Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Discussion Thread

[Suwako Moriya]

It's time to be in despair for a third time! Or maybe not, but I figure it's a good time for the discussion thread for the third season.


ANN Entry (http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/encyclopedia/anime.php?id=10805)


Official Site (http://www.starchild.co.jp/special/zetsubou3/)

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[Suwako Moriya]

As expected, part of the episode was used to remind the viewer as to the names of each character.

One segment deals with the idea of superstitions and ill omens. The teacher gets locked up because he's considered an ill omen. His students come to his "rescue" in a somewhat violent way. We're also reminded that the sudden appear of a secret organization is a clear sign of a final episode.

Another segment deals with the signs of Spring. Let's just say that some signs are better than others. I could have done without the dancing guy. However I did love the Yuno image. Because Yuno makes everything better.

The third segment is about going on a journey for self discovery. A segment that ends with "to be continued". 2 to 1, the next episode completely ignores that.

It looks like for better or for worse, the series retains the same basic feel so far anyway. On the positive side, that means amusing moments. On the negative side, it also means some segments going on longer than they should.

[Vegard Aune]

...Itoshiki just... ...got arrested... ...because of people misreading his name... ...and figuring that having a teacher named "Despair" was an ill omen...
YAY FOR RANDOM ABSURDITIES!!!
While the rest of the episode was great as well, that was definitely my favorite part of it. I also really liked the "Zetsubou-sensei Drawing Song" at the end, where Kaere/Kaede ended up drawing exactly what the song said, thus ending up with a drawing that didn't even slightly resemble Itoshiki.

[Ashyukun]

So, how requisite does it look like it's going to be to have seen all of the previous incarnations? I got stalled about 2/3 of the way through the second TV series, and am therefore wondering if I should even try watching this or just backlog it until I get around to catching up...

[Vegard Aune]

So, how requisite does it look like it's going to be to have seen all of the previous incarnations? I got stalled about 2/3 of the way through the second TV series, and am therefore wondering if I should even try watching this or just backlog it until I get around to catching up...
Hardly required at all. I haven't finished Zoku yet either, but I had no trouble following the plot here. There was one character whom I don't think I had seen before, but from what I understand, said character, just like Nami in the first season, hasn't even had a proper introduction yet. Besides, it's not like this series ever had any actual continuity to it anyway.

[Suwako Moriya]

I got stalled about 2/3 of the way through the second TV series, and am therefore wondering if I should even try watching this or just backlog it until I get around to catching up...

Personally speaking, I'd finish the second season before starting the third. Yes, the importance of continuity in this series is not as high as some other series. However my logic is this.

The idea of starting up the next season of a given series without finishing the previous season is to be honest kind of half-hearted to be honest. That and if I couldn't even finish season 2, I'd have to question whether or not it's worth watching season 3.

If you're 2/3 of the way through season 2 that means you have about four or so episodes left. If so then, I'd just wrap up season 2. As that would give you a better idea as to whether or not you should bother with season 3.

Alternatively you could do both at the same time. After all, there's going to be at least a week between episodes of season 3. So there's time between episodes for you to catch up.

[Suwako Moriya]

After watching episode 1, I decided to re-watch a certain scene from Zoku involving a girl getting quite a few lines in episode 6.

As I tried to double check which episode had that scene, I was reminded of the special opening of episode 7. Which has me forced to ask one simple question. Why the ***** haven't they made a series based on that yet? As if I need to even ask why.

[something]

I didn't see a thread for Goku and making one for a three episode OVA after it's been done awhile seems silly, so excuse me while I briefly dump my thoughts here in a separate subthread before moving to Zan.

Goku Episode 1:
- Valentine's day! Let's hold it once every four years!
- Nami! <3 I love her sexy normalness.
- Ahaaha, love the Clannad/Haruhi parody. And Shana! XD
- Otaku will save Japan! Oh god, the knock-off Lucky Star bit. :sd:
- Matoi vs Kiri? o_O Kiri would soooo win.
- Chiri vs Abiru! Abiru may survive tigers and lions but I'd rather face them than Chiri.
- Ahaha, cardboard box gundam guy! And Chiri is Kiki, how cute.
- That's a lot of cameos in the costume shot...
- ...Michael Jackson joke. Hahaha, oh wow, how unintenionally timely.
- "Evolved" Kafuka is cute!
- "Ever since my village was burned down by guerrilas it hasn't been the same." AHAHAH!

Great ep. Very, uh, Zetsubouish.

Goku Episode 2:

- Chiri in casual clothes! And suddenly, design change >_>
- God it still cracks me up that Maria is Sawashiro Miyuki.
- Mizuki poster~
- Chiri killed Nozomu! The punctuation flashing up on the screen is funnier than it should be.
- lol, more Clannad. Fuu-chan~~ I'm loving this "fights you know you can't win" skit.
- Naked Rin or No Naked Rin? It's a paradox!
- Who should Nozomu choose... AI! "Since this won't be published..." is fantastic too.
- The designs in the last bit about lying titles creeped me out. :sd:

Good, but not as good as ep 1.

Goku Episode 3:

- Heh, they manged a different OP all three episodes. And how bizarre they were.
- Ahaah! "This is bo{mb)" XD
- Chiri is the best punchline. Kafuka gets it!
- I kinda stopped typing up reactions, but hah, Nozomu backstory! I wasn't expecting that. And a cute little Kafuka!

[something]

Episode 1:

- Nozomu gets sent to jail for having an unfortunate name! Oh man, the jail break was amazing. Blood everywhere! Chiri is a monster. <3 Ai has to win this one for her apologies of death though.
- Heh! Spring is a scary season. Yuno breaks up with you! ...She's obviously gay for Miyako anyway.
- Oh god, what is Nami wearing?
- ...best "message in a bottle" ever.
- Nami! We always need more Nami! Rin always shows up to be sexy too. But Nami! She's lovely in the ED.

Yeah. Kinda hard to say much about this show. it just kinda "clicke" when it's doing well, and this was a good ep.

[Suwako Moriya]

Yuno breaks up with you! ...She's obviously gay for Miyako anyway.

Well, it's hard to compete with someone like Miyako.

[Vegard Aune]

The animated opening is just hilariously random. Then we get a segment about "pushing people's switches", which was, well... Random as hell. But hey, randomness is awesome.
After that, they go on and on about how people try picking between two different things, yet instead end up picking an unrelated third choice, in which they had Nozomu, Ikkyu, Ohkusa, Nami and Meru going "I'm in despair!" at the same time. (Ok, as we know, Meru never says anything out loud, but whatever, I still say she was in despair)
Afterwards we get... what's this?! Continuity in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei?! The last segment of this episode is a direct continuation of the last segment last week, which in turn was a continuation of the one at the end of episode 1. It also ends with a ZOMG CLIFFHANGER!!! where Nozomu ends up accidentally quoting a song, (or rather, saying something using the exact same words that some song did) and getting sued. YAY FOR RANDOM ABSURDITIES!!!

...This series is just so awesome.

[Suwako Moriya]

We get discussion about because a person is talented at X, it causes their talent at Y to go to waste. For example a baseball player could have been a model.

Nozomu offers sweets. Which Chiri and Matoi end up eating. Abiru is strangling Matoi with her bandages.

Chiri talks about how people are supposed to have just one gift. Yet some are going against the proverb by having multiple. Chiri has plans to correct this.

Matoi tells us about twin towers of talent and they're going to enter the one with the talents not shown. Tower of Druaga? It figures.

We get to see multiple examples. Including "If it had been based on the game!" Do I sense a stab at Idol Master Xenoglossia? and "If it had been produced by Kyoto!" They're being evil now.

Now we're getting a discussion on conflicting talents. After which they go to the top floor and run into Harumi. A Harumi that's showing off her err hidden talents.

Waiting for medicine to take effect leads to a discussion about time lags and delays. Some being longer than others. Yes, Ai suddenly apologize for doing something over six months ago.

This move will kill you in seven years. You'll laugh in seven years. Or maybe you'll realize it was dull in seven years.

I think someone is taking the idea of how long it takes humans to process what they see a bit too far...

Ah, but wait there's reverse time lag. Such as getting leaked on the net before it goes on sale.

Heh, more fun on the bus.

[Suwako Moriya]

Wow. Talk about having a lot of switches flipped. Liked the sound that Meru made when touched.

When people can't choose between two choices, they make a third choice. Yes, a whole discussion on third choices. With some of the later ones just being quite strange.

Ah, nice swimsuit shows of Kafuka and Abiru.

[Suwako Moriya]

A discussion on minding and not minding TPO. I have to admit, I'm not familiar with that term. The whole thing is just wrong. Especially near the end with Chiri showing her dangerous side...

Ah, we get swimsuits while they talk about the ability or lack of to celebrate certain things. Which just get sillier as it goes along.

Overprotective people can be quite a lot of trouble sometimes. Speaking of trouble, one has to wonder what that body double was up to.

[Suwako Moriya]

No idea what to say about the first segment with the whole back scratch and promotion thing.

Talk about a leap second leads to talk about leap people. Don't ask how that works. Also, note that leaps aren't limited to just time and people.

No comment on the third segment. Although there's plenty of ignoring near the end.

[Vegard Aune]

"This show is a work of fiction. Resemblances to any actual Kyou Fujibayashi, Misuzu Kamio, Nagisa Furukawa, Fuko Ibuki, Kotomi Ichinose, Tomoyo Sakagami, Great Shocker Party or god stickers which may go on sale in the future is purely coincidental." I probably laughed harder at that than I should have...

Other highlights include Kafuka figuring that, while Nozomu having an affair with two women at the same time would be self-destructive, him having an affair with over 50 women at the same time would be perfectly acceptable. Nobody agreed with her on that, though. They also introduced a new character, Kanako Oora, a "Big-hearted girl".

...Oh, and Chiri's drawing of Nozomu in the Zetsubou-sensei drawing-song suddenly changed from a badly drawn image which only barely resembled Nozomu, to a completely and utterly perfect likeness of him in two seconds.

[Suwako Moriya]

So many forms of measles out there. I wonder how many I actually got as a child. Also having a harem is dangerous.

[something]

Alright, caught up on Needless last night, so it's Zetsubou tonight!

Episode 2:

- Man it's been so long since I saw episode one that I can't even remember if we saw this OP there. Anyway, it's alright.
- And I should be wearing more proper clothes while I watch anime. Kiri said so. Also, Clannadd.
- Chiri is quickly becoming my favorite of the girls. And what is Abiru doing to Matoi? :sd:
- The punctuation joke will never get old. And Chiri commands you to give back any extra talents! Then runs off with a shovel to beat the talent out of people >_> <3 <3
- "If it had been based on the game!" Xenoglossia was still good, damnit!
- "If it had been animated by Kyoto!" :sd:
- Oh Kamiya Hiroshi.
- "Sayonara, Tieria-sensei" XD
- Harumi's limiter has been released! Huh, Harumi without glasses is... strange.
- Well that was one of the better gags, even if a whole lot of it naturally went over my head.
- Now... Kiri is dead! Or just has a cold. Now we discuss time lag!
- Harumi isn't disgusting! =(
- Usui kinda creeps me out though. :sd:
- Oh god, more Ai! Why are characters named Ai so awesome? (Jigoku! Aria! Zetsubou!)
- I need to remember to laugh in seven years for Chiri.
- KAFUKA NAKED HENSHIN!
- Kaere sucks at English! Like most anime characters who are supposed to be of English speaking background originally...
- Nami Nami Nami! Pseudo-sideboob! The sexiness of plainess!
- Oh god I love when Chiri slips into MURDER MODE.
- Kafuka makes for such a charismatic cult leader.
- Kana Asumi and Sawashiro Miyuki =D

Oh right, this season has incredibly hot Nami in the ED.

[something]

Episode 3:

- God damn the OP was awesome this time. Completely reanimated!
- The SHAFT switch? I can only imagine that's incredibly dangerous. And damnit, there needed to be a "Sketch Switch" down here.
- Ahaha oh god, Abiru snaps. Or... switches!
- Nami's shouts of disbelief and confusion are among my favorite things about this show.
- Meru makes cute sounds when pushed! Ponmu, ponmu, ponmu!
- Hahaha, what in the ever living fuck is going on? Nami gets put in a bodysuit and painted green by a man who is angry that she pushed Meru, then shows up at Majiru and Kiri's place to inadvertantly push Kiri's shota switch... :sd:
- Damnit, stop hitting that switch that screws with the yen exchange rate. =(
- Fuzzy earmuffs are rather becoming on Kafuka.
- Ahaha oh god this is fantastic. Maria found Nozomu's erogenous zone! Chiri wants to touch it... And gaede goes flying by with more pantyshots for no reason!
- HAHHAH "If you press Kaga-chan's mole, the government changes!"
- Switch gag = amazing.
- I really love the sound effects voiced by multiple of the females. Also, Meru's little squeek. =D
- Manami needs to get in on more gags.
- Manami, Meru, Nami and Nozomu are in despair!! Though no talking for Meru still.
- Hah, I love when Kobayashi Yuu flips out. Makes me think of her Shouko in Touka Gettan, usually.
- "Nes." XD
- Kitsu Mirakuru! Her name was a third choice, how tragic. Especially for her.
- Not the shovel? Third choice indeed.
- Bikinis! Suddenly Kafuka is stacked...
- lol it's Nozomu's body double again.
- Oh god Rin. <3
- And Maria's Asumi Kana friend just kill Nozomu's body double? o_O
- Stupid JASRAC.

The first bit was definitely the best, but consistently pretty awesome anyway.

Also, bloodsplatter fits Chiri so well.

[something]

Episode 4:

- Ah okay so that was indeed the true OP sequence. I love it. Any scene where all the girls are standing together staring at the viewer is delightfully creepy.
- Nami time! Also, TPO. Just the sort of gag that will have lots of Chiri!
- Chiri is in despair!
- haha oh man, Kaere.
- Hidamari High! I see an X!
- "Don't text people during the Sengoku period!" :sd:
- ...O_o Holy shit, Chiri fits in perfectly. Loooooooove.
- Bikini! Deliciously stacked Kafuka again!
- They all look wonderful. <3 also, onwards to celebrating (or not) holidays! A funeral home's anniversary. :sd:
- "You were there?" "Always." I love how they're so consistent in delivering that gag.
- Chiri purge!
- Oh oh ohhhhhhhh wow. I thought it was another Kaere ass gag at first, but then... Bikini Kiri!!
- Sexiest corpse ever.
- ZAZAAN!
- Ai! Ai Ai Ai Ai! Get back here!! I kept wondering what the seams in the scenery were about, and then we found out. Heh.
- Same scene again? Did they think people would be too confused by continuity? =P
- Hahaha, body double is a bit too good for Nozomu. Also, yukata! Abiru! Love!

Drawing song with Matoi and Kiri. ...What the hell did Kiri draw? o_O

[something]

Episode 5:

- Things that bill themselves as specifically being something tend to make it hard to feel that way about them. The problem of marketing!
- Also, Nozomu is scared of little girls. But... is that so wrong with this class? :sd:
- ...mari-sou! <3
- SUPER NORMAL! Hyper Media Creator Zetsubou. Oh god.
- Big Bang-sensei!
- Leap seconds make Chiri kill! But Nozomu is worried about leap people.
- I think Leap People describes this whole series pretty well.
- Poor Chiri. ;_; I'd let her tag along with me! ...Not that I go anywhere. Also, young Chiri looks the same as current Chiri.
- Sudden musical interlude from Chiri!0
- lol blue man group pun
- So many puns...
- Even Nami's excess internal organs are normal.
- Nozomu has a scary fetish. Though I think Abiru would understand, in a way.
- Nekomimi Harumi!
- Though Life gag was pretty good.

Oh, hah, I took the time to frame step through the ED this time when it cuts through shots of characters very quickly and now I see this image (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/502157) was based on it. Looks like we have more girls to meet too. Also, good reminder... where the hell is Chie-sensei?

What the... drawing song is Majiru and MERU! HAH, if you listen very closely, you can juuuuuuuuust barely hear Meru ever so slightly breathing out the sounds, almost like she's singing without using her voice. XD

[something]

Episode 6:

- Everyone should have a Kafuka fall from the sky for them. Looooｖe the bits where she's orbiting the earth and then falling back down.
- Well this is an interesting segment. The "measles" we get as adults!
- Anime will indeed bankrupt you once you can afford to buy it... oh the catch-22.
- Hahah, oh wow, poor Majiru. All he wanted was some boob touching. =( He couldn't have picked a worse first attempt.
- Manami is hilarious.
- Note: Nozomu has the fucking scariest harem ever. I fear any girl who makes a move on him. Unless it's ...Kafuka in a cute headband?, since Kafuka is the only one scarier than Chiri.
- Hey! Just as I was complaining last ep, suddenly Chie returns! I really miss her yuri scenes with Kiri though. ;_;
- "First, cover a friend in meat." ...I think I've heard enough.
- Annnnnd just as I notice her, we meet Oora Kanako! The walking wardrobe malfunction!
- Add more points! This gag has potential. Especially if Chiri gets involved.
- Yay more Meru! It's been too long since the last time we got her abusive messages.
- Nozomu's harem is approaching a love circle!!
- CHIRI SNAPS AGAIN!
- Shovel! Shovel! Shovel!
- "I've added points." AAHAHAHH!
- Hahahah, and Kanako sits happily amid the carnage.
- More returning to prior segments! Through life returns! Though they don't need to recap the last few minutes every time.
- A "drive through"! XD Seems like it's been awhile since Kafuka did one of her "There's no way [x] could really happen!" lines.
- "We made her." :sd:

Well that was fantastic. So much Chiri love! And I'm caught up, yay.

Oh god, love the disclaimer at the end. Shaft is really on this KyoAni kick. XD

YES! Drawing song is Harumi (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/482774) and Chiri (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/482773)! ...Hahaha, I was surprised Chiri's wasn't perfect, but Inoue Marina totally cheated at the end! And I guess Harumi may be a mangaka, but Matsuki Miyu obviously isn't. :sd: Actually, I wonder if Chiri's really was drawn by Inoue... I doubt it but that would be neat.

[Fencedude]

That was...very ZETSUBO!

I <3 <3 Rin, Abiru, Chiri and Kiri the most, but all of them are good.

The drawing song is lulz. Is there nothing GOTOZOU-SAMA CANNOT DO?!

[Fencedude]

Oh right, this season has incredibly hot Nami in the ED.

Hot Nami is hot. In a normally hot sort of way.

Also...uhh...Chiri's punctuation gag is remarkably hilarious.

[Fencedude]

Bikinis!!!

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiin <3 <3 <3 <3

[William K]

What the... drawing song is Majiru and MERU! HAH, if you listen very closely, you can juuuuuuuuust barely hear Meru ever so slightly breathing out the sounds, almost like she's singing without using her voice. XD

The "Story so far" segment at the beginning of each episode is hilarious too. It's as if Saitou Chiwa got so bored 'voicing' Meru that she just totally goes berserk with her voice acting in the prologue

[Fencedude]

More bikinis! Bikini Kiri! More Bikini Rin and Bikini Abiru!

[Fencedude]

What the... drawing song is Majiru and MERU! HAH, if you listen very closely, you can juuuuuuuuust barely hear Meru ever so slightly breathing out the sounds, almost like she's singing without using her voice. XD

I'm slightly more concerned about what she drew.

Also, how is Goto Yuko the only person involved with this show who can draw?

[Suwako Moriya]

Also, how is Goto Yuko the only person involved with this show who can draw?

Good question. Part of me wonders if we're supposed to take those drawings as an actual serious gauge of talent (or lack of) or if maybe they're drawn that way on purpose.

[something]

I'm slightly more concerned about what she drew.
I think Kobayashi Yuu/Kaere wins for most bizarre image, though. :sd:

[Fencedude]

New girl! Her skirt is about to come off!

AND CHIRI IS LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOVE!

And WTF she totally cheated at the drawing song!

[Suwako Moriya]

And WTF she totally cheated at the drawing song!

I'm not sure I'd want to be the one tell Chiri that she cheated. I get the feeling her reaction would be quite painful.

[Suwako Moriya]

Ah, so we get to meet Maruuchi Shouko and Nedo Miko. Who use a tactic to get Nozomu to buy expensive ice. Thus the topic of lost leaders has now begun!

Majiru breaks the life like Nozomu that Kiri has been building. Not worry, he decides to trick the real Nozomu into being a replacement. Well, whatever works.

It would seem that "General Frost" is having trouble. In fact, so much that he should be considered a Colonel instead. So, he tries to be a General of something else instead.

We then move on the notion that "General" can be applied to anything. General Immigrant, Besieged General, General Rowdy (at home), General Pursuer, General Repatriated, General Texting, Middle-Part General, and General Normal!

To become worthy of her title, Chiri must split the earth in two right down the middle. There must be someone that can override her. Someone with higher authority than a general. Oh, wait, it's an Emperor Penguin.


I wonder if the seiyuu in this show enjoy making those sounds they do on occasion.

A surprise birthday party has been thrown for Nozomu. Never mind the fact, it isn't his birthday. Apparently, inspired by the notion that a "birthday party on someone's birthday isn't a surprise".

Kafuka calls Chiri to tell her things have failed. However Chiri claims that the real surprise will start now. With Chiri, we can be sure it's perfectly safe. Of course, I'm lying.

The girls aren't surprised by Chiri's method of surprise she actually did. Nor by any of the alternate methods. Granted, the fact that Chiri tends to be the most outlandish of them is probably why. She'd have to do something perfectly normal to surprise them.

A sudden cliffhanger. I expect it to either be ignored or be turned into some joke during the next episode.

[Fencedude]

Chiri's just so awesome.

ID GAUGE!

[something]

Episode 7:

- I'm not going to pretend to understand the opening narration but that didn't stop it from being hilarious.
- Hahah, Kanako is still there. With the bloodstain... Continuity!
- New girl, Nezu Miko!
- And Maruuchi Shouko!
- Hah, it's easy to see where this gag is going.
- Kiri is like a housewife. :sd:
- Cute picture on the wall with Kiri, Harumi, Matoi and Abiru!
- Kiri and Matoi are in despair! And on the same wavelength.
- We don't get Kiri-focused skits anywhere near enough. <3 her.
- Haha, holy shit Majiru.
- "Kiss me." WHY DO YOU HESITATE!?
- Hahahah! "What, outta monty after moving to a new office!? Gotta cut corners to make a profit, huh!? Your production costs are the same but other companies are selling alot better!? You really can't pull this off at the same time as Bakemonogatari!? The pictures aren't moving, you can't even call this animation! The anime industry's collapsing!" XD
- The personification of a Siberian cold air mass wants to quit >_>
- Manga Shougun!
- Oh wow, this gag was kind of falling flat until Chiri decided to SPLIT THE WORLD IN HALF.
- Emperor penguin. XD
- A surprise birthday party that isnt on your birthday is surprising!
- And girly Nami is love.
- HAHAHA! Fuck yes Chiri!
- And what a place to end the ep. Heh.

The General skit was one of the weaker ones but oh god did Chiri ever win this episode hard. Kiri too.

And oh yeah, Shoujo is Horie Yui!

[Fencedude]

Ahh...well that was interseting.

The art style for the Mystery Train segment was certainly...different.

Also, there was Chie Sensei~

[Fencedude]

Chiri totally stole the first segment at the end.

Lots of time in the classroom this episode, which meant lots of extra crap written on the boards.

Good amounts of Rin towards the end, and looks like there's going to be a good Kiri bit next time...

[something]

Episode 8:

- Ai Ai Ai!
- Reverse surprise! Hahaha, Harumi getting all giddy at the thought of what might have happened = fantastic.
- lol Maria.
- CHIRI! She completely outdoes Nozomu's confession training! ...Not that that's surprising.
- Ahaha, Miko and Shouko caused the financial crisis! I like the others' crimes too.
- "I split the earth". Chiri can never be one-upped by anyone. :sd:
- Oh hey, Kaere. You can't have a joke about the law without involving her, right?
- Hahah, confessions ruin manga and anime!
- Kaere's granddaughter...
- Aaaaand suddenly things get weird(er). Mystery Train!
- "Does anyone read these subtitles?" =P
- Hah, it's been awhile since we'd gotten a "What if I'd died!?" scene.
- And the most popular destination is deciding to put it off. :sd:

Well that was odd even by Zetsubou standards. Needs more Chiri next time!

Hah, nice tweak in the ED with the Kafuka parasol scene.

Drawing song is Ai! Ai Ai Ai! And that dude. Ahaha, he took that.... very literally.

[something]

Episode 9:

- Emergency measures!
- It's Nami's birthday! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! And everyone elses' birthdays too. Rin and the penguin were both the same day... Chiri and Nozomu are only two days apart! Tuesday is Matoi's birthday!
- Kafuka's song is great. =D
- lol everyone wants to be Kyoto-tan.
- AI AI AI IS WET! Don't apologize, Ai...
- Chiri's teeth...
- Hahaha, they killed Nozomu.
- Ahahahaha, Chiri! Shovel time!
- She killed the entire class. O_O ...And I should not be surprised at all at her home life.
- Haha oh wow, the quiz show. The right answer is sometimes wrong!
- Heh I like the up-down quiz.
- Harumi~ The perils of having too much or too little range. Poor Meru.
- Heh, Matoi's range is predictably bad.
- Ah! Don't stop just as we get some Kiri time!!

Manami and Kanako's drawing song! Hah, christ, I think Takagaki Ayahi was trying to make my head explode.

[HitokiriShadow]

The prison break was pretty fun. I particularly liked Meru stabbing someone with her cell phone and Ai Koga knocking people out as she tried to apologize.

Having the seiyuu do the Zetsubou drawings is a nice touch. Yuko Goto did a pretty good job and Yu Kobayashi, uh, had an interesting take on it.

[HitokiriShadow]

I liked Abiru randomly trying to strangle Matoi with her bandages in the background.

And they actually came back to the bus storyline. I wasn't expecting them to and had even forgotten that they left that bit unfinished until this episode actually went back to it.

Also, ED is pretty good (half undressed Nami ftw) but the OP isn't anywhere near as good as the previous series'.

[HitokiriShadow]

Ah, there's the real OP animation. The animation is decent but it doesn't change my opinion of the music, so on the whole, its still much weaker than the previous ones.

The switch skit was fairly amusing. Poor Nami can't catch a break, but I revel in her misfortune, because I can't get enough of Ryoko Shintani's exasperated voice.

Also, yay for seeing more of the girls in bikinis. And more Rin and Rin in a bikini. And this time she's actually sticking around to show off that bikini, unlike the previous beach episode were she didn't do much.

And another "To Be Continued".

[HitokiriShadow]

Haha, Chiri fits right in the Sengoku era. "I shall rule this country!"

This episode was even more mizugi-licious than the last one. It was probably the most fanserviest episode in the entire franchise thus far.

[Suwako Moriya]

Ah, yes, a lot of confessing going on there.

It seems like this series like to remind us of weird animation styles on occasion.

There's nothing like putting things off.

[William K]

There's nothing like putting things off.

Definitely. Procrastinators rule! So says an INFP

[Suwako Moriya]

Ah, nothing like emergency measures.

I swear Chiri must have 999,999,999 (just keep adding ,999) in every stat.

That's correct, but it's wrong?

Some people have better range than others.

[HitokiriShadow]

The first part fell flat for me when it got to the card game. The leap people and through life segments were decent. Ohkusa's life certainly seems to suck.

And Chiwa Saito draws.... an alien umbrella?

[HitokiriShadow]

Hahaha, Kafuka promotes polygamy. Chiri does not approve (and apparently neither do Abiru, Meru, and Kaere)! Never has Chiri seemed like she belongs in the Higurashi cast more than she did here, and that scene with her in the hallway was probably intended to be a refer Apparently neither do Abiru, Meru and crazy lawsuit girl.

This episode also introduces the girl I first noticed in the previous episode during the leap character segment. I wasn't expecting her to pop up in the background a bit more before she was properly introduced, but its also quite possible she had appeared in previous episodes and I didn't notice her. In any case, we get the first new character intro since very early in Zoku, I think.

This is also the second episode to continue a storyline and then repeat a good chunk of what had already been shown in the previous episode. I can understand repeating a few lines, but they really don't need to repeat an entire minute or two. Though I'm sure it saves them a nice chunk of change and I've no doubt that's exactly why they do it.

Also, Meru's squeeky gasps of surprise amuse me greatly.

This episode's "Any similarities are purely coincidental" list was particularly amusing as the list is almost entirely Key (mostly Clannad) characters.

Marina Inoue seems to be a decent artist, and they even kept the Chiri punctuation gag going during it.

And I spy Mr. Nailbat in the ending illustration. Yay for Hayashiya Shizuru doing an illustration, boo for not having any of the female members of the Zetsubou cast in it.

[HitokiriShadow]

The General Frost part was pretty weak except for the last bit with all the girls getting General titles and epic Chiri smash/Emperor Penguin. But Chiri's parts in that and the last part and Kiri's scenes in the first part made up for any weakness in the middle.

There's a fine line between idiocy and genius and Majiru certainly straddled that line this episode. Fortunately for him (and unfortunately for Nozomu), it worked.

Also, I like how Kiri has practically become Zetsubou's wife (or at least one of those daughters that takes care of what are normally parental duties) and it just kind of is and no one, not even the jealous mistresses (Matoi and Chiri) have said anything or even seem to really notice. Though I guess one of the earlier episodes had Matoi and Kiri randomly beat each other (and Abiru and Chiri attacked each other) and end up in bandages, and I think the circumstances were implied or explicated to be an issue of romantic rivalry. Nozomu really is slowly building up a harem.

[HitokiriShadow]

- Hey! Just as I was complaining last ep, suddenly Chie returns! I really miss her yuri scenes with Kiri though. ;_;

I miss them too, but more Kiri screentime in general more than makes up for it. The Chie yuri scenes were pretty much the only scenes she had in the first series (after her intro episode that is), but from Zoku on she started appearing regularly started getting some fantastic(ally cute) scenes, such as the "Which way am I looking?" scene.

- Annnnnd just as I notice her, we meet Oora Kanako! The walking wardrobe malfunction!She actually did appear for a split second in episode 5, when they flashed through the faces of all the girls in the class. I noticed her just because her red ribbon stood out. I'm pretty she she appeared very briefly at some other point in that episode, but I can't remember when.

YES! Drawing song is Harumi (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/482774) and Chiri (http://danbooru.donmai.us/post/show/482773)! ...Hahaha, I was surprised Chiri's wasn't perfect, but Inoue Marina totally cheated at the end! And I guess Harumi may be a mangaka, but Matsuki Miyu obviously isn't. :sd: Actually, I wonder if Chiri's really was drawn by Inoue... I doubt it but that would be neat.I'm pretty sure all of the seiyuu are actually doing the drawings themselves. I'm guessing she purposely did it badly while it was being drawn and then did it well after the cut. Why? Because its Shaft and they are obviously having fun with this, so someone probably just suggested it and they said "Sure, why not?"

[HitokiriShadow]

Chiri had quite the confession. But then, she has quite a bit to confess for, given all she's done over the course of the series. And she actually did remember splitting the earth.

The mystery train segment used an interesting art style. The very beginning when the train pulled in reminded me of the Phantom Train in Final Fantasy 6, even though it didn't really have anything in common with this episode other than involving a similar type of train.

[HitokiriShadow]

"Ooops! We accidentally killed sensei and someone from the school board is coming, what do we do?" Chiri's shovel to the rescue! No one will ever know!

"Adults don't buy anime, its too expensive!"

"Sensei, this is correct but its marked wrong!" That reminds me of my Japanese class. We'll get our kana tests back with the correct answers marked partially wrong due to the kana allegedly being written wrong... and then the "correct" way written next to it isn't even perceivably different. Or the "correct" way on one of our papers will look exactly like what someone else's was marked wrong for.

Anyway, the whole wrong correct answer's segment was pretty funny, though sometimes sadly so (like the Foreign Affairs part).

I could have done without the nearly naked fat man, but last skit was amusing when it switched to Meru, Maito, and Kiri.

And with that, I'm finally caught up. I wanted to watch Zan when it started, but I didn't to skip material and I didn't have the time, energy, or desire to watch that much Zetsubou when the season started. I finally had a week with not much going on, my season viewing schedule otherwise set and two series finished, my DVD backlog nearly depleted (though my game backlog is even worse than DVD backlog ever was and I haven't progressed in my current game in about two weeks), and the one blog I read made another post about Zan, so I decided now was a good time to catch up. So after dropping the series for nearly two years, I watched 29 episodes of Zetsubou in 4 days (and nearly half of it in a single day). And Shaft week isn't over yet, as Negima!? is next up on my backlog pile.

[HitokiriShadow]

Oh god yes, Kitsu sensei! Unsurprisingly, she's incredibly hot in that outfit. And she somehow finished the class without killing anyone (but they'll pray for a quick death in that next lesson). But why are there boys in a girls' school?

Ha, the school really got destroyed when Kiri left! This does confuse me on where she's been staying though, since this is based on chapter 169, and nothing animated thus far has been from beyond the 170s. I'm pretty sure she was in Zetsubou's house for all those scenes with Majiru and a few others.

We get a new ED this episode and it's far inferior to the half-undressed Nami ED. Its just Nozomu, Jinroku (I think) and some random women in a hostess club; none of the Zetsubou girls are in it all. Lame.

And if you think Marina Inoue cheated on the drawing, she's got nothing on Tomokazu Sugita.

[something]

Episode 10:

- A chicken and the egg skit? I'm amazed we haven't had this before.
- Hahaha. Wilderness hikki!
- Panties or shame? Which came first? How about S or M? Or hamburgers and hamburger steak? :sd:
- Heh, I love all the seemingly absurd but perhaps not impossible conclusions they come to about which came first. Especially becuase they're driving Chiri nuts,
- You know, the fast-text segments before each new skit are turning into a veritable confessional for overworked SHAFT personnel.
- Everyone is a foreign operative intent on ruining Japanese society!
- O_O Chiri palming Matoi's head and pushing her down without acknowledging what she's doing struck me as oddly frightening, even for Chiri.
- Haha, and it continues with Abiru and then of all people Nami.
- Harumi's turn XD
- Chiri divulged technological secrets!
- Hahah, oh god, it's Kitsu-sensei.
- Oh, suddenly continuity again. Back to Kiri! ...She really is a zashiki warashi.
- "How much do we need to sell for a fourth season, I wonder?" Heh.
- Hahaha, Chiri's idea of getting close to the pin... XD
- And suddenly, alternate ED.

Strange drawing song this time >_>

Edit: Oh hell I didn't even notice at first that there was a minute and a half left. Heh, damn this show is so in love with putting itself down.

[Fencedude]

Chiri once again unequivocally won the episode.

Kitsu-sensei!

[Suwako Moriya]

That's quite a few variants on the question of "Which came first?". Some rather strange logic in the case of some of the answers.

Now we're getting talk about operatives? Still the important part is near the end where Chiri decided to get involved with things and wear that outfit.

Wait, a minute here. If Kiri leaving the school will cause it to crumble then how is she able to be at home with the teacher? I have a better question. Why am I asking such a question given the type of show this is?

Ah, I see we have a different ending this time.

It's been awhile since we had that type of segment.

[Suwako Moriya]

Chiri once again unequivocally won the episode.

It's like each segment has a void in it until she gets involved in some form.

Kitsu-sensei!

For some reason, I'm suddenly interested in education.

[HitokiriShadow]

That was the most amusing voice yet for the narration for the opening story.

We finally get a segment in which Rin is a main character. It was a pretty amusing one too. And then we get Cheerleader Rin as a bonus!

Also, speaking of exposing panties, Kiri has recently started exposing herself. In this episode and the previous episode, she's been sitting in such a way that you can see her panties when she first shows up.

[Fencedude]

That was...highly amusing.

Also, I think I saw Chachamaru.

[something]

Episode 11:

- Eroterrorist. o_O
- I love this OP sequence~
- Hahaha, Harumi does not approve of non-glasses Nozomu.
- Bahahahah, this episode is fanntastic already. All schoolgirls sell their panties! Girls with big boobs are stupid!
- Putting the tinted glasses on Kaere, do you really think it would make a difference?
- Showa-tinted. XD
- Harumi without glasses! Harumi calling herself a creepy otaku. :sd:
- Oh man, more characters need to comment on themselves. Do Chiri! Do Chiri!
- Tinted headphones! Tinted mouthpiece! How about tinted panties?
- Removing your prejudices can be dangerous... Yeah, this was totally one of the best Zetsubou skits.
- Nami!! "The author wasn't ready in time for this to be in a gn, so we couldn't get a title page yet." :sd:
- Why are you so sexy, Nami?
- HAHAHHAH! Chiiiiiiriiiiiiiii! XD
- ...Rin is pretty fucking scary too.
- But even she's scared of Chiri!
- She even bought Nami's house. o_O To be continued!
- Cheerleader Chiri! And Nami! Panties! PAY ATTENTION TO NAMI! A skit on trolling.
- Cheerleader Kiri too!!!
- "You were there?" "Always." may be the joke that could go on the longest without EVER getting old.
- Falling for trolling is a sign of kindness!
- Rin panties!
- Hahahahaha, what the fuck, Chiri.
- Wow, that got a bit epic.
- Nooo, they took away sexy Nami again! But this one is kind of amusing.

Incomplete drawing song pictures, heh.

Well that was a great episode.

[Suwako Moriya]

There are way too many tinted glasses out there.

Rin is brilliant. Just buy other places and add them to your estate.

So we get trolling, cheerleader outfits, and panties.

[HitokiriShadow]

Yuko Goto did a pretty good job and Yu Kobayashi, uh, had an interesting take on it.

So, remember Yu Kobayashi's bizarre drawing segment? Apparently that's not unusual for her:

Yu Koboyashi's Beatrice (Umineko) (http://kotaku.com/5381256/another-horrible-horrible-drawing-from-that-pretty-lady)
Yu Koboyashi's Rise (Arc Rise Fantasia) (http://kotaku.com/5336385/beautiful-woman-scary-drawing)

[Fencedude]

Starting with a complete misunderstanding of Schroedinger's Cat.

Then we learn how to disguise a fallen missile.

After that we return to Rin's unique way of traveling.

And then finally, after the credits, Naughty Miss Kaere!

[HitokiriShadow]

The missile skit was pretty funny. The conclusion to Rin bashing down walls and purchasing property felt weaker than its first part, and too short.

And then Kaere needed extra time to herself to meet her fanservice quota.

[something]

Before I start the non-CR part of my Fall sweep, it's time to get this straggler in.

Episode 12:

- Schrodinger? Have hey really not done a gag on this in all this time? Amazing.
- Schrodinger's ballot box! XD
- >_> Her hand slipped!
- And she murders the whole class again.
- A certain missile... and national secrets!
- Ahahah, the chalk lines do not go as planned.
- And it was a fake after all >_>
- Back to wall smashing! Nami Hammer! And heh, they have to have class now because they bought the school too. :sd:
- Early ED.
- Huh, a Kaere-focused segment. That's rare.

[Suwako Moriya]

The whole Schrodinger segment was amusing because it boiled down to hiding from reality by being ignorant on purpose.

Well, that's one way to deal with a missile that's actually fake.

Buy every place in your path.

I have no idea what to say about the last segment.

[Suwako Moriya]

Let's ignore mistakes.

Ah, we get a reference to the security blanket of Linus.

More generals, but a few of them get defeated easily.

Well, over all the third season was decent. Even if some jokes were better than others.

[HitokiriShadow]

Haha, Komori's blanket becomes Japan's silver bullet for jumpstarting the economy. I was also very amused at some of the things on the "X feels relieved seeing Y" list, especially the Zaku/Ball one. ... And then the girls decide to apply the principals of Socialism to Zetsubou's body.

The first part was pretty good too, but the third one really didn't work for me at all. Part of it might have been a translation issue (was slang really the right word to use for that or were they talking about something else) but I think the main problem is that its the most Japan specific chapter of anything Zetsubou Sensei has ever done and really requires you to live in Japan, know what was going on there and what people were talking about to be able to appreciate in the slightest.

And for the last episode, the ED reverts to one of this season's earlier sequences (the first one, I think), which is nice because I really didn't care for the third ED sequence.

Amusingly, waiting two months for this last episode did end up making the post-ED segment much more seasonally appropriate.

Then we finish off the series with more of Kobayashi Yuu's insane drawings of Cthulhu-inspired nightmares.

[William K]

Heh, a couple of seiyuu jokes in there. Including Nonaka Ai misspelling Stellbya and Kafuka wearing a party hat while holding a star :)

[William K]

The first part was pretty good too, but the third one really didn't work for me at all. Part of it might have been a translation issue (was slang really the right word to use for that or were they talking about something else) but I think the main problem is that its the most Japan specific chapter of anything Zetsubou Sensei has ever done and really requires you to live in Japan, know what was going on there and what people were talking about to be able to appreciate in the slightest.

I'm not sure about this, but I think they were talking about catchphrases that are popular for the year.

[something]

Oh hey, I REMEMBER THIS SHOW. Finally finishing it...

Episode 13:

- Heh, love the opening.
- YMCA CHIRI!
- Everyone picking on Nami. :sd:
- Meru's dad is scary.
- Good segment but needed way more Chiri. Had a lot of Nami though and Nami is <3
- Kiri outside her blanket! Yes! But awww, she misses it. Go find it, Nozomu!
- Government distribution of Kiri blankets... And mass production. Hah.
- Nozomu gets dismembered >_>
- !!! Mini-Harumi! And that looks like a mini-Chiri but she's got Meru's hair thigie. Since it's with Harumi it should be Chiri though. Adorable either way.
- Sexy Nami ED! Looks like a good deal of time left after it though.
- You can do it, Kiyohiko! Kafuka looks especially cute right now.
- Huh, we hadn't gotten a Kaere drawing song?

So yeah, in Zetsubou fashion, it just kinda... ends. Wish it hadn't taken months to get the last ep, but hey whatever. Now for season four?

[HitokiriShadow]

- Huh, we hadn't gotten a Kaere drawing song?


We did, back in episode 1. I distinctly remember her doing it because of her unique artistic sensibilities which prompted me to post this later on:

Yuko Goto did a pretty good job and Yu Kobayashi, uh, had an interesting take on it.

So, remember Yu Kobayashi's bizarre drawing segment? Apparently that's not unusual for her:

Yu Koboyashi's Beatrice (Umineko) (http://kotaku.com/5381256/another-horrible-horrible-drawing-from-that-pretty-lady)
Yu Koboyashi's Rise (Arc Rise Fantasia) (http://kotaku.com/5336385/beautiful-woman-scary-drawing)

[something]

We did, back in episode 1. I distinctly remember her doing it because of her unique artistic sensibilities which prompted me to post this later on:
Hah, ok, yeah. I remembered getting her... ... art ... ... in a previous ep but couldn't remember if maybe she'd drawn for someone else.

Somehow, it's really not surprising she'd be twisted like that. She has to be to be able to scream and go crazy the way she so often does in her roles. And I so love her for it.