Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
| Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei | |
|---|---|
 THIS WIKI HAS LEFT ME IN DESPAIR! | |
| Original Manga | Kōji Kumeta |
| Director/Artist | Akiyuki Shinbo |
| Format | Anime (TV), Manga |
| Made By | Shaft |
| Episode Length | 22 minutes |
| # of Eps/Volumes | 12 (Season 1) 13 (Season 2) 13 (Season 3) 5 (OVAs) 23 (Manga, ongoing) |
Contents
Genre
Sum it up in a Sentence:
An absurdly depressed teacher is assigned to a class of ridiculously over-the-top stereotypes, hijinks ensue.
Main Description
Nozomu Itoshiki, our protagonist, begins the series by attempting to kill himself. He continues to attempt this about once an episode, but somehow, it never works out. Why does he try to kill himself? Because every single thing in the modern world drives him to utmost despair, from the globalization of big business, to the way bald baseball players try to hide their shame, to the way that his running gag gets run into the ground.
As one might expect from this type of show, there's a class full of bright young students ready to teach him lessons. These students are such characters as an obsessed stalker, a fan-service baiting hikkomori, a boy who turns invisible when his bald spot is combed over, and a girl who looks so evil, she must be innocent (even though her presumed innocence drives her to commit evil acts so someone will notice the real her).
In addition to bizarre character-based comedy, the series enjoys going down more surreal roads. Highlights from season 2 include an episode where everyone spoke gibberish while two different subtitle tracks (telling different stories) ran at the same time, an episode where the characters' voice actors kept switching, and an episode that was played in the background as an on-air radio drama while the fan-fiction artist character worked on a doujin.
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Personal Opinions
OldTimeyProspector
This is probably my favorite comedy series of all time. The manic pace, the relentless string of puns and references, the gorgeous art style and smart direction, and music all just combine into one densely packed ball of entertainment. Even without getting half of the cultural references and phenomenon that the series satires, I don't even care. I just can't stop smiling whenever I watch this show. It's probably not cut out for everyone; I've known quite a few people who say that it's too often just weirdness for weirdness's sake. But it really is a smart, funny show, and definitely worth a look.
