The WORST episodes of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei
Every episode of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei ever, ranked from worst to best by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The worst episodes of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei!
Itoshiki Nozomu is always in despair! Even simple things like paying for the toll on the subway can send him to a despair so deep only attempted suicide is the answer. How Strange is it then, that he should be the teacher of a High School Class filled with students with even more emotional problems than his. This great Comedy will leave you in anything but 'Despair' as you meet each of his students and watch their wacky adventures.
#1 - Back Scratch / The Adventures of A, Leap, and B / The Dropper in the Rye
Season 3 - Episode 5 - Aired 8/2/2009
Whilst complaining about how people use poetic words that make you skeptical about them, Nozomu gets thrown into a card game by Rin in which excessive writing is applied to their names. As Chiri complains about the leap seconds added at the new year, Nozomu considers there might be leap people who multiply unnoticed. Chiri is suspected of being a leap person and is enlisted into a parody of the Blue Man Group (in Japanese, blue (ブルー) and leap (うるう) have similar pronunciations). Whilst Nozomu sees Houjoue, a buddhist holiday, as a day for overlooking things, Kafka believes it should be a part of daily life, and introduces him to family that ignores life.
#2 - Spynapple Pudding / When The Fruit of Exposure is Ripened / A Half of the Criminal Investigation Report
Season 2 - Episode 8 - Aired 2/23/2008
When Nozomu Itoshiki tries take photograph of his nephew and Kafuka Fūra in the public swimming pool, he is accused of being a spy by another woman. Nozomu blames the society, where everyone, including those who do not have any malicious intent, is suspected of being spy. Suddenly, Kafuka gives him a secret mission and Nozomu has to escapes from the greater suspicion by finding a good place to isolate himself. At the end, Kafuka devises a plan of 'positive counter intelligence' to help him out by leaking unreliable rumors such as urban legends to confuse everyone in the society. In the second part of the episode, Nozomu claims that pretentious side of everyone is ultimately exposed in May. At the end, many of Nozomu's students' hidden secrets are exposed, though some of them are merely his imagination. In the third part of the episode, many things in the world are not divided exactly half and half despite their claim. To correct such mistakes in the world, Chiri Kitsu enforce the ratio of everything into exactly 50/50 ratio, which produces various results at the end.
#3 - A Couple is Better than a Single / The Byway to Oku
Season 2 - Episode 9 - Aired 3/1/2008
When everyone's mind isn't functioning well after the New Year, Maria decides to tackle them in a manzai fashion. Nozumu Itoshiki explains that there are things other than the New Year that causes people to feel groggy such as jet lag. Ultimately, Maria decides to tackle the government of Japan arguing that Japan isn't paying enough attention on its national security matter during the peace time while the neighborhood countries are posing as threat. In the second part of the episode, Nozomu Itoshiki suddenly decides to inspect students by surprise. In order to help Nozomu to achieve his goal, Maria and Chiri starts taking photographs of vulnerable private moments of students. Nozomu's colleague, Jinroku, is the only one able to withstand the inspection 24 hours a day. Suddenly, Kafuka Fūra argues back that being a careless person can be a great appeal as it can draw sympathetic feeling from everyone. Chiri suddenly decides to take advantage of this trend by becoming a careless person on purpose, but it consequently puts many characters in grave danger.
#4 - Deteriorating Stream / A Fool's Adequacy / The First-time Condition
Season 2 - Episode 10 - Aired 3/8/2008
Nozomu Itoshiki watches a live baseball game and is reminded of a fact that many baseball stadiums intentionally reduce the flight range of baseball to make the game more enjoyable to watch. He suddenly realizes that such practices of intentional 'detuning' are quite popular in Japanese society. Nozomu points out that some people use 'detuning' as an excuse for their faults, Kafuka explains that people in general feels more comfortable with 'detuned' products rather than the cutting-edge one. In the second part of the episode, Nozomu states that there is an increasing tendency of saying 'not bad, not bad' at terrible things to comfort the victims. However, Nozomu explains that such instance can turn out to be a 'mini-propaganda', which could unknowingly mislead other people to believe in the same way. In the third part of the episode, Nozomu refuses to teach the first period class, because he was previously rejected by a restaurant in Kyoto as he was a first-time customer. He realzies that the Sayonara Zetsubō Sensei anime series could have been difficult series to approach for the first-time audience, so he decides to start the first-time-friendly episode. However, he is annoyed by the constant inquries from the first-time audiences. Thus, he decides to only invite regular audiences, but they seem to knows too much about the series. Ultimately, he decides to also reject the regular audience from the show.
#5 - The Glory of Landing / Role of a Certain Woman / Pororokka Came Riding a Wave
Season 2 - Episode 12 - Aired 3/22/2008
Nozomu Itoshiki teaches his students to get themselves used to summer vacation gradually as he believes that a sudden change of state is unhealthy for everyone. Suddenly, Nozomu is in despair, because there are too many instances of 'hard landings' in current society. In order to teach how to do a proper 'soft landing', he prepares a flight simulator for the students. In the second part of the episode, Nozomu meets a taxi driver, who is about to do the last driving before his retirement. However, he ends up paying ridiculous amount of taxi fee as he was unwillingly drawn to taxi driver's dramatic situation. Subsequently, Nozomu is constantly drawn to many other dramatic situations despite his desperate attempts of scape. In the third part of the episode, Nozomu discusses various instances of 'backward flow', where people are drawn to various interests in reverse way. While Nozomu considers phenomena of 'backward flow' quite embrassing, Kafuka argues that it is a manly thing to do like a wild salmon climbing the flowing river. Meanwhile, Chiri forces other people to approach their interests in proper way instead of the usual 'backward' way.
#6 - Dismissal of Myohonji in Kamakura / The Voice of Daidouji Shinsuke / Under the Assumption of Siblings
Season 2 - Episode 13 - Aired 3/29/2008
After dismissed from the school as a demon, Nozomu Itoshiki wonders where the devils will end up once they are dismissed from everyone. Nozomu suddenly argues that dismissed people should be provided with a new employment after their dismissal, otherwise dismissed people will end up being 'wild' people in the street. Nozomu's students brings various wild people to his house and ask him to take care of them. Nozomu flatly refuses the offer, but he cannot help but to take care of them. Unfortunately, Nozomu is fired from his school for his suspicious conduct and he himself becomes a 'wild' teacher. In the second part of the episode, Meru Otonashi's dad wants to find a suitable voice actor for her as she has inferiority complex of her voice. However, no one seems to have a voice that matches with Meru's character. After the failed audition, she goes throught a number of troubles thanks to the voice transmitter attached to her neck. In the third part of the episode, Nozomu complains that people seem to have too many statements on the premise of something as it is a serious breach of etiquette. While Nozomu makes a visit of a Tsundere cafe in Akihabara, he finds numerous instances where unnecessary premises are made. Moreover, Nozomu confronts an enemy character, but they end up being friends together on the premise that the anime series is indeed derived from a Shōnen manga.
#7 - Highway to Hell / The Spring Postman Always Rings Twice / Withering Heights
Season 3 - Episode 1 - Aired 7/5/2009
As the school exams approach, Nozomu sniffs at the idea of good luck charms. Just then, he is arrested by mysterious people for being a potential bad luck charm for the students and locks him up in solitary, which he is quite pleased about. However, the girls break in and rescue him, and it comes to light that the students actually see Nozomu as a good luck charm. Next, everyone has different opinions of what tells them spring has come, which for some people involve strange dancing people. Later, Nami tells Nozomu she is going on a trip to find herself, whereas Nozomu says it is really a journey that exposes a person's true nature.
#8 - She Who Has / Russian Time Song / Withering Heights Part 2
Season 3 - Episode 2 - Aired 7/12/2009
While watching a baseball match, Nozomu wonders about the sad fate of the multi-talented people. If a famous baseball player is as handsome as a model, is he missing a more successful career? Later on, as Kiri is taking some medicine to treat her cold, Nozomu explain to Majiru why did it took a moment for the medicine to take effect : the dreaded time lag, which can be observed in a lot of phenomenon. As the journey to find themselves continues, more of Nozomu's students embarks on the bus and procede to reveal some parts of their personality. In the end, Kafuka leads the group to expose themselves to reality and at the same time the acceptance of their true self as they are, after which she concludes by singing a heartwarming song.
#9 - The Tragedy of X / I will not Return to Japan. I Was Unable to Be That Resolute / Doctor Kahogo
Season 3 - Episode 3 - Aired 7/19/2009
As Nozomu and Kafuka attempt to find the switch to the town christmas lights, Nami finds she keep switching on other people's switches. Next, Nozomu contemplates on how people making a decision between two things subconsciously end up picking a third. He and the girls end up in a third-choice city. Whilst arguing about excessive care, Nozumu is taken by Rin to a Guardian's Club, where people take excessive care measures.
#10 - How I Became a Real Human / Celebrated Pedigree / Doctor Kahogo Part 2
Season 3 - Episode 4 - Aired 7/26/2009
Chiri notices Nami wearing brand new trainers in the rain and gets annoyed when people don't consider TPO (a wasei-eigo term meaning Time, Place, Occassion). Nozomu laments that some people do an incorrect TPO when compensating for another TPO. When ume no hi comes, Nozomu ponders that its not a convenient holiday for prefectures of Japan that aren't next to the sea. The discussion moves onto the morals of celebrating things others can't cheer about. The gang decide to have a 'chimerical holiday', involving as little fun as possible. After escaping from the Excessive Care Guardian's Club, Nozomu finds all his leisure options restricted due to excessive care. He then notices that his body double has been benefitting everyone in his place.
#11 - The Cat That Was Told a Million Times / Little Red Riding Hood Sleeps. Be Careful / The Tsugaru Correspondence Education
Season 2 - Episode 7 - Aired 2/16/2008
Nozomu Itoshiki hands out an application for his pension in a government office, but an employee makes fun of Nozomu's name. Nozomu is sick of hearing the same thing about himself over a million times and he sympathizes with other people, who have experienced a similar situation for countless times in their life. Meanwhile, Harumi Fujiyoshi realizes that she is an extreme minority as no one seems to agree with her view. The second part of the episode shows a Zetsubō channel featuring a number of television programs such as audience survey, music show, magical girl anime, cooking show, etc. In the third part of the episode, Nozomu is kicked out of a café, because a Jyuken student is constantly irritated by him. The café manager kindly asks Nozomu to forgive him, because it is generally believed that exam-preparing students should be treated with the utmost care. Though Nozomu can't quite understand this kind of expectation in the Japanese society, he nevertheless tries to take advantage of this trend by becoming an exam-preparing student himself. Eventually, he happens to pass every certificate exams in the world except for one: an exam that tests whether a person is ready enough to commit suicide. However, he fails the exam and thus becomes not worthy enough to live nor worthy enough to die. The third part of the episode is shown using various animation techniques.
#12 - The Measles of Madison County / Polygon in the Evening / The Dropper in the Rye Part 2
Season 3 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/9/2009
Since there's an outbreak of measles in town, Abiru suggests to Majiru that he should get infected right now, for it is quite worse to get them as an adult. Nozomu then proceeds to unveils many more types of "measles" you're better off to have as a kid, since their effects can be disastrous later on in your life. As Nozomu and Kafuka walks in the street, they stumble on Kanako Ōra, a laid back and careless girl from Nozomu's class, who doesn't seem to mind that a myriads of political parties uses her property's wall for their posters. As Kafuka and Nozomu continues to explore the concept of "through life", Chiri decide to label object and people so as to know who's the creator.
#13 - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? / Failure as a General / Yeah, It's a Surprise, I Muttered Hollowly
Season 3 - Episode 7 - Aired 8/16/2009
During a walk, Nozomu gets deceived by Maruuchi Shoko and Nedu Miko, who sell him maguro and a block of ice for 15.500 ¥. Nozomu complains that many dealers make up money only after the customers buy the goods, using tricks. The too mild winder is caused by Shogun Frost who refuses to do his work anymore. The class helps him to find a new job. The class prepares a surprise party for Nozomu, even if his birthday is not on that day, but on 4th of November.
#14 - Yeah, It's a Surprise, I Muttered Hollowly / Confession Crepe Team / The Last, and the First Enoden
Season 3 - Episode 8 - Aired 8/23/2009
Nozomu shows how, in a suspicious society, there is more "reverse-surprise" than surprise itself: people, in fact, are more surprised when they expect things to happen, but they do not, than when they really do. Chiri finds out Nozomu standing in front of a Police box, he tells her that he's training to confess. Modern Japanese people are not able to admit their fault and need this kind of training. Nozomu gets on a train which apparently has no destination. On the contrary everything, even the train, has got a previously decided destination. People, in fact, ask questions about things they have already analyzed and chosen. The 3rd part of the episode has been made with an experimental graphic technique.
#15 - The Emergency Which Became a Nun / The Right Answer, 30 Years Late / Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher
Season 3 - Episode 9 - Aired 8/30/2009
Whilst waiting for the bus, Nozomu and Chiri talks about how important are emergency measures in one's life. Later, at school, the class finds out Nami's birthday, but, because nobody knew about it, everyone makes her a sudden emergency present. Nozoumu, correcting some tests, shows the class how, in the adults' world, there are correct but not right answers. While the class is playing golf, Nozomu's sister tells them that a new course has been created in town. In this new kind of game the balls are represented by people and the tees are disguised as objects or places they have to keep away from as long and as far as they can.
#16 - The Egg of the Klak / A Certain Country You Know Well / Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher Part 2
Season 3 - Episode 10 - Aired 9/6/2009
Grabbing an easter egg, Nozomu wonders if came first the egg or the chicken, the panties or the panty-thieves, hope or despair, and so on. Being in a queue clogged up by a woman who's seeking for changes in front of the counter, Nozomu notices how Japan has become the Paradise for spies who try to wreak havoc among the population.
#17 - House of the Girl in Glasses / Progress in Confinement / The Clothing Seen By the Sage Leglipht
Season 3 - Episode 11 - Aired 9/13/2009
Nozomu says that a ghost stole his glasses so the class decides to buy him a new pair. The glasses he gets are tinted and make Nozomu be filled with prejudice and hatred about everything. Rin is home and bored but, because she cannot leave her estate, in order to get the near ramen shop she buys and destroy all the houses on the way. During sport time Nami lifts her leg in order to gain males' attention, this makes Nozomu think about people provoking with intention.
#18 - After the Third Time / The Unburied Secret / Progress in Confinement Part 2 / Naughty Teacher Kaere
Season 3 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/19/2009
It's Valentine's Day and Kagerou is afraid to open his box, because he doesn't really know whether any girl had dedicated a love letter to him or had not. Nozomu tells hit not to open it, in order to create a Schrodinger's box, in which the possibilities of the presence of any letter and the possibilities of absence are both infinite. A missile drops on the school's field and the class tries despairingly to hide it. An interviewer is, in fact, going to come to the school. After purchasing all the houses and getting the ramen shop Rin notices how the flavour has changed because of changing of her new management.
#19 - Revenge of the Shit / We Are Linus / The Optimism Prize / Kiyohiko Night
Season 3 - Episode 13 - Aired 9/26/2009
When Chiri hangs up a painting upside down without noticing, the class are taken through a gallery where involving big mistakes that go unnoticed compared to the minor details. In the second part, Nozomu accidentally causes Kiri's blanket to fly away, and the class go on a search for it. However, it flies onto a government member who decides to mass produce it so people will feel more secure. Soon everyone decides to become civil servants and the world becomes impoverished. In the third part, Nozomu and company discuss buzzword generals and are disturbed by one. Maria then mentions "Kiyohiko's Night" (a mispronunciation of Silent Night) and a Kiyohiko shows up, but is unprepared for the abrupt pun.
#20 - Thou Shalt Not Know / The Story of Hoichi the Dreamless / Private Stealth
Season 2 - Episode 6 - Aired 2/9/2008
It's time to hand out grades, but Nozomu Itoshiki hands out completely censored report cards to his students, because he understands that majority of students do not want to be notified of their grades. He argues that people should have right to choose to be 'uninformed' of undesirable information, since they have right to be informed of desirable information. Ultimately, he tries to escape civilization to become 'free' of all the notifications in the world, but he is still in despair as nature are also trying to communicate with him. Meanwhile, Kafuka Fūra is admiring the all-knowing housewife in the neighborhood. In the second part of the episode, Nozomu Itoshiki and his nephew, Majiru, fall asleep together and have a dream where everyone's personality is reversed. The students in his dream realize that they will disappear when Nozomu wakes up, so they try to put him in an eternal sleep by murdering him in his dream. In the third part of the episode, Nozomu and his students discuss various things that are kept secret or unknown from their parents. During this section, the characters are voiced by numerous random voice actors (with most of them from the show itself), and are changed frequently.
#21 - You Mustn't Burn the Raw Yatsuhashi
Season 1 - Episode 10 - Aired 9/8/2007
The episode begins with Nozomu announcing there will be a cultural festival, which he decides to not participate and explains that they are not cultured people, believing that they will grow to be bad people if they do pretend they are. The second part of the episode starts with the class taking a field trip preview, where Chiri make a large itinerary guide of the place. They move quickly all over Kyoto until they come to a temple. There the monk enlightens them about the use of preview. The episode ends with Nozomu take Chiri to visit his preview funeral and gravesite, where she gets angry and hits him, sending him to the hospital and putting him in a coma (which Kafuka calls a "preview of the afterlife").
#22 - That's Impossible Isn't There an Original
Season 1 - Episode 11 - Aired 9/16/2007
The girls are watching a particularly awful movie. Outside, they meet with the director, who defends himself by saying that he is just "following the original story." Chasing him, they arrive at roads that are used by many people to escape or to shift blame from their mistakes. In the second part, Nozomu, Majiru, and Matoi are sitting in a kotatsu in Nozomu's house. Chiri then arrives to clean up everything. After the cleaning, Nozomu keeps wishing that humans can hibernate and finally he and the regular cast decide to take a winter hibernation. However, after the group nearly dies of carbon monoxide poisoning, Nozomu decides to simply leave. Fūra goes to find him, only to witness him being struck by a runaway trolley. The episode ends at the hospital as the entire class waits for Nozomu to leave surgery.
#23 - What an Incredible Bother!
Season 1 - Episode 12 - Aired 9/23/2007
The first part of this episode introduces Ai Kaga, a girl who always takes blame for everything, even though it is not her fault. Nozomu takes the class to a "guilt scramble" to explain that history has led to the "guilt complex" such as Kaga's becoming the Japanese mentality. After being overcome with guilt himself, Nozomu and Kaga travel the world to try to stop burdening others. The second part introduces another girl, Mayo Mitama. Her evil-looking eyes have led to her being misunderstood - that is, she actually is evil, but people try not to prejudge her and assume she is actually good. She commits several cruel acts that Nozomu bears witness to and is blamed for, being the only other nearby party. He becomes so concerned with not prejudging that he doesn't blame her when she hits Majiru over the head with an aluminum bat or when she drops a brick onto Nozomu's head.
#24 - Look, the Baron's Reckless Remark / There Are a Lot of Problems in This Class So Please Be Aware of That
Season 2 - Episode 1 - Aired 1/5/2008
Nozomu Itoshiki, a direct marketing businessman, is chased by a mysterious religious group called Hamasho. At one point, he is caught and his body is modified like a mole cricket. After his long adventure, he is discovered by Kafuka and he then becomes a high school teacher. Students in the class start calling him "Left-wing Guerrilla" (apparently in lieu of "Pink Supervisor"), making him want to die again. Right before he jumps off a cliff, Kafuka suggests he "mock marry" a girl of the Holy Nosebleed Empire. A card reveals that the entire segment is a gag based on a summary from the jacket of the manga's first volume. In the second segment, Nami Hitō, who has been missing classes, finally decides to attend her school as no one really seems to notice her absence. Unfortunately, she does not get much attention from her classmates as the high school is full of extraordinary characters. At the end of the episode, most of the major characters are introduced and Nami is labeled as the 'ordinary girl' in the school.
#25 - Forelocks Yet To Be Opened / Adornment At Tiffany's / Rouse Up, O Old Men of the Old Age
Season 2 - Episode 2 - Aired 1/12/2008
The first part of this episode is supposed to follow this storyline from a chapter of the Zetsubō Sensei manga. Perry has come to the school on the anniversary of the school's founding. He is an American Commodore who known for opening up Japanese ports to foreign trade (in Japanese, the phrase "opening the school" (開校?) is pronounced the same as "opening the ports" (開港?)). After he opens up various things in the school, he tries to open up Nozomu Itoshiki's mind. Suddenly, Nozomu releases a mysterious wave that reveals the dark side of the world, which is full of despair. Finally, Perry learns the lesson that he shouldn't try to open up everything in the world. However, all the characters speak unintelligible gibberish, and the subtitles suggest that Perry is Son Goku looking for the Dragon Balls and that Nozomu is an alien bent on stopping him. In the next part of the episode, Nozomu is complaining about the over-decoration of various things in Japanese society. However, Kafuka Fūra denies it, saying that it is just a trend among stylish elites. In the next part, Nozomu meets his old time friend Ikkyū-san, who likes old things. They discuss together how old things are often ignored in modern Japan. Ultimately, he wants to obtain a former-surname by marrying Nozomu's sister Rin. Rin tries to escape from Ikkyū by calling her butler, but he ends up persuading Ikkyū-san to marry her. However, Kafuka manages to find out at the end that Nozomu and Ikkyū are not old friends, but rather one-day friends during the first day of school.