Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
TheCompletionist
I often have a troubled history with slice of life anime. It is often my least favorite genre of anime but I'm always willing to give the genre a chance just on the off chance I find a slice of life anime that I actually like which can happen albeit not very often. Slice of life anime can often delve into many subcategories such as romance, school life, or the daunting tasks that perpetuate our daily lives. However this anime abandons many of the typical tropes of slice of life anime and focuses on complete and utter zaniness in order to be entertaining. Unfortunately it doesn't really work although the anime has given me it's share of laugh out loud moments just based on the most randomized craziness when you least expect it. Sometimes finding something to laugh at with each and every epi…
Read at the sourceephemerry
This anime is a rare amalgam of slapstick humor, shameless otaku pandering, all within the haze of Kafkan antimonies! Rarely have I ever I seen an author speak so honestly about such normal day-to-day circumstances through the mouthpiece of a character — the side personalities themselves are collectively an exemplar of their respective archetypes, basic to the formula of anime stereotypes; but unlike their progenitors, they orbit around the anomalous Nozomu Itoshiki, and diurnally, his perspective on the odd quirks of their cartoon world, that then manifests itself into something fresh and new: the incognizant meta-narrative! Nozomu Itoshiki more or less in a Franz Kafka paradox, where he doesn't realize that he, himself is a cartoon character — and instead, acts as the narrative spectator…
Read at the sourcetotalbodyworkout
One of several outstanding displays of the raw creative talent possessed by the individuals at Shaft, but irrecoverably marred by the all-too-common, subculturally sanctioned sickness on display by the creators. Shaft anime drives me absolutely bonkers because their work was and is some of the most unique and engrossing animation that I've ever seen, but it's so often wasted on indulging the petty whims of the creators, which can range from boring and rapidly dated non sequiturs from internet culture to the revolting but widely tolerated pedophilia typical in otaku culture. SZS will take you on marvelous journeys replete with interesting samples from the history of Japanese visual culture and mind-bending travels to the edges of abstraction which are beautiful and never lose their represen…
Read at the sourceHaneken2086
SAYONARA ZETSUBO SENSEI tells the story of a depressed teacher named Nozomu Itoshiki (whose name means "beyond hope" or "despair"), who leads a class of students who are just as mentally disordered as he is. There's a perfectionist schoolgirl who hacks at everything she deems imperfect, a mute girl who only spews abuse through her phone, a stalker fixated on her beloved teacher... and the most dangerous of them all, the cute but psychotic girl who sees everything in an optimistic but insane manner, which ultimately boomerangs on Itoshiki and almost always lands him in trouble.
This show has a simple enjoyable premise and some interesting characters, but beneath it lies the ultimate in Japanese satire. It hosts all the classic elements that make up a great satire: eccentric characters in a…
Read at the sourceBlindPenguin
Depression is often times (well, always) a serious topic. Suicide is almost a taboo in our modern society. Along with these, there are a whole slew of social problems that we see around us. These topics should always be handled delicately, because many people would be offended if they weren't.
"Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei" takes this sentiment with a grain of salt. Our lead character, Itoshiki Nozomu, is a depressed, suicidal teacher who always views things in the most negative light. His class, sadly enough, has more problems than he does; the students range from a hikkikomori to a balding boy who literally disappears from a lack of presence. The show details Nozomu's attempts (mostly failed) to teach his class about life and society.
Story:
As you can see above, this show does not have…
Read at the sourcealbinochocolate
"Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei" is as insane and addictive as it is deeply unorthodox. The usage of: silhouetted characters, extremely polar opposites in terms of the two main characters, constant cuts to text, and a bald, glasses-wearing man for censorship are definitive proof of this. As soon as it starts it already flaunts its relentless and ridiculously funny sense of humor. A strange premise along with a non-traditional visual approach not only make it intriguing but refreshing as well.
The premise is blatantly and pleasurably off-kilter like everything else in this anime. An incredibly negative and pessimistic person, Itoshiki Nozomu, and an incredibly positive and optimistic person, Fuura Kafuka, are the two main characters, and they meet each other as he attempts to commit suicide. The…
Read at the sourceRiver_Cloud
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is RANDOM, DENSE, COMPLEX, SIMPLE and over-all RIDICULOUS! [I mean it]
I won't praise it all much and will state what you're going to find here.
SZS is full of gags and random jokes. It includes long and short "debates" and discussions over a particular topic. The topic can be very interesting or very dumb, making some good points or useless talk. It's full of ups and downs and everywhere in between. It's all talk and no action. But smart talk.
Many mention there is a lot of dark humour....but it's not that much. There are dark terms, light terms, silly terms, complex terms, sometimes ecchi terms, Japanese terms, Non-Japanese terms and the list goes on. You will always find a term your familiar with, which makes it even more funny.
Characters problems are always a…
Read at the sourceSimonian
"Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei" opens with a teenage girl happily walking in a small forest of cherry trees. Suddenly however she stumbles upon a horrifying sight - a young man hanging himself on one of the trees. Now that's SZS in a nutshell. I could easily end this review with those 2 sentences and it would still be a detailed and informative review.
However, I think that even though SZS lacks a real story, it still deserves a decent and elongated review because, if it had a good background story - it would have been a masterpiece. SZS is a slice of life anime, so the issues presented here are not pulled out of someones' ass, they are real issues that people, nay, the entire world has to deal with. For example, every character in this anime is a visualisation of Japan's culture and problems…
Read at the sourceAlinhje
I can see why most people liked this anime, but it’s not my cup of tea.
The first few episodes made me laugh due to the absurdity and the character introductions. At episode 9 I really felt like dropping the series but in the end I do like the fact that I watched it all.
Art (7/10): The art is very good at first, the surroundings were drawn in a way that I felt like it could be real. However other animations are also introduced, I liked some of them, I really disliked others. There’s also this bald guy popping up every now and then. I guess it’s supposed to be funny but I really can’t look at the guy’s face (though I have to admit I have a strong dislike for beards, being bald and having a beard makes my dislike even greater).
Episodes were often interfered by short little weird movies.…
Read at the sourceHowToWatchAnime
This is a compilation review from the HTWA!
"whenever i hear sayonara zetsubou sensei i instantly think ZETSUBOU SHITA and randomness! they always present probable ideas which transforms into crazy ideas in the end because of exaggeration. and it's these crazy ideas that makes SZS fun to watch. add to that an overly pessimistic teacher, an overly optimistic student and a bunch of other interesting characters and you got one fun, crazy show!" - icemachine
"he Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei series are like marmite. You'll either love it or hate it. I fall under the former category, which is a definitely a good thing lol. Each character is pretty interesting in their own different way, and the interactions between these characters and the nonsensensical situations they encounter is what makes it…
Read at the sourceleingodf8
Writing a review for the Zetsubou series, is like writing about MC Escher's stairs. The concept is cool, the art pulls you in, and every time you look at it, there's something new you didn't quite catch the first time.... But you have absolutely no idea why it was made, or what the hell is going on. Zetsubou is one hell of a wild ride, mixing so many thoughts and ideas you always knew about, but never questioned. It pushes boundaries, and creates an experience most viewers wont soon forget.
Now, if your looking for a deep plot with involving characters and a decent conclusion, then Zetsubou is probably the last place you would want to look, mostly because the plot is non existent, or barely there. The entirety of the story is: A teacher, who has a bit of a suicidal tendency, does "stuff"…
Read at the sourceThee_Double_D
Im sure there are lots of people who would enjoy an anime such as this and unfortunately I am not one of those people.
There are always people who feel like dying and would go so far as to write a note or go to the top of the building or prepare to hang themselves. These people usually aren't serious, those who are, are first of all cowards and stupid. They believe that it takes courage to die however, they are wrong... It takes courage to live.
Now after sharing that with you let me say that this anime was rather boring for me. I king of forced myself wo watch two episodes a day just to finish it.
From the first episode you can see this anime had a lot of potential but I don't think they used it properly. The whole thing is basically about a teacher trying to repeatedly find an excuse…
Read at the sourceringoo4
Don't call me biased reviewer, I tends to be really cocky on series. This review might be find else where, since I can't just write different review all over again, in different forum. Remember, I only use same username for all the forum, (Goo4) so please don't freakin tell me that it is copied.
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ZETSUBOU SHITA!! Everyone should have shouted this at least once in their life. But there is someone who has gone into extreme, and even tries to suicide himself for ridiculous reasons.
The anime, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (aka. SZS), is considered to be the most random anime in existence. You cannot predict how or when it will end. Story? What story? Discussing plot of this anime is meaningless. However, I can say, humours and word plays in this anime is just BRILLIANT. Kometa Kouji, who…
Read at the sourcekurodayuchi
We all have times when we wish we were dead, although we don’t always mean it.
Well, I present you Itoshiki Nozomu. He’s the world’s most pessimistic person and always carries around a rope when things turn badly (by the way, when you write his name horizontally, you will get Zetsubou – despair). Right in the first episode we see Itoshiki hanging himself in some cherry trees and his imminent death is only stopped by Fuura Kafuka, his unequal: the world’s most optimistic person. This is what sets things off and from here on in we will make a journey through current Japan’s society, through the eccentric students of this eccentric teacher.
Usually when we talk about smart comedy what comes to mind is a Cambridge PhD that tells jokes that only Stephen Hawking and company can grasp. This se…
Read at the sourceDellano
Well, I'm not a native speaker and this is my first review here. So please forgive me if I make any mistakes . ^¬^
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is by far the most interesting series I've seen in a while. It really brakes the whatever we may call "normal anime patterns" in a very original way. Starting with the story, which does not exist, not in a normal way. The following episode has nothing to do with the previous one. Sometimes, even the second part of the anime, doesn't seen to follow the first one, but every slice of the story can really gets your attention, in addition to a lot of laughs.
The Sound and Art are not state-of-the-art, but they are very appropriate for the anime. You can feel the real atmosphere of the anime through the ED/OP songs. The art is impressive, the characters ar…
Read at the sourceSplitter
I'm in despair! This anime with such a plot that could have been expanded in so many directions has left me in despair! And so begins this disillusioning review of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei.
The series is a comedy, blending dark humor with otaku references and some slapstick. It's a very eccentric blend of various comedic styles so it comes off as a novelty and wears off just as fast. The first few episodes are uproariously funny, but once the novelty of the setting wears off there's nowhere for the series to go. Keeping to an episodic structure, no one grows and nothing changes. A good comedy will develop character relationships so it never runs out of tangents. Here it's Nozomu Itoshiki vs. his class. That's all you ever see. It's fun for a little while, but because it never goes anywher…
Read at the sourcenx6
Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei is about a depressed teacher who would like nothing more than to die, but whose attempts are usually foiled by his students, who all seem to have social quirks of their own. The series starts with Zetsubo trying to hang himself from a cherry tree when he is interrupted by a girl optimistic enough to be his polar opposite. After escaping a conversation with what he sees as an annoyingly bubbly person, he arrives at his classroom the next day and realizes the girl is one of his own students. Zetsubo's full name when written horizontally reads as "despair" and as the series progresses it is shown the rest of the students similarly have names that are written puns on their personalities.
I was a little annoyed at the art style used in the show at first as it comes off…
Read at the sourcekiriska
Despair! I am in it.
STORY - Story? What story? This is a slice-of-life series and it is based entirely around hilarious character shenanigans, though if you ever see characters like this in your life, I'd be a little worried. Still, there are a few reoccurring themes revolving around anime and otaku snark and satire of Japanese lifestyle, culture, politics, media, literature, etc. They also frequently make fun of themselves, which is incredibly amusing. It's all amazingly well done and highly entertaining, I assure you. A bit of warning through, if you try and pause to read every single thing written in the background for scenes, you will turn 20 minute episodes into 40 minute episodes.
Read at the sourcetigger89
This anime starts off as a pretty straightforward humor/harem anime. The episode is divided into two sections, and each section introduces a student who has a strange personality quirk, such as always being optimistic, or only communicating via text message. This was okay to get to know the characters, but by the end of the second episode I was wondering if this was all the series was going to be. Luckily, around episode 4 or 5, it broke out of that mold.
It still kept the two section format, but instead of simply introducing characters one per section, it would just place them in a situation. My only real complaint is that there was little to no continuity between episodes. Many of them could have been viewed in any order(except for the early ones introducing characters) without missing…
Read at the sourceMaster10K
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a Psychological, Slice of Life, Comedy about an extremely cynical teacher trying to spread his feelings and views of despair onto his students. Every episode is usually split up two as each part gives us incite into another one of the students, which means that every episode is different from the last. Seeing all the problems with Japanese culture laid out in front of you, just to make fun of it is not original however this anime is able to do it in such a unique way. With plenty of parodies and random moments, this anime is hard not to laugh at. Another interesting thing about this anime series, is its “out of the ordinary” choice of censorship and how it makes fun of pointless fanservice. These are to sort of jokes anime fans would love to see none…
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