This is a list of characters from the manga/anime series Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei.
Class 2-He
Nozomu Itoshiki is the homeroom teacher for class 2-へ (2-He; the hiragana character へ is the sixth in iroha order, indicating that there are at least five other classes in the same year) at a high school in Tokyo. The class is said to include 32 students, but only some of these students are introduced over the course of the manga. The story takes place over the years of the manga's publication (2005–2012), but the characters do not age despite attending high school for seven years.
Nozomu is a young man of unspecified age, who, despite living and working in modern day Tokyo, almost always dresses in old-fashioned hakamas rather than contemporary clothes. His name, written across in kanji, can be corrupted into , reflecting his fatalist and defeatist attitude and causing his students to call him "Zetsubou-sensei". In many chapters, he observes negative, unwelcome, or dismaying incidents, which inspires him to list and point to many other examples of the same topic. This is often used as an excuse to criticize society, complain, or seek pity, often underscored by his catchphrase, , which has been variously translated as "I've lost all hope", "it's hopeless", and "I'm in despair". Zetsubou-sensei often overreacts to his grievances by attempting suicide, whether or not any misfortune has befallen him. He keeps a suitcase packed with redundant suicide implements, including a noose, charcoal briquettes, masking tape, cleaning solutions, Enya albums, and a calligraphy kit (for penning a will), though he always resorts to hanging as his death of choice. These attempts never succeed, as any suicidal intent is far outweighed by his overactive, even preternatural self-preservation instincts, which often surface when others call his bluff. Eventually, his suicide attempts are all reduced to insincere attention-seeking, and are no longer taken seriously. Zetsubou-sensei is habitually irresponsible and lazy, finding many excuses to be absent from class and also having no domestic ability. He is also ashamed of his ingrained cowardice, but cannot keep himself from instinctively cowering or running away when faced with danger. However, he also obliges menial requests and extends small kindnesses. While his ambition is to be recognized for literary talent, his writings are never well-received. He is often shown teaching the works of Edward Gorey to the class. The series also makes light of Zetsubou-sensei's effeminate mannerisms and failure to be aroused by most women, and facetiously places him in accidental gay liaisons. However, he finds himself attracted to Kafuka's various alter egos, always failing to see through her disguises. Despite understanding many human foibles, weaknesses, and hypocrisies, Zetsubou-sensei is far from immune to them. He is often enticed by Kafuka, whether by flattery, appeal to emotion, or opportunism, to embrace the very practices he himself condemned. However, in doing so, he is often set up to take a fall or receive comeuppance. Zetsubou-sensei sometimes acts as an author surrogate, appearing to be overly familiar with the grievances of manga artists, and being highly defensive about the series's popularity or lack thereof.
Female students
Kafuka is, at first, presented as an overly credulous girl who confronts all misfortunes, dangers, and malefactors with denial, trusting in providence even in the face of imminent death. However, throughout most of the series, Kafuka's demeanor conceals a shrewd, sophisticated, and cynical nature, as she engineers many dark machinations beyond the ken of the rest of the cast. Kafuka is rarely perturbed or caught off-guard, and smoothly reacts to even the most outlandish predicaments with a positive spin. In many cases, Kafuka's positive interpretations are actually damning with faint praise, and she often backhandedly compliments various victims and chumps as "kind" people. Other times, she frames a blatantly self-sabotaging or reprehensible course of action as sensible or commendable, leading others astray to harm or debase themselves. Yet other times, she interprets a human weakness as a "positive" opportunity to fleece people for profit. Kafuka also exploits the credulity of others, preaching unaccountably optimistic promises that convert unsuspecting bystanders into faithful believers. Several times, she is seen ministering stereotypical religious cults. She also espouses numerous esoteric, paranormal, and conspiratorial beliefs, always hyperbolic and unbelievable. Her claims are often backed up by the arrival of eccentric people, many of whom claim to be notorious figures or supernatural entities, and who are always familiar with Kafuka on a first-name basis. Zetsubou-sensei is particularly susceptible to Kafuka's suggestions even as he protests them, often reversing his own stances with little resistance, despite putting his own hypocrisy on full display. He often falls for Kafuka's efforts to match him with his students in illicit romance. Under various disguises, Kafuka also feeds him contaminated home cooking, delivers compromising love letters to him, and entices him to buy her own overpriced idol memorabilia. The series concludes with the revelation that "Kafuka Fuura" is not one person, but rather the paranormal manifestation of , a deceased girl, through the other girls of 2-He. By chance, the other girls had all received donated tissues from An after her death, causing each one to assimilate "Kafuka"'s personality and memories. Due to donor anonymity, only Zetsubou-sensei, who witnessed An's death in a hit-and-run, knew "Kafuka"'s true identity all along. For the sake of devoting himself to An in marriage, he marries all the girls who are manifesting "Kafuka", even as they themselves have forgotten who she was.
Chiri is a meddlesome and dictatorial girl who imposes her will on not just the class, but, on occasions, the entire world. She demands all people and things to be overliterally categorical, and forces anything that is variable, irregular, or open-ended to pick a lane, whether or not these lanes are good, feasible, or physically possible. Her name derives from the Japanese word , often used to describe her exhaustively fastidious and consistent lifestyle—which is laudable in some respects, but counterproductive in many others, such as her preference for worse, but matching, grades over better but mismatching ones. She scrupulously parts her hair exactly down the middle, but struggles to achieve sub-micron precision. In later chapters, she wears a hairband. Chiri resorts to violence in many situations, often wielding a common household shovel as both a blunt and cutting weapon. She is prone to rampages and murder, and is a wanted fugitive and the target of manhunts. She is also versed in violent revolutions and purges throughout history, and has designs to conquer the country, and the world, through bloody insurrection. She also practices occultism and witchcraft, especially the curse ritual; has a third eye as a pun on ; finds inexplicable uses for raw meat; and performs uncanny feats of automatism. Since childhood, Chiri has suffered from hallucinations and paranoia, and is accustomed to seeing frightening visions and imaginary enemies. Due to her disturbing delusions, Chiri had no childhood friends other than Harumi. She developed an unrequited desire for endearment, and became a third wheel or uninvited guest on many occasions. Lacking awareness of social cues, she is often oblivious to being snubbed, but is highly sensitive once made aware. Chiri's many dangerous proclivities inspire deference and fear from her peers. Despite this, she is usually cordial and friendly with the class until provoked, and her dangerous impulses are sometimes restrained or foiled by others. After accidentally sharing an infirmary cot with Zetsubou-sensei, Chiri became at once bent on marrying him, persisting despite being appalled by his behavior. Chiri's pursuit of Zetsubou-sensei is inevitably commandeering and heavy-handed (to the extent of single-handedly wiping out the rest of the human race), and, upon being rejected by him or sensing competition from others, she is swift to deliver vengeance. Starting in the second season of the anime, Chiri's spoken punctuation became visible on-screen as a running joke.
Abiru is a habitually bandaged girl who is always impassive and deadpan, except when gleefully interacting with or discussing animals. Her name derives from , describing the extent of her injuries. After the class at first believed her to be a domestic violence victim, they learned that she engages in dangerous horseplay with animals to satisfy her fetish for tails. Later, it is shown that she also suffers injuries from being absentminded and accident-prone, and she is a poor athlete despite being advantageously tall. As a child, Abiru failed to heed stranger danger, and was unperturbed by many encounters with strange men. Abiru's left eye, which is always bandaged, is differently-colored due to a cornea transplant. Abiru often delivers blunt, scathing comments that cut through oblique statements and pretenses. Despite clumsiness, she can nimbly sling bandages to ensnare objects and people. Abiru's infatuation with Zetsubou-sensei stems from wishing to put a tail on him, and she is disappointed that he never spontaenously grows a tail. Nevertheless, she aggressively competes with the other students for his affection. In the anime, Abiru is often juxtaposed with images of giraffes as a running joke.
Kiri is an extreme who never ventures outdoors, indulging exclusively in indoor and domestic activity. Her name derives from , describing her lifestyle. Having no need for dressing up, Kiri always wears ungroomed long hair (eventually resorting to a front ponytail for practicality), casual clothes or undergarments, and a blanket. Despite relocating from home to live at school, she never attends class. The rest of the class, however, is sympathetic when she is in need. Kiri is usually preoccupied watching TV or going online while barricading her room. After Zetsubou-sensei's house is destroyed, and he and Majiru also move into the school, Kiri becomes their domestic caretaker, handling all housework unconditionally. She and Majiru soon bond in a sibling-like fashion. Normally reserved, Kiri can be ill-tempered when provoked. Because Zetsubou-sensei passively acquiesces to rooming with Kiri, she becomes possessive of him in a wifelike manner, and tampers in his affairs to have him to herself. Kiri's territoriality is particularly threatened by Matoi's frequent intrusion into their "home", and the vendetta between the two girls often escalates into outright brawls. Early on, Kafuka baselessly declares Kiri to be a , who mystically guards homes against ruin. Though nobody takes this seriously, later, the school building indeed collapses as soon as Kiri exits the grounds.
Matoi is a zealous stalker devoted to hounding her love interests at every opportunity. Her name derives from . After latching on to Zetsubou-sensei, she dresses exclusively in hakamas to match his old-fashioned image, and follows him at all hours to all places. In class, rather than take a seat, she hides inside the lectern. Despite Matoi's flagrant invasion of his personal space and private affairs, Zetsubou-sensei is immediately resigned to this outcome and does little to discourage it.