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?
Apologies for my tardiness today. Personal things came up.
Previous chapter: Be mindful of first-timers; please use spoiler text for any spoilers. __________
>The People Are at the Breaking Point This title is a reference to Sachio Ito’s 1906 story Noginiku no Hata (“The Grave of the Wild Chrysanthemum,” also known as “The Wild Daisy”). The original line reads Tamisan ha nogiku no yo na hito da (“The people are like a wild chrysanthemum’), and the Zetsubou-sensei chapter title reads Tamisan ha ippai-ippai no hito da (“The people are at the breaking point”). It could also be translated as “The people are at the extreme edge,” hence the image of Zetsubou-sensei on the cliff.
>“On Edge” School This chapter features the Ocean’s Edge School and Ocean’s Edge Boarding House. In Japanese, rinkai means “beachside” or “ocean’s edge.” However, using different kanji character with the same pronunciation can mean “in a critical state.” The English adaptation uses “on edge” as an equivalent pun.
>Morihige’s Narrow Escape Sold in America under the name Pop-Up Pirate, these toys are known in Japan as Kurohige Kiki lppats (“Blackbeard In the Nick of Time”). The game is played by inserting plastic swords into the barrel until a random slot ejects the pirate (Blackbeard) and ends the game. Kumeta replaces the pirate with “Morihige,” a pun on the famous actor Hisaya Morishige (1913-). Like Blackbeard, Morishige has a beard (hige, in Japanese).
>“To The Max” The original Japanese adaptation uses another obsolete slang term, “MK5,” meaning “five seconds before seriously losing it.” (The M is short for maji, meaning “seriously.”) It was a popular phrase in Japan in the 1990s. See also the guy’s shirt on page 141.
>Ippai Pub The “ippai” in |ppai Pub has a double meaning. It can mean “one drink” or it can mean, “the very extreme edge,” as in the Japanese title of this chapter (see the notes for page 76). Lastly, since the “b” and “v” sounds are the same in Japanese, it could also be a pun meaning “Extreme Perv.” This would explain why Zetsubou-sensei thinks it’s sleazy.
>Assorted references Tsuneo Horiuchi (1948-) is a former Japanese baseball pitcher who was resigned as the manager of the Yomiuri Giants following a dispute. lppei Hayashiya is a rakugoka, a practitioner of the traditional Japanese form of rakugo solo comedy performance. In Ippei’s case, his entire family (sister, brother, mother, etc.) are rakugo performers dating back three generations, but Ippei is considered the least successful of the bunch. Cocco is a Japanese singer/songwriter who, in artist Kumeta’s opinion, has already gone past “the breaking point” (evidently he liked her the way she used to be). The Platon Hotel is the setting of the occupational/business manga Hotel by famous manga artist Shotaro Ishinomori (1938-1998). The manager of the Platon often had to apologize to customers for story-related problems and goings-on.
>Butsumetsu Butsumetsu is the day that Buddha died. (Due to Japan’s old lunisolar calendar, it’s not always on the same day every year.) It’s considered a most unlucky day, and weddings are avoided on this day. The phrase “On the third offense, even the Buddha will get angry” is translated from a Japanese saying, Hotoke no Kao mo Sandomade (“Even the Buddha’s face, on the third time...”)
And that's all for today. Anything been keeping you on edge lately? I myself could think of several things I could rant about, but maybe that's just the time of the season. Feel free to give yourself an opportunity to vent before the reactor blows over. See you tomorrow.
