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May 27, 2014
This review generally relates to the whole Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei franchise since all seasons are extremely similar in their nature.
Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (or SZS), a show based on satirical manga by Kumeta Kouji, has the right to be called one of the most unique and mentionable representatives of "black comedy" genre in anime. It involves different types of humour and has a very atypical execution. Basically there's no deep meaning and phylosophical subtext in Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, but it doesn't feel empty or pointless. Due to its great satirical content the show even might cause you to change your mind about some things in your
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life you never paid much attention to.
Story (6)
Basically SZS is an episodic sketch comedy, so don't expect to find there any linear storyline - only few minor changes might be noticed throughout episodes. But that doesn't mean this show is boring or too repetitive. All the characters get through a plenty of miscellaneous situations, and setting changes drastically from episode to episode ranging from slice-of-life stories to weird surreal tales.
Art (6)
In terms of art SZS follows the original manga, so artwork is very sketchy and atypical for anime. Outlines and colouring are kinda rough, and the show is relatively poorly animated, mostly being static. Overall the art might look quite unappealing. However, hard to disagree the show has very unique visual style with its own recognizable features which helps to feel the originality of the show. Furthermore, sometimes visual style changes completely, parodying anime of 80's, famous paintings and so on. Spectacular!
Characters (9)
After gradual introduction of all characters it appears that they are quite numerous, and none of them (except the lead character, Itoshiki Nozomu aka Mr. Despair) is more important for the show than others. Everyone has peculiar manners, behaviour, catch phrases; each character seems very different, but altogether they make up an unexplainable harmony which creates a solid groundwork for jokes and keeps you attached to the cast. The most mentionable character and the main source of dark satiric humour is Zetsubou Sensei himself, or Itoshiki Nozomu. He's a 100% pessimist constantly complaining about flaws of modern society and often attempting suicide, but failing at that every time. I guess there's no need to say how atypical and hilarious he is.
Sound (8)
All of the music is written by Hasegawa Tomoki known for composing background soundtracks for anime show Nana. OST for SZS is very memorable and just beautiful. The only reproach here - a plenty of tracks sound overly dramatic and don't actually fit comical nature of the show. Voicing is done well with no apparent flaws. Every characters' voice fits his/her nature excellently, hard to imagine something more suitable.
Enjoyment (9)
The primary goal of the show it to entertain the viewer and make him laugh. And this is where SZS truly succeeds.
So, do you like cultural references? Dark humour? Or social satire? Subtle intellectual humour, maybe? In any of these cases, SZS has something to offer. The show features numerous parodies and mockery, dark satire, intellectual jokes and even self-irony (which I personally consider one the best types of humour). Yet you'd better keep in mind that SZS is not a brainless comedy that can be easily understood by anyone on instant. SZS makes you analyze information, read a lot of on-screen text and follow quite fluent dialogues - therefore marathoning it most likely wouldn't be a great idea. SZS can be fully understood only in case you're familiar with notable examples of both western and japanese culture, and furthermore you'd better have some anime watching experience and (desirably) basic knowledge of Japanese. Otherwise don't be surprised if the anime looks like a random nonsense for you.
Overall
Put in short, here are strong and weak points of the show.
Pros:
+ diverse humour
+ lots of parodies and cultural references
+ likeable characters
+ unique visual style
+ great music, sound and voicing
Cons:
- unappealing animation
- lack of storyline and any development
- fanservice and harem elements (though both of them are ironic)
- requires basic knowledge of japanese culture and decent anime watching experience
- quite difficult to get drawn into
Considering all its flaws and trying to judge objectively, this show deserves a score of 7 (good). However, that doesn't mean SZS is just "good" if you love dark humour, cultural references and unusual execution. In that case Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei might easily become one of the most amusing, memorable and complex comedies you've ever encountered.
Are you ready to be thrown into DESPAIR?
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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May 20, 2014
This review may contain foul language!
Panty & Stocking with Garterbelt, or simply PSG. From the very first minute this show strikes you with overwhelming craziness and vulgarity. It's a totally brainless, insane and bizarre comedy without even a single serious moment. The whole show is just one big parody of western animated series like South Park. It will make you giggle over dirty jokes, drop your jaw to over-the-top action scenes and admire its visual madness - well, unless you hate everything insane and lewd.
Let's take a closer look at the show.
Story
PSG is driven by action and humour, so the story doesn't really matter that
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much here. It's absolutely worthless to look for logic or any common sense in what's happening - you'd better just turn your brains off and follow the bizarre adventures of Anarchy sisters, Panty and Stocking, the two main protagonists of the series. All episodes are full of adrenaline and high-paced action scenes that can easily blow your mind. Though the most of episodes follow the same template and are somewhat repetitive (sisters locate their enemies, fight and eventually defeat them), several eps completely break out of this scheme, like "We are Angels" which is more like a music video. Feels refreshing and inventive.
The humour in the show is represented mostly with lewd jokes about sex, shit, the list goes on (which are actually done excellently and make you laugh your ass off, if you're into that type of humour of course), but there's also a plenty of parodies and references to western culture (especially hollywood cinema and american TV), most of them are done nicely.
Art
Well, it wouldn't sound like exaggeration to state that PSG has one of the most unique visual styles that any anime ever had. It's very bright, contrast and reminiscent of western animation. At first it can seem pretty offbeat if compared to general anime style, and not very detailed, but it's not hard to get used to it since this kind of animation is very appropriate for the overall feel of PSG.
The other great thing about art is how they combine absolutely different visual styles in the show. There are several scenes (like renowned Anarchy sisters' transformation sequence, which is amazingly cute and hilarious) and even whole episodes ("Vomiting Point") drawn completely dissimilar to the main cartoony style of the show.
Sound
The soundtrack for PSG is represented by various styles of dance electronic music like house, techno and breakbeat. And it fits the atmosphere perfectly, helping viewers to feel the extreme pace of the storytelling. Some of songs are pretty memorable and most likely will spin in your mind for long time after you finish watching PSG - for example, famous Anarchy sisters' transformation theme "Fly Away", music video score "D City Rocks" and lyrically romantic dubstep-influenced track "Chocolat".
The other thing done great is voicing, both original and official english dub. Characters yell like crazy all the time and swear a lot just like some freaks like them should. I personally consider the english dub being somewhat even better than the original dub. The voices of Anarchy sisters sound even more naughty and characters' speech involves even more swearing ("Repent, motherfuckers!"), and that's definitely better - hey, it's PSG we're speaking of.
Characters
Probably characters are not the best aspect of PSG - it's pretty hard to sympathize with any of them because protagonists and antagonists both are mostly depraved freaks, they barely get any development in the series and their behaviour and personalities are quite random. Nevertheless, all the characters really funny and memorable, and that appears to be enough.
Enjoyment
Hard to speak of it clearly, cause this show is very controversial. Of course, PSG is not appropriate for everyone, even more than this - I'm pretty sure the majority of anime watchers wouldn't enjoy it. I can understand those who disliked or even hated the show - there are a plenty of reasons for this, like unappealing art, stupid dirty jokes and nonsense story. But if you're OK with that, PSG will impress you with its freshness and originality, unforgettable visual style, lots of well-made parodies, great sound and mesmerizing action scenes. What's beyond any doubt - there is not a single boring moment in the whole show, and it keeps you entertained till the last minute.
So, what do I have to say in conclusion? Yes, this show is stupid, yes it lacks common sense big time, its story and characters are not perfect. But you know what? There will hardly ever be another show like PSG - with its striking freshness, amazing action and crazy comics-like feel. So in my opinion it's worth a 8 at least.
Also, if you enjoyed Dead Leaves or Detroit Metal City - I would strongly recommend you to watch PSG as well, and vice versa.
Please notify me if there's any mistakes, or leave feedback. Stay cool!
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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