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 38: Chocolates Returned Without Hesitation
Previous chapter: Be mindful of first-timers; please use spoiler text for any spoilers. __________
>Chocolates Returned Without Hesitation This title is a reference to Oshiminiaku Ai wa Ubau (“Love Robs Without Hesitation”), a novel by Takeo Arishima (1878-1923). This chapter refers to Japanese Valentine’s Day customs; on Valentine’s Day, girls are supposed to give chocolates to guys they like, and on March 14 (“White Day”), guys are supposed to return the favor with gifts for the girls, such as white chocolate. Evidently, though, a lot can happen in the one-month waiting period.
>Love just cancels itself out The diagram in the lower left is a twisted web of Japanese celebrities who've had affairs with one another, including Manabu Oshio (the male O.M.), Megumi Okina (the female O.M.), Natsumi Abe of the J-pop group Morning Musume, and Susumu Fujita (president/CEO of the online ad agency CyberAgent, Inc.).
>Assorted references “Revival of the beef bowl” refers to the problems of the Yoshinoya Beef Bow! restaurant chain, which lost popularity following the mad cow disease scare in 2006 (see also page 127) “Embyronic stem cells” refers to the 2005-2006 controversy surrounding the Korean biotechnologist Hwang Woo-Suk (1953- ), whose breakthroughs in stem cell research were later found to be a hoax. Yutori Kyoiku (“relaxed education”) is a 2002 education initiative aimed at reducing stress in students and giving them more outlets for self-expression by shortening the Japanese school week from six days to five days (see page 113), reducing workload, and offering more electives. Some people blame it for a decline in Japanese academic abilities. “Hanshin” refers to the Hanshin Electric Railway Co., owners of the Hanshin Tigers baseball team. There were plans to list Hanshin on the Japanese stock exchange, but they were canceled when fans protested. Masahiro Kawai (1964- ) is a former Japanese baseball player and now coach. Hayao Miyazaki (1941—) is a famous Japanese animator who “retired” in 1997 from his company Studio Ghibli, only to break his retirement several times to work on new films. “610,000 yen” refers to a 2005 incident when Mizuho Securities Co. made a data error in a stock sell order, entering a client’s order to “sell one share of J-Com Co. at 610,000 yen” as “sell 610,000 shares at 1 yen each.” Mizuho Securities lost 40 billion yen due to the mistake. Bobby Ologun is a Nigerian K-1 wrestler who became a popular TV personality in Japan, despite a scandal when it was discovered that he had lied about his age (claiming to be born in 1973, when actually, according to his driver’s license, he was born in 1966).
>Assorted references (cont.) The Chubu Centrair International Airport was opened in Japan in 2005, despite criticism of the made-up name “Centrair.” “Permission to join Keidanren” refers to the Nippon Kaidanren (Japan Business Federation). The IT corporation LiveDoor tried to join the Keidanren, but their attempt was cut short when LiveDoor was accused of securities fraud in one of Japan’s biggest corporate criminal cases of 2006. “Alliances between TV stations and IT companies” refers to the planned business alliance between LiveDoor and Fuji TV, which was canceled for the same reason.
Chase Gonzalez
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>Assorted references “Cooling off the brotherly relationship” refers to the public dispute between two popular sumo wrestlers, brothers Takanohana and Wakanohana, as to who was going to take over the honorable role of “chief mourner” at the funeral of their sumo wrestler father in 2005.
>Assorted references It’s hard to quit the motorcycle gang lifestyle, particularly in Japan. Nobuhiko Matsunaka (1973-) is a Japanese baseball player who, in 2006, signed a seven-year contract with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks. Paman, aka Perman, is a reluctant superhero in the classic manga Paman by Fujiko F. Fujio. “Buying brand names” refers to the phenomenon of people who buy expensive brand items, use them for a while, and then sell them at pawnshops to get money to buy the next hot brand item. Due to pushy salespeople, it’s notoriously difficult to cancel a newspaper subscription in Japan. ODA stands for “Official Development Assistance,” a category of development aid provided to poor countries by rich ones (not only by Japan). Kappa Ebisen is a popular Japanese snack food (a sort of shrimp-flavored crackers) that had a famous advertising slogan Yamerarenai, tomaranai (“Can’t quit, can’t stop”).
this chapter has 1 Tsunetsuki, 1 pantyshot, 2 Uropen, 1? Amakudari-sama, 1 Miss Yoshiko Sakurai, and 0 eye of darkness. Again kumetan isn't sure if it's really Amakudari-sama, but this time I think it's a lot more likely
