Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – Episode 1
14 July 2007
I’ve been looking forward to this show ever since I started reading the manga. It was just so funny, I was literally rolling on the floor laughing, it was hilarious. It was basically just random nonsense. Totally pessimistic teacher, totally optimistic girl, thirty something kids with totally deranged problems under the totally pessimistic teacher’s responsibility, I’m in! Not to mention I had a feeling the animation would look nice. And it was! So, now, to overdosing on screens and a plot line that isn’t really even a line…
Opening “Hito toshite Jiku ga Bureteiru (人として軸がぶれている)” by Kenji Ohtsuki featuring Ai Nonaka, Marina Inoue, Yu Kobayashi, Miyuki Sawashiro and Ryoko Shintani. I thought it was actually a fitting song, the opening was just as wacky as the show and it worked. That bald man in the glasses scared me to pieces, but it was fitting. “Bure bure bure bure” reminded so randomly of Buta from Gurren Lagann. Maybe I’m confusing the sound he makes with “Bure” but it reminded me of Buta. The three second animation clip in the beginning was so cute. I’d love to have it as an AIM icon, or an animated icon or some sort. Reminded me also of a black and while silent film.
“Plot” Spring, April, the beginning of hope, the beginning of everything. Jolly high school girl skipping, frolicking amidst a sea of sakura blossoms runs into an estranged, bespectacled man hanging himself from a tree. Meet Itoshiki Nozomu (he actually does have such a pretty name) and Kafuka Fuura, polar opposites, two people that should’ve never met. After giving names to all of the sakura trees (pink Minister, pink Devil, pink CEO,) and a trash can (treasure chest for the poor) she names Itoshiki “Pink Supervisor” since he was hanging from pink CEO. Obviously, Itoshiki rejects the name, saying that people have to pay money to name things like stadiums and baseball parks. Soon enough, Mount. Fuji would be Mount. Shonen Jump.
Kafuka offers him 50 yen, he still says no. Kafuka insists that no one would ever try to kill themselves on such a fine day, Itoshiki begs to differ. She concludes that he was just trying to become taller by stretching his neck. Her father often tried to do so, when the debt collectors came, when the company went out of business. As well as his mother, that one time…Itoshiki stops her, trying to tell her that they weren’t trying to get taller. Kafuka walks over to Itoshiki, looks at him, and tells him that he’s pretty tall already. Giving him 50 yen for the naming rights, she calls him pink supervisor. Frustrated, Itoshiki flees yelling that he was indeed actually trying to die and that he did not want to be called Pink Supervisor.
Itoshiki, as it turns out, is Kafuka’s teacher. She calls him Pink Supervisor and Itoshiki yells that it’s not his name. A student remarks that no one thought it was. Grabbing some chalk, he writes his name on the board. Pronouncing his name wrong, a student asks if he was from continental Asia and replies that it’s “Itoshiki Nozomu” and he’s a bona-fide Japanese man. Kafuka adds that it’s a pretty name and this drives Itoshiki into another fit of despair saying that the strokes in his name spelled bad luck, no chance of promotion, even if he were to try to make a comeback in his twilight years it’d fail. Being overly optimistic, Kafuka gets up and tries to ‘fix’ his name. First she adds a star, rejected, then an ‘@’ sign, he calls it lame. And then she writes it horizontally, shockingly, his name literally spells out despair, “zetsubou sensei!”
Later on, Kafuka is talking to Chiri about making the entire school a hot spring. Chiri says that just the idea aggravates her, their textbooks would be ruined from humidity, their glasses would fog over, everything would just be wrong. Then she notices that Kafuka’s stockings are uneven. She whips out some stocking fixing pen (only the Japanese can ever come up with that) and much to her relief, fixes her classmate’s stockings.
Elsewhere, Itoshiki is talking to the school counselor, Arai. She tells him that, despite the fact that it’s early morning and she’s meant to help students, she’d hear him out. According to Itoshiki, his current despair is the result of baseball and how his soul and eyes are corrupted by a baseball team’s logo which represents hair. Arai says it’s supposed to look like an ‘E’ with wings. Itoshiki laments that his soul has been corrupted, mistaking something angelic for filthy hair. It depresses him even more that the head coach is bald and the cap is his only form of hair. After telling her this, he leaves, saying that he feels better and has class. After he leaves, Arai complains and hopes that he won’t come back everyday (I bet he does!)
Itoshiki goes back to class and hands out a hope survey, asking the students to list their hopes of the future. Being his pessimistic self, Itoshiki instructs the students to fill in despairs, impossibilities that would never, ever happen. After filling out the forms Kafuka asks him to read some of them. Chiri snaps that they’re not postcards, but Itoshiki agrees anyway. He denounces all of the things listed as impossible, like becoming a pop idol, going to Tokyo U (TokyU, haha, you know….Toki-U, get it? Nevermind…) or becoming a famous soccer player. Kafuka challenges him and says that there exists a possiblity of anything happening, maybe not everything, but most things and this gives the class ‘hope’. The principal, I’m assuming, tells Itoshiki later that his class shows such promise, judging from the optimistic answers to the survey. Under his breath, Itoshiki remarks that they’re actually despairs. The one thing that the principal is concerned about is Kafuka who wanted to meet God, a time traveler and what I’m assuming, an alien. They both agree to keep an eye on her.
Endings “Zessei Bijin (絶世美人)” by Ai Nonaka, Marina Inoue, Yu Kobayashi and Ryoko Shintani. I really liked the ending. It was stylish and so artsy, and so unique and it was just pure eye candy. I loved it, the song was good too. It was cute, it was…nice. Heh.
Random Screens That Looked Pretty
Impressions I found this episode to be very enjoyable, certainly got my attention. I loved opening and especially the ending, I love the animation, love the characters, the non existent plot and just the quirky overall feel to the show. It’s just so different, it reminds me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, fully equip with it’s own set of Oompa Loompas and it’s own Willy Wonka. The characters are just so out of order in a marvelous, insane way, it’s delightful to watch them, specially because they represent such extremes on the personality spectrum. I do miss a couple of the ‘cultural references’, like when Kafuka put a star on his name and Itoshiki asked it was supposed to be Hiro Something, a total loss their.
The fact that there’s no middle ground in all of this, between the extreme pessimism and the over the top optimism, the show lacks entirely a character with a voice of reason. Chiri, at first, appeared to be said voice of reason, but after her stocking fit, I’m doubting the idea. All of the characters suffer from some sort of mental issue or another, some sort of disorder, some strange personality distortion and problem. It’s just so darn funny!
Despite it’s comical exterior, I think, at the heart of it all, it’s another one of those powerful, metaphoric statements about society, or maybe just Japanese society. The one thing that got me was how Kafuka’s parents both committed suicide but she relayed the story to the audience by using the whole ‘trying to get taller’ thing. And also, the surveys got me thinking that maybe all of despairs are our dreams and the desperation we find in our lives are really just the results of our dreams. There exists the possibility of them coming true, but nonetheless, desperation is a derivative of hopeless dreaming. Or something like that.
Anyways! Point being, I liked, its hilarity is a guise for deep subliminal messages, the animation is kick ass, Itoshiki is my new eccentric, bespectacled obsession, the ending was sick (in the good way) and overall, it was like being high and totally rational at the same time. Slice of life on crack much?
I had not heard of this series until I saw your review here. I think the visual style is really cool. But the total lack of plotline sort of keeps me away. If there is no story I usually can’t keep up with a show. And with Kafuka wanting to meet a god, time traveler, and alien, is that a reference to Haruhi Suzumiya?
Well, maybe total lack was an exaggeration, but it’s loosely structured and it just jumps everywhere. I couldn’t really put my finger on how the show was going to evolve. And I agree, it’s pretty difficult to keep up if you have no idea what’s happening. But the animation and how funny it was keeps me tuned in.
As for Kafuka, they say her name is a references to Kafka. Come to think of it, she is pretty darn similar to Haruhi. O_o, good point there.
Well, your review has roused my interest. I’ve got to find myself a sub of this.
Thanks for the review!
This is exactly what I expected to find out after reading the title . Thanks for informative article
I have to say, that I could not agree with you in 100% regarding , but it’s just my opinion, which could be wrong
@Briar – You’re welcome! I’m like a million days late to reply!
@Jakob – Thanks YOU for reading, XD!
@Daniel – There’s no such thing as a wrong opinion! You’re entitled to your own opinion! =D!!