Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		2.5
Audio		3.0
Extras		4.0
Overall		2.5

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie Review

A morbid comedy with a dark spin on the classroom.

Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei is a dark-comedy created by Kōji Kumeta. Produced by Atsushi Moriyama (All Purpose Cultural Cat Girl Nuku Nuku DASH!, Shingu: Secret of the Stellar Wars), Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei explores a dark comedic realm. The Japanese anime series features original animation by production studio SHAFT (Arakawa Under the Bridge, And Yet the Town Moves). A decidedly unconventional comedy.

Nozomu Itoshiki (Hiroshi Kamiya) feels all hope is gone and there is nothing left to live for. Nozomu attempts to be a great teacher to his students yet finds himself in a constant state of depression as he finds his life completely falling apart. Nozomu repeatedly attempts to commit suicide and is even found by one of his students while he is attempting to hang himself with a giant rope. Considering committing suicide by a beautiful cherry blossom tree, Nozomu doesn’t think his life is even worth living anymore.

Yet Nozomu finds his life (at least temporarily) saved by a student, Kafuka Fūra (Ai Nonaka). Unlike the depressed and suicidal Nozomu, Kafuka is a cheerful and upbeat girl with hopes for her own future and she is determined to stop Nozomu from killing himself (and leaving the world behind). Joined by fellow students Chiri Kitsu (Marina Inoue) and Matoi Tsunetsuki (Asami Sanada), Kafuka and the others attempt to learn from Nozomu but is a suicidal teacher their best bet?

The series protagonist is difficult to like as the character repeatedly attempts suicide. The character is often contemplating ending things and with a comedic approach to dying. While some might like the weird and off-kilter comedy, other audiences will find the character jarring and the approach to be decidedly off-putting.

The animation is a creative element of the production. The art direction by Hiroshi Katō (Black Lagoon, Magical Shopping Arcade Abenobashi) is interesting and does a solid job of presenting a compellingly colorful backdrop for the otherwise morbid comedy. Kato is a strong art director and the animators certainly deliver interesting and effective animation.

Hang em' high.

One of the best elements of the animation is found in the character designs by Hideyuki Morioka (Fire Force, Maria Holic Alive). The characters have a unique aesthetic unlike most other anime series (the designs almost have a paper-doll aesthetic). The efforts made by the character designer on the series are worthwhile.

The cinematography by Rei Egami (And Yet the Town Moves, Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story) is creatively engaging yet the time-period of the production limits some of the technical capabilities of the cinematography. The animation is often colorful and experimental in a manner that goes against the grain of expectations.

The score composed by Tomoki Hasegawa (Mysterious Girlfriend X, NANA) is entertaining and does a solid job of providing the series with good background music. The score is creative and has fun in exploring the world of these characters. A solid effort by Hasegawa.

Written by Kenichi Kanemaki (Natsume's Book of Friends, Mythical Detective Loki Ragnarok), Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei is a dark-comedy and (unfortunately) the writing isn’t as appealing if one finds the subject matter of suicide difficult. Kanemaki enjoys poking fun at suicide and it is a constant for the production. There are so many different suicide scenarios explored in the scripts and these scenes certainly make the experience different from some anime series.

Directed by Akiyuki Simbo (Arakawa Under the Bridge, Puella Magi Madoka Magica), Sayonara Zetsubou- Sensei is certainly well directed but the concept is too dark for my tastes. Someone who appreciates ultra-dark comedy revolving around death and suicide will find the series more to their liking but those uncomfortable with the subject matter may find it difficult to experience (especially those who have lost friends or loved ones to suicide).

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Arriving on Blu-ray from RightStuf, Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei is presented in 1080i MPEG-4 AVC encoded high definition in the original television aspect ratio of 1.77:1 widescreen. The encode disappoints with an average-at-best standard-definition upscale. The picture-quality is quite soft and appears much less smooth or detailed as one might hope for with an anime series. The interlacing on the release is also disappointing and occasional jaggies are visible on the video encode. The release isn't even remotely close to the quality of native high-definition material and is only a small improvement over standard-definition on DVD. Unfortunately, the release doesn't provide a measurably great improvement on the standard-definition footage. An adequate presentation.

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release is presented in Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo (with English subtitles). The audio quality fares a little better than the video presentation but it still sounds remarkably bright. The audio doesn't sound and crisp or detailed as some released and the source material sounds stilted without much in the way of depth. Nonetheless, dialogue sounds clear on the release.

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Includes a liner notes book with the limited edition first print run. The exclusive book includes 329 pages of information. The book includes an episode guide, character details, and color illustrations.

On disc supplements include:

Clean Ending (HD, 1:32)

Japanese Promo Spots (HD, 1:19)

Nozomi Trailers (HD, 4:06)

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei: Season 1 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei is a dark classroom comedy with an emphasis on attempted suicide. Fans of dark comedies might enjoy the anime. However, audiences sensitive to subject matter about suicide certainly need to consider the series carefully as the comedy relies heavily on jokes about suicide. (Sayonara Zetsubou-Sensei is even more robust in its suicide jokes than Harold and Maude.

As an individual who has dealt with the topic of suicide repeatedly in my life, the topic is one that is too close to home. Not for the faint of heart and the comedy is an acquired taste. The Blu-ray release also has only average video and audio. The best highlight of the set is an extensive book with 329 pages of content. Unless you are a huge fan, RENT IT.