Nozomu Itoshiki, a marketing businessman, is pursued by a religious group and forced to hide as a teacher. Meanwhile, Nami Hito arrives at school but is deemed as ordinary much to her annoyance.
Harumi listens to a radio show, Nozomu despairs about society's subservience, and the class tries treating trivialities seriously which leads to trouble.
An alien invasion occurs, but people are worried more about their own lives to pay attention. Meanwhile, Nozomu believes his student Jun can read his mind and takes measures to stop him.
Nozomu tries out a cultural sports competition, but culture has been mixed and vague. Later he gets food poisoning from eating leftovers and tries to help Ai Kaga with her self-esteem, which typically goes awry.
Nozomu provides censored report cards, believing no one should be forced to receive notification. He later falls into a dream world where the characters try to maintain their existence by keeping him comatose.
Nozomu is fed up of people going on about his name at a salary office. He later takes certificate examinations and passes them all - except for one that tests his ability to commit suicide.
After the New Year everyone is downcast, so Maria tries to spice things up with a stand-up routine. Nozomu carries out surprise inspections. Chiri tries acting like a ditz to gain attention.
Nozomu realizes baseball games are somewhat tampered for broadcast purposes. Later he tries to help people through comforting them, and later tries to adjust the series to make it more family-friendly.
Nozomu tries to teach students gently, because he doesn't want to push them too hard. He later develops an addiction for dramatic situations and tries to understand a trend for doing things backwards.
Nozomu is dismissed from the school, but his students come to his house anyway; he later visits a cafe where a rival challenges him. Meanwhile, the mute Meru Otonashi searches for a voice to have.
