[ 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]

[ Episode 11: That's Impossible Isn't There an Original ]

I’ll get straight to the point with the theme of this episode. The overall theme revolved around running away from responsibility. A good part of this had to deal with the use of using the excuse of following “originals”. I found this part particularly hilarious since there is usually complaints about anime deviating from its original source whether it be manga, game, or otherwise. From there it went into using the excuse for other things such as cooking and using religion or God to escape from responsibility.

As usual the hilarity was painted all over the episode. I was really loving Chiri’s role throughout the episode, especially when she was practically acting as his wife! I also couldn’t recover over how they almost went into “permanent hibernation” by sealing off the windows in Nozomu’s house and burning charcoal. Carbon-monoxide poisoning LOL!

The cliffhanger is seriously a huge one where Nozomu is struck dead on from a streetcar. Ouch. There’s no telling what the next episode will bring considering that this is Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and SHAFT we’re talking about here. No matter how it turns out though, this show will definitely be in my all-time favorites list along with others such s ef – a tale of memories, CODE GEASS, and Baccano!. Just to name a few. ^__^

[ Episode 10: A Cultured Man Weathered the Rain Under Rashomon ]

The sudden new OP theme was quite the surprise. I gotta say that I love it. Though, I have to go through it again to see all of those lightning fast messages that flashed throughout the sequence.

As for the actual episode, I honestly was laughing all the way through. I tried to think of how to discuss some of the issues and all I ended up was confusing myself but I’ll try my best at least with the preview aspect. From what I gathered I’m guessing that previewing can also be likened to window-shopping. The part with the porno site made me explode into giggles since paying for porn is useless since, well, I think you know why. The bit with the Nozomu getting knocked into a coma and “previewing” the afterlife was especially hilarious. That shows that Nozomu doesn’t really want to die after all. To wrap it up though, this episode was just insane. Pure insanity (the James Bond-ish sequence was awesome!).

[ Episode 9: Evening Primrose on Fuji is a Mistake ]

At first I didn’t know how to approach expressing my opinion on this episode until the very end. The first half deals with mistakes in life. Nozomu points out that everything in life is a mistake. Well, of course he’s a bit extreme with his outlook since I’m quite sure that isn’t true. Kafuka on the other hand thinks that once the mistake comes to light, it is correct. Meaning, you will it is correct once everyone knows about it. I guess it’s something like repentance. Either way, I suppose choosing the middle ground between Nozomu and Kafuka’s viewpoint would be more wise than siding fully with either of them.

The second half deals with knowing one’s identity. The thing is that you can’t prove your existence with material objects such as ID cards and other binding documents. Your identity is proven through your actions and words which I think Nami proved through her “normal” response to Nozomu’s question. Or something like that. Well, I think the point is that worrying about such things will only cause you unnecessary stress and that one shouldn’t worry about proving their existence to others. It’s better to just watch things like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and laugh at all the stuff it portrays in each episode.

[ Episode 8: I am Fated to be an Outcast ]

This episode made me laugh so hard I thought I would choke. The whole issue of being an outcast and being overshadowed is so true that it’s painfully hilarious. The examples such as Kaere’s absolutely amazing body being overshadowed by Chie’s huge boobs and Nozomu turning in his 1000 yen only to be overshadowed by Kafuka turning in a ton of money were especially gut-busting. The other part of this episode involved receiving criticism. Everything shown was so truthfully that I could only shake my head in laughter. This goes especially for Usui’s (that’s his name, right?) self-criticism. Criticizing one’s self is an attempt to soften the blow one would receive if someone else said it first. The part with being criticized by a beautiful person, while a little strange at first, is something I’m sure I’ve witnessed one or two times in the past in high school. A person would much rather accept criticism from a beautiful person rather than, shall I say, unattractive person. In the end though, I think the issues addressed here are aimed towards telling people that they should be content with who they are and not try to bring attention to themselves and to take criticism constructively, unless of course the person doing said criticizing is just being an asshole.

[ Episode 7: One Morning, I Woke Up and Opened My Eyes I Was Carrying a Mikoshi ]

The first half of this episode was focused on drawing doujinshi and reminded me a lot of Genshiken and Doujin Work for obvious reasons. I also managed to learn quite a few things during this episode. Such as Kishotenketsu being a structuring style of Japanese [and Chinese] narratives. That was what Nozomu was trying to sell at Comiket. Then the second half focused on Mikoshi which are portable [Shinto] shrines. I found that part of the episode to be the best as it was so amusing to see those Mikoshi guys carrying around anything and anyone they can find. I loved how Nozomu pointed out how even those are used to get influence into the mass media. This show just keeps on hitting on real issues so hard and without mercy. Oh yes, and we got another Kaere panty-shot.

There were also references abound in this episode. Code Geass, Gundam SEED, Lucky Star, Manabi, were among those shown. I particularly laughed at the Code Geass one because it was just right in my face for once second and gone the next. They did a really good job mimicking Lelouch’s unique pose, lol.