The Instructor is an unnamed senior educator at the Central Hell Guard Training Academy in the Kamuatari District, responsible for the training and evaluation of new recruits. He appears in flashbacks to Zanka Nijiku's Academy years — specifically Chapters 57 through 59 — overseeing the orientation of Unit 4, the mock battle that established Hyo as the cohort's benchmark, and the weapon selection ceremony.
He is a non-Giver who teaches non-Givers to fight Givers. His core philosophy is that "the greatest threat of all is human beings" — and that the Hell Guard's purpose is to keep those humans in line through disciplined force. He has delivered the same orientation speech to every new intake for years. His students refer to it as "that same old speech." He delivers it with the same conviction every time.
He gave Hyo a standing ovation after her first mock battle and called her performance magnificent. He also contributed, entirely without intending to, to Zanka's particular obsession with surpassing innate talent — by praising the person who just defeated him, in front of him, with genuine enthusiasm.
The Instructor is a middle-aged man who is completely bald, with sharp, focused facial features that suit his professional presentation. He wears the formal uniform of the Hell Guard educational branch: a dark, high-collared, sleeveless robe or cloak worn over a traditional light-coloured kimono top, with a formal identification badge or medallion at his neck. His appearance is consistent across every flashback sequence depicting the Academy years — he does not change because his function does not change.
The Orientation — Chapter 57
The Instructor welcomed Unit 4's new intake with his standard orientation address — the same speech he delivers every season, according to trainees who have heard about it in advance. The content: the Hell Guard exists because human beings are the greatest threat to society, and Hell Guards are the people who keep those human beings in line. He then announced that an exception had been made: a trainee from the slums, admitted on the basis of "exceptional talent," would be joining the class. That trainee was Hyo.
The Mock Battle — Chapter 58
Hyo's first mock battle ended with her defeating every student in the class including Zanka Nijiku, who came from a family where "every one of 'em's a Hell Guard." The Instructor responded with a standing ovation and declared her performance "magnificent" — noting she was exactly as skilled as he had expected. The praise was genuine and specific. It was directed at someone who had just comprehensively outperformed the room. Zanka was in the room. This contributed materially to the particular shape his ambition took afterward.
The Weapon Selection — Chapter 59
The Instructor oversaw the weapon selection ceremony — a "very special lesson" in which trainees used instinct to select a weapon from a large available range. He explained that choosing a weapon compatible with one's aptitude demonstrates the kind of keen insight that separates a competent Hell Guard from an exceptional one. During this ceremony, Hyo selected an "average, ordinary, completely unoriginal" katana and declared she did not need anything more. The Instructor's response to this choice is not recorded, but the result of it across subsequent training evaluations was consistent with her claim.
- His name is unknown. He is identified by function — The Instructor — which is consistent with how the series treats institutional figures: their role is their identity, and the person inside the role is secondary to what the role represents.
- He delivers the same orientation speech to every new trainee season. His students know this before they arrive. He delivers it anyway, with conviction. The repetition is not a deficiency — it is the philosophy of an institution that requires its educators to model the same values every intake, to every new person who might carry them forward.
- He is a confirmed non-Giver — the Hell Guard's instructional staff trains non-powered humans to fight Givers through raw martial discipline. The system he teaches is built on the premise that disciplined, trained humans can suppress Anima-powered opponents without powers of their own. His existence as a non-Giver in a senior combat-education role is the institution's argument made in person.
- His philosophy — "the greatest threat of all is human beings" — is the explicit ideological counterpoint to the Cleaners' framework, which locates value in human sincerity and care. The Judge throws criminals into the Pit. The Instructor trains people to manage the threat humans represent. Both are Sphere-aligned positions that treat humanity as a problem to be managed rather than a capacity to be developed.
- His standing ovation for Hyo, combined with his assessment of Zanka's performance in the same session, had a specific downstream effect: Zanka oriented his entire development around surpassing someone who received genuine institutional praise that he did not. The Instructor was not trying to motivate Zanka through competitive pressure. He was accurately assessing what he saw. The motivation was a side effect of honesty.
- The voice actor for the Instructor in the English dub is Marcus D. Stimac (Episode 17), confirmed from the Anime Voice-Over wiki cast list.
🇯🇵 Japanese Voice Actors
Sasaki, Yoshihito
🇯🇵 Japanese
🇺🇸 English Voice Actors
Pitts, Orion
🇺🇸 English
Kei Urana
Original Creator
Fumihiko Suganuma
Director
Hiroshi Seko
Series Composition
Satoshi Ishino
Character Design