Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

TEACHER OF DARKNESS Meet the most melancholy high school teacher in Japan: Nozomu Itoshiki, whose fashion sense is strictly nineteenth-century, whose personal goal is self-annihilation, and whose signature phrase is "I'm in despair!" He's similar to Franz Kafka and Jean-Paul Sartre-if Kafka and Sartre had had to deal with a classroom of short-skirted, lovesick students. And to make matters worse, Itoshiki's family wants him to get married. Forget the bride, here comes the gloom! The first translated work by Japan's most savage satirist, Koji Kumeta! Includes special extras after the story!

Our sorry hero, his reformed girlfriend, and the amnesiac class president have all graduated from their high school out in the boondocks, and self-described Sapphist and ex-basketball ace Kanbaru, retired by reason of an “injury,” is starting her senior year and the narrator of this volume—her voice far more introspectivethan the smutty jock’s we thought we knew. Bereft of the company of her beloved mentors, the only other person around her with any working knowledge of aberrations the junior Ogi Oshino, apparently a relative of the Hawaiian-shirted folklorist, she feels a bit alone and blue, and sick with dread that the devil residing in her left arm courtesy of the Monkey’s Paw might act up again while she sleeps. Investigating a rumor that she fears might lead back to her, the former star ends up peering into an abyss of negativity called Roka—a “wax flower” to take the characters’ meaning. Trapped in a pit the like of which could only be escaped by the one girl who was able to pull off slam-dunks in her basketball nationals, can the penitent Kanbaru, however, still be aggressive?

Teachers are supposed to inspire the younger generation to follow their dreams and achieve great things. However, our hero, Nozomu is not that teacher. Nozomu's probably the most depressive man in Japan—so depressive, in fact, that every little setback in life inspires yet another suicide attempt! But then why is being in Nozomu's class such a blast? Is it his quirky and endearing students? The bizarre adventures he leads them on? Or is there something after all to "the Power of Negative Thinking"? RACE OF DESPAIR Zetsubou-sensei explains his fear of relay races. After all, you never know what kind of baton you'll be passed! What if the CEO of a company passes off the baton to you right as the company goes bankrupt? Or what if a movie director passes off the baton to you right after the main actor quits? What would you do then, huh? In a moment of weakness, however, Zetsubou-sensei passes off the baton to a student. How will the "Second Generation Zetsubou-sensei" fare? Includes special extras after the story!

You can run, but you can't hide... After pulling off a successful coup d'état for the Elkian throne, Sora and Shiro take their devil-may-care attitude to running a pharmacy. One of their first customers is the leader of the eighth-ranked race, the Dwarves, who comes to blows with the two of them over the bill for his drugs and taunts, "Why did you run from your old world?" At the same time, the gamer siblings are saddled with a runaway Dwarf girl named Til...who also has a bone to pick with the Dwarf leader! With so much conflict at hand, will Sora and Shiro have time to run a business?!

• Reviews of more than 900 manga series • Ratings from 0 to 4 stars • Guidelines for age-appropriateness • Number of series volumes • Background info on series and artists THE ONE-STOP RESOURCE FOR CHOOSING BETWEEN THE BEST AND THE REST! Whether you’re new to the world of manga-style graphic novels or a longtime reader on the lookout for the next hot series, here’s a comprehensive guide to the wide, wonderful world of Japanese comics! • Incisive, full-length reviews of stories and artwork • Titles rated from zero to four stars–skip the clunkers, but don’t miss the hidden gems • Guidelines for age-appropriateness–from strictly mature to kid-friendly • Profiles of the biggest names in manga, including CLAMP, Osamu Tezuka, Rumiko Takahashi, and many others • The facts on the many kinds of manga–know your shôjo from your shônen • An overview of the manga industry and its history • A detailed bibliography and a glossary of manga terms LOOK NO FURTHER, YOU’VE FOUND YOUR IDEAL MANGA COMPANION!

Teachers are supposed to inspire the younger generation to follow their dreams and achieve great things. However, our hero, Nozomu is not that teacher. Nozomu's probably the most depressive man in Japan--so depressive, in fact, that every little setback in life inspires yet another suicide attempt! But then why is being in Nozomu's class such a blast? Is it his quirky and endearing students? The bizarre adventures he leads them on? Or is there something after all to "the Power of Negative Thinking"? SPRINGING INTO A SUMMER OF SELF-DISCOVERY It's spring in volume 11, and Zetsubou-sensei and the students master the art of detuning; that is, purposefully inhibiting he performance of something. Then, during summer vacation, they go on journeys of self-discovery, confront a mob of zealous over-preotectors, and dodge spy accusations ont he beach. Finally, back in the classroom, they are caught off-guard by surprise inspections masterminded by Zetsubou-sensei and Chiri Kitsu! Includes special extras after the story!

Readers can help Robin defeat the plans of the mysterious Slade by finding clues, decoding codes, and solving puzzles.

Great Teacher Onizuka is back, and the next stage for his legend is… prison?! The trouble magnet of a teacher reveals that this stint behind bars is thanks to a certain incident with the class he became assistant homeroom teacher of half a year earlier: Kissho Academy’s new class for high school-aged celebrities! Does he regret the exploits that landed him in the slammer? Heck, no. In fact, he’s all too happy to calmly tell his fellow prisoners how the whole thing went down—if they’re willing to listen to his story from the very beginning...