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 12: Your Front Hair Swept Back for the First Time...
Previous chapter: Be mindful of first-timers; please use spoiler text for any spoilers. __________
>Your Front Hair Swept Back for the First Time... This title is taken from the opening line to the poem Hatsukoi (“First Love”), part of the poetry collection Wakanashu (“A Collection of Young Herbs”), by Toson Shimazaki (1872-1943).
>“Opened Japan” vs. “Opened” the school “Opened Japan” and “opened the school” are both pronounced kaiko (though the written characters are not the same) so, in the Japanese version, this is a pun. Commodore Perry (1794-1858) was the Commodore of the U.S. Navy who, in 1854, sailed a fleet of “black ships” to Japan and famously pressured Japan to open diplomatic relations to the United States, ending three hundred years of Japanese isolationism.
>Shini Rurubu Shini Rurubu, “Rurubu for Dying,” is a parody of the actual Rurubu series of Japanese travel guidebooks. Zetsubou-sensei uses it to find potential suicide spots.
>Ueno Clinic The Ueno Clinic is a clinic that performs circumcisions, a fairly common form of cosmetic surgery among Japanese adult men. They frequently advertise in men’s magazines.
>Surströmming Baltic herring which has been soaked in brine and left to ferment for months, surströmming is considered a delicacy in Sweden. The cans’ contents usually splatter when opened due to pressure from the fermentation inside.
And that's all for today. This chapter was always one of my favorites. Sensei put together quite the list of things that should be left unopened; can you think of anything else to add to the list? See you tomorrow. __________
>Signs on Perry Shop Perrycan Courier Service is a takeoff on Japan’s well-known Pelican Courier Service. Kanten is a Japanese dessert made with agar agar. Perrysienne is a takeoff of Parisienne, which is a type of gnocchi, among other things.
