is a Japanese manga 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 abru ...

. It was serialized in Kodansha'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 hig ...

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

tankōbon is the Japanese term for a book that is not part of an anthology or corpus. In modern Japanese, the term is most often used in reference to individual volumes of a manga series: most series first appear as individual chapters in a weekly or ...

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

anime is hand-drawn and 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 Japanese, (a term derived from a shortening of ...

television series and two sets of original video animations (OVAs) animated by Shaft 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 for the '' shōnen'' category.

Plot and setting

''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' revolves around a very pessimistic high school teacher named Nozomu Itoshiki who, at the very beginning of the series, tries to hang himself on a sakura 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 A homeroom, tutor group, form class, or form is a brief administrative period that occurs in a classroom assigned to a student in primary school and in secondary school. Within a homeroom period or classroom, administrative documents are distri ...

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'', 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) 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 Nad ...

). 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 are a type of traditional Japanese clothing. Originally stemming from (), the trousers worn by members of the Chinese imperial court in the Sui and Tang dynasties, this style was adopted by the Japanese in the form of in the 6th centu ...

(an obsolete style of Japanese school uniforms in the late 1800s), but is also evident in stylistic choices such as the

anachronistic An anachronism (from the Greek , 'against' and , 'time') is a chronological inconsistency in some arrangement, especially a juxtaposition of people, events, objects, language terms and customs from different time periods. The most common type ...

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 ...

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 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 f ...

(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 are kana suffixes following kanji stems in Japanese written words. They serve two purposes: to inflect adjectives and verbs, and to force a particular kanji to have a specific meaning and be read a certain way. For example, the plain verb fo ...

. The anime also regularly refers to the date as though

Emperor Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

were still alive, such that

Heisei The is the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor Emeritus Akihito from 8 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. The Heisei era started on 8 January 1989, the day after the death of the Emperor Hirohito, ...

20 (the twentieth year of

Emperor Akihito is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 7 January 1989 until his abdication on 30 April 2019. He presided over the Heisei era, ''Heisei'' being an expression of achieving peace worldwide. Bo ...

'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 Kodansha'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 Del Rey Manga was the manga-publishing imprint of Del Rey Books, a branch of Ballantine Books, which in turn is part of Random House, the publishing division of Bertelsmann. History Del Rey Manga was formed as part of a cross-publishing relation ...

. Eight volumes were released from February 24, 2009 to November 23, 2010. The series was license rescued by

Kodansha USA Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC is a publishing company based in New York, USA, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and manga, ...

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 is a Japanese animator, director, writer, and storyboard artist. Best known for his works with Shaft, he has attained international recognition with the studio for his unique visual style and storytelling methods. Born in Koori, Fukushima Pre ...

and animated by Shaft. It aired in Japan on

TV Kanagawa (tvk for short) is an independent television station in Japan serving Kanagawa Prefecture and parts of the Greater Tokyo Area with favorable reception. The station was founded on April 20, 1971 and began broadcasting on April 1, 1972. Its call si ...

and other networks between July 7 and September 23, 2007. The first opening theme is , performed by Kenji Ohtsuki featuring

Ai Nonaka is a Japanese voice actress and singer. She works for Aoni Production and was formerly a member of the voice actor unit Drops, which included fellow voice actor Akemi Kanda, Tomoko Kaneda, Mariko Kōda, and Ryōko Shiraishi. In high school in ...

Marina Inoue is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo, Japan. She is affiliated with Aoni Production. She was signed into Aniplex until 2007. She was chosen out of 2,000 people from the "Gonna be a star" auditions (hosted by Sony Music Entertainment ...

Yū Kobayashi is a Japanese voice actress and singer affiliated with Holy Peak. Some of her most prominent roles include that of Tadamichi Aoba in ''Dan Doh!!'', Setsuna Sakurazaki in ''Negima! Magister Negi Magi'', Dan Kuso in '' Bakugan Battle Brawlers'', ...

Miyuki Sawashiro is a Japanese actress, voice actress and narrator. She has played voice roles in a number of Japanese anime including ''Beelzebub'', Bishamon in '' Noragami'', Petit Charat/Puchiko in '' Di Gi Charat'', Mint in ''Galaxy Angel'', Sinon in ''Swor ...

and

Ryōko Shintani is a Japanese voice actress and singer from Kanazawa, Ishikawa.Doi, Hitoshi.Shintani Ryouko. ''Seiyuu Database''. July 30, 2010Archivedby WebCite July 31, 2010.Nakagami, Yoshikattsu; Yoshida, Moichi; Onitsuka, Kanako; Nishimoto, Keiko. "Voice Actr ...

. 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 , 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 ...

(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. 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 Media Blasters, sometimes abbreviated as MB, is an American entertainment corporation that was founded by John Sirabella in 1997 and is based in New York City. It is in the business of licensing, translating, and releasing to the North American ...

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 Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first w ...

2019, it was announced that Nozomi Entertainment 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

Internet radio Online radio (also web radio, net radio, streaming radio, e-radio, IP radio, Internet radio) is a digital audio service transmitted via the Internet. Broadcasting on the Internet is usually referred to as webcasting since it is not transmitted ...

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 ...

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 assign ...

. 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, marathoning from Kodansha 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

, who plays Kaere Kimura, with Kenji Ōtsuki 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

and

Takahiro Mizushima is a Japanese voice actor and singer. He is currently affiliated with Axlone. When voicing adult games, he is known as . Biography Mizushima is a former Japan Ground Self-Defense Force official. He entered the JGSDF Youth Technical School, a b ...

, 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 Kodansha Manga Award 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