Sayonara Zesubou Sensei (translated: Goodbye, Mr. Despair) is one of the most fantastic examples of I'll call Japan's "hyper-comedy" genre. Obvious precursors are the works of Shinichi Watanabe (Excell Saga; Nerima Diakon; Puny Puny Poemy), Gainex's post-Evengalion comedies (Abenobashi; FLCL), Colorful (either written or directed by a guy who worked on such masterpeices as Serial Experiments Lain and Kino's Journey), and undoubtedly a few I've either forgotten or aren't aware of.
Ironically, despite its frantic animation (which can be quite stunning, juggling styles and moods with a new frame every few seconds), I noticed after a few episodes that the show actually has a rather straightforward script. This produces some interesting dynamics. There's always a lot going on, but primarily it takes the form of some extremely fast discourse on some or another cultural obsessions in Japan--some so obscure I'm not even sure what they're talking about.
Vintage satire doesn't really show up in anime very often (as odd is this sounds, it's actually rarer than metaphysics), so when it finally does, I'm glad the result is a purely Japanese show like this. It's not quite in tune with Takashi Murakami's superflat movement (a uniquely Japanese school of postmodernism), but it certainly shares a variety of Murakami's concerns.
Despite the lists I gave above, it's really nothing like any of those shows--certainly one of, if not the best comedies I've ever seen. It's consistently energetic, rigorously enjoyable, and notably intelligent. I can't think of anything else you could ask for in a comedy.
(For the record, I wouldn't be suprised if one or more names/titles were spelled wrong here. Definitely sorry for that.)
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