[Anime - Commentary] Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei!!!

There is something to be said for enjoying the zaniness of life. I think this show - Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei - really celebrates the intelligent bizarre. I say bizarre as a noun - because if bizarre was a person - he would be the central figure of Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei.

But there is a method in the madness - and for every fit of despair that Sensei Itoshiki Nozomu has - there is a startling commentary on the world (or Japanese world) at large.

For those who are not familiar with this series, Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei is about a truant, suicidal teacher who has a similarly screwed-up high school class. The story begins with a failed hanging - and goes downhill from there - in a totally awesome way. The title says it all: "Farewell, Teacher of Despair!"

[Insert culture fact: "sayonara" means "goodbye" in Japanese - but the implications are much stronger than Westerners think. It really means something closer to "farewell, I will see you in the next life, if ever". So - make sure you think twice before using it!]

One would think that the show would evaporate after 13 episodes... No sirree, the creators came back with 2nd and 3rd helpings: Zoku Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei and Goku Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei. Can't get much easier than that, can it?

As for the students - there's the "Overly Optomistic" girl, the "Bossy, Control Freak", the "Animal-Tail-Loving" girl, the "Invisible, Comb-over" boy, the "Stalker", the "Hikikimori at School", the "Normal" girl, the "Bi-lingual Personality" girl, the "Abusive Text Messager", the "Illegal Alien" and the "Violent" girl (to name a few).

Each episode deals with 1 (or more) issues - from the evils of card-carrying society, to "deep love", to xenophobia, to otaku culture, to cults, to useless festivals and their useless customs to strange sketches that make no sense at all.

I find that I have to watch it with my finger on the space bar - so that I can pause the scene to better enjoy the various lists that often scroll behind the teacher as he rants on about the current topic that he is despairing over. It's really all too much!