Atarashii Prelude

Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei – 04

If there's one reason why I like SZS a lot, it would probably be because of the twisted and inane nature of the main characters and how they are portrayed each week. For this episode, we are introduced to another 2 of the Pink Supervisor's students, first being Abiru Kobushi, the bandaged character so to speak, who is a suspected victim of domestic violence. The teacher is then asked to speak with her father regarding the matter and spots him shopping. Being the paranoid person that he is, the Pink Supervisor stalks him instead and watches as he makes purchases. As he enters a kitchen utensils shop, the Pink Supervisor immediately draws the conclusion that the father is buying things to abuse his daughter, no matter how unlikely these items can be used to hurt someone. The result? Every retailer in the district is informed about this matter, and they refuse to sell anything to Kobushi's dad and come up with weird theories on how the objects will be utilized to torture her.

We then shift our focus to Fuura, who has fallen into a tiger pit. While most people will be panicking and screaming for lives, Positive-tan remains ever so calm and at first insists it's a bad dream. Even after realizing it's not, she remains steadfast and states that it's okay to eaten alive, as did Buddha in the holy scriptures and claims she will become a god for doing so.

Just as Fuura is about to be attacked by the tiger, she is promptly saved by Kobushi, whom we discover actually got all her injuries when she interacts with the animals, mainly by pulling their tails. We also find out that she is also an avid tail collector. Haha, oh wow. On another note, the show slips in a parody on the Billy's Boot Camp exercise program featuring Kobushi's dad.

Yes, it's as gay as it looks.

As did the previous episode, we're introduced to the more interesting character in the second half, and this time around, we get to see Meru Otonashi, at first glance your typical shy soft spoken girl. Keeping in mind the show we're watching, it does away with the stereotypes and Meru-chan is actually a verbally abusive person, although she can only communicate through her cellphone, probably a representation of online flamers and trolls. While we've seen a glimpse of her nature in previous episodes, this time she goes all out and flames everyone in her class, sparing no one, well except for Maria, since she only owns a pager.

Meru's spot on analysis on Kaera's character.

If you notice the pockets in her blouse first, you're gay.

Sneak preview of future episodes?

Her SMS'ing tyranny is put to a stop when she swaps places with Fuura, whose location is out of coverage area. And if you deprive an obsessed person out of something, this is what happens. Without fail, Fuura steps in and says that Meru's current status is similar to that of her mother's during that time when, well...

!!!!!????

The episode comes to a close as Fuura smack Meru in the head with a gigantic cross and calms her down with a little prep talk, although in truth it actually had a reverse effect, scaring Meru out of her wits. Another week of random fanservice and weirdness! Oh, do watch out for the Final Fantasy reference at the end of the episode. Shin out.