Ranked #213

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

In Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, SHAFT shows us how to make a pretty enjoyable show with minimal effort on their part. If nothing else, Zan is an enjoyable, funny, and clever show that fans of the franchise will enjoy like previous seasons. However, the distinct lack of original material from the manga and noticeable drop in art detail may will leave many fans seeking more, which the show does not deliver.

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is the third season of the wildly popular Zetsubou Sensei franchise, based on the manga by Kumeta Kouji. Like previous seasons, it follows the ever-in-despair Itoshiki Nozomu and his crazy class. Veterans will notice a change in art style, with slightly more saturated colors and cleaner lines. The show still feels much like Zetsubou Sensei with gags, satire, and politics jokes abound. The structure of this season's episodes, however, will be the biggest difference viewers will notice. Each episode is divided into three segments, with each segment dedicated to a specific adaptation to a chapter of the manga. While some form of this structure has been used by SHAFT in a few episodes in past installments of Zetsubou Sensei, all 13 episodes this season are exclusively in this format.

While functional, I craved some kind of creativity from the animators or director like we have been used to the last two seasons, and got none. The chapter adaptations are so loyal to the manga that it's too loyal of an adaptation. SHAFT has literally been accused of just tracing from the manga, which was even referred to in a specific episode. While it is true that many anime are manga adaptations, it's expected out of directors and animators, as workers in a creative field, to interpret and enrich the media into anime. The script for Toradora! isn't verbatim from the light novels, and Clannad isn't just lines and scenes from the visual novel. I've read the Zetsubou Sensei manga (one of the few manga I read) and the similarity is just absolutely ridiculous. They do play with art style occasionally, like in episode 8 but overall someone expecting highly from SHAFT will be rather disappointed. Previous seasons do not have this problem. Chapters and gags from the manga were adapted flawlessly and weaved with SHAFT's art style and Shinbo's creativity into a product that augments the manga, not replacing it.

So keep in mind that when we praise Zan, we are in reality praising the manga, because the anime essentially perfectly identical, animated versions of the chapters. They introduce some new girls into the show, or at least attempt to. I found Shouko and Miko, a pair of girls who engage in multi-level marketing schemes, quite interesting and I hoped to see more of them. I didn't. We don't even get to figure out what Oora, the girl with the ponytail and sloppy uniform, is or anything about her. Zetsubou Sensei absolutely shines from its characters, but in Zan the lack of character development in its new characters cripples the series.

When each episode is basically three chapters, you really can't complain about the pacing. Admittedly, they picked good chapters to adapt. Some of my favorite chapters, such as the one with the Winter Taisa and the one about sunglasses, were adapted so it was fun to see them turned into an anime.

To wrap up, in pure enjoyment and funny standards, Zan does well. The manga is great and hilarious, and there is so much similarity there is no reason Zan would be anything less. Fans of the series may be disappointed with the lack of original material and fans of director Akiyuki Shinbou will be disappointed with the absence of much of his stylization. How much of this "matters" is up to you, but if you liked the previous series, there is absolutely no reason not to check this one out. read more

Zan Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei is the third season of the Zetsubou-Sensei series and I have to say it's even better than the first two series. Zan still delivers the despair-filled adventures of Nozomu Itoshiki aka Zetsubou-sensei along with his many 'unique' students. I have also seen there have been improvements in the art as well and at the end of most episodes there is the Zetsubou-Sensei Drawing Song. I am also very content about the new opening and ending themes(I liked the OP so much it was stuck in my head for like a week)

The story has been improved as well. Often times there would be a continuation of one episode to another and I am very pleased with the results as they give a little more creativity and of course even more humor.

In addition to the main cast there are three newcomers to the series.
First is Ora Kanako(whose name comes from the phrase "ōraka na ko", meaning big hearted girl), an kind girl who cannot refuse anything she is asked even if it has a negative benefit on her or her property. Next to be introduced are Shoko Maruuchi(derived from maruchi-shoko, multi-level marketing) and Miko Nezu(derived from nezumi-ko,pyramid scheme), two best friends who work as street vendors often using dirty schemes to make a quick buck(or yen for you Japanophiles).

Romance isn't a main theme in Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei but there are some signs of it being a harem. A majority of the female characters have developed feelings for Nozomu and often leads him to very painful scenarios. There are several recurring instances where there are romantic scenes(I won't give any spoilers but let's just say that Abiru x Nozomu fans will be quite pleased(but Zetsubou-sensei himself isn't)).

Overall Zan Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei is a hilarious comedy series. If you love animes with constant references to pop culture and other animes Sayonara Zetsubou-sensei is perfect for you. Zan only makes me wonder what the fourth(and I presume it'll may be the last) season will have in store for poor old Nozomu. I'm more than positive there'll be a fourth season because animes I've seen usually end at 24-26 episodes, if they continue then 50-52 episodes are most likely unless the anime is a long running series(i.e One Piece, Bleach, Naruto), and I'm sure the staff at Shaft will want to make a PROPER ending to the series.

On that note: ZETSUBOUSHITA!!! THIS REVIEW HAS LEFT ME IN DESPAIR!!! read more