Anime Kip is Watching: Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei

Okay. If you know my brother THC Triton at all, recently all he has been able to talk about is this new series Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei (So Long, Mr. Despair).
Typically, THC and I don't agree on each others' anime choices.
I didn't like Lucky☆Star, Negima!, or Bokusatsu Tenshi Dokuro Chan. And he still can't find many redeeming qualities about SHnY (I know, that's just crazy!!)!

So you can imagine my skepticism about watching his latest pursuit of animedom.
But like all other anime he raves about, I give in and say, "Okay, let me see it."

Well...

...It was good.

The visuals are stunning.
The characters are lovable.
The in-jokes are multitudinous!
Good opening and closing theme song.
And the story-- the plot surrounding these two unlikely main characters is hilarious and smart.

The series, though reminding me so much of NHK ni Youkoso and SHnY, simply isn't a combination of the two, even though all the elements that made Haruhi a success seem to be there.
But it would be unfair to even compare this anime to anything popular in modern anime.

Though the stories seem to get a little drawn out and run-on-ish in some episodes, as well as some of the jokes, including parodies of names, may go over some viewers' heads, this is still an excellent series!

The dark humor, most often given by the title character, Nozomu "Despair Sensei" Itoshiki, is chock with his little rants about Japanese trends and the media, politics, and sometimes nothing at all, such as when he rants about a certain corporate baseball team.

Director and manga-ka Kōji Kumeta (whom I have come to respect so much that I will include the little accent mark in his name) hasn't had any of his manga become animated before, but I anticipate many more titles from his studio. He has some pretty funny manga already including the romance/hockey/comedy series, Yuke!! Nangoku Ice Hockey Bu (Southern Ice Hockey Club).

Season one of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei has just wrapped up broadcast in Japan.

This is definitely one to watch!
Was I wrong about L*S? You liked it! xP