Zan Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei 12

It seems that Shaft decided to make the first two segments thematically similar. Hiding and the ways in which it can be counter-productive was the highlight of both of the first two segments. The first had a good take on Schrödinger's cat. While the possibility for multiple outcomes exists if something is hidden, when someone hides something deliberately, it's sometimes obvious exactly what it is he's trying to hide. Eventually, everyone ends up in boxes, so that none of their potential is taken away. And Nozomu's older brother Kei (the artist) turns out to have quite a... unique wife.

 

In the second segment, the class finds an unexploded missile in their baseball field. The labeling clearly indicates that it came from Japan, which means that it's a government secret, and that leaves everyone afraid of what might happen to them if it got out that they had seen this. Conveniently enough, journalists are supposed to report on a baseball game on that field that day, leaving them precious little time to cover it up. But of course, all attempts at covering it up only make the missile more obvious. Things get really weird when they find out that there's an old cassette tape inside the missile... The ending to this segment had a live-action doll exploding.

3rd segment was very short, and was a continuation of 11's 2nd segment, in which Rin needs to buy and break through adjacent houses to reach the ramen shop. Eventually more students join in, we see Nozomu singing the ED at karaoke, and they end up back at the school during their property buying/destroying spree. Not much in the social humor here, just bizarre fun.

The shogun and MAEDAX are the featured artists in the Zetsubou Sensei Character Song segment.

Most noteworthy was the segment AFTER the credits and Zetsubou sensei drawing song. If you've listened to the second Zan Zetsubou Sensei ED single, you know that there's a second song in there called Private Lesson, sung by Kaere's voice actor, Yu Kobayashi. Well, that song makes an appearance in the form of a music video starring the slutty private tutor Kimura Kaere. The video was entertaining, with some pretty Escher-inspired art. It was just blatantly gratuitous at times, highly suggestive at others, and very sexually charged.

The video was followed by a short segment where she's teaching the same horny student from before, this time about cylinders instead of cones. Long story short, the lights go out and Kaere happily grabs a "cylinder" that is able to change in size... yeah...

 

Good episode. The second segment was a bit confusing at times, but the third and first were just flat out hilarious. Their take on the concept of Schroedinger's cat was very much in line with what I'd expect in Zetsubou Sensei, and the all-box ending was great. Segment 3 had more Rin being Rin, which was entertaining to watch, as she gets so little screen time. And the Kimura-sensei bit was completely unexpected, off-the-wall and funny in its gratuitousness.

Finale is next episode. I'm putting off watching it until I can get a full English sub, in order to maximize my comprehension of it. Sayonara, Zetsubou Sensei series haven't had such great season finales, but due to the nature of the show, it hasn't really been an issue. Still, every season finale leaves me in despair that it might be the last Zetsubou Sensei episode ever, so I always hope for a good send-off to this unique series.