Comments on: *Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Book 1 — Recommended

By: Del Rey Chibis: Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei 4, Gakuen Prince 3, Kitchen Princess novel » Manga Worth Reading

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 12:37:05 +0000

[...] have given up trying to make sense of all the Japanese references in this series. Although there are plenty of endnotes, I’d rather just focus on the clean graphic design of [...]

By: Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Book 3 » Manga Worth Reading

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Book 3 » Manga Worth Reading — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 22:27:35 +0000

[...] Everyone here is defined by their quirks, including the teacher protagonist, whose depression-based suicide attempts have thankfully [...]

By: Piffle

Piffle — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:33:13 +0000

I’m glad that they did a good job on the translation notes. I really like the manga and anime, in *spite* of the fact that most of the references are lost on me. It hasn’t discouraged me, but I look forward to seeing some things explained!

By: James Moar

James Moar — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 16:48:36 +0000

Not sure you’re reading the scene right — in the present, Kimura’s only told once to go back where she came, after a fairly long rant of her own about how weird Japan is. The repetition is a flashback, and comes from both Japanese kids, and kids from Abroad (’gaikoku’) — so it’s about her not fitting in anywhere.

It’s also deliberately unclear what country she came back from. In this one story, we have the picture of England, a kid in the flashback wearing an American flag t-shirt, and a UN sign for her Kaere personality. She later has lines such as claiming that they sacrifice chickens in her country.

By: Kent Enfield

Kent Enfield — Mon, 01 Jun 2009 04:00:56 +0000

That’s fairly different then. In Japanese, Kaede has returned from England (and being there has apparently caused her to turn blonde and get enormous boobs). Mr. Itoshiki refuses to look her in the eye or come near her, claiming that if he does she’ll sue. When she finally responds by saying that Japan is weird, she gets told, “This is Japan. If you don’t like it, go back where you came from.” The kids repeat shouting, “Go back where you came from!” until she has a breakdown.

It’s her portrayal as stereotypically foreign–blonde, giant boobs, overtly sexual (how many times do we see her panties in the book?)–and that her personality problem is listed as “bilingualism” that I find objectionable.

By: Johanna

Johanna — Sun, 31 May 2009 17:02:45 +0000

I thought it was fine. She was portrayed as a split personality, one very quiet (Japanese), one very aggressive and constantly threatening to sue (American).

By: Kent Enfield

Kent Enfield — Sun, 31 May 2009 13:34:20 +0000

How does the chapter about Kimura Kaede/Kaere (”Go back where you came from!”) come across in English?

By: Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Book 2 » Comics Worth Reading

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei Book 2 » Comics Worth Reading — Thu, 28 May 2009 01:41:46 +0000

[...] suicidal schoolteacher is back. While more students are introduced, as in book 1, this volume also takes the class through [...]

By: James Moar

James Moar — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:20:46 +0000

Yeah, the anime’s a good adaptation. Visually, I like how it captures the design sense of the comic, and then adds its own stylized effects on top of it. Here’s a couple of the credit sequences as a demonstration:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nve6aPlFSuM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4XJoTLzFUo4

By: Johanna

Johanna — Tue, 12 May 2009 13:11:40 +0000

I’m going to check out the anime, Jay, just because I want more with these characters. And thanks, Melinda.

By: MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Take your picture with Tohru Honda

MangaBlog » Blog Archive » Take your picture with Tohru Honda — Tue, 12 May 2009 12:08:31 +0000

[...] on vol. 7 of One Thousand and One Nights (There it is, Plain as Daylight) Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei (Comics Worth Reading) Tiamat’s Disciple on issues 6, 7, 8, and 9 of Yen Plus magazine [...]

By: Jay DV

Jay DV — Tue, 12 May 2009 07:01:01 +0000

I watched a preview of the anime and it looked like the usual slice-of-life (Azumanga Daioh, School Days, Yotsuba) stuff but with zany black humor. I’m totally going to pick up this book.

By: Melinda Beasi

Melinda Beasi — Mon, 11 May 2009 11:23:54 +0000

Nozomu is SO despairing that he becomes funny, rather like Eeyore.

That is a brilliant statement. :D