Thread: Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (So long Mr. Despair)

I've been following the anime adaption from the start now and it's pretty funny stuff. Some of the girls get on my nerves (Kafuka Fūra!) but the cultural references, word plays and Zetsubou Sensei himself make up for it.

I'm reading the manga... but I only got one chapter in. It hurts my brain.

Not that it isn't adorable: it is. It's just also incredibly... precious. Which is annoying. The author clearly thinks himself the cleverest man alive and the pace NEVER slows down enough to provide breathing room. It seems to be constant lay-it-on-thick verbal schtick. Every character is a gimmick. Every name has a double-meaning and/or series of elaborate jokes tied to its deconstruction. The setup is a gimmick. The setting is a gimmick.

Is there ever any actual substance? Or is this something that I'm going to be reading just to remind myself that I will always suck at Japanese?

How do non-Japanese people even understand this stuff?! O_o;

I mean... in chapter 1 there were at least 4 jokes that ONLY someone who'd lived in Japan or could read Japanese near-fluently could possibly understand. Even if someone explains something to you in a cascade of cultural notes: I'm not sure that makes it funny or if it just makes you give the obligatory "oh, it's Japanese so it must be funny" chuckle O_o;

Some of the jokes and references are indeed way beyond what the average non-Japanese anime viewer will understand but nobody ever ordered you to analyse it to shit. You get out of it what you can.

Originally Posted by Hassun

Some of the jokes and references are indeed way beyond what the average non-Japanese anime viewer will understand but nobody ever ordered you to analyse it to shit. You get out of it what you can.

The point it: it's a lot of sweat and tears to get to the entertainment part ^^;

Reading it anyway... I suppose watching it is a bit more passive.

I'm not getting all of the jokes. But I'm working damn hard for the ones I do get. And that makes me want to take an asprin and a nap.

But I hated Azumanga Daioh and Excel Saga too (for a lot of the same reasons)... but everyone else thought they were wonderful.

I don't hate the series (yet), I've only read one chapter. But that chapter took me 15 minutes and felt like running a marathon. Skimming through the rest implies that every chapter is just as densely packed and likely to make me want to pull a Zetsubou Sensei myself.

Not for beginners... in any case.
Not particularly friendly to intermediate either... >_<;

Originally Posted by tsurara

The point it: it's a lot of sweat and tears to get to the entertainment part ^^;

Reading it anyway... I suppose watching it is a bit more passive.

I'm not getting all of the jokes. But I'm working damn hard for the ones I do get. And that makes me want to take an asprin and a nap.

But I hated Azumanga Daioh and Excel Saga too (for a lot of the same reasons)... but everyone else thought they were wonderful.

I don't hate the series (yet), I've only read one chapter. But that chapter took me 15 minutes and felt like running a marathon. Skimming through the rest implies that every chapter is just as densely packed and likely to make me want to pull a Zetsubou Sensei myself.

Not for beginners... in any case.
Not particularly friendly to intermediate either... >_<;

So the manga sucks for not being funny for the average person as well? I can see the point in that.
I liked Excel Saga though, it has humour for pretty much everyone.
On the other hand, I really disliked Azumanga Daioh. Mainly because it's boring and it tries to get 90&#37; of its humour out of showing (supposedly) cute beings doing (supposedly) cute things. Kimura sensei was the sole beacon of light in the entire series for me.

I think the Zetsubou Sensei anime is a lot more Excel Saga than it is Azumanga Daioh.