Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 1
Posted by Guff on January 12th, 2008 - 6:00 pm
How I’ve missed Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei! The winter anime season doesn’t look like it’s going to be very strong on comedy shows, and Hayate no Gotoku has been kind of going downhill recently, so I’m extremely pleased that I’ll once again have the ever despairing Itoshiki-sensei and his twisted harem to tickle my funnybone.
And the show delivers right off the bat! The image of Itoshiki-sensei as a fast talking pyramid scheme seminar salesman was just too hilarious. And the way his eye bulged as he said “don don” was just icing on the cake.
Twenty seconds into the episode and I’m already rolling. Man, it’s been too long.
I absolutely love how zany and random this series is! When the episode began with Itoshiki as a salaryman fleeing from women and followers of a bizarre religion, I never questioned it for a minute. Things are just so crazy-go-nuts that I think any attempt to form a cohesive picture of the narrative would only be an exercise in futility. You just have to sit back and drink in the crazy.
Yet even as a hideously malformed molecricket man, Itoshiki still manages to retain the affections of his harem, the lucky bastard. I loved the whole farcical back story, though I must admit, “Pink Supervisor” has a much nicer ring to it than “Left-Wing Guerrilla-sensei”.
Quite the suspicious looking band of silhouettes that have apprehended Itoshiki, to be sure. The only thing missing is the giant smoking lollipop and the picture would be complete.
Eight minutes into the show…and I had assumed they decided to simply forgo the OP in order to establish the new season. Thankfully, they didn’t and despair was narrowly evaded. Though it’s no “Bure Bure”, the new OP is indeed quite rockin’. Of course, it might simply be because I’m amused that the song speaks of dancing the rumba, but has such a punk rock beat.
Although they have a tendency to go overboard at times, I really do love SHAFT’s animation style, and it’s especially fitting for a series like Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
Their use of great fisheye lens shots, in particular, is one thing I really enjoy. Bones is another studio that makes excellent use of fisheye shots quite frequently, but of course they don’t use them nearly as often as SHAFT does.
Wholeheartedly agreed. In any other series, or under any other animation studio for that matter, such ostentatious use of wonky fisheye lens shots and crazy rack focus zooms would be obnoxious. But with SHAFT at the helm, it fits like a glove. A very strange, misshapen glove perhaps, but a fit nevertheless.
Having a Nami centric episode was pretty funny, too, as she tries her best to stand out and get noticed, only to be overshadowed at every turn by Itoshiki and his dysfunctional harem.
Poor Nami, she’s cursed with normalcy. I can’t relate too well with her frustration, of course, simply because my life story is replete with failed attempts at being normal. In the end, mostly out of laziness, I gave up on the whole “normal” thing and stuck with being cynical and irreverent instead.
Oh foolish Nami, are you actually trying to out-suicide attempt the incomparable Zetsubou-sensei himself?? Sorry dear, I’m afraid you’re a bit outclassed on this one.
“Get thee to a hikikomori!”
Fortunately, Itoshiki takes the opportunity to give an object lesson in bizarre stereotypes. Quickly Robin, to the hikikomori!!
I got a good laugh out of Itoshiki’s “Moses pose”, too. SHAFT’s completely over-the-top imagery is just such a great match for the wackiness of this series!
“A meeting that was never meant to happen.”
Usually self parody gets the same sort of courtesy laugh that an awkward pun does, but I found myself chuckling rather heartily at this point. Nami apparently still hasn’t learned her lesson and attempts to out-hikikomori Komori-san. Clearly she is outmatched in this capacity as well.
Really though, no episode is complete without Kafuka’s ridiculous genki optimism. I’m firmly of the opinion that the only reason parts of season one started to drag was due to a lack of Kafuka.
Indeed, what would an episode of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei be without the excruciatingly genki Kafuka-san? I swear, it’s like they channeled the spirit of Samuel Taylor Coleridge to obtain the lyrics for this song, and it was made all the more surreal by watching Kafuka dance merrily as she sang out the inane tune.
I love the fact that she’s still sticking to the belief that Komori-chan is a zashiki warashi who will bring good fortune to the school.
One thing that I think helps make Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei’s comedy work well is that they know how to use running gags effectively, bringing them back just often enough to make them funny, but not so repetitively that they get tiresome (I’m looking at you Hayate).
…
I…er…wow, I’m at a loss for words. I got no tsukkomi to this one, sorry.
Admittedly, if I had such an experience I’d be reluctant to return to school as well. In fact, just chemistry class alone was enough of a deterrent to make a permanent truant out of me.
The new ED was pretty rockin’ and all, but…
WTF?! I never would’ve expected something like that from any show other than Inukami. >_>
Blue Man Group!
And as long as we’re talking about “WTF” moments, I actually would really enjoy seeing more of the Japanese commercials in between the eyecatches. They just tend to be so off-the-wall and wacky, especially the ones that air with anime episodes, that you can’t help but be entertained by them.
Edit: For those watching the subbed version, in Zero-Raws’ raw for this episode, some of the commercials were left in, including this one, which was absolutely hilarious. So you guys are missing out. 
I really enjoyed the animation style for the ending as well. In fact, I was so wrapped up in it that it was quite a while before I realize that SHAFT had robbed me of the gleeful lunacy of the previous ED. I think next episode I’ll just shut off the sound and crank up the old ED on my headphones.
Sometimes you have to make your own fun. And if that’s not the spirit of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, I don’t know what is.
Out-hikikomori Kiri? Impossible and I laugh at the attempt! …and the ED is the most awesome thing since sliced bread.
BTW I thought the Da Capo appearance was a really straightforward parody until the Blue Man Group showed up.
No mention of the restaurant where you apparently catch your own food? I love the adverts…
Not much to say other than Nami’s scream when Itoshki made his entrance cracked me up. The realisation on her face that something was wrong moments before was also rather cool.
Having just watched the raw of episode 2 I’m a bit concerned that SHAFT may have gone overboard this time. I won’t spoil it for you guys but the first part just melted my brain.
Haha, yeah I’m gonna be curious to see how the subbers will deal with that. Between that section and all the terrible puns later in the episode, I imagine it’s gonna be a real pain in the butt to sub.
Yeah I had exactly the same reaction! For a moment I thought it was just another one of the parodies.
i agree with everything you guys had to say about this one
the beginning of the new ep was great, full of crazy-ness just like last season
then it began into the normalcy of nami. this is great because at my school we have a girl who is so normal it makes my ears bleed when she talks. suffice it to say her new nickname is nami hito
also when usui was a flasher in the ED i laughed so hard dr. pepper came out of my nose
LEFT WING GUERILLA!
I like the blue dango group. They hop around like nobody’s business!
I just have to say. Kafuuka scares the CRAP out of me.
Wanna run through her pedigree? She has eyes terrifying enough to put Meru almost in a coma, she nearly killed the entire group with really obvious carbon monoxide poisoning and laughed it off, and that version of Traumeri she sang…..creepy stuff. And she has the power to inflict nightmarish hallucinations on normal girls.
I love the animation update this season has got. The new OP’s and ED’s are good IMO, Especially the first because of it being oh so reminiscent of the first seasons OP.
I don’t think this is the last [season] will shall be seeing Mr. Despair. I think it might be able to pull of a third or forth season… Hopefully. Such an oddity doesn’t dare to commit suicide.
The first season seems to have injected a bit more self-confidence as well as more cash into the second - the sheer randomness is upped, and that opening sequence is absolute genius. Plenty of material for quote-inspired blogosphere memes too.
I wasn’t sure what SHAFT would do with a whole new set of episode slots but it certainly promises good things - I’m especially glad that Shinbo isn’t afraid to stamp some of his trademark oddness onto the visuals again either. I don’t know exactly how or why, but this show gets away with things that other comedies just wouldn’t be able to.
Baby legs hanging from the ceiling? WTF?!
For an embarrassing amount of time I thought Sensei was going to be a zombie in this new season. Judge me at your peril.
I loved the first section even if I didn’t get the reference (apparently it was a Go Nagai joke), if only because Salesman Itoshiki reminded me of Watanuki from xxxHolic.
“Get thee to a hikikomori!”
I really love when SHAFT decides to throw in animated moments like that. It might be why I’m still waiting to watch the rest of Negima?!, seeing as some initial scenes had that epic style on it.
It’s already a bit more enjoyable than the original SZS.