By: Robert Murphy
I think every student knows the fear and loathing that goes
into a new school year and the challenges that come with it. However, E-Class
or “End Class” as they’re privately referred to as has a whole different set of
issues when they discover that their new teacher is a bizarre yellow squid
creature that is responsible for destroying 70% of the moon. Koro Sensei, as he
eventually becomes referred to as, has come to teach this group of misfits for
unknown reasons but it has given the entire world one year to kill him before
he makes good on his claim to cause further destruction by destroying the
Earth. Armed with anti-koro BB guns and other assassin tools these kids will
have to get close enough to stop him before he does this and the student who
does gets 10 billion yen. But, Koro Sensei will not go down easily as he has
the capability to travel at Mach 20 speeds among other terrifying abilities
such as his vast intellect and other technologically designed superiority.
Despite its dangerous premise Assassination Classroom takes a lighthearted and funny approach to
the word “assassinate.” The students are not armed with any dangerous weaponry
to anyone except their target which just so happens to be their teacher and
while it may be easy to look at something/someone like Koro Sensei and think
about destroying him that just doesn’t become the case. Koro Sensei would turn
out to be a dream come true to these students who have pretty much given up on
enjoying the rest of their days at Kunugigaoka
High School
The whole thing makes the plot an interesting one to follow
as the students aren’t bad in anyway, well except maybe Karma, these students
just don’t fit in with their schools definition of good. This in turn makes a
pretty good commentary of Japanese schools in general which in anime are always
portrayed as being strict and focused on the grades the students get. You
cannot be a slacker when you attend one of these schools and if you’re then you
better be the main character because your future will be bleak. All the
students here though are frankly good kids who just unfortunately either aren’t
great at certain subjects or experience some sort of duress and ended up here
at the bottom. This made me enjoy all of the students as characters for the
most part, they’re underdogs who have been mistreated for all the wrong reasons
and thankfully they have someone like Koro Sensei to help them reach their
potential and not mock them.
Nagisa and his fellow friends all have their own individual
strengths and abilities that add to the story but not all of the characters
start out insanely likable. Nagisa is arguably the main character when it
comes to the students but he is sort of a bland character when the show starts
out. He is very shy at first and spends most of his time writing notes on Koro
Sensei that he finds relevant to his eventual assassination. The other students
prove to be just as sub-par as the story touches base with a few of them but
become stronger once they all start to blossom from Koro Sensei’s lessons. He
brings out the best in each of them throughout the story and eventually they
all gain some confidence again in their own abilities. Nagisa turns out to be
the biggest shock during the story as his small and meek looking appearance
houses some potential for a great assassin. This proves to be the other strong
point in the development of each of the character when they not only decide
that they’re going to excel in school but also in taking out their teacher. By
the end, I loved each character large or small in their appearances on screen
they all are great character to watch once they realized their own self worth
and stopped believing they were the low rung students that everyone else called
them.
The assassination aspect to the show proves to be just an
added bonus to the wit and humor you’re watching. Yes there is a very serious
situation at hand here as Karasuma, the assistant teacher/government agent,
points out during the classes training but you can’t help but feel that all of
that is background noise for what you’re watching. Koro Sensei is one of my
favorite anime characters by far as he is all around ridiculous in nature with
his twist smirk and chuckle that he presents at every opportunity. His face
also changes depending on his mood such as when he is feeling cocky his face
gets some green stripes across it or when he is thoroughly without words his
face turns a grayish white with a pencil drawn expression. He also dawns
insane disguises that are very obvious to his students but other people just
simply ignore as he uses them to buy various junk food items that he loves to
eat. Then there’s the students themselves, the odd humor comes from them as
they attempt to stab or shoot him during various touching moments throughout
the show. He will be casually reading or assisting a student and while they
appear to be listening they silently try to stab a rubber knife towards him. It
is utterly ridiculous and a bit dark to think about but it works.
I did not know what to expect when I first heard about Assassination Classroom, a few odd
images of a yellow tentacle creature and a classroom full of gun wielding kids
had me a bit at odds with the show. These expectations though were pleasantly
altered once I began to watch the show and found out that it wasn’t about a
group of kids trying to hurt each other or go around killing people. It’s a
very fun natured type of show despite its overall premise and with these
students first semester ending, I’m excited to see what the next will bring.
Good:
- Refreshingly original story
- Koro Sensei is a great main character and teacher
- Interesting commentary on Japanese school life
Bad:
- The students take some time to hit their stride as characters
Scully Rating: 8.5 out of 10
