Failed suicide
“So Long, Mr Despair” is in colour, but it does have a lot of special effect scenes, and text pages, and other odd stuff. Teacher Itoshiki Nozomu has a hopelessly negative view of life, which frequently leads him to contemplate suicide. Student Fuura Kafuka, on the other hand, has an invincibly positive view of life, which sometimes leads her to deny the facts. Almost every character name contains a Japanese visual pun, for instance the three kanji of Nozomu’s name become the two-kanji zetsubo (despair) when compressed.
And, if you think the teacher is weird, meet the other students in episode #2 onwards. Every one of them seems to dysfunctional or have a major psychological disorder. One is a stalker, another sends vicious abusive e-mails, another, a blonde transfer student from abroad, has a split personality, part passive Japanese girl, part litiginous foreign harpy. When Kafuka rescues her from teetering on the edge of the roof, he sees her underwear, so she sues him for indecent assault.
You may be suspecting that this anime is not for the sensitive or the politically correct. If that doesn’t bother you, be prepared to enjoy an anime that’s a bit different and less anodyne than the usual stuff and has more of the uninhibited bite of the old OVA animes.