Sayonara, Zatsubuo – Sensei is a satiric manga centered on Nozuma Itoshiki, a teacher filled with despair and paranoia. He constantly thinks of suicide and his excessively negative thinking presents him as a ranting lunatic. Charged with teaching a class of idiosyncratic students, his intended approaches dominated by his depressive outlook often have an ironic effect. Filled with dead pan humor and presented as a satire of Japanese society, Sayonara, Zetsubuo – Sensei is an entertaining series filled with bizarre characters.
Sayonara, Zetsubuo – Sensei: The Power of Negative Thinking Volume 1
Quickly dubbed as Mr. Despair, Nozuma Itoshiki finds himself confronting a classroom of equally extreme characters. The first volume of this series is divided into chapters exploring the personality quirks of his students. A student with incredible optimism provides a foil for the depressed, suicidal teacher. Other students include the returned overseas student, the hopelessly devoted stalker, the silent girl who communicates via email, the girl afraid to leave her home, the obsessive compulsive bossy student, and one with a fetish for animal tails.
Volume One of Sayonara, Zetsubuo – Sensei basically describes the background of each character for the ongoing series. As the students are introduced, the teacher seeks to solve their problems with unintended comic effects. The students and situations are bizarre and lightly humorous, with some knowledge of Japanese culture making the read more enjoyable. All characters are highly one dimensional portraying a single character trait to the extreme. Character development isn’t the theme here, but rather the creation of absurdist situations to poke fun at aspects of the culture.
Manga Art for Sayonara, Zetsubuo – Sensei
The art of Sayonara, Zetsubuo – Sensei focuses on the big – eyed school girl caricatures utilized in many manga and anime series. There is also a feel of gaps in between the continuity of some panels as well. Despite this, the art works for the story. It remains light and playful throughout and contributes to the overall humor of the manga. Characters are distinctively drawn, and given the number of individual stories to follow, readers will be grateful.
Koji Kumeta’s Manga Series
Both students and teacher alike seek to learn about each other, and given their idiosyncratic tendencies this provides playful banter throughout. Although this volume introduces characters, no overarching story arc is introduced, and the work remains devoid of tension. Focusing on negativity provides a twist not seen in many manga, and makes the lead character immediately memorable. The quirky characters and the threads of pessimism are genuinely funny as well. Sayona, Zetsubuo – Sensei isn’t incredibly impressive, but it is entertaining and is sure to have its fans as evidenced by the anime series based on the serialized manga stories. Volume One – The Power of Negative Thinking is a promising start for those seeking something a little different in their manga reading.
Sayonara, Zetsubuo – Sensei: The Power of Negative Thinking Volume 1 (ISBN 978 – 0 – 345 – 50893 – 5) by Koji Mumeta was originally published in Japanese in 2005 with the English translation published by Del Ray in 2009.
Brian Jungwiwattanaporn - Living an eclectic life, Brian has found online writing a great way to share and explore his interests. Having recently complete a ...
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