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Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei
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Animation - 7.7 |
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Sound - 6.9 |
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Story - 6.0 |
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Character - 7.3 |
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Value - 6.6 |
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Enjoyment - 6.7 |
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Average - 6.9 |
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| Average |
7.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
5 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
8 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Of all the comedies I've seen, this one was one of my favorites. The big difference for me was that, while most comedies expect you to turn your mind off and laugh, you really have to be paying attention in order to get much out of SZS. The humor is very cynical and dark, and are often based on some rather insightful, if exaggerated, facts about the real world and Japanese culture. However, many of the jokes rely on knowledge about Japanese culture--if you're new to anime or don't have a way to find out about current events in Japan/Japanese culture, you're going to miss a lot. I certainly missed a lot, but not everyone I watched it with did.
The main problem I had was that this anime is *just* a comedy. The characters are too exaggerated to be realistic, and they are never involved in any story that lasts more than a few minutes. While most of the jokes are really quite original, it's boring simply because there's nothing to string them together.
"Value" is somewhat difficult to talk about here. Certainly the anime raises some interesting issues--you could probably write a philosophy/psychology term paper (if you're a college student) on the topic(s) each episode presents. However, the anime doesn't offer a very deep analysis, and it's very cynical. I would almost say that the anime is arguing an absurdist philosophy.
The animation was quite entertaining, and very surprising. I can't say I completely understand why the director went out of his way to use so many animation styles, but I didn't feel it ever hurt the anime. Sound was above average too--there were occasional well-placed sound effects which portrayed more than could be done with animation alone, and the OP was quite catchy.
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| Average |
3.2 |
| Animation |
5 |
| Sound |
4 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
3 |
| Value |
2 |
| Enjoyment |
2 |
| A series that is too random and Japan-oriented (even otaku-oriented) for its own good.
Culture shock is one of the biggest hurdles for anime. Even for Japan itself. Series like Cowboy Bebop, Trigun and Samurai Champloo - series that are the cornerstones of anime popularity in the United States and other countries in the Western World - did not succeed in Japan. Why? Slick styles and fights, Western humour and culture inferences (Bohemian Rhapsody, Knockin' on Heaven's Door) in Bebop, the use of hip-hop in Champloo, the sheer Western gunslinger style of Trigun - those are things the Western World is familiar with. Japan and the East - nope. Even when comedy acts like The Goon Show, the Monty Python Boys or an iconic car show like Top Gear, manage to limit their culture barriers and are institutions in the West, you'd be lucky to find someone in the East who understands them or knows who they are. Why? Exposure. We see it, they don't.
There was a particular episode in Samurai Champloo - #22 - that provided a lot of viewing confusion in the West. Specifically because it was an episode featuring Japanese celebrities and icons that were only famous in Japan or nearby countries. The references to zombies and those celebrities were lost to most people and the episode lost its impact. So culture shock can happen both ways. If you're going to overcome it, you need to provide a way to get over it. If you don't, you're limiting the potential audience.
And sadly, that is what I feel was intended when Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei was made. This is a series about Japan that parodies Japan and its trademarks. You just get the feeling that you either:
1. Have had to have lived in Japan for a considerable amount of time.
2. Researched every reference, which requires a lot of patience just to get to the point to able able to like the series.
So SZS makes the viewer have to do all the work just to get into a semi-comfortable mode to understand some of this series. Isn't that a bit arrogant, really? The show is supposed to accomodate the viewer with what it is trying to achieve, not force the viewer to adjust themselves to accomodate it.
There are a few things that stand out enough to be understood - Japan's penchant to overhype, the excuse of following a pre-determined fate when they failed, old-fashioned village culture, or going out into the real world and taking insults too personally. As well as a great deal of black, ironic humour.
The premise of the story is simple enough - Mr. Despair is about to kill himself. Before he is able to, the world's most positive person, a female student, mistakes him for her new teacher. Before Mr. Despair can get a grip, he winds up as a teacher of a very weird class. Much random behaviour ensues.
I didn't like the animation style, to be honest. It feels like a cardboard caricature with little effort and soul put into it. The heavy use of black, red and white gradually got irritating. I wasn't a fan of the music in this series, I found it to be very dull. Voice acting was average at best.
SZS has no plot development at all. It is rather episodic in nature and characters don't develop either. Which then places the ability to be amused by the random behaviour therein to like this series. Did I? Only occassionally. For almost the entire duration, I sat there thinking 'Is this supposed to be funny? What was that umpteenth sudden kanji flash that I didn't get to see a translation of? I wish I knew Japanese culture more....' It became a burden just to watch. Not a good thing. In the end, I found it rather depressing.
Character wise, their is a fair blend. Mr. Despair as the most negative person. Miss Eternally Optimistic. Miss Prefectionist. The Foreigner. Doujinshi. Hikikomori. Illegal Immigrant. Pantsu Girl. Pantsu-Obsessed Teacher. Makes for a fair number of different reactions to any situation. But I just found them devoid of appeal. More of a personal matter, perhaps. Or perhaps they only appeal to a certain kind of person. *shrug* I can't say that it makes me want to try again. Even if informed of more of what is going on, I don't think I'll overcome the hurdle that it simply wasn't funny at all to me.
SZS - it will appeal to a certain crowd. To others it will leave them scratching their heads or switching off before they drown in despair. I fell in the latter category. It jsut didn't work for me and I felt no regret or loss from not understanding it.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
8 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| A show about a cynical, wish-he-were-dead teacher and his band of desperately-in-need-of-therapy students. Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei is a dark comedy that pokes fun at a lot of modern society’s little “quirks”. It’s difficult to catch all the cultural references and I spent quite a bit of time wondering what some things meant. If you’re one of those people who are obsessive about wanting to understand every little nuance then you would probably find this show frustrating – you’ll also be hitting the pause button pretty frequently.
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1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
5.5 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
6 |
| Story |
4 |
| Character |
6 |
| Value |
5 |
| Enjoyment |
5 |
| It's SHAFT with more unique styles from them. Sayonara Zetsubo is very random and revolves around the Japanese culture. If you're looking for a dark comedy that is different then most animes then Sayonara Zetsubo may be just what you're looking for.
The animations are definitely unique. Well, because it's made by SHAFT and SHAFT always makes things seem interesting. The animations were amazing on the first episode with all that floating petals everywhere. (SETO vibes) But as you progress through the series you find that there are many still shots and scenes that are reused over again. SHAFT may fool you with pretty animations, but they can't hide the constant still shots they use. You can't hide from me.
The OP song changes many times in this anime. Typical SHAFT stuff, what else are you expecting? They show the random styles that Sayonara Zetsubo will go through. I didn't particularly like any of the songs, but I guess the animations styles of the OP sequence match the randomness of the anime. Voice acting is pretty good and I heard that in the second season they even do a VA SHUFFLE!
Sayonara Zetsubo doesn't really offer a story. Mainly it's about a teacher who looks at things in a negative light and tries to teach the students in his class. Mostly each episode we meet a new character and those episodes were entertaining. Each character was different and it was fun to discover their personalities. We had the blonde American girl that will sue if you look at her panties, the shy girl that locks herself in her room, the girl that is an illegal immigrant, a bully that is just the way she looks, a girl who blames everything on herself, the normal girl, the guy who doesn't get notice, I'm pretty sure there are more, but each character was different from the others and they were fun. FUN!
Some episodes made me laugh, some made me smile, some made me feel like skipping the episode. It all depends on if you're into dark humor and seeing things in a negative light. You might like it if you like seeing usual personalties of people in real life, but in a negative way. Sayonara Zetsubo is a comedy that gets some of it's jokes across and some of it is loss in the transition between Japanese and English.
For those of you who did like this then you might also want to check Lucky Star. Since Lucky Star is basically like a happier side of this anime.
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Budding |
(2008-03-07 20:12:39) 2008-03-07 20:06:46 |
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| Average |
5.3 |
| Animation |
10 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
3 |
| Character |
5 |
| Value |
4 |
| Enjoyment |
3 |
| Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei is a 12 episode comedy released in 2007, which does not offer much laughter after the first episode.
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei has a very unique style when it comes to its design. Both graphics and animation are executed in a different, yet attractive, colourful and pleasing way. Although not overly detailed, there are always subtle changes in the backgrounds making the anime entertaining to watch. The character designs are simplistic, but are attractive, humorous and easily distinguishable. Shaft is an animation studio well noted for its excellent unique graphical styles, and this is clearly reflected in this anime.
In a sense, the randomness of the theme songs reflect the randomness of the storyline in Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei perfectly. However, they do not reflect much else, and as a result, feel unsuitable for this anime. The background music in Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei is noticeable only when it is used to unsuccessfully set the mood of a scene. The voice acting is decent, and suit their respective characters, as are the sound effects. Despite what I have written above, it is not Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei's audio that is unsuitable for its storyline. It is actually its poor storyline that fails to accomodate the anime's soundtrack.
The first episode of Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei is excellent. It is funny, witty, well paced and structured, introduces a cast of extremely interesting characters, and showcases the unique design of the anime. It is therefore a total shame that the remainder of the anime fails to build on this, and as a result turns such a promising anime into something which is not only structured poorly, but also a comedy which fails in its every attempt to become funny.
The main issue with Sayonara Setzubou Sensei is that it tends to overdo, repeat, and reuse its jokes to a degree where it loses all humour and instead becomes tedious to watch. This is not aided at all by its very Japanese-oriented theme and storyline, which is difficult to understand and follow for people lacking a strong Japanese background. The end result is a poorly paced and confusing comedy, lacking humour and development.
There are quite a number of characters introduced in the short 12 episode anime, who all feel very strongly towards the main character. It is therefore a shame that the viewer will not share that passion. In fact, it is rather difficult to feel for any of the characters, due to the poor storyline, which had a direct negative impact on the character development. Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei does not lack character development, but like its soundtrack, it is made very uninteresting to watch by its storyline.
To me, this anime was too random for its own good. It tries to be unique in almost every area, failing more often than succeeding. Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei might be enjoyed by viewers with a strong knowledge of the japanese society, looking for a comedy that repeats the same jokes over and over in a totally different way. Otherwise, I can only recommend viewers to watch the first episode, if they do not want to be disappointed.
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| First and foremost - this is a mature anime that requires a lot of concentration to fully enjoy and appreciate it. Essentially, through various interesting teacher-student situations, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei critiques various aspects of Japanese society. For example: 1) the tendency to overhype things 2) the excuse that they were just following some preset way when they fail 3) some village's old fashion ways of doing things 4) going into the real world (and taking insults badly), etc etc. SZS definitely has some situations which one could relate to.
To be honest, I did not understand everything this anime had to offer. For example, I do not know the names of famous Japanese people, sports teams, businesses, etc. Whether it was because the humor bounced off of me, or I just did not understand that type of social problem, some parts of SayonaraZetsubouSensei just had me stare blankly. But I will comment on the parts I did understand and enjoy.
SZS has a very ironic sense of humor. This sense if conveyed primarily through one narrator (the teacher) and different student s, who each behave a very specific way. For example 1) the student who is always optimistic and does not believe in negative things 2) the student who craves perfection 3) the 'American' student 4) the doujinshi writer, etc etc. There are also students who are there for no reason, but to make fun - for example 1) the hikkikomori 2) the illegal immigrant 3) the fan service panty girl 4) fan service teacher, etc. Put all these characters together and you have one heck of a party. As the teacher guides them through various 'life lessons', we get to see a hilarious combination of reactions to different situations.
Watching this anime felt intellectually stimulating and I learned a bit about the social situations of Japan. While there were parts I had absolutely no clue what was happening, I really liked the scenarios that references familiar situations. Nevertheless, SZS really does not have much rewatch value. Aside from trying to interpret the really quick flash-by scenes that show a screen full of text (which actually don't really amount to much if you don't know what is going on), the scenes do get stale the second time you watch it.
Plot wise, there is nothing much for it. There is minimal linear progression. The only consistency between episodes are the characters - and they do take advantage of this. For example, some things are funnier when they happen to certain characters because you know that character's personality. If you were to watch that episode by itself, it would not be as funny. As such, I respect this anime for its consistency of its characters and its utilization of the media. There are lots of new innovative ideas here.
Watch SZS if you wish to watch something different. If you enjoy satirical ironic humor of social situations in Japan, then this is a perfect fit. Definitely good for those who wish to be more engaged in their anime, and not afraid to commit to understanding it. Although, unless you know a lot about Japan, I doubt you will be able to fully appreciate this. Also, this anime has its ups and downs. Some parts just aren't as interesting as others.
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9 of 9 people found this review helpful.
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| Average |
7.0 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
7 |
| Value |
7 |
| Enjoyment |
7 |
| Goodbye, Mr. Despair (Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei) is a strange dark comedy that focuses on the despairs of modern society. It is a weird concoction that mixes the everyday undetectable faults of our current lies into a classroom of weirdos animated in one of the most ambitious SHAFT project to date (and will be outmatched by their next project ef - a tale of memories). It is not a lie when I say that this anime speaks the truth about modern culture and behaviour, and even though most of the issues are Japanese-centric, some applies globally and even in your lives; the comedy in SZS is deliciously ironic, and should it not apply to you, then you are best to live under a rock in addition to being without a sense of humour.
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2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Jenil |
(2008-01-18 18:16:07) 2007-08-04 09:19:28 |
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| Average |
8.3 |
| Animation |
7 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
9 |
| Enjoyment |
9 |
| At least, a rival for the Great Director Watanabe* has appeared !
There is so much to tell about this anime which is definetely the most creative of the year. Great animation, good soundtrack, amazing characters including an impossible comedy duo, there is nothing lacking in this comedy.
Just watch it, it's funny AND clever.
*Since I have made a comparison with Excel Saga, let just be said that these animes are not very alike, so do not be afraid to watch it if you despised Excel Saga.
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brennan |
(2007-08-11 10:48:41) 2007-07-28 05:57:13 |
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| Average |
8.2 |
| Animation |
9 |
| Sound |
8 |
| Story |
7 |
| Character |
9 |
| Value |
0 |
| Enjoyment |
8 |
| At the time of writing, I have only viewed four episodes in total of this anime. I intend to edit this post as time passes by, and provide a more informative review.
Not much information has been provided about this anime on the front page, so I'll summarise a little bit here. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a comedy, with a good deal of parody. The two main characters initially introduced are polar opposites to each other - Nozomu Itoshiki, a high school teacher whom, due to the fate of his impossibly unlucky name, is characterised by paranoia, pessimism, and despair. He has a penchant for suicide in these circumstances. The other is Kafuka Fuura, a female student whom is impossibly cheerful and optimistic. From their chance encounter one day while Itoshki Sensei (aka Zetsubou Sensei) is attempting to commit suicide brings forward an interesting dialectic which accounts for most of the humour in the series.
The following storylines mostly deal with introducing the rest of Zetsubou Sensei's incredibly eccentric class. There is an extreme hikkomori (social withdrawal), a girl with multiple personality disorder, an anal retentive girl, a cheerful illegal immigrant, a quiet girl (which is an internet flamer of epic proportions), and, in the midst of all this - a normal girl. Every character is extreme, and in this the humour of the situation is presented - everyone knows someone who is sort of like that, it's just the fact that it's over the top makes it so hilarious.
Visually, the series is near impossibly flawless. Every scene looks highly polished and artistic. Scenes contrast between highly detailed pieces as well as flat, two-dimensional styles. Overall, there seems to be a retro, fifties theme that recurs within the series as well. There are also various visual gags, randomly places scenes, and stylised quotes, which accentuate the humour of the series.
The music is excellent. Both opening and closing themes are extremely pleasurable. I can't really comment too much on the insert music, but I cannot recall anything overly unpleasant.
However, after going through four episodes, I'm not as pleased as I was with the first episode. To be honest, Zetsubo Sensei's bleak outlook towards life is a little too over the top, and eventually it gets old. The same goes for his counterpart, the cheerful (yet dense and often in denial... or optimistic?) Fuura. And for a series that seemed to promise so much creativity in the beginning, it begins to follow the loop of "introduce two eccentric students an episode".
Nevertheless, this is a series that is still distinctively creative, visually stunning, and worth watching. Twice, because you might not get the humour the first time around.
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| Average |
8.8 |
| Animation |
8 |
| Sound |
7 |
| Story |
8 |
| Character |
10 |
| Value |
10 |
| Enjoyment |
10 |
| Hilarious. The creative director of this anime is quite funny, and he forces the viewer to see his face in several unique and interesting ways. Every scene has some element of craziness, and most have more than one. This is clearly meant to be a funny anime, and the two archetypes of 'always sees things in a negative light person' and 'always sees things in a positive light person' make for a brilliant comedy duo. This anime isn't quite as crazy as Sexy Commando Gaiden, which is good, but it is up there.
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