Character

Nozomu Itoshiki

糸色望

Itoshiki Nozomu is the main character of Sayonara Zetsubou Sensei and the teacher of a class of 32 students. His name contains an unlucky number of characters, and when it is written horizontally, his name forms the kanji for zetsubou (meaning despair, which is befitting of his pessimistic and depressive personality). He has a tendency to attempt to commit suicide (usually involving a noose hanging from a tree) for a number of often bizarre reasons, though he miraculously manages to survive every attempt. His catchphrase is "Zetsubou shita!" ("I'm in despair!"), which is declared in many of his rantings throughout the series.