Kita ze Inbou! - キタぜ陰謀!

[ Episode 12: What an Incredible Bother! ]

Firstly, I have to say I love how they brought back the first OP for the final episode. For some reason it just further excited me for the rest of the entire episode. And, like I said in the episode 11 entry, I knew that we were going to get something totally different from the cliffhanger.

There was a great number of things that had me laughing all over the place. I didn’t see the Starbucks joke coming at all. Seeing Matoi in the coffin with Nozomu was absolutely hilarious. She REALLY is ready to die with him at any time! Don’t get me started on the “stick in a dog” thing either. That had me going “WTF” more than just once and I loved it.

This final episode also introduced us to two more characters: Kaga Ai and Mitama Mayo. Kaga Ai is someone I’m sure most of us have seen or known at some point. I’m sure some of us even had some paranoid thoughts similar to her about bothering other people. I particularly laughed at movie one! Mitama Mayo is a pretty evil girl. But, because she looks so obviously evil, not one thinks that she is! It got really ridiculous after she started attacking Nozomu and his nephew though but even that was showing us that some people just refuse to see the obvious when it’s bashing them right over the head.

Now it’s time for my final impression! ^^;

[ Final Thoughts ]

There are so many things I can say about Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei that I could go on and on for hours with a discussion on the characters, themes, and entire episodes. This show is absolutely one of the best that aired in 2007 and I’m so glad that I picked it up after discovering the manga. Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei introduced a style of humor only it can execute flawlessly. Most of it is dark and presented in such a way that you just have no other choice but to laugh even if you were at the tail end of one of the many problems introduced either as a theme or character trait.

Speaking of the characters, they were all excellently done and I’m sure that most viewers can identify with at least one of them and their problem. From Nozomu’s pessemistic views of the world and Kafuka’s blind positive outlook on life to Matoi’s obsession with Nozomu and Chiri’s “do it proper” attitude; every character in this show was likable in some way though of course some more than others. My personal favorites are Nozomu, Chiri, Kaere, Matoi, and Kafuka. I can talk almost forever about each of them and the others as well but that is something that’ll probably exceed the word limit of this entry.

Like I said before, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei easily smashed into my all-time favorites list. It is well within the league of ef - a tale of memories, CODE GEASS, Baccano!, Higurashi no Naku Koro ni (Kai), Dennou Coil, Toward the Terra and a few others that I fell in love with. As such, the score this receives is well deserved for such achieving masterpiece status in my eyes. SHAFT did it with ef - a tale of memories as well so it comes as little surprise that they were able to do it with Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei. Now, the question stands: Would I recommend this show to others? Hell yes I would! Some may say it takes a specific audience to appreciate this show and while they are technically right, there is more than enough characters and themes present that should reach out to whomever views this series. Whether they choose to laugh at how it makes a fool out of modern society and its taboos or call it nonsense is really all up to them. As for me, I’m so glad that I finished this just in time for the start of the second season!

[Overall series review: 98/100]