I watched the first Zetsubou Sensei series again
After the experimental wonders put forth by Zoku and Goku, and now fresh off the heels of the non-stop, laugh-a-minute hilarity that is Zan, going back to watch the original Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is quite strange. The first Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei, in comparison to the rest, clearly has not found itself. It’s not yet “Zetsubou Sensei”–it’s another SHAFT comedy. Which isn’t a bad thing, mind you, it’s just that pacing, flow and episode structure bears more resemblance to Pani Poni Dash than it does to the show’s subsequent sequels.
The pacing is chill. The frenetic energy that defines the later series is gone, and the show actually takes up a tone similar to any other school comedy. The visual style is still being worked out. Episode structure is still being established. Things are still in their infant-stages. The big contributing factor to the show’s slower pace is the fact that instead of packing three stories into one episode, they only do two. This is fine for the character introductions early on in the show, but I think this slower pacing doesn’t work too much in the favour of the later parts of the show, but it certainly doesn’t hurt anything.
Another thing I noticed upon this re-watch is just how cheap as hell the show is. I always knew it was cheap–unfortunately, all SHAFT anime is cheap (no one wants to support their great artistic visions!)–but I didn’t realize, or just plain forgot, that there are times when backgrounds are simply made from photos run through Photoshop’s Cut Out filter. Sometimes they’re not even Photoshopped at all beyond the show’s trademark intense lighting effects. But you know, it’s ok. It works well with the visual style established by the show, and at times enhances it. I just never noticed that they were photos before.
But overall, Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is just a good comedy with great moments. It differentiates itself from the rest with its bold visual style and Shinbo’s unique brand of direction, but it’s not until the later installments when the show really displays its true comedic chops.
Isn’t it exactly THAT the reason why everybody/we/I love SHAFTs shows? That’s quite a rhetorical question with an obvious answer :C
Everybody, try to imagine that SZS would be animated from KyoAni (as example). Not only the style and shape of the show would drop, even the humour wouldn’t be the same because the SHAFT-esque properties are missing there.
(however, this should apply to every SHAFT-made Anime – there wouldn’t be any studio who could have done a better work imo)
Or, wait, maybe the show would have gained more fans this way.. uhmm
It’s okay like this. That should never happen *cough*
I also thought about rewatching the first season a while ago, since Zoku and Goku were rather disappointing. Not because of the humour or similar, it’s just Kaere got too much screentime that it rather got annoying, but that’s more a personal disliking of the character :V
I should finally go on with Zan, the beginning was way better than the earlier season.
I might watch the show some day but I have a dozen other shows on my backlog to watch and retwatch first though. I mostly want to see it for Harumi Fujiyoshi (I love fujoshi characters).
You are right, compared to the other two the pacing and style are quite different, but I see it more of a required part of a progression. It kinda eases you into the world while still being entertaining, introduces you to all the characters, etc. And then you get to Zoku and Goku. At which point you can scratch your head less and laugh more since everything was laid out in a sane enough manner before hand that by the time it is insane you can simply enjoy it instead of getting somewhat confused.
You’re certainly correct, and that was a point I kind of touched upon, but not very explicitly. It certainly helps the subsequent series, but the first series just can’t help but feel a bit weaker in comparison.
It’s still very good, though.
Yea I like SZS series is pretty cool, but i am not really use to pausing every few seconds (like in goku) to check every detail in every frame lol. It gets a bit annoying when you’re watching with a group of people….I think this type of series is best enjoyed alone….since most of the jokes kind of require extra understanding ofJjapanese culture and subculture.