This band recorded and epic tribute to Beethoven's 9th Symphony

The YouTube rabbit hole runs deep. You never know where it will take you. One thing led to another and I ended up in 1997.

I'm somewhat of a fan of the Manga "Hell Teacher Nube". I have several volumes of the newer "NEO" series, and have been wanting to find more information about it. The original Manga started in 1993 and ran until 1999, with a couple more series following afterwards, including the aforementioned NEO.

The basic premise revolves around Nueno Meisuke (nicknamed "Nube"), an Elementary School teacher, who has a powerful demon sealed in his left hand. When strange supernatural events happen around the school, usually the result of meddling by Youkai, Nube uses his Demon's Hand to exorcise them.

It was adapted into a 49 episode Anime series by Toei Animation that aired for one year from 1996 - 1997 on TV Asahi. This led to 3 movies, 3 OVA episodes, and a live action Drama starring Kanjani 8's Maruyama Ryuhei.

They even released a game for PlayStation.

This might seem like I'm just espousing on my appreciation for Nube, but bear with me, I'm about to get to the real topic. While searching for info, I found a video for a new Pachinko machine. I liked the music that they used so I tried to find it. I didn't have any luck, but I came across the ending theme for either the Anime or one of the Movies/OVAs. One more search...

And that led me to this. I had no idea what to expect, but the over 2 million views at least gave me the impression it was popular. Nothing could have prepared me for the 5:25 of epicness that would follow.

"Bari Bari Saikyou No. 1" was the 7th single from Progressive/Groove Metal band Feel So Bad. It was used as the Opening Theme for the Hell Teacher Nube Anime and was their biggest hit, reaching #35 on Oricon. The intro was inspired by Beethoven's 9th Symphony "The Song of Joy", and the melody is used liberally throughout the song. It's one of those songs that you can't describe. Words don't do it justice. You just have to listen it and experience it for yourself.

I love these kinds of moments. When I started out looking for things related to Nube, I never expected I would end up discovering this amazing song by a band I was unfamiliar with. And they're still active! It made my day.