is a Japanese

manga 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 history in earlier Japanese art. The term is used in Japan to refer to both comics ...

series written and illustrated by Kōji Kumeta. It was serialized in

Kodansha is a Japanese privately held publishing company headquartered in Bunkyō, Tokyo. Kodansha publishes manga magazines which include ''Nakayoshi'', ''Morning (magazine), Morning'', ''Afternoon (magazine), Afternoon'', ''Evening (magazine), Eveni ...

's manga magazine ''

Weekly Shōnen Magazine is a weekly ''shōnen'' manga magazine 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 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 a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

television series and two sets of

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

s (OVAs) animated by Shaft between 2007 and 2010. The manga has had over 5 million copies in circulation. In 2007, ''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' received the 31st Kodansha Manga Award for the category.

Plot and setting

''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' features comedic sketches, mostly standalone with very loose continuity, playing out between high school teacher Nozomu Itoshiki and his class of 32 students, class 2-He. As a teacher, Nozomu is addressed as "", a sobriquet which ironically shows respect for his profession while inauspiciously corrupting the kanji writing of his name so that it is read as "despair". True to this name, Zetsubou-sensei views many aspects of life fatalistically, carrying a resigned attitude that undermines both his authority and work ethic. He habitually interrupts lessons to make various defeatist arguments, which he proceeds to validate by threatening suicide, or by leading the class off on tangents, whether in or outside of the classroom. His negative outlooks are always gainsaid by Kafuka Fuura, a student who presents as relentlessly optimistic, though her positive outlooks are even further afield or, ironically, cynical in comparison. While Zetsubou-sensei's students are unimpressed with his demeanor, they generally play along in group discussions that contribute many examples supporting the topics of his rants. Despite disrespecting him, many of the girls in the class nevertheless carry torches for him, while being disappointed by his lack of reciprocal interest. On many occasions the girls openly defy his authority and treat him as their possession, backed by wanton slapstick violence committed against both him and each other. Chief among his pursuers is Chiri Kitsu, who is not only obstinate and dictatorial towards the entire class and world, but also prone to bloodthirsty and deranged rampages. Zetsubou-sensei's torment at the hands of the class is often orchestrated by Kafuka, who underhandedly pulls strings to inflame the other girls' passions and jealousy, inviting disastrous results. 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 , 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, , 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 set in the present day of the 2000s, and making numerous references to contemporary events and media, at the same time 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 most commonly refers to: * Hirohito (1901–1989), the 124th Emperor of Japan, known posthumously as Emperor Shōwa ** Shōwa era (昭和), the era of Hirohito from 1926 to 1989 * Showa Corporation, a Japanese suspension and shock manufactu ...

. The story is set in the fictitious "Koishikawa ward" of Tokyo, whereas the real-life Koishikawa has not been one of the

special wards of Tokyo The of Tokyo are a special form of Municipalities of Japan, municipalities in Japan under the 1947 Local Autonomy Act, Local Autonomy Law. They are city-level wards: primary subdivisions of a prefecture with municipal autonomy largely comparabl ...

since the 1940s. 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-Japa ...

) and Taishō arts (see Hanshinkan Modernism). 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 Garment collars in hanfu#Youren (right lapel), left side wrapped over ri ...

and hakama (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 typ ...

appearance of architecture, vehicles, and technology indicative of the Taishō period. However, the fashion of women typically follows the modern girl trend, which is a break from the

Meiji period The was 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 colonizatio ...

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 Culture of Japan, 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 ...

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 language, Japanese syllabary, part of the Japanese writing system, along with ''katakana'' as well as ''kanji''. It is a phonetic lettering system. The word ''hiragana'' means "common" or "plain" kana (originally also "easy", ...

) 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 f ...

. The anime also regularly refers to the date as though

Emperor Hirohito , Posthumous name, posthumously honored as , was the 124th emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, from 25 December 1926 until Death and state funeral of Hirohito, his death in 1989. He remains Japan's longest-reigni ...

were still alive, such that

Heisei The was the period of Japanese history corresponding to the reign of Emperor 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, when hi ...

20 (the twentieth year of

Emperor Akihito Akihito (born 23 December 1933) is a member of the Imperial House of Japan who reigned as the 125th emperor of Japan from 1989 until 2019 Japanese imperial transition, his abdication in 2019. The era of his rule was named the Heisei era, Hei ...

's reign, or 2008 by the

Gregorian calendar The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...

) becomes "Shōwa 83".

Media

Manga

''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' is written and illustrated by Kōji Kumeta. It was serialized in

's manga magazine ''

'' from April 27, 2005, to June 13, 2012. Kodansha collected its chapters in 30 volumes, released from September 16, 2005, to 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 (trade name), 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 cr ...

. 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, US, and a subsidiary of Japan's largest publishing company Kodansha. Established in July 1st 2008, Kodansha USA publishes books relating to Japan, Japanese culture, and man ...

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 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 s ...

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 ...

Marina Inoue is a Japanese voice actress and narrator 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 Entertain ...

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/games including ''Beelzebub'', Bishamon in '' Noragami'', Petit Charat/Puchiko in '' Di Gi Charat'', Mint in '' Galaxy Angel'', Sinon in ...

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

(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'', Koyomi Araragi in the ''Monogatari'' series, Trafalgar Law in ''One Piece'', Mephisto Phe ...

. 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 company 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 mar ...

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 we ...

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

show titled , produced by Frontier Works organized by Hirotaka Tahara and directed by Futoshi Satō, began airing on August 28, 2007 on Animate TV. 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 as ...

. 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 kilometres ( 26 mi 385 yd), 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 ...

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

, 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. When voicing adult games, he is known as . After leaving the former office AXL-ONE on March 31, 2022, he changed his stage name to "Daichū Mizushima" while keeping the kanji. Biography Mizushima is a for ...

, 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

The manga has had over 5 million copies in circulation. ''Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei'' won the 31st Kodansha Manga Award for the category in 2007.

Plot and setting

Media

Manga

Anime

Internet radio show

Reception

Notes

References

Further reading

External links