Why you should despair

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Let's talk about "Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei", a.k.a. "So Long, Mr. Despair."

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei is a manga series with a two-season anime series that recently obtained an OVA. It's an incredibly, for lack of a better term, WEIRD series that can often be a chaotic whirl of disconnected and often disturbing images and phrases.

It's also hilarious.

The "plot" follows a suicidal teacher and his class composed of incredibly deranged students (about three of whom have the possibility of flipping out and murdering the entire class, one of whom has come dangerously close to this feat on several occasions). It's original has a great deal of political and social satire which is definitely retained in the anime, but the anime also introduces just a greater level of out and out weirdness.

The anime itself hasn't been licensed, but the manga will be hitting stateside spring 2009. Check it out, it will leave you in despair.

[Momiji]

Oh, when I saw this, I thought this was an announcement that Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei was being licensed and I could finally buy it.

Maybe that's a good thing, because me flipping out in excitement in public (I'm at college right now) would be sort of weird.

I love the series, and I would buy it in a heartbeat if it became available.

[Tavrobel]

I doubt it'll ever be licensed even if it is more popular. The jokes rely too much on knowledge of Japanese culture to be effective without a good dose of anime or actual cultural knowledge. Fortunately, the anime versions of SZS, ZSZS, and the new GSZS are hilarious beyond words.

"What if I had died?" says the dude trying to commit suicide.

[Momiji]

I doubt it'll ever be licensed even if it is more popular.

"The possibility exists!" says the girl with outrageous dreams.

I may consider importing it, then.

Yeah, I've watched the first episode of GSZS multiple times now just because it exudes excellence.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

The manga, at least, will be coming over. It's possible the anime will be licensed if it does well enough, but it is a bit obscure and weird.

[Momiji]

I'm not as inclined to buy manga than I am anime though.

However, if this is all we're likely to get, I may look into it. I need to finish my Yotsuba&! collection first though.

[JKTrix]

I feel inclined to post in any thread that involves Inoue Marina (she plays Chiri here).

This is a show that wore thin on me very quickly, though I did specially download one episode that featured Chiri in a rather elaborate Evangelion (and other stuff) reference (Zoku 4).

[Momiji]

Just because I can't stop watching it:

YouTube - Goku Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei OP

[crono_logical]

If it got licenced, I wonder if they'd remove some of the graphics in the opening for the first series

[JKTrix]

Licensing has little to do with censoring stuff. That only comes into play when there are copyright issues (big issue in Parody shows) or if they want to get it on TV. Your OPs are safe!

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Licensing has little to do with censoring stuff. That only comes into play when there are copyright issues (big issue in Parody shows) or if they want to get it on TV. Your OPs are safe!

Even then, parody IS protected under copyright law in the US, so ideally it shouldn't cause TOO many foul-ups.

[Jessweeee♪]

I love Kuusou Rumba to death. And as an Ace Attorney fangirl, I am very amused by this, too xD

[Vermachtnis]

I've been meaning to watch this and you got my hopes up that it was being licensed. From what I've seen it's really weird and something I'd thoroughly enjoy. All I know is that since I've read about it, I've been telling people they should go make themselves taller.

And I don't know if this is what you are talking about with parodies and licensing and stuff, but Lucky Star over here as gotten away with some of the Full Metal Panic jokes they do, even though different companies acquired the anime license.

[JKTrix]

Kadokawa Pictures USA (division of the Japanese company) owns the rights to Lucky Star, Full Metal Panic, Haruhi Suzumiya, Shuffle! and a number of other shows. So while Bandai puts out Lucky Star and Haruhi and Funimation/ADV puts out FMP and Shuffle (all of these shows are referenced/parodied in Lucky Star, though some more than others), Kadokawa USA is still the rights-holder and can facilitate such parodies.

I didn't know about the US law regarding parodies, though. I suppose parody is a different beast than something like Super Robot Wars or Jump Superstars or Tatsunoko vs Capcom.

Sgt Frog is another anime that has some pretty heavy references to other stuff, though it was mostly related to Gundam. And that's supposedly coming soon.

[Azure Chrysanthemum]

Kadokawa Pictures USA (division of the Japanese company) owns the rights to Lucky Star, Full Metal Panic, Haruhi Suzumiya, Shuffle! and a number of other shows. So while Bandai puts out Lucky Star and Haruhi and Funimation/ADV puts out FMP and Shuffle (all of these shows are referenced/parodied in Lucky Star, though some more than others), Kadokawa USA is still the rights-holder and can facilitate such parodies.

I didn't know about the US law regarding parodies, though. I suppose parody is a different beast than something like Super Robot Wars or Jump Superstars or Tatsunoko vs Capcom.

Sgt Frog is another anime that has some pretty heavy references to other stuff, though it was mostly related to Gundam. And that's supposedly coming soon.

I've studied copyright laws a good deal, and parody falls under fair use, I believe it was. Something like Super Robot Wars, however, is different since it's just use of different source material and thus DOES require the licensing permission of a number of companies.