Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei: Difference between revisions

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[[Love Freak|Optimism]] or [[The Eeyore|Despair]]? Let's [[Surreal Theme Tune|rumba]]!

 

 

Nozomu Itoshiki, a man so unfortunate even his name can be read as "despair", attempts to hang himself. He is saved by Kafuka Fuura, the most insanely cheerful girl imaginable, who ignores his protests of despair and claims he is trying to make himself taller. Terrified, he runs from this beacon of bright light, and ends up at his new teaching assignment where, of course, the crazed happy girl awaits. The insanity only gets deeper from there...

 

 

Following that, a set of three OVAs titled ''Goku: Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei'' (Prison: Goodbye, Mr. Despair) was bundled with the limited edition of volumes fifteen and sixteen of the manga, with the second one released independently, and a third season, ''Zan: Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei'' (Repent/Remainder: Goodbye Mr. Despair), recently finished airing. There's one final two-part OVA, titled ''Zan: Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei Bangaichi'' (Repent/Remainder: Goodbye Mr. Despair Outside Ground), which was bundled with the manga. According to messages in the opening of the second episode, {{spoiler|this will be the last we see of Itoshiki-sensei. Having said that, it would [[Subverted Trope|hardly be out of keeping with the show]] (and [[Studio Shaft|its home studio]]) for this [[I Lied|to turn out to be untrue]].}}

The manga is out across the pond courtesy of Del Rey, so now ''you'' can despair in English! It also appears that [[Media Blasters]] has licensed at least the first season of the anime.

 

 

Nothing to do with ''[[Goodbye, Mr. Chips]]'' (although the title was probably intended as a [[Parody Names|parody]]).

 

* [[Abusive Parents]]

** Played straight with Kafuka and her extremely abusive household, with her schizophrenic father trying to kill her on at least one occasion. Kafuka being Kafuka, she re-frames everything in positive terms. May or may not be an escape mechanism to deal with her horrendous personal life. That, and maybe also some problems with reality testing inherited from her parents.

* [[Accidental Marriage]]: By ''making eye contact'' with someone.

** Subverted in the [[Hot Springs Episode]], when the wall between the men's and women's baths falls over. Poor Nozomu freaks out and [[Screams Like a Little Girl]] when exposed to his class, with one of the girls lampshading "That should've been our reaction". Then he laments that none of them sees him as a man.

** Done normally in another episode, where while taking a memento picture for Kafuka, a woman mistakes the picture taking as trying to get a shot at her. [[Paedo Hunt|The entire town reacts]].

** One chalkboard gag also features [[Hiroshi Kamiya|Nozomu]] drawn in the style of [["On the Next..."]] ''[[Bakemonogatari]]'', and one scene where he brought a flight simulator in class even depicts him in a [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Celestial being]] spacesuit, with a Tieria lookalike behind him. Another instance might be the naming of the series. The second season is ''Zoku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei''. Compare with the second season of ''[[Natsume Yuujinchou]]'' likewise being called Zoku, and note that their protagonists are voiced by the [[Hiroshi Kamiya|same guy]].

** A quick shot early in the anime shows Nozomu reading ''[[Honey and Clover]]'', where he voiced one of the protagonists.

** Sensei's old friend happens to like girls with pony tails. The old friend is voiced by [[Haruhi Suzumiya|Kyon]], who also likes pony tails.

* [[A-Cup Angst]]: Meru and Chiri exhibit this in very different ways.

* [[All Just a Dream]]: ''Zoku'''s sixth episode explicitly states the second of the [[Three Shorts]] is Nozomu's dream, then goes into the nature of dreams themselves while slipping into a [[Bizarro Universe]]: Kafuka is in despair, Meru has become a [[Motor Mouth]], Usui became more noticeable, Chiri became a slob, etc. And as soon as they all realize that, they figure that they'll all die if the dream ends and so try to ''kill'' Nozumu in order to keep it going, and themselves alive.

* [[Alternate Character Reading]]: The series is ''really'' fond of these. Character names alone should be a good start.

** Not that it really matters, since the series is completely episodic, but notably in the anime, Nami's introduction episode is saved for the second season (where she had just showed up in one episode with no fanfare in the first season). The anime has so far been in a different order from the manga, so if you take Nami in stride, the entire anime is probably anachronistic.

** ''Zan'' has waited until episode six to introduce another, Kanako, and brings in two more the next episode: Miko and Shouko.

* [[Anachronism Stew]]: Not particularly noticeably, but much of the setting (buildings and other background elements) bears more similarity to the Taishou Era (1912-1926) than modern times, and the art style is also very evocative of the Taishou era. Even Itoshiki-sensei's hakama and Matoi's kimono are period-correct, and the styles change with the season according to Taishou era fashions.

* [[Anime Accent Absence]]: Averted in the fake 'Story So Far' segment of ''Zan'''s 11th episode: the American official and Bob the left-wing academic have absolutely terrible American accents. Then again, these segments are always read purposefully ridiculously, in one case the narration was entirely nonsensical jabbering noises.

* [[Art Evolution]]: ''Spoofed'' in ''Goku''.

* [[The Art of War]]: A quote is mentioned in the fifth episode.

** E.g. the first ED video of the second season portrays all characters in distinctive [[Shoujo]] - [[Boys Love|Shounen Ai]] - bishie-ish style, while the third OP features the characters in [[Magical Girl]] style, complete with massive eyes and an upbeat poppy theme song. And [[You Gotta Have Blue Hair|blue hair]]. ''Lots'' of blue hair.

** The third ED of ''Zoku'' is, bizarrely enough, in the art style of Mike Mignola's ''[[Hellboy]]''.

** ''Goku'' OP sequences change every episode, combining the original ''Zoku'' OP and paper-cut dolls.

** ''Goku'' Episode 1 has this in its ending animation, which is otherwise the same as Zoku's second ED.

** The end of the first third of ''Goku'' Episode 2 shows Nozomu as he would look like in another series by Kumeta, ''[[Katteni Kaizo]]''.

** ''Zan'' OP has bits that are somewhere between this and [[Gonk]].

** The last third of ''Zan'' Episode 8, set aboard the Mystery Train, goes into a roughly-sketched cutout style that comes across as rather trippy. There are art shifts that occur within this medium change as well, mainly pertaining to the art style used for faces, which are drawn for major characters. The same style has been reused in another [[Studio Shaft]] series, ''[[Puella Magi Madoka Magica]]''.

** During the dream episode in ''Zoku'', Usui was drawn in a style similar to ''[[JoJo's Bizarre Adventure]]'' (particularly the art used in the third series).

* [[Attention Whore]]: Probably the motivation behind Nozomu's every outrageous action. There's also Nami, but her [[Attention Whore]] tendencies only show in her first appearance, in which she tries all kinds of gimmicks to gain pity and attention from her classmates (culminating with a threat of suicide). [[The Generic Guy|They all fail, of course.]] Other cases may include Abiru, who once admitted to wearing bandages even when not injured just for kicks, and apparently Kaere is also this, always flaunting her panties even as she loudly threatens lawsuit to onlookers.

* [[Awesome Anachronistic Apparel]]

* [[Beauty, Brains, and Brawn]]: In the anime, Nozomu attempts to exclusively categorize everything as Liberal arts, Science or Athletics.

* [[Berserk Board Barricade]]: Subverted, as Kafuka and Nozomu build one to lock in Kiri. Nozomu seemed to be doing it as [[Reverse Psychology]]. Kafuka's just crazy.

** Nozomu in the second ending to ''Zan''.

** Maria once with "children's beer".

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: It's not really last minute, but the opening episode of ''Zan'' features this as Chiri leads the other main heroines in freeing Nozomu.

** Nozomu Itoshiki and his brother Mikoto.

** Four of Nozomu's only known male students: Jun Kudou, Kuniya Kino, Aoyama and Haga.

* [[Bishoujo Series]]:

* [[Black Comedy]]: Perhaps intended to give viewers an idea of what to expect, the first few ''minutes'' of the anime open with the main character attempting to hang himself. It's a [[Suicide as Comedy|comedy]], really!

** Mayo anally violates dogs with pencils and branches as a [[Running Gag]].

** Matoi's clingy behavior occasionally borders on this.

'''Kaere:''' I'll sue! (''Uttaeruyo!'')

'''Nami:''' Don't say 'normal'! (''Futsuu te iu na!'')

** The Itoshiki Family members' cry against writing out the [[Alternate Character Reading]] of their names.

** A usual exchange between Nozomu and Matoi.

** Chiri's demands to do things properly, and that not doing so irritates her to no end.

** Another case is Nozomu inviting his students to go out to town and witness examples of subjects of his rant of the chapter.

** In one episode Rin asks him if he's in despair, following one of his rants, before he has a chance to scream "I'm in despair!".

** Kaere [[Transfer Student Uniforms|wears a]] [[Nonuniform Uniform|westernized private school uniform]] with a plaid skirt.

** In the broader sense of adult women in school uniforms being attractive, Nozomu is shown to be attracted to Chie when she puts on a [[Sailor Fuku]].

* [[Censor Steam]]: Very disturbing censor steam.

** In fact, the tendency of many comedy anime such as this to get inflicted with this on their final episodes is even parodied in {{spoiler|Episode 11 of the first season, when Nozomu got ran over by a runaway streetcar, and the episode ends with his students anxiously waiting for his surgery to end. Needless to say, he got better--he just barely managed to exclaim "Eh?!" at the last few seconds of the episode during the [[Our Lawyers Advised This Trope]] outro.}}

* [[Character as Himself]]: The opening credits list all the characters as being played by themselves.

** Related to the above, Chiri herself kind of fits this. While she always had psycho moments, she used to often play the [[Straight Man]] and complained about the oddity of her teacher. This is a sharp contrast to the later, [[Ax Crazy]] Chiri who everyone else (even Kafuka at times) sees as nuts.

* [[Charlie and the Chocolate Parody]]: One manga chapter has Rin opening a chocolate factory catering to nerdy guys without girlfriends. She explains that it is a "cherry and chocolate factory".

* [[Cherry Blossoms]]: Featured in the first episodes of all four seasons.

* [[Chewing the Scenery]]: Nozomu's rants (and especially his [[Catch Phrase]]) tend to be delivered in a grandiosely overblown manner. Nobody takes them seriously, and one or more of his students will frequently hang a lampshade on it.

* [[Cloudcuckoolander]]: Kafuka, the eternally happy girl. Maria, the somewhat-innocent illegal immigrant. Heck, almost every girl in the show is in her own fantasy world.

** Special mention however goes for Kanako. She barely seems to notice the frequent carnage around her, never letting her vacant smile slip.

** Abiru's collection of mounted animal tails.

** For that matter, Nozomu's collection of unwanted admirers, each with a quirk of her own.

* [[Color Failure]]: Majiru has one after a quest to catch measles as a child (metaphorically) ends with him groping Chiri and ending up on her bad side. Needless to say, he's no longer interested in breasts.

* [[Comedic Sociopathy]]: A lot, especially from Chiri and Kafuka.

* [[Comically Missing the Point]]: An entire episode is devoted to this trope, going so far as to have characters distracted by minor things while an alien invasion occurs, right down to Itoshiki looking up at a [[Humongous Mecha]] attacking the city...and ultimately wondering why it has "FART" written on its chest in big glowing kanji.

* [[Covers Always Lie]]: Discussed in episode 2 of ''Goku'' before immediately going into [[Self-Deprecation]].

* [[Culture Clash]]

* [[Cuteness Proximity]]: Maria and Majiru inspire this in the girls.

** Mayo also never actually talks to anyone, you only hear her voice in a narrative sense. In ''Goku SZS'', she didn't communicate her idea verbally, words appeared above her head instead.

* [[Dead Baby Comedy]]

* [[Debut Queue]]: Sort of. Each character has a focus episode where we really find out about them.

* [[Demonic Possession]]: Implied to be one of Kafuka's mother's many, many problems. Luckily it means she knows we can get a [[Black Speech|Blackly Speaking]] Meru to behave by knocking her upside the head with a giant cross!

** [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GQhF0aR274Q Oh god,] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HjuF1qAb1Tg Goku's] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CKRHiue2sIM openings.]

** The tradition continues in ''Bangaichi'''s openings, especially the [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXdAnLzHA80 second one]. This features, among other things, some of the girls shooting the song's titular ''Ringo Mogire Beam'' from their crotches, exploding heads, [[Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever|a 200-feet Maria]] running on the shore of Tokyo Bay, that same crazy art style as the infamous mysterious train episode of ''Zan'', and flying buildings (and whales and Chitan from ''Katteni Kaizo''). It's also double the normal length, so twice the crazy goodness!

* [[Did Not Do the Research]]: In an early book, the translator's notes claim that surströmming is seen as a delicacy in Sweden. Go on, ask a bunch of Swedes what they think of surströmming...

* [[Didn't We Use This Joke Already?]]: Nozomu brings up the topic of people ignoring distressing things around them. Chiri says something to the effect of the show already doing this joke. Nozomu quips "Ignoring that...", and proceeds with his rant.

** Maria is identical to [[Cowboy Bebop|Ed]] in this and other aspects.

** Kiri also goes barefoot, perhaps because it's a Japanese custom to take off one's footwear inside the house, and Kiri isn't going outside any time soon.

* [[Epileptic Trees]]: In-universe lampshading:

{{quote|Even the author didn't think of such things when they were drawing it... Guess there are people who pointlessly distort something that deeply.}}

** There's an instance in the manga where Nozomu has a thick sushi roll in his mouth and Nami sees [[Yaoi Fangirl|Harumi]] smirking at the sight and she asks why she's smiling.

{{quote|'''Harumi:''' Nothing at all. Don't worry -- [[Suspiciously Specific Denial|I'm not planning to use it as future reference for my manga]].}}

** The opening to ''Zoku'' starts off in black and white. Despite additional animation, the "film" appears to gradually deteriorate episode by episode. In the penultimate episode, one scene of the sequence is in color for a few seconds before the film becomes misaligned and the next 20 or so seconds are simply the credits on a white background. In the last episode, the film quality is back to perfect and the whole sequence is in full color.

* [[Eyes of Gold]]: The girls sport golden glowing eyes in the opening to the third season.

** At the end of each episode of ''Zan'' the "Zetsubou-Sensei Drawing Song" features renditions of Nozomu by the voice actors who also sing.

** The first few opening sequences of ''Zoku'' feature a massive wall of fan art.

** At the end of every episode for all seasons, there are artworks drawn by fellow mangaka. The list below shows which artists did, in episode order:

{{quote|'''Season 1:''' Kazuhiro Fujita (''[[Ushio and Tora]]''), Akimine Kamijyo (''[[Samurai Deeper Kyo]]''), Kouji Seo (''[[Suzuka]]''), Hideo Nishimoto, Shimoku Kio (''[[Genshiken]]''), Kazutoshi Soyama, [[Rumiko Takahashi]] (''[[Ranma ½]]''), Hiromu Arakawa (''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''), Yukari Takinami, Masashi Asaki, Yuji Terashima, and [[Koji Kumeta]] himself.

'''Goku (Season 2.5):''' Hidetoshi Oomori (''[[Mobile Suit Gundam]]'' movies), Mako Aboshi (''[[Maria Holic]] Alive''), and [[Hiroshi Kamiya]] (Nozomu's seiyuu).

'''Bangaichi (Season 3.5):''' Range Murata (''[[Last Exile]]'') and [[Koji Kumeta]].

'''Season 3 Special:''' Yasu (''[[Toradora!]]''; she and Kumeta collaborated in the manga ''Joshiraku'') }}

* [[The Foreign Subtitle]]: The English translation is subtitled ''The Power of Negative Thinking'', in a parody of motivational speaker Norman Vincent Peale's ''The Power of Positive Thinking''.

* [[Freeze-Frame Bonus]]: '''Many''', as [[Studio Shaft]] is wont to do.

* [[Frivolous Lawsuit]]: Threatened by Kaere all the time. The manga volumes even feature the actual lawsuit documents.

* [[Gainax Ending]]: The manga ends this way. {{spoiler|Kafuka is [[Dead All Along]] and has possessed the rest of the cast by way of organ donations after they attempted suicide before the show started.}}

* [[Gaussian Girl]]: About [[Once Per Episode]] or more, the character will focus on a (generally female) character about to speak, and they will be framed in soft light and sometimes [[Bishie Sparkle|sparkle]].

* [[Girls with Moustaches]]: In one chapter a bunch of [[Otaku]] reject normal women for having "subtle facial hair" (also a case of [[Minor Flaw, Major Breakup]]).

** Ironically, given the suspicions that he's an abuser, Mr. Kobushi is actually a very caring dad who has a close relationship with Abiru. Granted, one might question his seeming endorsement of her tail-pulling hobby.

** For that matter, Matoi's mother, who even ''supports'' her... [[Stalker with a Crush|unhealthy habit]].

* [[Gonk]]: One girl from the class, as well as numerous one-shot characters, have a flat nose, rectangle mouth and small, beady eyes.

* [[Hair Colors]]: Completely averted; despite the surreal atmosphere of the show, every single character except Kaede/Kaere (who has foreign ancestry) has black hair. For her part, Kaere has blonde hair, which is still part of the natural hair color spectrum.

* [[Harem Genre]]: Parodied, with the way girls randomly fall in love with Nozomu, but then don't bring it up again, with the probable exception of Matoi, Kiri, Chiri and Kafuka. While they do bring that up frequently in the manga, it's not in a good way.

** And there is enough [[Ship Tease]]: an episode of ''Zoku'' has even Chie and all the boys in the class showing attraction to him.

* [[Comedic Sociopathy]]

** Mayo Mitama... and she [[Karma Houdini|always gets away with it]] because no one would want to judge her based on appearance.

* [[Hey, It's That Voice!]]

** [[Hiroshi Kamiya|Nozomu]] is a decidedly more masculine [[Mobile Suit Gundam 00|Tieria]] and an older [[Digimon Frontier|Kouji]].

** [[Ai Nonaka|Kafuka]] and [[Yuu Kobayashi|Kaere]] are [[Mahou Sensei Negima|Konoka and Setsuna]], respectively.

** [[Marina Inoue|Chiri]] is [[Umineko no Naku Koro ni|is Jessica]], [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Yoko]] and [[Minami-ke|Kana]].

** [[Miyu Matsuki|Harumi]] is a bit less farther out than [[Hayate the Combat Butler|Isumi]], but they're both orbiting the same star.

* [[Hot Springs Episode]]

* [[Hot Teacher]]: Both Itoshiki and Chie. Chie is more of a [[Ms. Fanservice]], but Itoshiki constantly has girls falling for him (why is he in despair is a good question).

** Kafuka is shown holding a "symbolic-looking" apple in ''Bangaichi's'' version of ''Zan's'' opening theme, ''Ringo Mogire Beam!'' ("Apple Plucking Beam!")

** Apples seem to be a [[Trademark Favorite Food]] for Maria, and when she's first introduced and receives gifts from her classmates, she's presented with "[[Death Note|Ryuk]]-brand apples.

** In Nami's introduction, she meets Kiri, who in her room at the school has a basket of apples addressed to "Zashki-warashi sama" (presumably from Maria and Kafuka).

** During the discussion of things not being true to the original, Halloween becoming a [[Cosplay]] fest comes up. Chiri agrees that it's not good, and says that she's staying true to the spirit by dressing as a witch...[[Kiki's Delivery Service|while still cosplaying]].

* [[Hurricane of Puns]]: The names should be a good start.

* [[Idiosyncratic Episode Naming]]: All chapters are plays on the titles of pieces of classical literature.

* [[Image Song]]

** [[wikipedia:Pororoca|Pororoca]] is first used by Kafuka who identifies it as a planet that she believes space aliens come from. Later on, the actual meaning is used by Nozomu to make an analogy to people becoming fans of various media.

** Also counting as inherently funny are the tongue-twister in the "in the last volume" openers and any real words that showed up in the [[Gag Sub]] episode.

* [[Lethal Klutz]]: Chiri tries to be a normal klutz, but ends up as one of these instead.

* [[Limited Wardrobe]]: Nozomu is nearly always seen wearing kimono and hakama, and most of the time that he isn't, he's sporting something else retro and Japanese. The same goes for his nephew Majiru (who lives with him) and Matoi (whose fashion sense is dictated by whomever she's obsessed with). Notably averted by most of the other characters, though.

** Every single chapter title is a reference to a work of literature, albeit in parody, and with the meaning twisted beyond all recognition.

** The series's title itself is a [[Shout-Out]] to ''[[Goodbye, Mr. Chips]]''.

** Played straight insofar as virtually every girl loves Nozomu; some of them have other love interests or boys that are interested in them, and Nozomu is well aware of their romantic expectations. Subverted in that he is exceptionally ambivalent to anything like a romantic relationship. He occasionally opens up to the possibility of romance, but nothing ever comes of it (except maybe a suicide attempt).

** Although apparently that didn't stop him from having an awesome night with a high-class escort girl who was apparently ''very'' satisfied with his "performance".

** There's even an entire segment about this trope in ''Zan'', with the conclusion that in order for the [[Love Dodecahedron]] to hurt less, Nozomu must ''take up relationships with as many people as possible'' (in order to make it a non-pointy circle, you see). [[Murder the Hypotenuse|It goes about as well as you would expect.]]

* [[Love Hurts]]: Poor, poor Nozomu and Manami...

** The first season's first ending, ''Zessei Bijin'', is about lovers' suicide set to a peppy swing jazz number.

** ''Zan'''s first ending, ''Zetsubou Restaurant'', is a very dark song about a dreary restaurant that may or may not double as a brothel, also set to a jazz number.

* [[Makes Just as Much Sense in Context]]: If there's anything on this page that makes you arch an eyebrow, chances are it would make you arch ''both'' your eyebrows if you actually saw it.

* [[Magic Skirt]]: Aside from [[Ms. Fanservice|Kaere]], there are barely any panty shots of any of the other girls aside from the occasional gag. Maria's skirt in particular has the highest concentration of magic, because [[Going Commando|it's not just shoes and socks that she doesn't wear]]...

* [[Meaningful Name]]/[[Punny Name]]: '''Every single named character''' has a name that is some sort of pun on his or her personality type, almost to the point of [[Anthropomorphic Personification]]. See [[Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei/Characters|the Character Sheet]], lest this section become a complete duplication.

* [[Measuring Day]]

* [[Nightmare Fuel Station Attendant]]: Whenever Kafuka or Chiri get involved, the insanity and horror go [[Up to Eleven]].

* [[No Fourth Wall]]: Several characters refer to each other using the anime character tropes they embody, such as "[[Ms. Fanservice|Designated Panty Shot Girl]]" or by noting that "[[Bandage Babe|the bandaged look isn't popular any more]]". This also happens in the manga, both in references to the characters and to the manga itself.

* [[No Communities Were Harmed]]: The Itoshikis' native Kuraizawa, Shinshuu Prefecture. Kuraizawa is based on Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture ("Kurai" means "dark"); "Shinshuu" was another name for "Shinano", one of Japan's former provinces (replaced by prefectures during the Meiji Restoration), now also known as Nagano Prefecture.

** Incidentally, one can't get to Karuizawa from Tokyo via local (futsuu) trains without taking a major detour, because the line through the [[wikipedia:Usui Pass|Usui Pass]] was abandoned when the [[wikipedia:Nagano Shinkansen|Nagano Shinkansen]] opened. Knowing this makes Nami's predicament even funnier.

* [[Off-Model]]: The art stays of high quality throughout, but there is constant lampshading throughout ''Zan'' about the animation quality suffering from the huge deadline crunch the animators were going through (as one gag noted, they were working on this, ''[[Bakemonogatari]]'', ''[[Negima]]'', and ''[[Hidamari Sketch]]'' at the ''same time'').

* [[Only Six Faces]]: Largely the case, and lampshaded once (in the instance with things not looking like the original) when Nozomu couldn't recognize Kafuka with a different hairstyle nor does he recognize that she's his "college student neighbor".

* [[Our Lawyers Advised This Trope]]: At the end of every episode there's a "This show is a work of fiction" disclaimer. It usually contains a lot of [[Suspiciously Specific Denial]].

{{quote|''Similarity to any actual paradises on Earth, interesting comics called'' Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, ''Blue Man, or Hata Kenjirou and his assistant who came to ADR, chipped in their voices, and got photographed with two of the actresses is purely coincidental.''}}

* [[Out of Focus]]: Only certain members of the cast will appear in any given episode, but some of them have been given less and less screen time, especially Chie.

** The punctuation in Chiri's dialogue shows up on-screen in the lower right corner, accompanied by [[Kabuki Sounds]].

** The characters for certain sound effects (''jiiiiii~'' being the main example) have been written on the screen, like in a manga. ''Zan'' takes this further with ''every'' sound effect being spoken, such as doors ("ga-CHA"), a tense crowd ("piri-piri"), and in one case, constantly in the background, the ocean ("za-zaaaan").

** There's a third-season segment about [[Troll|making intentional mistakes to draw attention]], with all the girls in cheerleading costumes flashing their panties (even Maria).

* [[The Perfectionist]]: For Chiri, everything has to be done "properly". Even things that are not right, if you don't do them the right way.... let's just say things don't get pretty.

** "How normal" or variations thereof, to Nami.

** Nozomu's "You were here?" to Matoi whenever the latter butts in during a conversation.

** [[Face of a Thug|Mayo]] gets away with the most appalling behavior even when caught red-handed, because everyone assumes that no one could possibly get caught doing those sorts of things.

** The last episode of season one features Itoshiki's "funeral," and shows [[Yaoi Fangirl|Harumi]] reading a [[Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann|Kamina x Simon]] [[Doujinshi]] while kneeling at his coffin and ''blaming herself for his demise''.

* [[Running Gag]]: [[Koji Kumeta]] has a habit of changing a light bulb in his house to one of the lowest wattage after one of his "paper blogs".

** There's one incident dealing with an inversion of "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", wherein trustworthy people's jokes/lies will always be taken seriously. Jinroku tells a lie that illustrates this concept, and when questioned about a bandage on his head, tells Nozomu that he just extracted a bullet from his time as a mercenary. He and Nozomu both laugh, but it's implied he was actually telling the truth.

* [[Saying Sound Effects Out Loud]]:

** It's entirely possible that this was related to the first half of that episode, where a brief mention was made of "being completely disconnected from the source material".

* [[Soundtrack Dissonance]]:

** Cheerful or peaceful music is always playing when Kafuka presents an implausibly optimistic view of a negative situation.

** Kaere, between lawsuit-crazy [[But Not Too Foreign]] Kaere and demure [[Yamato Nadeshiko]] Kaede.

** If an (as usual) fairly surreal anecdote is to be believed, Kafuka in her childhood as well.

** If Chiri takes the Aesop on, we can expect her to come within an inch of killing everyone in a sequence bordering mixing horror and comedy.

** Played straight but exaggerated severely with Matoi Tsunetsuki.

** Chapter four of the manga (Matoi's introductory chapter, naturally) has a block-long string of them.

*** Even creepier: in ''Zan'' (and possibly earlier), there's a framed picture of her on his desk. Apparently he likes her enough to keep something like that. One can only wonder how he would react if he ever put two-and-two together and realized just whose picture he keeps prominently displayed on his dresser drawers...

* [[Stock Footage]]: Nearly every time Itoshiki prepares to say his catchphrase. Other characters have used similar stock footage as gags. In the [[Magical Girl]] Parody, Itoshiki's stock footage doubles as a pseudo [[Transformation Sequence]], (though initially it's a reaction to all of his students being drawn in Chibi-style, he does gain a "suspicious cape and staff" when the shot returns to him, apparently from nowhere.)

** Nozomu and Mikoto are practically twins.

** Majiru looks like a young Nozomu, and even has the same fashion sense.

* [[Surreal Theme Tune]]: All of them.

** "Hito Toshite Jiku ga Bureteiru", season one's first opening theme, set to (among other things) annotated diagrams of bondage positions, laments on how everything is twisted.

** "Zessei Bijin", season one's ending theme, set to scenes of murder and death, enthuses about a couple's double suicide while [[Lyrical Dissonance|playing in a peppy jazz number]].

** "Kuusou Rumba", ''Zoku'''s opening theme, talks about a man trying to dance the Rumba being turned down.

** "Lyricure Go Go!", ''Zoku'''s one-shot opening for Episode 7, was the theme for a [[Magical Girl]] parody.

** "Ringo Mogire Beam!", ''Zan'''s opening theme, translates to "Apple Plucking Beam!". The lyrics are about a man who believes he has found his soulmate, but is afraid to proceed (by "giving her his password"), accompanied by repeated exclamations of the song's title. "Ringo Mogire Beam!" could be viewed as the password mentioned in the song... or it could just be a random exclamation. (Note: Apparently it parodies doomsday group "Cosmic Brotherhood Association" which believes the world would be destroyed by a flood, and the only way out is rescue by [[Main/Flying Saucers|UFOs]] with the password "Ringo okure C." This from SchwarzXD on [[YouTube]].)

** [[Up to Eleven|The full version is even MORE surreal. Somehow.]]

* [[The Tetris Effect]]: In a chapter dealing with Chiri coming to clean Nozomu's house, she ultimately falls into this in a typically crazy way, stacking objects and people in an attempt to eliminate "dead space". At one point, Harumi comments about Chiri always being good at ''[[Tetris]]''.

* [[This Is a Work of Fiction]]: A different parodic disclaimer at the end of every episode, culminating in one which disclaims any resemblance between the show and ''itself''.

** In the ''Goku'' Episode 2, after Chiri decides that the show needs more despair so that it can match its title by dropping Nozomu off a cliff into a pack of ravenous wolves below.

* [[Too Hot for TV]]: Most censors are just [[Rule of Funny]] but a few are removed for the DVDs.

** Meru is the most obvious example.

** Nozomu actually advises his students to start trolling to avoid being trolled.

{{quote|'''Abiru:''' I always have.

'''Nami:''' I think that just came naturally. }}

** Mayo Mitama is said to be one. If she is, though, she's probably the tsunnest [[Tsundere]] ever.

** Parodied/discussed in ''Zoku'' Episode 5. It even uses the "Don't misunderstand. I didn't do this for you" excuse which triggers the conversation and practically gets lampshaded as a common tsundere excuse.

{{quote|'''Director:''' I'm in despair! This world where even faithful film adaptations earn nothing but criticism has left me in despair!

'''Nozomu:''' Mr. Director, [[Hey, That's My Line!|that was my line...]] }}

** Most of Nozomu's lists of whatever he's despairing about at the moment also probably count.

** Another quick gag relying on this is the name of Nozomu's school. It changes on a whim, even going so far as to change itself to [[Harry Potter|Hogwarts]] once.

** The upshot of every girl in class being in love with Nozomu. He's almost pathologically resistant to their affections (ethical concerns aside), but is painfully aware of the UST, which is why he has stopped resisting Matoi's antics, as doing so only spurs her to more extreme behavior. Class 2-He exists in a kind of equilibrium where the tension never boils over, at least until somebody/something kicks over the anthill, such as Nozomu's arranged marriage in season 1 and his flirtatious body-double Haga in ''Zan''.

** A major case of [[Ship Tease]] occurs with Kiri, who lives with Nozomu in school and serves as caretaker for both him and his nephew Majiru. As time passed she seemed to be more of a [[Yamato Nadeshiko]], although at one point she seems fine with sharing him with [[Stalker with a Crush|Matoi]].

{{quote|'''Nozomu:''' I'm in about a 53-way relationship! It's almost like a circle!

'''Kafuka:''' To smooth over the prickliness we need more and more points! Otherwise the class will become bloodthirsty! ... Get more relationships with people in town! [[Refuge in Audacity|By adding more and more points, the polygon will infinitely become close to being a circle, and mankind will be at peace!]] }}

** The most notable is Matoi's constant "''jiiiiiiiii''" for staring, but there are numerous instances where a chorus of girls will say a sound effect (with it often being written on-screen as well).

* [[Untranslated Title]]

* [[Wacky Homeroom]]

** There is also the revelation that {{spoiler|when the girls attempted suicide, they were possessed by the ghosts of girls from the Showa period who had committed suicide but regretted it. The entire show was a ploy by Nozomu to exorcise the spirits from the girls' bodies by trying to recreate Showa period school life and having the girls "graduate", giving the spirits the closure they need to pass on. [[Fridge Brilliance|This is why Nozomu always dressed in such old fashioned clothes.]]}}

* [[What Do You Mean It's Not Awesome?]]: Episode 3 of ''Zoku'' explores the trope by having characters make mundane statements... ''[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-VvO3rjiFeI&feature=related in overly dramatic ways]''!!!

* [[Widget Series]]

* [[World Gone Mad]]

* [[World Half Empty]]

** Oh dear Lord, ''everyone with a name'' has this applied to them.

** A more obscure example is Mikoto's first appearance when Kafuka visits him and calls him "Itoshiki-sensei," which is what she would call Nozomu. Mikoto just sits there and says "Yes?" because "sensei" can mean "teacher" or "doctor."

** Kafuka is certainly repressing, with her eternal happiness and obvious destructive past, so much so others fear her when they get a glimpse into her mind. But she's also more on the [[Cute and Psycho]] side (at least compared to everyone else).

** Chiri also frequently goes from obsessive-compulsive to completely psychotic. While she doesn't have much of a "dere" side she fits the concept of "love makes your murderous". For instance, when Nozomu tried going out like a celebrity, he visited a high-class call girl and tried to drown in Dom Perignon. When said lady brings him the bill at school and he complains about the expenses of dying, a displeased Chiri brings a knife and tells him that he can die for free. Another case of Chiri going nuts is when Nozomu (and guest commentators) immediately and bluntly rejected her suggestion that they could be a successful match (''proper love'') in the "Maybe Maybe" episode, despite considering and conceding the possibility of success of romantic relationships with Abiru (''[[Stealth Pun|puppy]] love''), Nami (''normal love''), Manami (''unfaithful love''), Kaere (''violent love''), Chie (''adult relationship''), Maria (''acquaintanceship'') and even Ikkyu (''[[Ho Yay]]''), upon their suggestions. Her equally immediate response is just [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F76zNOmmJjI&feature=related frighteningly hilarious].

{{quote|'''Nami:''' "Don't say 'normal'!"}}

** In chapter 223, Chiri, the most violent girl in the classroom, found Kafuka to be seriously dangerous.

** And then Maria makes a deadly [[Pun]] out of the steps of Yonkoma involving a historical massacre. She's oblivious to the implications.

** This is, of course, referenced in a [[Magical Girl]] parody segment of ''Zoku''.

* [[Zombie Apocalypse]]: Of sorts. It's a revival of things that should've stayed dead. Like suits with shoulder pads and old relationships. The show turns the gun on itself when a bite from one of the zombies turns Nozomu into one himself, jabbing that the series might turn into a [[Franchise Zombie]].

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[[Category:Shonen Demographic]]

[[Category:Anime]]

[[Category:Manga]]