is a Japanese

manga Manga (Japanese: 漫画 ) are comics or graphic novels originating from Japan. Most manga conform to a style developed in Japan in the late 19th century, and the form has a long prehistory in earlier Japanese art. The term ''manga'' is u ...

series written and illustrated by

Kōji Kumeta is a Japanese manga artist. His most famous works are '' Go!! Southern Ice Hockey Club'', '' Katteni Kaizō'', ''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'', and ''Joshiraku''. The bulk of Kumeta's work was published in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'', until the abrupt ...

. It was serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately-held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha is the largest Japanese publishing company, and it produces the manga magazines ''Nakayoshi'', ''Afternoon'', ''Evening'', ''Weekly Shōnen Magazine'' an ...

's ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga anthology published on Wednesdays in Japan by Kodansha, first published on March 17, 1959. The magazine is mainly read by an older audience, with a significant portion of its readership falling under the male high ...

'' from April 2005 to June 2012, with its chapters collected in 30 ''

tankōbon is the Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or cultur ...

'' volumes. The series follows Nozomu Itoshiki, a teacher who takes all aspects of life, word, and culture in the most negative light possible. The series

satirizes Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

politics, media, and Japanese society. The manga was adapted into three

anime is Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside of Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, in Japan and in Japane ...

television series and two sets of

original video animation , abbreviated as OVA and sometimes as OAV (original animation video), are Japanese animated films and series made specially for release in home video formats without prior showings on television or in theaters, though the first part of an OVA s ...

s (OVAs) animated by

Shaft Shaft may refer to: Rotating machine elements * Shaft (mechanical engineering), a rotating machine element used to transmit power * Line shaft, a power transmission system * Drive shaft, a shaft for transferring torque * Axle, a shaft around whi ...

between 2007 and 2010. As of April 2011, the manga had over 5 million copies in circulation. In 2007, ''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' received the 31st

Kodansha Manga Award is an annual award for serialized manga published in the previous year, the event is sponsored by the publisher Kodansha. It is currently awarded in three categories: '' shōnen'', '' shōjo'', and general. The awards began in 1977, initially w ...

for the '' shōnen'' category.

Plot and setting

''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' revolves around a very

pessimistic Pessimism is a negative mental attitude in which an undesirable outcome is anticipated from a given situation. Pessimists tend to focus on the negatives of life in general. A common question asked to test for pessimism is "Is the glass half empt ...

high school teacher named Nozomu Itoshiki who, at the very beginning of the series, tries to hang himself on a

sakura A cherry blossom, also known as Japanese cherry or sakura, is a flower of many trees of Prunus, genus ''Prunus'' or Prunus subg. Cerasus, ''Prunus'' subg. ''Cerasus''. They are common species in East Asia, including China, Korea and especia ...

tree. He is saved by an extremely optimistic student known only as Kafuka Fuura (though in her effort to save his life, she almost kills him). She explains to him that it is simply unimaginable that he would hang himself on such a nice day, especially in front of such beautiful trees. She decides to nickname Nozomu , and offers to pay him fifty

yen The is the official currency of Japan. It is the third-most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the United States dollar (US$) and the euro. It is also widely used as a third reserve currency after the US dollar and the e ...

to call him by that nickname. After having enough of the strange Kafuka, Nozomu bolts to the school and starts his homeroom class, but the attempt to escape was in vain as he finds that she is one of his students. Not only that, but Kafuka is just the tip of the iceberg, due to each and every student in his class representing a new personality quirk or bizarre obsession, posing challenges that he must overcome in spite of himself. Each chapter or episode of the series revolves around a particular aspect of life, Japanese culture, or a common phrase in the Japanese language. Typically, this involves the subject being taken either to its most logical extreme (a discussion of ''

amakudari In politics, a revolving door is a situation in which personnel move between roles as legislators and regulators, on one hand, and members of the industries affected by the legislation and regulation, on the other, analogous to the movement of pe ...

'', the practice of "descending" from the public to the private sector, results in Nozomu "descending" until he reaches his previous life), or taken literally (in Nozomu's family, ''

omiai , or as it is properly known in Japan with the honorific prefix , is a Japanese traditional custom which relates closely to Western matchmaking, in which a woman and a man are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. T ...

'', normally a meeting between a potential match in an arranged marriage, is instead a marriage made official by eye-contact). On other occasions, Nozomu challenges his students to think about the ''negative'' aspects of something usually considered positive. These in-depth, off-kilter analyses (along with the reactions of the students according to their own personality quirks) are usually brought to a head with a punchline based on the overall premise, or more rarely, a non-sequitur gag or piece of fan service. While ostensibly set in the present day relative to its original serialization, the manga uses a variety of aesthetic tropes that evoke the Taishō period, the relatively liberal period in Japan before the rise of militarism in the

Shōwa period Shōwa may refer to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufacturer, affiliated with the Honda keiretsu Japanese eras * Jōwa (Heian ...

. Many aesthetic aspects are meant to evoke Taishō liberalism, Taishō Romanticism (see

Japanese literature Japanese literature throughout most of its history has been influenced by cultural contact with neighboring Asian literatures, most notably China and its literature. Early texts were often written in pure Classical Chinese or , a Chinese-Japanes ...

) and Taishō arts (see

Hanshinkan Modernism identifies the modernist arts, culture, and lifestyle that developed from the region of Japan centered primarily on the Hanshinkan conurbation between Osaka and Kobe, the ideally terrained area between the Rokkō Range and the sea (Kobe's Nada ...

). This is exemplified by Nozomu and Matoi consistently wearing a

kimono The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono ...

and hakama (an obsolete style of Japanese school uniforms in the late 1800s), but is also evident in stylistic choices such as the anachronistic appearance of architecture, vehicles, and technology indicative of the Taishō period. However, the fashion of women typically follows the

modern girl (also shortened to ) were Japanese women who followed Westernized fashions and lifestyles in the period after World War I. were Japan's equivalent of America's flappers, Germany's , France's , or China's (). By viewing through a Japanese ve ...

trend, which is a break from the

Meiji period The is an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868 to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonization ...

and signifies the style of the Taishō period. Chapter titles are oblique references to literature, modified to suit the needs of the chapter. The chapter title pages are drawn to resemble

karuta are Japanese playing cards. Playing cards were introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders during the mid-16th century. These early decks were used for trick-taking games. The earliest indigenous ''karuta'' was invented in the town of Miike in C ...

cards, with an illustration in a silhouetted ''kiri-e'' style. The anime carries this further through a washed-out, grainy visual style that mimics film, and frequent use of

katakana is a Japanese syllabary, one component of the Japanese writing system along with hiragana, kanji and in some cases the Latin script (known as rōmaji). The word ''katakana'' means "fragmentary kana", as the katakana characters are derived fr ...

(rather than

hiragana is a Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' literally means "flowing" or "simple" kana ("simple" originally as contrast ...

) as okurigana. The anime also regularly refers to the date as though Emperor Hirohito were still alive, such that Heisei 20 (the twentieth year of Emperor Akihito's reign, or 2008 by the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It was introduced in October 1582 by Pope Gregory XIII as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian calendar. The principal change was to space leap years dif ...

) becomes "Shōwa 83".

Media

Manga

''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' is written and illustrated by

. It was serialized in

's ''

'' from April 27, 2005 to June 13, 2012. Kodansha collected its chapters in thirty ''

'' volumes, released from September 16, 2005 and August 17, 2012. In North America, the manga was licensed for English release by Del Rey Manga. Eight volumes were released from February 24, 2009 to November 23, 2010. The series was license rescued by Kodansha USA in 2010. They released volume 9–14 from June 21, 2011 to April 3, 2012.

Anime

''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' was adapted into a 12-episode

television series, directed by Akiyuki Shinbo and animated by

. It aired in Japan on TV Kanagawa and other networks between July 7 and September 23, 2007. The first opening theme is , performed by

Kenji Ohtsuki is a Japanese rock musician and Seiun Award-winning writer. His musical career began in the late 1970s. He is the vocalist of Kinniku Shōjo Tai, Tokusatsu, Underground Searchlie and Karate Bakabon. The lyrics of a Kinniku Shōjo Tai's song "Dok ...

featuring Ai Nonaka, Marina Inoue, Yū Kobayashi, Miyuki Sawashiro and Ryōko Shintani. The second opening theme is , performed by Ai Nonaka, Marina Inoue, Yū Kobayashi, Miyuki Sawashiro and Ryōko Shintani. The ending theme is , performed by Ai Nonaka, Marina Inoue, Yū Kobayashi and Ryōko Shintani. A special 50-minute DVD summary episode titled was released on January 1, 2008. A second DVD summary episode was released on August 27, 2008. A 13-episode second season, titled , was broadcast from January 5 to March 29, 2008. The opening theme is , performed by Kenji Ohtsuki and Zetsubō Shōjo-tachi. The opening theme for episode 7 is , performed by Ai Nonaka, Marina Inoue and Ryōko Shintani. The series' three ending themes are , performed by Zetsubō Shōjo-tachi, by ROLLY and Zetsubō Shōjo-tachi, and , performed by Zetsubō Shōjo-tachi. A 3-episode original animation DVD (OAD), titled , was released on October 17, December 10, 2008 and February 17, 2009. A 13-episode third season, titled , was broadcast from July 4 to September 26, 2009. The opening theme is , performed by Kenji Ohtsuki and Zetsubō Shōjo-tachi. The first ending theme is , performed by Zetsubō Shōjo-tachi, and the second ending theme is , performed by

Hiroshi Kamiya is a Japanese voice actor, singer and narrator affiliated with Aoni Production. He is best known for the voice of Levi Ackerman in ''Attack on Titan'', Trafalgar Law in ''One Piece'', Mephisto Pheles in ''Blue Exorcist'', Izaya Orihara in ''Dur ...

. A 2-episode OAD, titled , was released on November 17, 2009 and February 17, 2010. A special episode was offered to people who bought all three of Japanese Blu-ray Disc Boxes of the series and was released on January 31, 2012. In North America, Media Blasters licensed the first ''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' anime series in February 2010 and was going to release the first English-subtitled DVD volumes in May 2010. However, the series was put on hold until March 2013, when they dropped the rights to the series. At Anime Expo 2019, it was announced that

Nozomi Entertainment Right Stuf Inc. (formerly known as The Right Stuf International Inc.) is an American video publisher and distributor of video programming that specializes in Asian entertainment (anime and live action films). The company since 2022 is owned by ...

licensed the series for a Blu-ray release in 2020. In May 2021, Nozomi Entertainment explained that the series' release was delayed due to lack of scripts in Japan. Besides this, the company announced that they will release the entire anime franchise, including all three television anime seasons and both OVAs.

Internet radio show

An Internet radio show titled , produced by

Frontier Works is a Japanese company specializing in the creation and distribution of media related to anime, such as producing OVAs, radio dramas, drama CDs, anime soundtracks, or other related products. The company was established in August 1990. Projects i ...

organized by Hirotaka Tahara and directed by Futoshi Satō, began airing on August 28, 2007 on

Animate TV Animation is a method by which still figures are manipulated to appear as moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited on film. Today, most anim ...

. The show is co-hosted by Hiroshi Kamiya and Ryōko Shintani who played Nozomu Itoshiki and Nami Hitō respectively in the anime. Each episode started with a mini drama between Nozomu and Nami then followed by corners replying mails from listeners in several theme related to the series. The show is often referred as ''SZBH'' because of the in-show

call sign In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign (also known as a call name or call letters—and historically as a call signal—or abbreviated as a call) is a unique identifier for a transmitter station. A call sign can be formally assigne ...

. As of the 180th episode, the show has received over 153,000 mails. The show features six special broadcast. The first one was aired on November 27, 2007 titled which acts as if Ryōko Shintani is a sole host with Hiroshi Kamiya as a guest. The second and third were aired as the second and third season breakthrough commemoration on February 26, 2008 and May 27, 2008 which respectively titled and . The fourth special broadcast titled was aired on November 24, 2008 and featured several still image of the in-show character, Sanosuke,

marathon The marathon is a long-distance foot race with a distance of , usually run as a road race, but the distance can be covered on trail routes. The marathon can be completed by running or with a run/walk strategy. There are also wheelchair div ...

ing from

office to the recording studio. The fifth special broadcast was aired on December 31, 2008 and titled . The sixth one was aired on April 15, 2009, titled . A special radio event titled was held on March 18, 2008 featuring Yū Kobayashi, who plays Kaere Kimura, with

Kenji Ōtsuki is a Japanese rock musician and Seiun Award-winning writer. His musical career began in the late 1970s. He is the vocalist of Kinniku Shōjo Tai, Tokusatsu, Underground Searchlie and Karate Bakabon. The lyrics of a Kinniku Shōjo Tai's song "Dok ...

and Narasaki as guests. The recording of the event was released later as the third DJCD volume. A second radio event titled was held on March 24, 2009, featuring Ai Nonaka and Takahiro Mizushima, who play Kafuka Fuura and Jun Kudō, respectively. The recording of this event was released as the ninth DJCD. A total of 21 CDs for the show have been released by King Records. Ten of the CDs contain newly recorded episodes, while the fifth and sixth CDs are the collections of the popular episodes.

Reception

''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' won the 31st

for the '' shōnen'' category in 2007. As of April 2011, the manga had over 5 million copies in circulation.

Plot and setting

Media

Manga

Anime

Internet radio show

Reception

Notes

References

Further reading

External links