Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

This is a compilation review from the HTWA!

"whenever i hear sayonara zetsubou sensei i instantly think ZETSUBOU SHITA and randomness! they always present probable ideas which transforms into crazy ideas in the end because of exaggeration. and it's these crazy ideas that makes SZS fun to watch. add to that an overly pessimistic teacher, an overly optimistic student and a bunch of other interesting characters and you got one fun, crazy show!" - icemachine

"he Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei series are like marmite. You'll either love it or hate it. I fall under the former category, which is a definitely a good thing lol. Each character is ... pretty interesting in their own different way, and the interactions between these characters and the nonsensensical situations they encounter is what makes it so good, in my opinion.

Sadly though, I started losing interest after Zoku sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, as the show starts to become repetitive and somewhat predictable, and also beacuse I'm the type of person who DOES demand at least some shred of a plotline. I guess it can't be helped though, there's only so much a gag manga can do in terms of plot progression.

I'd place the SZS series, as a whole, at a 9. I really think Goku SZS brought the series down overall." - xRush

"I love the characters. The randomness, not much. It's probablymost definitely one of those series I constantly had to pause every few seconds or so to keep up with the subs. Too. Much. Text. O_O And because of that I do not think it's good for them beginners. Nonetheless I find the jokes witty and humorous. Oh, and the soundtrack. The music especially the OPs and EDs of its seasons are what I like best. Perfectly suit the anime and give off a kinda creepy vibe. IIRC, my score for this is probably a 7." - Wetpantsu

Hope you have found this review useful!

Here's an anime to simply enjoy. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei separates itself from other comedy series, with its lack of solid plot, interesting characters and new stories to tell every episode.

Don't get it wrong, its lack of plot is very refreshing, different from the usual. For once, there are no cliffhangers, no twists, no complex character development. The only thing to forward is the next episode. You may know what's coming up next, but how the characters will deliver it, or deal with the topic is something to look out for.

For me what made the series interesting is the characters, each with their unique personalities. ... How random can they get with a hikikomori, an animal lover, a schizophrenic, a stalker, and an illegal immigrant? There is only one normal person in the whole series and being normal also makes her stand out. I know, I sound crazy by just talking about that, so you can just imagine how crazier the series is. Also, the personalities correspond to their names.

Another thing to comment on is the animation and the sound. The characters are well-drawn and are brightly colored. The OP and ED songs are very catchy. I appreciate the work done on the backgrounds as they very highly detailed and perfectly match the quality of the characters. The OP and ED also change every now and then, also with very detailed themes. Well done.

With a whole class (plus some other people) with different characters to uncover, 12 episodes is not enough to contain the craziness. Watch out for other installments of this series, which are still of the same quality and level as this one.

1st Impression:
huh , depressing anime ..? do not want. Hmm? the op song trying to show a message of..?

Selling point(s):
Dark humour, randomness including bizzare cut scenes, fanservices.

Reason of liking the anime:
Honestly, the anime doesnt have solid storyline , but they have it well done with the randomness and ways of expressing the dark humor regarding the current society, throughout the interaction of the sensei with his selected a few problematic students. The art itself isnt as flashy as other anime, it's simple, but yet leaves quite a strong impression . I dare to say it's a mind f*ck anime :P . Fanservice..for the 1st ... time , it doesnt get annoying, it does have a lot , but it only shown in a short time, which hardly get people to hate or skip them. Overall, it's quite a refreshing anime for its definition of 'comedy'.

What I Dislike:
The pace of the anime might be too fast sometimes , which requires you to pause the video to see it clearly.

Advice(s):

1) Age 17+, Not for people who hates randomness, twisted and sick anime.

Zetsuboshita! People giving reviews on the internet not knowig what they do, has given me despair(zetsubou)!!!

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei deserves a proper review. All these guys below me didn't do a proper job. because you can't rate Zetsubuou-Sensei as a normal anime.
If you do, you give it a 6 or maybe a 7. It has no story at all, only introductions and the episodes always have one theme they go about.
There is no fights, no love story, no ecchi and the lolli they could have done isn't touched at all.
All the 7 remaining points might be given for the animations, because they are art in it's ... finest way. All with that japanese sense for calmness and perfection and so many drawing styles. It has infinite.
But Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei has one thing above them all.

"Vegeta, what does the scouter say about this shows humour rating?"
"It's over NINETHOOOOOOOOUSAAAAAAAAAAAND!!!"

Sayonara makes fun of society and the people living in.
Imagine a classroom with a suicidal teacher so pissed by every inch of humanity that he tries suicide 90% of the time.
But the pupils in the class are all girls, and all stereotypes. There is one girl so normal and so happy it hurts. There is a girl showing her panties all the time while sueing everybody who looks and many many more. Together they explore japanese culture and modern life, while trying to keep their teacher from dying.

The show is firework of gags, running and one-timers.
It is a finger into societys face screaming:
"Look how stupid and ignorant you are!"

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a boldheaded old man with sunglasses turning his head where a normal show would have his censorship.
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is the anime I would take on a lonely island with me.

And in my 15 years of otakubeing I have never ever seen a subtitle translation so perfected. They translated each joke and every written thing and explained a lot of the japanese language gags to the western reader.

There are more seasons of SZS and they get crazier with each one.
Give your best and see how far you can climb on this ladder of insanity!

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei - 9/10

I really really want to give this show an 8/10 because that's what it really deserves, but because i love the op song and the soundtrack in general so i'll keep it a 9.
So, SZS's main cast consists of Itoshiki Sensei and 12 schoolgirls and one teacher. All the characters have some kind of mental issue or problem/characteristic which is the main source of humor in this show. For example the Hikikimori girl who never talks and whenever Itoshiki sees her, he just walks off, Kafuka who is overly postivie and childish (she said her Father was trying to become higher ... using a rope and a tree, just like Itoshiki when he was trying to hang himself), or maybe the Stalker girl Mayoi who is pretty much in every scene just staring at Itoshiki and sitting under his desk and such. Those problems are exploited to different situations and are mocked to no end, maybe taking a stereotype character isn't exactly the most creative way but the way SZS makes use of it truly allows for some funny situations.
One thing i must say as a warning, half the humor comes in writing on the boards, just text slides and more, just what you'd expect from SHAFT, but here it's to a whole new level, aswell as considering the show's relatively low budget, which actually suits it very well and makes it feel less serious.
Also some humor (especially last episode) mocks Japan and to understand it you have to have some understanding of Japanese culture and Japanese people's mindset, also one of the girls is a typical "gajin" so if you're offended by Nips taking a piss at way a typical foreigner girl acts (to be precise like a whore and a source of pantyshots who starts sueing everyone when she gets the chance) and there's even a joke about "fanservice for Russian otaku" with her being blonde and blue-eyed, so if you're offended by this show, go fuck yourself and watch some mediocre comedy like Oreimo or something.
There isn't really much to this show if you don't like the characters, or take them seriously. The art reminds me that of FLCL, thus lack of 3DCG and complicated backgrounds, but since this is comedy there's not much animation and more text and dialogue, but if you watch SHAFT's adaptions like Monogatari then you're used to that anyway.
Also this show isn't a harem, really, it has a female cast because.... no real reason as far as i could tell, aside from making it more fun to watch?
I guess the first half of the show is much better, since it dedicates a character an episode, but the latter half really just reuses the same jokes in different context and creates some character unrelated comedy which still works well.
I really hope there's more in the 2nd season, because just repeating the same thing won't exactly work out.

"I'm in despair!" so said Itoshiki Nozomu (Mr. despair).

To begin with, the anime have no story. Evey episode have his own story.
Itoshiki is a teacher in highschool. He is the class teacher of a class full of girls (there are some boys though..) and every girl have her own wierd habits.
Itoshiki is getting despair from things that usually make one lough. he is teaching his students that life not promising and only lead to despair. On the contrary, Kafuka Fuura, one of his students, who always sees everything in the most optemistic way, showing him that life not so bad.
in every episode Itoshiki ... getting depressed and so on.
I LOVE this anime and especially it's music.

First time I watched this. I thought it was pretty funny, but at the same time. Boring as hell since nothing was really happening.
This is something you would watch if you understand the humour and not looking for anything else than Comedy.

I don't know why. But I tried to watch this, but I get tired and fall asleep. Sometimes its really funny, but most of the times. It's just regular jokes that's funny but you don't laugh at it.
I think this is a Series you would enjoy much more watching with a friend.

Story 7
The story is about the teacher (Nozomu Itoshiki) and all his ... negative aspects of life. Leading a class of students with a Girl (Kafuka Fuura) that's the complete opposite of him.
He constantly tries to take his own life when he is in despair, but his students in his class always prevent him. He always tries to teach them his own personal aspects of life, leaving the students in desperation but then at the same time, proves him wrong.

The story itself its just him and his class. Some students are unique and kinda different in a weird way. Also his associate is always a shown in a perverted way.

The story was the only that kept me almost going asleep after seeing 1 episode. I wanted to see more but at the same time, i got bored since the story is not developing. What was developing was the relationships. More I will not say to spoil anything.
If you love the humour in this Series, you will love the Series. I think the humour is pretty funny, sometimes I literally had to pause the video until i stopped laughing. And sometimes, it was nothing special.
A very good comedy, only lacks a more deep story. But I'm sure this will be shown in the sequels.

Art 8
The art itself is simple but beautiful and well made. It kinda fits with the comedy feeling. At first, you could think this series will be bad since the art seems so plain and simple. But it's well done and much come in to play with the comedy.
It is great, could have been better with a touch of more regular drawings.
I felt the hair on everyone was WAY to simple and almost everyone is blacked hair and the hair itself is not very creatively done.
If you really cant get used to the art, it will effect your enjoyment experience.

Sound 10
Music is amazing. The tracks fit perfectly in regard to what is happening. It's very creatively done and fit so well. It's indescribable. The Teacher is also voiced by Kamiya Hiroshi which is a great voice actor whom I love a lot. He also voices the main male character in Angel Beats and Arakawa Under the Bridge. 2 Excellent series worth watching and recommended if you seen his one.

Character 9
I love the Teacher. He is right and at the same time wrong. It's very funny how he never succeeds to take his own life. You wont find anyone like this one. He is indeed one of the weirdest characters ever. His characteristics are a masterpiece indeed.
His students especially Kafuka Fuura are all students with unique characteristics. Both good and bad attributes that makes the teacher go mad or just accepts it. And they all just get more and more involved.
What I love about them all is the conflicts they have between each other.

Enjoyment 9
I give this series a 9 when I actually felt like giving it 6 or 7.
Reason is, this is a very good and funny series. What held me back was that I felt like the story didn't go anywhere, it felt like it was fillers though it wasn't.
I liked it a lot, but I fell asleep which was annoying. But this series deserves a high number on Enjoyment.

Overall 8
This is a very good Comedy series. If you are just looking for several good laughs and sometimes maybe hard laughs. Watch this series. I recommend watching the sequels as I feel like the story will develop more. This is just the start "getting to know the characters". It's very funny and well made.

this is one of best anime series that i can think of.this anime is very different from most of anime and its about how zetsubou sensei is DESPAIR about his life and students are making action or comment about it.the character has many different personality and each student is very funny and i laughed every episode.most of the time, story is not related to next story so its like each episode is one little season.if you're thinking about watch or not, you should watch it because this could the best comedy anime you can find.

“A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.”
― Winston S. Churchill

I find that quote to be a very fitting mindset to have while watching this series.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is not your average gag/satirical anime. What should be dark is funny and even when we think the world is as dark as the bottom of the ocean, this series somehow manages to throw in a shred of light and bring about laughter in such dark topics.

To be honest, I enjoyed this show because I am a pessimist my self much like the main character (well ... not to that extreme). Many of the dialogue or jokes within the series are actually social commentary. And if you are a big anime/manga fan and are decently informed about social issues, politics and current events and the like, this should be quite enjoyable for you.

Yes there are cheesy moments in the show but I never felt at any point that the creator of this show tried to take advantage of the audience by presenting cheap fan service shots or tried to forcibly invoke laughter.

Visually, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is moderate at best. Not too many flashy colors, not to dull either, a good balance and I'd say the animation is definitely easy on the eyes. The artwork on the still frames are very vibrant and enjoyable too.

The audio is just awesome. The OP and ED snippets are a little crazier than most of the animation in show but it really gets your attention. The voicing in this series isn't half bad either. I don't know too much about Japanese seiyuu but for the purposes of this show, they get the job more than done.

To wrap things up, this anime is a must watch if you really enjoy dark humor and satire. A little psychotic perhaps to spice things up, and definitely a little more psychological than the usual brainless cheap laugh inducing fan service laden gag anime. It is a must watch.
Overall experience and after thoughts: 9/10

Story: 1/10
There is no story.

Art: 6/10
Pretty ordinary, but I did like it's contrasting colour-scheme and character design. Not bad.

Sound: 3/10
Nothing special, the voice actors worked with what they had I suppose. They did their job well. The music was terrible and unbefitting of situations, as if the creator were purposely making a mockery of it's own soundtrack. Eh, it was kind of funny for the first few episodes guys, but you can stop now. I know this anime is a joke.

Characters: 3/10
There was no development, you never really found anything out about them. As for Zetsubo himself, he's the only character you gain any real ... insight into, but it's not nearly enough to paint a proper picture of a man. The only thing of interest here is obviously his tendancy to think the worst of every situation, and his quickness to try and end his own life.

Enjoyment: 6/10
Pretty enjoyable to watch, it has a charm in it's dialogue unbeknowst to a lot of other anime. The energetic teens coupled with the melancholic tones of their sensei makes for an interesting backdrop to an overall dull experience. Plus there's a few honest laughs in there, and the fan-service is sure to keep males with a thing for schoolgirls at least half-interested in the going-ons.

Overall: 5/10
The tale of the dissatsified teen is one I feel has been told too much, and make no mistake, that's what Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei is. Under it's guise of sensei/ pupil monotony, lies an even less meaningful status quo, a simplistic harem of day to day nonsense mixed with the melancholy of a late bloomer. Yes, for all it's praise, and the breaking of the fourth wall by making fun of itself every two minutes, all this anime amounts to is a silly harem full of nonsensical garbage. Although having a quaint charm in it's dialogue, overall the anime itself felt like nothing special, something I'd seen before. Something you take a look at, and think, "haha, that is how some people are these days" then shake your head and move on. But maybe, I was missing something? The only reason I kept watching after the first episode was to find out more about the characters, because they are, apparently, what makes this anime... I was disappointed. It's absurd to say character development is even existent in this series. Each episode is literally dedicated to one character a piece, out of this class' band of misfits, and yet, I still failed to learn anything of worth about a single one of them? They weren't characters at all, they were designed to be character stereotypes, and each episode was another writers' handful of pet-peeves they had concerning each one, sprinkled in with some typical slice-of-life humour and panty-shots of course. It left me wondering, how could people I know have eaten this hipster shit up like a giant bag of frosted dickcakes, and then gone back for more each week with the stains of their pevious shame still adorning their neckbeards? But then I realised I had answered my own question.

I'll leave it there because that's pretty much all I have to say about Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei, and I think it's quite apt to leave on my main point. It contains nothing of consequence. Absolutely nothing. For all it's 'contraversial' nature and 'quirky' characters, it will leave you wanting. Wanting something of substance, not another dick-flavoured cupcake.

You'll like it if you enjoy the slice-of-life genre avidly, if you don't really watch much of that, then you'll hate it. You'll hate it more than cupcakes that taste like dick.

Hey! This anime reminds me of all you pessimistic motherfuckers dragging me down! Haha jk, genuinely though this anime centers on a very suicidal man :) and laughs at it :) and it's fucking hysterical :)

Anyways, soorrry, just did that cuz I'm bad at hooks. FTR, I'm reviewing the series as a whole here. And also, there are some circumstances with this series that idk- uh- well- the 8 score is probably a bit low? if I ever rewatch it I think the score would go up basically.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a fantastic comedy anime, and do not be fooled- despite the fact that I'm ... gonna talk about a couple more serious things about it that I like you should not go in expecting anything but a really funny comedy anime with some clever and sometimes pretentious social commentary.

We start off with a man trying to commit suicide and a girl witnessing that. Respectively, they are our two main characters here: Itoshiki/ Zetsubou Sensei and Kafuka. Gotta say, I haven't watched many shaft anime- only about 3....ish... to completion but I'm gonna say first episodes are their forte. This is definitely one of my most memorable first episodes and it's horribly funny; In both a literal and figurative sense. The two main characters are the other's foil, Sensei is THE most pessimistic man on the planet and Kafuka is a lovely little lady boundlessly full of optimism and naivety.

Starting out the jokes all revolve around his students' mental problems and unhealthy habits/ compulsions... oof. A girl with OCD, a girl with two personalities that kick in depending on what's pressuring her, a hikikomori, and several, several more. And it's all very, very funny. Occasionally there's gonna be a cultural or language-oriented joke you're not gonna get but overall it doesn't detract.

After we've introduced our cast of characters the joke setup is mainly: Sensei introduces something awful, or something which- you gotta quote it- makes him declare "I'm in DESPAIR!" or "Zetsuboushita!" about society, gives the students a tour of it all and Kafuka then retaliates with the opposite positive look on things, sometimes her wraparounds to twisting the situation in a positive way are seriously ridiculous. And that's part of what makes it hilarious.

But it does get a bit tediously formulaic on that towards the end, I'm not saying it stops being funny at any point. But you're just thinking sometimes, until they do the next really unique episode, that at times it's a bit exhausting even if you're laughing at it.

Beyond that, the art in the series is stunning and abstract without being abrasive or immersion-breaking. Shaft does a thing where they overlay patterns over the clothes that's super cool, the colors are gorgeous- it's a damn pretty show. And also every main opening is genuinely one of my favorite openings ever. They are amazing.

I wanna go further into the score because, what anyone who has read the ending would tell you, after reading the last 10 or so chapters to see the ending I think this series is a masterpiece or at the very least it HAS to impact the score in some way. ESPECIALLY in the anime production of it, Shaft puts in so much foreshadowing and is so careful about it. Watching the openings and everything after I finished it gave me goosebumps, even now. Made me wanna immediately rewatch it even if I had just finished it and was burnt out.

And don't be like, "well, if I gotta read the manga it's not so great" with me mister- it's TEN chapters, it takes a few minutes, and you just watched- like- FORTY EPISODES. And also, well you don't gotta read it... It's still a really good anime without knowing the ending....

Another thing I wanna mention is that this series, ironically, made me super positive after watching it. They're true, all the awful things Sensei says but when you see things from both sides it really makes you realize how trivial it is to obsess over the bad things. When there are good things staring right at you, someone who's willing to try so hard to change things and your perspective. People trying their best to live, love in the air in spring, busy days at school or work, the fun future you can't predict. Maybe Kafuka is right, things aren't so bad.

After all, she goes through so much just to make you see the good. Even after the worst things possible.

This review generally relates to the whole Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei franchise since all seasons are extremely similar in their nature.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (or SZS), a show based on satirical manga by Kumeta Kouji, has the right to be called one of the most unique and mentionable representatives of "black comedy" genre in anime. It involves different types of humour and has a very atypical execution. Basically there's no deep meaning and phylosophical subtext in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, but it doesn't feel empty or pointless. Due to its great satirical content the show even might cause you to change your mind about some things in your ... life you never paid much attention to.

Story (6)
Basically SZS is an episodic sketch comedy, so don't expect to find there any linear storyline - only few minor changes might be noticed throughout episodes. But that doesn't mean this show is boring or too repetitive. All the characters get through a plenty of miscellaneous situations, and setting changes drastically from episode to episode ranging from slice-of-life stories to weird surreal tales.

Art (6)
In terms of art SZS follows the original manga, so artwork is very sketchy and atypical for anime. Outlines and colouring are kinda rough, and the show is relatively poorly animated, mostly being static. Overall the art might look quite unappealing. However, hard to disagree the show has very unique visual style with its own recognizable features which helps to feel the originality of the show. Furthermore, sometimes visual style changes completely, parodying anime of 80's, famous paintings and so on. Spectacular!

Characters (9)
After gradual introduction of all characters it appears that they are quite numerous, and none of them (except the lead character, Itoshiki Nozomu aka Mr. Despair) is more important for the show than others. Everyone has peculiar manners, behaviour, catch phrases; each character seems very different, but altogether they make up an unexplainable harmony which creates a solid groundwork for jokes and keeps you attached to the cast. The most mentionable character and the main source of dark satiric humour is Zetsubou Sensei himself, or Itoshiki Nozomu. He's a 100% pessimist constantly complaining about flaws of modern society and often attempting suicide, but failing at that every time. I guess there's no need to say how atypical and hilarious he is.

Sound (8)
All of the music is written by Hasegawa Tomoki known for composing background soundtracks for anime show Nana. OST for SZS is very memorable and just beautiful. The only reproach here - a plenty of tracks sound overly dramatic and don't actually fit comical nature of the show. Voicing is done well with no apparent flaws. Every characters' voice fits his/her nature excellently, hard to imagine something more suitable.

Enjoyment (9)
The primary goal of the show it to entertain the viewer and make him laugh. And this is where SZS truly succeeds.
So, do you like cultural references? Dark humour? Or social satire? Subtle intellectual humour, maybe? In any of these cases, SZS has something to offer. The show features numerous parodies and mockery, dark satire, intellectual jokes and even self-irony (which I personally consider one the best types of humour). Yet you'd better keep in mind that SZS is not a brainless comedy that can be easily understood by anyone on instant. SZS makes you analyze information, read a lot of on-screen text and follow quite fluent dialogues - therefore marathoning it most likely wouldn't be a great idea. SZS can be fully understood only in case you're familiar with notable examples of both western and japanese culture, and furthermore you'd better have some anime watching experience and (desirably) basic knowledge of Japanese. Otherwise don't be surprised if the anime looks like a random nonsense for you.

Overall
Put in short, here are strong and weak points of the show.
Pros:
+ diverse humour
+ lots of parodies and cultural references
+ likeable characters
+ unique visual style
+ great music, sound and voicing

Cons:
- unappealing animation
- lack of storyline and any development
- fanservice and harem elements (though both of them are ironic)
- requires basic knowledge of japanese culture and decent anime watching experience
- quite difficult to get drawn into

Considering all its flaws and trying to judge objectively, this show deserves a score of 7 (good). However, that doesn't mean SZS is just "good" if you love dark humour, cultural references and unusual execution. In that case Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei might easily become one of the most amusing, memorable and complex comedies you've ever encountered.

Are you ready to be thrown into DESPAIR?

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is, without doubt, the best anime of all time. Not just that, but also the greatest piece of creative work that mankind has ever produced. Every single human living on Earth should personally congratulate Koji Kumeta for the beautiful, complex critique of society that SZS is. Every episode approaches an aspect of human society that is, somehow, deemed "strange" and, then, Nozomu falls into despair. What most people don't notice in this is that, in fact, every single despair moment in this entire series represents us, the members that compose society. In this way, SZS tells us, through its beautiful story and ... cast of characters, the way society should be. When humanity as a whole finally understands the instructions delivered by Lord Kumeta through this anime, we shall advance into another plane of existence. Humanity will leave the sea of despair it has been drowned in and advance into a land of hope.

I give it 5/10.

This anime is about a depressed teacher and a bunch of girls who like him because of depression(i know its messed up but thats bacially why they like him).

Story: well as you have heard this is like lucky star and well it has no story what so ever but has very good humor and it flows pretty nicely.

Art: i like the art very... different you'll know what i mean when you watch it
and the OP is subliminal message overdrive. You'll start seeing faces on your wall...

Sound: hmm the sounds nice i mean you can hear everything perfectly and the voices arent muddled up

Charcter:well my fav. ... charcter never really appears that offen but when she does its really funny well for me at least. the charcters are very good. they each have their own background and such.

Enjoyment:very enjoyable as long as you not a person looking for a story in a comedy. if you like random then you'll love this.

Take one terminally depressed, suicidal adult. Make him the teacher of a class full of psychologically disturbed students, each one of them embodying a mental disorder or extreme character archetype. Add to the mix a great helping of dark humour and social insights, and it can easily be said that Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a must see for anyone itching for a comedy series with a side of philosophy and satire.

There is no plot to follow, characters don’t develop beyond their stereotypes, and often time’s logic is completely thrown out the window. However, it still manages to be the smartest comedy-anime I’ve ever seen. The ... ideas being given are interesting, and deal with basic truths about society and human behavior. It’s not afraid to delve in taboo subjects either, ranging from jokes about shut-ins, stalkers, drug users, and suicide. Not even the audience is off limits, with some of the jokes taking pot-shots on anime fans and the overly moe-fanatical anime industry. After a while, the basic formula of the show becomes apparent, and it usually it goes like this: One concept is brought forth, built upon, played with by the various wacked out students, and becomes more and more ridiculous. However, with the myriad of unique topics being presented, the comedy remains to feel fresh. Most of the humor is quite universal, although there are jokes that will go over most American viewer’s heads, with jokes and about Japanese celebrities, kanji puns, or Japanese politics. Thankfully these Japan-centric jokes are never the focus of the punchlines, so viewers shouldn’t feel out of place.


As for the characters, although their personalities are paper-thin archetypes, all of them are incredibly enjoyable. Each character adds a lot to the parodies and jokes because of their own different, messed up perspectives. Needless to say, there’s barely any character development (with the exception of one particular student who’s hinted at being quite darker than what she seems…), however most viewers will find their favorite instantly based upon their own individual tendencies. Itoshiki Nozomu (or Mr. Despair) is by far the star of the show, whose suicidal antics and cynical views remain the focus of most of the episodes. One would think that so much negativety would become grating, but the show manages to pull it off quite well. There aren’t many series where the lead character extends an offer to another to commit suicide with him, and have it come off as being endearing rather than evil.
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As for the animation, for the most part it’s pretty simplistic, although there are some scenes that are incredibly well animated. What really makes this series feel different are the rapidly varying art styles and angles, which keeps the viewer very much visually stimulated. There’s also a hell of a lot of comedic detail packed into the backgrounds, with the numerous random quips written on the blackboards, or lists of despairs which Nozomu is currently fretting about.
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All in all, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a very funny comedy series which shouldn’t be missed by anyone who likes dark humor, as well as people who want a smart comedy packed with both philosophy and satire. With most anime comedies either being redundant “slice of life” shows or moe-centric “watching cute girls do cute things”, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a welcome reprieve.

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Do you like animes with action, heart wrenching stories, and drama? Well, you're in the wrong place. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei has none of that. However, that didn't stop this anime from instantly becoming one of my favorites.

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei starts off with a young girl, Fuura, who is walking to school, only to be stopped by seeing Nozomu Itoshiki, her teacher she finds out later, hanging himself on one of the cherry blossom trees. Fuura saves Itoshiki by yanking him and snapping the rope from the tree. Next thing you know, Itoshiki is telling Fuura, "Are you crazy?! What if I had died!?" And the ... craziness continues on from there.

The story basically is low mainly because... well, there really isn't one. Most of SZS is basically a teacher and his students talking about several things (more like flaws) in Japanese culture and society. It may be hard for someone who doesn't know a lot about the Japanese culture, politics, etc, to get all everything that happens in SZS. However, even if you don't know much about Japan, you'll still be laughing at some of the crazy antics going on in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.

The art I found was something different. I feel like I haven't seen an art style like this before, which is why I'm giving it a 10. It's something different, and the art style is very cute, not heavily detailed, and just very clean. Plus, some of the silly faces drawn in this make me laugh so hard.

Sound is not something I excel in noticing. I loved the voice actors though, and I feel they did an AMAZING job with the characters.

Characters now. Even though they don't develop at ALL, SZS has some very unique characters, all of which seem to have something wrong with them. Itoshiki is constantly in despair and tries to commit suicide every three minutes, all of which are terrible failures. What makes it even worse for him is that even his name spelled horizontally in Kanji even spells out 'despair'. Fuura is practically the opposite of Itoshiki. Even when Itoshiki is hanging himself, Fuura looks at it as making himself taller. Chiri, another one of Itoshiki's students, is practically the female Death the Kid. No wait, scratch that, Chiri is more OCD than Death the Kid. Her hair is perfectly parted, her socks are always up, even her sleep schedule is perfect. See what I mean with all the characters having something wrong with them?

Overall, I loved Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. I think people that are fans of Hetalia might call this a bit similar with the undeveloping characters and the lack of storyline. However, this is not at all similar. It's very different actually. Watch it and you'll see it's different~

The show is really depressing, but funny as well. I guess you could say this is a show about laughing at other people's pains. Almost everyone seems to have problems in this. I guess you could say that it’s like Ren and Stimpy, Ugly American, and Moral Oral all rolled up in one. If you don’t like those shows, then you probably might not like this because even if it’s not really disgusting, it is rather dumb for funs sake. The whole show pretty much is like a long conversation with the branches into other ideas and such, and mostly feels like it's actually critiquing ... the Japanese government and culture. They love to play into the mind of the characters so it does get a bit odd and not always in the realistic fashion.

The characters and everything are really a whole play on words, their names meaning pretty much there personalities in Japanese. This does get lost to people who do not know any Japanese and how it’s written. For instance, when you write down Nozomu Itoshiki’s name western style, it becomes the word “zetsubou”, meaning “Despair” hence the name of the show. It goes on with Rin Itoshiki, his younger sister, who when written horizontally becomes “zetsurin” (“unequaled”), Mikoto Itoshiki, his brother, who resembles “zetsumei” (“Death”), and Chiri Kitsu, one of his students, whose name is created from the word “Kitchiri” (“Precisely”) shown when she tries to make everything equal, and also has the kanji for “senrigan” (“Clairvoyance”) and she does show she has psychic principles. The same is done with almost every character although I will not put all of them here because there is a lot. There is no short to characters in this and it’s sometimes hard to keep all of them straight but it seems most of his female students fall in love with him at least in one point.

The show has a lot of the same feelings as Welcome to the NHK, being very abstract and out of control though the animation is rather dark. Many times, I had trouble seeing something because it was so dark. The feel is that of a film being played along with the way the characters are dressed and some of the items around, it makes the show feel older than it is. The only times it really is bright is around Kafuka Fuura, probably to show how optimistic she is all the time but pretty much everything else is either washed out of has a layer of sepia tone layered over. All around the place, there are strange little writings on the walls and in the background that spout little nonsense that means nothing to the actually story line and every time the camera turns back to them, they are different. It’s a interesting little piece. There is a lot of fan service, especially for the American girl and a very strange guy who shows up everywhere in the most random places. It’s normally just a little circle with some guys face in the center and it could be in the background or covering something up. It’s not an anime face but a photo that is placed there which is just really on.

The music is rather odd, and I guess fits with the show though it’s kind of hard to talk about it. I really want to see this dubbed because it's really hard to read all the subs and look for the little tidbits that are in it.

I LOVE SAYONARA, ZETSUBOU-SENSEI!

First of all, even though it takes the smallest situations in the most dramatic way possible, it's very humorous. I think with the support of all the interesting characters the story flows very well. What I also like is that the story doesn't just stick to one plot. I think for this anime that would be bad.

Second, I love all of the charaters and their voices! They match perfectly. I am a big Kamiya Hiroshi fan so when I first heard Itoshiki Nozomu I was hugging everything around me very tightly. I think the voice actor of Maria is excellent too. ...

Third, I absolutely love all of the references it makes. For example, when taking a tour of Harumi Fujiyoshi, there were 00 references everywhere. They even had some members of Vocaloid come in!

Overall, if you're looking for obscure humor I highly recommend this. It's hilarious and it teaches you a thing or two about society... and despair.

Watching this series felt like I had found a diamond in the rough. It was hard as hell to find a live torrent of this in .mkv and decent resolution but my effort was well worth it.

This show is a breath of fresh air if you have been watching a lot of the more popular animes such as myself. Now what to say about this?

I guess the best way to describe what to expect is this, the humorous events that occur are really only half of this show, the other half is actually watching it. I have never seen an anime that requires so much ... attention visually. I found myself constantly pausing to try to catch stuff that was happening in the backround, or written on papers/blackboards/signs, ect... Its not really NECESSARY but if your OCD like me you will want to know.

This is a really well crafted anime, which means that everything just sort of fits together perfectly, and that mixed with its witty and fresh humor, and artistic direction make this anime one I endorse as a must see!

all that being said...
...WRITING THIS REVIEW HAS LEFT ME IN DISPAIR!
there are sure to be people who don't find this review helpful, soon users from all over the internet will be watching this show and left disappointed because they think I over-hyped it. My name will become synonymous with bad anime! [gets noose]....

This will be a challenge since this is definitely the most ORIGINAL anime I have ever seen. It is hard to describe. Watching it is truly a unique experience. I screamed a lot while watching it out of hilarity and fear. This combination of feelings is delightfully painful and awkward.

The story is not cut and dry - it's random and not really about a plot as much as it is about well, randomness. There are tons of interludes and filler parts that will confuse you but are creative and enjoyable. Sometimes they're scary just because they're invasive to what your mind predicts.
TONS of culture ... references. They can be funny even if you don't get them because they're presented in such an odd way.
It's almost a parody anime because you can tell it knows it's random and it knows it's poking fun.

I really loved the art - it was truly original. At times it was beautiful, at times just interesting, and even disturbing but in a good way. I think some may be lost at the unpredictability of it but if it interests you at all, you won't be disappointed.
The people in charge of the anime sure love to have cameos. Prepare for that, as it is a very common occurrence.

The music was also interesting. It's funny in an awkward way, like "What is this?" and it's great because it fits the whole series.

The characters are amazing. Itoshiki-sensei is very true to himself and so hilariously tragic, it's easy to like him but it can be hard to decide whether or not you actually feel sorry for him. The issues the characters face are relatable but also outrageous - exaggerated, if you will. The flaws of the characters can be shocking but are also not too foreign.
Simply put, it makes one realize that they themselves are also a creep of some sort.

There's lots of fanservice - male-targeted. This bothered me a little bit, but it doesn't take away from the story.

Overall, I'd describe it as a satirical crackfest that's one of a kind and truly enjoyable for those open to it. I recommend it to almost anyone.