[Categories: Anime Reviews]
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 6 and 7
I’ve always wondered while watching this show what sort of background made Itoshiki the hopeless soul he is now and whether the unfortunate naming has affected other members of his family. Episode #6 went some way to explaining it all, which was nice. If you thought it was bad being a teacher whose name can be read as ‘Professor Despair’, how much of a problem would it be if you were a medic whose name read ‘Dr. Death’?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, his family are an odd bunch. Apart from his brother Mikoto, his other siblings include a sister whose beauty is matched only by her fiery temper when her own name is taken out of context…and we haven’t met any of the others yet. The weirdest thing of all was the bizarre romantic tradition that ensnares our poor hero. It’s at this point where SZS pokes fun at the harem genre even more mercilessly than is usual, as if the yuri- and bondage-filled op titles weren’t enough of a giveaway already (what is up with those, anyway?).
Taking the arranged marriage concept and stretching it to eye contact being a satisfactory basis for matrimony was pretty inspired. The farcical storyline here repeatedly reminds me of some unnamed comedy show or other locked away in the recesses of my memory, which may be attributed to the fairly British style of humour I was brought up on. The themes of arranged marriage and so on owe more to Japanese traditions of course, but I think this show is frequently lampooning and referencing material outside of the anime circle and even its own country of origin - is that a rarity in anime comedy, I wonder?
This is certainly an interesting take when considering the beginning of ep #7, which (as the subs informed me, since I’ve never got around to watching it) is supposed to take off the US TV show Alias. I’m guessing that it’s a hit over in Japan as well though, or this part would have been as lost on its domestic audiences as the South Park skit on FLCL was. Anyway, this ep was somewhat funnier, especially in its first half. That is very much focused on Japanese pop culture, specifically the doujinshi subculture.
I’m sure those who have seen the likes of Genshiken (my copy is in the post…yay) and Comic Party will get the most out of the way in which this is sent up - complete with faux-cheap animation that’s made to look like cardboard cutouts on sticks. I’m not familiar with this side of fandom but still grasped the concept of the ‘4 koma’ story structure…which our hero cleverly interprets to reflect on his own views: the four stage composition with the Forbidden Fifth Stage.
Here we go then: Introduction->Development->Climax->Conclusion->DARKNESS!
I absolutely loved the examples given for the four stages and how they shape a story, and the fifth that brings in the despair for each. Sheer genius! then there’s the delightful scene in which the references come thick and fast, culminating in Itoshiki’s get-up getting him mistaken for a cosplayer…
The second half seemed to rely on one gag that didn’t stretch quite as effectively but I was still chuckling at the way in which anything is fair game as the subject for the festival mikoshi. Once again, the way in which material goods and marketing ploys are shoehorned into every aspect of traditional Japanese life in Itoshiki’s paranoid worldview are utterly nuts…yet strangely his ranting actually makes you think over whether everything that’s good in this world really IS being corrupted by despair! Maybe that’s just me.
Apart from the brilliant personalities of Itoshiki and his class, I’m still enthralled by the art style, which looks like it’s received a great deal of love and attention in bringing it to the screen. The frequent non-sequitur eyecatches and so on give it a rapid-fire sketch show feel at times, keeping the viewer alert and giving the likes of Family Guy a run for their money; I quite like it when comedies take this approach because when they’re not labouring the point with punchlines it feels like the show is assuming you’re sharp enough to get the gags. I have to say that comedy that doesn’t insult the audience’s intelligence is not as widespread as it used to be so I can only welcome seeing more of this show.
Posted on October 5th, 2007 @ 2:59 am
I love Zetsubou Sensei. His family is hilarious. Dr. Death? Dr. Death?! Just the subtitle itself made me laugh so hard. Dr. Death, Mr. Despair? Episode seven was great as well. The whole manga thing was like a big rofl-lmao moment. There’s no other way to describe it. The fifth forbidden stage? 5-koma of despair! And the butler, the butler was great.
The subs, for a while, left me in despair, until Bure picked it up. I’m also going to be in despair when it ends, its only 13 episodes the last time I checked.
Posted on October 6th, 2007 @ 4:57 pm
@Xerox: Yeah, it’s a shame that it’s only 1 eps long but on the plus side the jokes are unlikely to wear thin - it certainly won’t outstay its welcome. Kudos to Bure for picking up the task of subbing it though.