Nozomu Itoshiki is depressed. Very depressed. He’s certifiably suicidal, but he’s also the beloved schoolteacher of a class of unique students, each charming in her own way: The stalker. The shut-in. The obsessive-compulsive. The girl who comes to class every day with strange bruises. And Kafuka, the most optimistic girl in the world, who knows that every cloud has a silver lining. For all of them, it’s a special time, when the right teacher can have a lasting positive effect on their lives. But is that teacher Itoshiki, a.k.a. Zetsubou-sensei, who just wants to find the perfect place to die?
Chapter 10: This Class Has Many Problems, Please Understand
>“Ordinary?!” The Japanese word futsû translates as “average,” “ordinary,” “common,” “medium,” or “standard.” There’s no one English word that covers all the meanings on panel 139.1.
>Signs and books The signs and books on this page are mostly ordinary. One exception is the basket of offerings that is dedicated “To Zashiki-warashi-san.”
>“Träumerei,” Träumerei (“Reverie”) is one of the best-known classical pieces by the nineteenth-century German composer Robert Schumann. As a romantic composition, Träumerei is a particularly gentle and sensitive piece, but it can sound hauntingly beautiful or a bit spooky, depending on your mood and time of day. It’ll never sound the same for me after Kafuka put in her lyrics.
