded onto the TV series and released together as simply Doki Doki School Hours. Thus, for the release in that region, the 14th episode is actually the first episode of the OVA and so on.

The series is centered on 27-year-old homeroom teacher Mika Suzuki (who only looks about half her age) and the eccentric and colorful students of her class. The anime, coming two years after J.C.Staff had success with Azumanga Daioh, inherits a lot stylistically from that series, however the original manga predates Azumanga Daioh by two years. Additionally, before the recent anime incarnation, the manga spawned a series of drama CDs.

Plot
A very short 27-year-old teacher has an interesting time trying to teach her class. She has to deal with the eccentricities of her students as they present themselves over the school year. When you have an insane class (which includes a cross-dressing narcissist, an otaku, a dumb jock, a boy-band obsessed girl, a lesbian in love with the teacher, a homosexual in love with the jock, a guy who looks like a middle-aged man, a girl obsessed with material items and the vain rich girl), what's a person to do but hope?

Characters

 * Mika Suzuki (鈴木みか), also known as Mika-sensei
 * The 27-year old homeroom teacher of Class 2A who is unusually short. She is usually addressed, as given the nickname "Mika-sensei". Her short stature and generally "cute" appearance causes people to think her more childish than she is. Even so, she is not especially mature, still lives with her parents and dreads "measuring day". Mika also has a tendency to cry when things do not go her way.
 * The 27-year old homeroom teacher of Class 2A who is unusually short. She is usually addressed, as given the nickname "Mika-sensei". Her short stature and generally "cute" appearance causes people to think her more childish than she is. Even so, she is not especially mature, still lives with her parents and dreads "measuring day". Mika also has a tendency to cry when things do not go her way.


 * Minako "Tommy" Tominaga (富永美奈子)
 * A brutally honest student who belongs to the cooking club. She is often shown moaning about being surrounded by idiots in her class, or telling people off. She loves slasher films.
 * A brutally honest student who belongs to the cooking club. She is often shown moaning about being surrounded by idiots in her class, or telling people off. She loves slasher films.


 * Akane Kobayashi (小林あかね)
 * A girl who likes to sleep in class but outside of school she holds a part-time job as she loves to make money. She has also shown great concern about her appearance and weight, causing her to put herself on crash diets. She's very ditzy sometimes, like when she walked into the classroom and Anthony (an American exchange student) said "Hello!" in English: she came to the instant conclusion she had woken up in America.
 * A girl who likes to sleep in class but outside of school she holds a part-time job as she loves to make money. She has also shown great concern about her appearance and weight, causing her to put herself on crash diets. She's very ditzy sometimes, like when she walked into the classroom and Anthony (an American exchange student) said "Hello!" in English: she came to the instant conclusion she had woken up in America.


 * Shizuka Nagare (流静), also known as "Chairman (Iincho)"
 * The Class President of Class 2A. She wanted to be class president due to her favorite pop star stating that he liked class presidents: she decided to be class president for the rest of her life. She is highly intelligent and friendly, but is seem at times being brutal to people, especially when they somehow insult her idol.
 * The Class President of Class 2A. She wanted to be class president due to her favorite pop star stating that he liked class presidents: she decided to be class president for the rest of her life. She is highly intelligent and friendly, but is seem at times being brutal to people, especially when they somehow insult her idol.


 * Rio Kitagawa (北川理央)
 * A tall and very pretty girl who constantly teases Mika-sensei, as she finds her various moods cute. She is a lesbian and has stated on several occasion that she loves small girls, thus making it no surprise that she has a huge (and slightly sadistic) crush on Mika-sensei. She is constantly flirting with her, which often borders on molestation. She has an excellent body, which Kobayashi is jealous of, though she is fairly modest about it. She also does well academically, though she isn't above failing a test on purpose if it means she'll get to spend time with Mika-sensei.
 * A tall and very pretty girl who constantly teases Mika-sensei, as she finds her various moods cute. She is a lesbian and has stated on several occasion that she loves small girls, thus making it no surprise that she has a huge (and slightly sadistic) crush on Mika-sensei. She is constantly flirting with her, which often borders on molestation. She has an excellent body, which Kobayashi is jealous of, though she is fairly modest about it. She also does well academically, though she isn't above failing a test on purpose if it means she'll get to spend time with Mika-sensei.


 * Kenta Suetake (末武健太)
 * The athlete. Suetake knows nothing other than sports-related information. He is rather dumb and fails most things that don't involve sports, but he is also kind and good-natured. Kudo, who likes him, will often tutor him.
 * The athlete. Suetake knows nothing other than sports-related information. He is rather dumb and fails most things that don't involve sports, but he is also kind and good-natured. Kudo, who likes him, will often tutor him.


 * Yuichi Kudo (工藤雄一)
 * A male honor student who is gay and in love with Suetake. He has poor self-control and is known as "the nosebleed king". Though Suetake is completely oblivious to Kudo's affections, everyone else is aware of them, and they are constantly rolling their eyes over his actions (which is very similar to how they react to Kitagawa's love for Mika, the only difference being that Mika is aware of Kitagawa's feelings, but can do little to stop her advances). He is seen having fantasies about Suetake, and not much else. A running gag is he will constantally have nose bleeds (in Japan, it is a sign of sexual arousal, especially in young men) brought on by Suetake's innocent comments and actions to the point of passing out and requiring medical attention.
 * A male honor student who is gay and in love with Suetake. He has poor self-control and is known as "the nosebleed king". Though Suetake is completely oblivious to Kudo's affections, everyone else is aware of them, and they are constantly rolling their eyes over his actions (which is very similar to how they react to Kitagawa's love for Mika, the only difference being that Mika is aware of Kitagawa's feelings, but can do little to stop her advances). He is seen having fantasies about Suetake, and not much else. A running gag is he will constantally have nose bleeds (in Japan, it is a sign of sexual arousal, especially in young men) brought on by Suetake's innocent comments and actions to the point of passing out and requiring medical attention.


 * Jyoji Seki (関譲治)
 * A student who used to love beautiful girls and turned into a narcissist, to the point that he usually goes to school in makeup. He goes on and on about how lovely a girl can be, if she uses the right products. Outside school, he has been seen in skirts and even a full ladies' kimono. Despite the two of them often stating that they dislike each other, he seems to have a good relationship with Kobayashi.
 * A student who used to love beautiful girls and turned into a narcissist, to the point that he usually goes to school in makeup. He goes on and on about how lovely a girl can be, if she uses the right products. Outside school, he has been seen in skirts and even a full ladies' kimono. Despite the two of them often stating that they dislike each other, he seems to have a good relationship with Kobayashi.


 * Takumi "Watabe" Watanabe (渡部匠)
 * The head (and, originally, sole member) of the school's manga club. He has great artistic ability, but he's only ever seen drawing stereotypical bishōjo-type characters, and his obsession tends to get a little on the creepy side. He dislikes drawing men, and it's somewhat implied that he's not very good at doing so. Mika-sensei has occasionally shown interest in his work. Mika has often been the subject of his work, which has seems to have earned him a somewhat friendship with Kitakawa for his art of her.
 * The head (and, originally, sole member) of the school's manga club. He has great artistic ability, but he's only ever seen drawing stereotypical bishōjo-type characters, and his obsession tends to get a little on the creepy side. He dislikes drawing men, and it's somewhat implied that he's not very good at doing so. Mika-sensei has occasionally shown interest in his work. Mika has often been the subject of his work, which has seems to have earned him a somewhat friendship with Kitakawa for his art of her.


 * Gen Nakamura (中村元), also known as "Old Man (Oyaji)"
 * The 17-year-old student carries himself in a stereotypically "40-year-old" manner, and therefore is nicknamed "Old Man". Later in the series, it is hinted he has a crush on Iincho, and is occasionally mistaken for a pervert.
 * The 17-year-old student carries himself in a stereotypically "40-year-old" manner, and therefore is nicknamed "Old Man". Later in the series, it is hinted he has a crush on Iincho, and is occasionally mistaken for a pervert.


 * Linda Matsumoto (松本リンダ), also known as Matsumoto-sensei
 * Okitsu High School's Doctor and Mika's best friend on the faculty.
 * Okitsu High School's Doctor and Mika's best friend on the faculty.


 * Chinatsu Nakayama (中山千夏)
 * A member of Takumi Watanabe's manga club who, ironically, is terrible at drawing manga. She idolises and has a large crush on Takumi. He seems to know, but manages to throw her off.
 * A member of Takumi Watanabe's manga club who, ironically, is terrible at drawing manga. She idolises and has a large crush on Takumi. He seems to know, but manages to throw her off.


 * Anthony M. Chamberlain (アンソニー・M・チェンバレン)
 * A transfer student who is studying abroad from America. He is fluent in Japanese because he is an otaku.
 * A transfer student who is studying abroad from America. He is fluent in Japanese because he is an otaku.

Episode list

 * 1) Here Comes Class 2A Of Okitsu High School
 * 2) Measuring and Throwing and Hitting
 * 3) Swimsuits and Exams! Something Drops!
 * 4) Mika-Sensei's Summer Story
 * 5) Summer Ends and Artistic Autumn Arrives
 * 6) The Culture Festival Is The Festival of Culture
 * 7) Santa Girl and New Years' Fun
 * 8) Winter Has Come and Spring Is Around The Corner
 * 9) The Tearful Graduation Ceremony
 * 10) The Kyoto Field Trip Incident of Love and Hate!
 * 11) Sunshine After Rain, Partially Student Teacher
 * 12) Frightening experiences, Summer Activities
 * 13) Summer in Shonan: The Don't Say Goodbye Episode
 * 14) The Exchange Student and Okitsu, The Dark City
 * 15) Sports Festival Special
 * 16) The Big Family and The Elusive Pork Ramen, Big Sister Mika Is Running Away
 * 17) Beast Buster Ekaterina Nagare A.K.A. Iincho
 * 18) SF Magical Period Drama Doki Doki Version: The Okitsu Millennium Battle!
 * 19) The Culture Festival Operation
 * 20) The Small One Departs Okitsu

Reception
Tim Jones of THEM Anime Reviews said the series is "quite an interesting series upon first glance", with three of the main characters coming out of nowhere,doing a bad job of introducing characters unlike a series like Azumanga Daioh, meaning that they embody stereotypes. He also criticizes Mika being the "target of sexual advances of one of her students", a student named Kitakawa who is "a lesbian lolicon lover", a character he called one of the most shallow, and annoying character he had ever "seen in the history of animation". He also noted that there is a gay man who only thinks of his male crush, "sometimes to the point of getting nosebleeds" and said his love interest had one of the most annoying voices, and added that the series has problems when "a guy who draws half-naked anime girls is one of the best characters". He further called the animation "horrible" and doesn't understand how it ran for 20 episodes.

Carlos Santos of Anime News Network said that the anime is "a cute diversion that will leave you mildly happy rather than annoyed or offended" and said the series has "shadows of hilarity". He also said that the series is "lighthearted", and called the series "far from perfect". He concluded that there are "some genuinely cute and funny moments but said that it has the "same jokes, same structure" which gets boring.