Ansatsu Kyoushitsu

As this was the first manga I've read in years, I didn't really expect anything. The premise of a monster teaching his students to assassinate him sounded ridiculous enough to give it a try.

And then it got more crazy. I loved to see how the characters matured over the chapters, how their relationships evolved as well as their skills got sharpened.

I liked the backstories of the students, but after seeing Koro-sensei's backstory I got moved a bit too much. Suddenly I didn't want this story to end. I didn't want to see if students will succeed in their task.

But I have. And I am content. This story was too easy to spoil or make it too cheesy, but the author has succeeded to deliver a great tale.

Also: Koro-sensei is a great character. When I grow up, I wanna be like him.

When I began reading this, I knew I couldn't stop at the beginning! I read all of Assassination Classroom happy and anxious to see what came next in the story. I was even waiting for the English volumes to release at bookstores and online. With the story, it was AMAZING! The places they went, the ways the characters developed and how they've grown physically and mentally. The characters were scary and enjoyable at times. The only unrealistic character that wouldn't make sense in a realistic type setting would be Karma. He was willing to commit suicide in front of his teacher because he doubted Koro Sensei's abilities. He is too much of a rebel sometimes and it just takes away from the story at times, but nonetheless, he is a great counterpart to Nagisa, one of the most important characters in the manga. I also think some of the enemies take away from the story as well, especially at the end. For instance, they practically brain wash everyone and the characters we've grown to love are useless against these villains, except Koro Sensei. I really enjoyed this and felt deep emotions that made me connect with these characters. With the ending, it was heart warming and realistic, I like where most of these characters ended up at the end too, it was really really nice to see them one last time. All I can say is that I enjoyed this because of how relatable it can be and how human everyone sees, even Koro Sensei.

I finished this in a few days, it was quite a good read I must say.

Story
An supersonic octopus became the teacher for Class E, the worst class in a prestigious junior high school. The story is surprisingly fluent, there is little boring moments in the manga, like say in 1 chapter the teacher say he is going to prepare the students in their exam, the next chapter the exam is already finished. Unlike some manga where the fillers comes in and frustrate the heck out of the readers. The manga also take an insight in education with assassionation, how teachers can affect or influence his/her students, I have to say after reading this manga, I actually wants to be an educator in the future, really inspiring, kuro sensei(I read this manga in chinese, hope the name is correct) really deliver a valuable lessons even to the readers!

Art
Art is okay overall, some parts do look a bit weird but nonetheless, very readable and enjoyable.

Characters
With a class roaster of 28 students, I expected the author to not differentiate most of the characters. Oh boy was I wrong. Yes I do admit that some characters are more focused in terms of character development, but every single character is different from one another, and frankly speaking, in the later chapters I actually remembered their differences.

Enjoyment
Definitely a 10 considering I finished the manga in less than a week.

Overall
10/10 I loved it, would recommend to anyone.

Assassination Classroom (affectionately referred to as 'AssClass' by some) is probably one of the more notable shōnen manga of the 2010's, and for good reason. With a strong narrative supported by strong character development and a consistent quality of art, Assassination Classroom has made its mark in the market.

[Story - 9]

The premise alone is rather unique: A follow-the-class-through-the-school-year story with a covert-operation-to-kill-the-superhuman twist, the 2 concepts surprisingly blend together well and boost each other up when needed. While the beginning is admittedly slow + the presence of some occasional filler in the first half, the pace is rather consistent, with each arc having some form of tension/payoff/consequence that is emotionally satisfying in their own way. The ending arc is /extremely/ fulfilling, yet bittersweet, and was worth the investment of time.

The themes are naturally school-related, such as the 'right' way to educate and the bond between classmates, but also have a mix of action themes (the lives of many vs. the lives of one + the impact of a life in violence). There is plenty of shōnen-type comedy (slapstick + ecchi) found in the manga (right up to the end!), but the comedy also serves to frame the melodramatic moments in a fitting light. All, if not almost all, of the questions the reader may have are answered with a satisfying explanation, and have enough foreshadowing to warrant a re-read to see the cleverness.

[Art - 8]

The art may appear rather simplistic at first, but upon further reading, brings out more enjoyment in the story. The various background details (typically tongue-in-cheek) and shading palettes are appealing enough, but character design reigns here.

The design of Korosensei (the protagonist and mascot) alone is enough, but Matsui takes it further by showcasing the various facial expressions, colours, and shapes he can take on (whether for comedy, melodrama, or both). The 3 'star' students (Nagisa, Karma, Kaede), the various other teachers (Karasuma, Irina), the major antagonists, and /some/ of the supporting cast in the classroom all have their own distinctive designs; Unfortunately, the rest do not sport such qualities and are typically adorned in the private school's uniform. The rest of the characters (such as the various assassins) have typically realistic designs, with not much to be said there.

[Character - 7]

While there is one (but noticeable) flaw in some characters, it can be outweighed by the sheer uniqueness of the rest. Korosensei easily takes the cake here, with an endearing 'cheerily intelligent pervert' (for lack of a stronger description) characterization that hides a lot more depth (which is shown at a crucial point). He is easily likeable, between the various antics he is involved in and the heartwarming amount of love he has for his students.

The 3 'star' students each shine in their own way which, to avoid spoilers, can be summed up as this: Nagisa hides a darker self behind a meek-cute mask while searching for purpose, Karma's ambition comes into conflict with his chaotic behaviour, and Kaede's conflict....well, that has to be seen in the manga. Karasuma and Irina contrast each other nicely, and are able to stand alone (though Irina has more of these moments). While they may not be as relevant to the plot as Korosensei and the kids, they are definitely major players and deserve recognition for what they contribute (especially in the 'God of Death/Shinigami' arc).

The 4 (initially 5, but you shall see why) antagonists are captivating: Chairman Asano demands the best from everyone possible and can stand his own same ground against Karasuma and Korosensei, Shiro is a man cloaked both physically and contextually but always comes prepared, Takaoka is hellbent on revenge after causing his own downfall, and the 'God of Death/Shinigami' is easily the most physically distinctive (and terrifying) of the 4. The 'lost fifth' antagonist appears rather early on, and while does not have much development devoted to them outside of having the lead role in an arc, is rather intriguing to both see and read.

The flaw mentioned at the beginning, however, did hamper some of the experience. It was the extensive cast: with 28 students in the class, 3 full-time teachers, a whole
campus of teachers and students, and various other figures, it was natural for some to be underdeveloped. However, when it comes to some of the classmates in Class-E, it is most noticeable. Outside of an occasional 'character-of-the-week' chapter in the first half of the manga, they tend to just fill in panel space or serve as comedic actors. The main campus teachers and students (save for several in Class-A) are typical 'we-hate-them-because-they-suck-despite-actually-being-talented' types. and the various assassins are edgy goons. This flaw, however, is partially remedied by the collective development of the class as a whole group. This is most noticeable after a schism occurs in the class (and is addressed in a fitting all-out battle), and ties back into the theme of 'classmate bonding'.

[Enjoyment/Overall - 8]

Despite some nitpicking, I found this manga to be rather enjoyable! It had just the right blend of comedy and drama, solid pacing despite a rough beginning, and unique characterization and design to make this a rather fun read. While I wouldn't call this a favourite, it's not because its flaw(s), but rather just a 'personal thing' and I appreciate having fully read it. I highly recommend it if you want a subversive school shōnen with plenty of action and laughs, but with the capacity for rumination and melodrama.

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu aka Assassination Classroom aka AssClass (my personal abbreviation) is one of the most unique shonen series that I've ever read/seen.

Not many long-running series have the courage to be so short and STAY short. Many stories suffer under the rule that they have to be strecthed out as far as possible but AssClass shows that the short stories can be just enough and still impactful.

As a person who gets easily attracted to stories with a random synopsis I was immediately hooked with this. I mean where do you find a story about a octopus teacher who runs a class of assasins who have to kill him. But later I saw the bigger picture behind the tentacle jokes and random premise.

Story:
The story of assasination shows that every story can be a good story no matter how weird it may sound. This is a manga that you shouldn't judge by its manga cover. Not only does the beginning show exactly what the story is about, it also stays with it and doesn't write itself into a corner to end up like a 600 chapter manga with plotholes as big as the moon. No, AssClass knows what the end goal is and keeps working towards that goal.

Art:
The art in AssClass is in most moments okay. When not much is going on the art isn't really something to talk about but when important come about, then it's when the art shines! The mangaka was able to make boring moments like: 'making a test' fascinating for the reader by depicting it like a big gladiator fight or something like that. Or make someone look very intimidating by making him/her look like a terrifying monster. It is this approach of drawing visuals that makes the art something else from other shonen manga.

Character:
This series centers around a class and this class has many different students. 28 to be exact. For any story, especially a story this short you could think that it is very hard to give all of these characters the characterization and develop that they need, but AssClass shows that it is not afraid to try it. Of course some character get more attention then others but at the end you can know the names, talents and characteristics of all students if you want to. Also Koro-sensei is one of the best characters in the show and makes you wish teachers in real life could become big yellow octopuses

Overall, this manga is a shonen that, after not even a year has won my heart. The story is mostly a comedy but knows when to grab at your heart strings. The foreshadowing in the plot is insane and really shows that the creator knew the story that he wanted to tell in his head. Also the ending is the most fitting kind of ending for a coming-of-age story like this. It couldn't be any better in my opinion.

Pros
- Linear storyline with unique concept. It's hard to comprehend the story at the beginning, it's getting exciting around the middle with so many events happening around, and it's heartwarming in the end. It's also unpredictable and contain so many good morale message
- This manga has so many characters yet none of them are disposable. Instead of having one godlike character who can do everything, you will see each character developing and helping each other with their own unique skills. So it's not about one man army, but a group of people who become strong together, and it's beautiful
- Long enough to captivate your interest, short enough to stay on track
- Funny

Cons
- In the beginning, you might need some time to grasp the concept because it's quite unique and everything just happen instantly

The manga's ability to use science fiction and comedy to convey a story about growing up into a better person is not only refreshing but empowering. At a first glance, it seems like an underdog story and in a way it could be viewed as such. The characters have to face many challenges big and small, and whether they succeed or not depends on their own personal growth. The way science fiction is applied to the manga is well done--no matter how extreme the scenarios may be, it doesn't disrupt my immersion. The artwork is also very nice. It has the balance of cuteness and humor. It also brings weight to the emotional and action moments as well.

I really enjoy the manga, and I fully recommend it!

How do you describe Assassination Classroom? It's a story that's simple, but also unique. It's goofy but also serious. I suppose the best word to describe it would be is enjoyable.
Right off the bat, the reader is sent a handful of mixed signals. The moon was destroyed... by a cartoonish octopus character that can move at Mach 20? And it has to be killed by a classroom of middle schoolers?
If I'm being honest, the first volume is the weakest, the characters are fairly bland, you aren't given any investment into the world, it's alright at best.
But as the series progresses, it's hard not to get immersed into the world and characters of the Assassination Classroom.

In terms of the Story, it's fairly simple but also unique. Which is fine, that's all you need for a manga like this, there's a clear deadline for when the manga is going to end (one full school year), there's practically no filler and the manga progresses in an extremely fluid and constant rate which is friendly to those who marathon.

I love the Art in Assassination Classroom. Sure it's quite simple most of the time, but where I feel the artwork shines best is in facial expressions and atmosphere. The manga is FANTASTIC at making most of the people in the school outside of Class E look absolutely hideous, they have the ugliest expressions and it helps you sympathize with Class E's situation, it's perfect. There's a lot of nature imagery in this manga, animals like snakes and scorpions are used constantly throughout that really adds to the visualization of what's happening, often times this is used to symbolize how the children are moving in their attempts to kill Koro Sensei, but it's used to represent the characteristics of people quite effectively as well. Action scenes are beautifully drawn as well, there were times that I just lingered on a page because of how good it was. These pages are few and far between which makes you savor the ones that you get.

I think the characters are the weakest part of Assassination Classroom. It's not that their bad per say, but it's hard to grow attached to every character (especially when some only have a couple of lines in the entire series). The main cast is quite well done, you're given a good amount of their specific thought processes throughout the manga and there's a good amount of development that occurs across the span of the manga. Some characters just exist for the sake of existing though, especially near the end. While one of the main points of Class E is that each student has his or her specialties, it's a bit hard to keep track of who's good at what or who's doing what, but that might just be me.

In terms of overall enjoyment, I don't think that there was a simple chapter that I didn't enjoy. Even when the students have to take tests it's made exciting and tense. In a bit of a contrast to what I said earlier, I do think that Class E is filled with really enjoyable characters. There's witty dialogue constantly, which is paired with atmospheric art which gives the reader a good time. Despite the warning at the beginning that the world will end if they don't kill this unkillable teacher, the mood is extremely light-hearted. Every chapter, no matter what the class is doing, was highly enjoyable to read through and I think this is the shining factor for the manga. It's just a class coming together, having a good time, improving their academic abilities while trying to also kill their teacher. The action sequences are tense and cleaver, the classroom parts are silly and cartoonish, and I think that the manga finds a strong balance between serious and the "everyday stuff" that works phenomenally.

Scores:
Story: 8/10, simple, but unique, flows well throughout the manga, there's a set deadline and it doesn't overstay it's welcome.

Art: 9.5/10 Very good atmospheric and expressive artwork, action pages are very nice to look at, everyday art is a little average and plain (nothing bad about it but nothing particularly great)

Character: 8/10: most of Class E has good chemistry but some individuals can be forgotten, some characters nearing the end seem to exist for the sake of existing

Enjoyment: 10/10 There wasn't a simple chapter I didn't find myself not enjoying to some degree, there's plenty of serious and comical moments, finds a good balance between these two and I loved every second of it.

Overall: 9/10
The premise is unique, the story flows at a consistent pace throughout it's run. The main cast of characters are very fun and you're given a good view of their specific thought processes. The art is enjoyable, especially on character expressions and atmosphere. Aside from a couple of moments around the end, I don't have any problems with this manga. I highly recommend it if you're looking for a fun, surprisingly emotional story to read. Once you get past the first volume it picks up fast.

I love this manga because is original and innovative.
I like Matsui's art style and the reading is really fluently.
I love Korosensei and all the students of the 'Class E, and, in the manga, you can find more information about them and also some extra chapters.
Korosensei is the best teacher of all time!
This story should be horror, but it's really funny to read, It's true that there are some dramatic moments, but one returns to school life without suffering.
In Italy have been published also the 'Charas book' and 'Graduation' and are really well done and the color images are amazing.
By reading them you can understand the relationships between the charas and find more information about the school.
Recently 'Assassination Classroom' had a room for the exhibition of '00 for the '50th anniversary of Weekly Shonen JUmp' and it's among the best 25 series manga of the last 50 years of Shueisha.

I must say, for someone who usually hates heavily comedic stories I absolutely loved this.
This is one of the those stories that hides so much meaning and darkness under the cute characters and the genre assumptions.

Story: 10
It can say definitely that is starts of ambiguous making you utterly confused about practically everything. But invest enough and the story will become one of the richest ones you've ever read. Story is extremely unique in nature and full of surprises.

Art: 7
Unfortunately, I am not a big style of the face placement and sometimes strangely jointed characters. The overall style wasn't terrible, but not something I particularly didn't enjoy. When it comes to making some scenes really intense though, art definitely pulls through.

Character : 10
I cannot express enough how amazing these characters were. It definitely takes some time to get used to, but each character comes a long way and are unique in every aspect. Despite having so many students, each character is fleshed out amazingly. They all truly grew on me and I've never rooted for characters as much.

Enjoyment: 10
Plainly honest, I usually hate comedy and things that have the cute adorable anime cliche. Philosophical ,complex, and inspiring, this experience was definitely something I thoroughly enjoyed.

Overall: 9
Do not be fooled by the style or first bit. It holds so much more value than you may think and managed to make a gruff like me enjoy it. A mix of surprising heavy themes, increasing in magnitude as the story progresses ,dimensional characters and comedy form a masterpiece unique above most I've seen.

I loved this story. At first I thought it was fun but fanservice-y, and never in a million years expected it to go as deep as it did. It satirizes and beautifully points out the dangers of evaluating people by what they can do, and despite the name, gives a lovely message on love and friendship. The characters you think are there just for fanservice turn out to get incredible arcs. I highly recommend it; as a former teacher myself, it meant a lot to me as a story in terms of its commentary on education. Really it's an 8.5/10.

Assassination Classroom is unique.That's the word to describe the manga.It draws you in and keeps you there.

A super-being destroys a large part of the moon and then becomes a teacher.If that doesn't make you curious, I don't know what will.

It's very funny, the art is well done, and the setting of the story in particular(a school which discriminates against students who don't perform well) is refreshing.The manga hits you hard with the realism in relation to the education system.The characters are done fine.You can see the development happening gradually.

Overall, it's a fun and refreshing manga to read.This is one of the few mangas that don't leave any complaints.

NO SPOILERS
Assassination Classroom was a manga I didn't really like when I read the first volume. Was it the odd premise? Or the somewhat bland characters? I couldn't tell you, but I decided to come back to it after I heard it would end in five weeks. I'm glad I did, because I found a very well done manga that has a somewhat rough start.

STORY
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Assassination Classroom's premise is very odd to say the least. Class E3, the worst of the worst, have been given a special assignment: Kill their new teacher, punnily named Korosensei by one of the students, before their graduation in March. A somewhat odd plot, I know, but there is so much more as the story begins to expand after the first volume. The story, initially, takes a backseat to another component of the manga(more on that later). The story really does start to get interesting around the 7th volume, and only heightens throughout the story. If there is one problem with the story of the manga, it's that it didn't seem to know when to end. Without going into details, I felt it could have ended earlier than it initially did, but then Matsui decides to make 4 other 'side chapters' that, yes, may not be connected to the story, but honestly left an undesirable taste in my mouth. I didn't read them initially, because I felt that they didn't serve a purpose. Despite that, the story is one that I feel everyone should read. (9/10)

ART
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I have not read Matsui's previous work(namely Neuro), so I can't comment on how Matsui's art has evolved from his previous endeavors, but when the series first started, the art wasn't particularly great. I felt that it had lacked it's own identity, but was passable. However, as the series went on, it seemed to get it's own identity, and this is expressed most through it's character designs. (9/10)

Character
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If this manga did one thing perfectly, it was its characters. We do have a main character, but Matsui takes a route less taken with the initial storytelling: Focusing on the class as a group of characters. Instead of focusing on a only a group of characters, all of the classmates have distinctive characteristics that make them unique. Remember earlier when I said that the story initially takes a backseat in it's first 7 volumes? You rarely notice it because of how wonderful the small stories are that focus on one of the classmates. There aren't any annoying characters in the class. When it comes to antagonists, the series has them covered as well. To a power-mad principal to a master assassin, there are many great antagonists in the series. The great thing about them is that they all have their own justifications for what they are doing. (10/10)

ENJOYMENT
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I enjoyed this manga quite a lot. There are many great small arcs that are not only funny, but help develop our favorite class of underdogs, and some of the arcs that have massive revelations can be exciting and heart-wrenching, sometimes both at the same time. I had a great time reading this manga(9/10)

OVERALL
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I felt this was a great manga. The characters were great, the story was great, and I found myself reading the entire manga in the span of 5 weeks, something I had only done for Jojo's bizarre adventure before. I feel this is a great manga, and I'd recommend this manga. I can't wait for Matsui's next work. (9/10)

So I recently started to re-read this manga since I have it on my bookshelf and I realized a couple things that compelled me to give it a review on here, to explain why this is such a phenomenal story, at least to me.

Firstly, despite the large cast of characters and the fact only a handful really get focused on for more than a couple pages here and there, they are all distinct. Each character has their own drive and ambition that lets them stand up and really shine when it's their turn, and it's at a level far above other stories with large casts of characters.

Secondly, it's not just plot. We get silly, random moments all over the place, and there are several chapters that are funny and lighthearted. Of course this is because it would get pretty boring without the softer moments, but still. This is something I really want to mention, simply because you don't really want to gloss over some of these small moments. They help make the characters at times.

Of course there are other points that could be made and expanded on to explain why this is so amazing of a story. But I feel like the two thoughts I had are the ones that don't get brought up as much. So I'll just leave the review with this.

Assassination Classroom, or Anastsu Kyoushitsu if you'd prefer, is a wonderful story that I would recommend to just about anyone and everyone.

Assassination Classroom is possibly the most unique shounen/comedy/action story I have ever seen in either anime or manga. Despite it's somewhat slow start and very peculiar setup, this manga is executed very well with good pacing and astonishing character development despite the large cast.

As for the story, it is about an unfortunate group of third year middle schoolers at a prestigious school. They are "Class E" which is full of the idiots, delinquents, and other people who didn't fit into the other four classes. Their class is used as an example for the other students about what happens if you don't do well in school and is the main reason why their middle school is as famous as it is. One day, something bizarre happens. Class E gets a new teacher, but he is no ordinary teacher. Their new teacher is an extremely intelligent, fast (like "speed of sound" fast), powerful, and overall extremely advanced octopus who intends to destroy the Earth at the end of the school year just like he already destroyed half of the moon. He is soon given the name "Korosensei" and the students begin their new lives training as assassins in order to kill Korosensei (while still being normal, rejected middle school students). The reasons why Korosensei decided to become a middle school teacher for a year and why he wants to destroy the Earth are shrouded in mystery with only tiny glimpses of his past shown to the reader.

This is where I had some initial doubts about the manga, but they are cleared up very quickly. With such a bizarre setup, you would think the relationship between Korosensei and the 20 or so students would be very difficult to keep going. This, as it turns out, is actually the strongest part of the manga. Korosensei is not only incredibly intelligent, but he has every intention of helping each and every single one of his students succeed in every way possible. He is arrogant, perverted, humble, embarrassed, helpful, kind, scary, and many more things throughout the manga. Despite wanting to destroy the world and all of his students with it at the end of the year, he genuinely cares about all of them and teaches them not only in normal school subjects, but he also guides them to becoming great assassins (despite having absolutely no intention of letting them actually kill him). His bond with the students grows so much that they like him as well and even help him at times in return. The character development not only between teacher and students but also throughout the class as a whole is personally my favorite part of this manga. Watching a group of misfits with no purpose in life who are just waiting until high school when they can escape from their hellish lives in middle school grow into successful students and assassins is actually heartwarming in a way.

The art is certainly interesting especially when it comes to Korosensei. His appearance varies all the time depending on his moods, outfits, hiding techniques, etc. Each of his different moods causes a different facial coloration and pattern which leads to some psychological aspects between him and other characters (especially his common "looking down on you" face). As for his outfits and other things, they range from looking like a baseball on a field to a stag beetle outfit to horrible human disguises.

The rest of the characters are less unique. With around 20 students in the class, there are some who are not very recognizable. While the more important ones like Nagisa and Karma stand out, most of the others (often because they won't appear for many chapters) are easily forgettable in both appearance and characteristics. Still, the mangaka does usually reiterate the strong points of each character when they are playing a more important role, so this is not much of a problem.

As for the characters, it is not necessarily their individual personalities that make them enjoyable, but it is instead the way that they develop and grow together as a class. Individually (aside from maybe Nagisa and Karma), the students are not very interesting and tend to be mostly forgettable aside from the short times when they become important. Shiota Nagisa is the only real protagonist of the entire group. He doesn't often take the spotlight and plays more of a role of an onlooker and narrator for the most part. However, he does have some very interesting parts in which his inner "shounen-action-hero" self shows itself in a way fitting for an assassin. Akabane Karma is the second most important student so far. Despite being in the "failure" Class E, he is actually incredibly intelligent. Karma is a delinquent who is ecstatic to find that it is okay for him to kill his new teacher. He is a genius when it comes to strategizing but also has a tendency to be very lazy and overconfident with his abilities. And then there's everyone else which the manga does a better job of introducing than I could do in this review due to the very large cast.

I think Assassination Classroom is a very good manga which really picks up the pace as it goes along. It starts off slow due to having to introduce many characters and slowly builds their development into something amazing. What seems like just a sad-sack of young teenagers slowly turns into a more intelligent, cooperative, and murderous group of students and assassins. They really do like their new teacher, but they still know that they are doing all of this to kill him. So far at least, they haven't gone soft and decided they like him too much and don't want to kill him. They only have until the end of the school year in March. I'm really looking forward to how this manga will end. As far as shounen/action manga go, this one has kept me the most interested in seeing how it ends. If you enjoy action, comedy, or psychological manga, then I recommend reading this. It has just about everything you could hope for in action manga with a school setting and it keeps getting better and better as the story progresses.

If you are the kind of individual who enjoys tentacles of comedy penetrating your funny bone, then Assassination Classroom is the manga for you. It has everything you could want from a shonen manga: a unique art style, likeable characters, and, most importantly, it manages to maintain an essentially perfect balance between comedy and action. Unlike other comedy manga, which can often come across as being too Japanese, Assassination Classroom’s comedy is generally much more accessible, relying more on character-based comedy than wordplay (although wordplay does feature quite heavily in the beginning). 



Assessing the characters in Assassination Classroom is a difficult exercise. It took more than 50 chapters for me to really start caring about any of the characters in great detail besides Nagisa, Koro-sensei and Karasuma. There were simply too many to keep track of. Those who had their backstories even slightly fleshed out were quickly relegated to the background as the character-of-the-week took the spotlight. There are some exceptions to this, but they are few and far between.


That was what I thought before a certain arc. Suddenly, all of the character building of earlier chapters made sense, as every character had a purpose. It’s no exaggeration to say that, simply because of one arc, my entire opinion of the manga changed. It may take a ton of chapters to feel much of anything for the cast, but the investment pays off before you even realise it.

The antagonists are well-fleshed out. It’s hard to say more without spoiling (that, and the fact that little has actually been revealed of their motives), but for the moment they’re intriguing enough to maintain interest. 



The character design is not one of the manga’s strong points. There’s nothing particularly wrong with any of the designs, most of them are just completely ordinary, and therefore forgettable. There are of course exceptions: Main characters such as Nagisa and of course Korosensei have distinctive appearances, however I would honestly struggle to match the names to the faces of most characters. At least the characters all have enough personality to differentiate themselves from one another.



I feel like I’m nitpicking with the character designs, but it’s just so hard to find legitimate fault with the manga. The facial expressions more than make up for the lacking character designs, and go a long way to enhance the effect of the comedy. Korosensei’s variety of disguises and… unique ways of expressing emotion were a constant source of amusement (hell, even his standard expression can send me into fits of laughter), while the over-exaggerated expressions of the students help to drive home to often ridiculous nature of the comedy. 



The plot of Assassination Classroom is deceptive, to say the least. Judging by the synopsis, you would be forgiven for thinking that it is dark and serious for a shonen manga. That, or some kind of action-packed hentai. While it is dark in some instances (particularly in more recent chapters), for the most part it functions as an episodic lighthearted manga with some serious arcs scattered about. The plot does suffer from a slow start, but once you’re familiarised with the characters the plot becomes much more engaging. I was skeptical as to how well the school side of the plot could hold up against the assassination side, but I quickly found out that my fears were for naught. Once you’ve had some time to get invested in the students of the assassination classroom, you really want them to succeed, to rise above their peers. Most chapters feature an inspiring life lesson, which reminded me of Gintama. If you have any concerns as to how a manga can pull off a plot that takes place within the timespan of a year while maintaining a steady pace, then you should swiftly cast them into the wind and never look back. The pacing of the manga is perfect, with a definitive sense of progress being made by the end of the first semester. The fights never feel like they drag, while the studying side of things, which I initially expected to grow tedious, manages to be both humorous and tense all at once. But hey, if a plot about an octopus intent on destroying the world, who can only be stopped according to the assassination abilities of high school students, doesn’t interest you then maybe you should just stop reading here.



I’ve never struggled so hard to find fault in a manga before. Assassination Classroom has something for everyone. It’s got comedy, drama, and action in equal measure. The characters really grow on you after a time, while the antagonists give away little of their motives, giving a prevalent sense of foreboding. It’s the one manga that I could wholeheartedly recommend to anyone. If you don’t laugh at Korosensei's smiling face, then I guess this is one classroom you’re just not qualified to enter.

Assassination Classroom is an enjoyable, if overrated, series. It's one that started off merely okay, but it certainly improved as it progressed and I read more and more.

First of all, the premise is certainly unique. A super powerful creature threatens to destroy the world, yet he wants to teach a middle school class? It's a concept that will leave you wondering what's going on, and this is something the series uses to keep you going: What are Koro-sensei's secrets, and when will we discover them? And I can say that while you do have to wait quite a while to find out everything, it's certainly worth it. There's a drip feed of information that we get throughout the story, and I do think this was the correct way to do it, rather than dump a ton of exposition on us all at once.

Aside from Koro-sensei's backstory, the series mostly focuses on Koro-sensei helping his students overcome various challenges they face in their lives, which helps to develop both the students and Koro-sensei. We get to see Koro-sensei acting like a real teacher, helping the students deal with real problems. Things do change up occasionally to something a bit more serious, such as an elaborate assassination attempt that the students have planned out, or the students having to deal with something the school principal has planned to sabotage them.

Now the story is definitely not perfect. In the beginning, I found myself not enjoying this series as much as I thought I would from the hype it gets. The main problem I feel the series had was consistency -- it would fluctuate between exciting and mundane. In the end, it created the feeling that every time it would start to get really good, it would immediately lose all of its momentum as it drifted back to something much less interesting. This problem is gradually reduced as it goes on, but it was a huge issue that kept me from really getting into the series for a while.

And what is the story without characters? And oh boy, does this series have a lot of them. It's extremely challenging for a series to develop a large supporting cast without making pacing drag or getting formulaic (i.e., a pattern of each character getting a story all in a row). The story calls for an entire classroom of children, their teachers, and more. Unfortunately it just wasn't possible to flesh all of these characters out in any sort of reasonable amount of time while also moving the story forward. Instead, most of the attention is placed on just a few characters: Nagisa, Kaede, Karma, Koro-sensei, Karasuma-sensei, Bitch-sensei, and the school principal. While most of the other characters are at least touched upon, they are mostly relegated to the background. What was nice was that even though most of their development was unseen by us, they would continue to appear and have consistent traits, so clearly the author had personalities for all of them. That all being said, the characters who do receive the most attention are all very interesting and well-developed. They each have different motivations in the situations we find them in, and it's never really unclear why a character is acting a certain way (barring when that mystery is a plot point).

I found the art to be pretty standard. Certainly not bad, but nothing that made me sit back and truly admire a page or panel. Unfortunately the large supporting cast combined with the limited colors available to a mangaka can sometimes make it difficult to figure out who's who, at least for the background characters. The main characters are all visually distinct and you'll never find yourself mistaking them for anyone else, but I often found myself saying, "Wait, who's that again?" when it came to some of the lesser characters.

Overall I think Assassination Classroom is a series that, while flawed, is still an enjoyable ride. The story really gets going toward the end when a lot of things are finally revealed to the reader. It's just that getting there can be a bit tough at first.

Assassination Classroom is one of my favorite manga in recent years, and it caught me completely by surprise as I was reading it. Short, sweet, packed with funny moments and extremely heartfelt moments, I most definitely recommend anyone should read it. My recommendation is to read it to about chapter 40, at which point you can see if it's for you or not.

Story: The story is fantastic. It's got a unique premise, it's got a continuous sense of progression and incredible pacing. It's got some crazy twists, as well as some predictable moments. It's overall quite light hearted despite some of the subject matter, but it executes it all almost flawlessly...ALMOST. It does fumble at some moments and cops out a few times, but never hard enough to ruin any crucial moments.

Art: Simplistic, but I think it lends itself well to the comedic nature. The design of Korosensei in particular is definitely A+, and they play around with the art style to really capitalize on the humor. This is probably the weakest part of the series, but nothing major.

Character: Absolutely love the characters. It takes alot of skill to take this class full of students and give them all fairly interesting personalities and quirks, as well as dive really deep into select ones such as Nagisa, Karma, etc. Korosensei himself is one of my favorite characters in Manga as an extremely goofy, caring and potentially dangerous individual.

Enjoyment: Where AssClass really shines. Whether the class is doing something simple and mundane, or the class is taking on a dangerous assassin or dealing with oppressive situations and tests, the series constantly plows through all sorts of interesting scenarios with fantastic execution and pacing. There are moments in the series where everything the class has been working towards culminates into these incredibly hype moments that are very hard to compete with.

Overall : 10/10.

It was a very nice and not tediously long manga series. I loved it, we got to know all characters (some more than others), we got failure, success, laughs and tear. It ended where it should have ended but I still wished that the outcome was different and that after the big event at the end everything wasn't as rushed up (3 chapters for so many students is just not enough Matsui Yuusei-sensei! >_<' ) but still I'm really glad I picked this series up when I read by chance the plot and got me hooked from start to end. You have my big thanks Matsui Yuusei-sensei :)

So let's get going with the review!

Story 10
Why full score on this? Well, you'll not find a shounen like this anywhere. You have comedy, things that will bring you to tears, others that will make you rage and cling to your chair from wanting to punch someone. This is how amazing Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is and is all thanks to Matsui Yuusei-sensei. He did a great work in building the story and bringing the characters up to the same level, which leads us to...

Character 10
What?! 10 again? YES! He brought up all characters back story without forcing it too much, without overused flashbacks and was able to make us love characters that at first we just hated (sorry Karma-kun, but I hated you at first xD). Little by little we were led by the mangaka to understand Korosensei, his reasons, how he changed for the best and how badass he was. He was able to do this not only with Korosensei but to many of the characters. He was even able to give to every single one of them a purpose in there, a speciality and both likes and dislikes, not just a fill in for a classroom which for me was a great achievement.

Enjoyment 9
Ok, so no 10 on this, why? Sometimes a given arc was dragged on too much for my amusement, not so badly that I would give an 8 but still enough for me not to give a 10. Sometimes they just get "saved" by a thin hair string of luck or absurd/non-humanly possible happens and that kind of pisses me off too much (yes I'm looking at you too on this Shokugeki no Souma!).

Art 9
I'll give 9 because art for me is a big deal on manga even on small things. Matsui Yuusei-sensei is very good at flashy things, movements and so forth BUT he has a problem with some expressions and makes them seem a little bit dull sometimes. From time to time I would see some posture/angles not quite right, or hands too square, minimal stuff like that that are not a big deal to actually drop this even further down on the score.

Overall 10
It has to be 10 on this. Like I said at the beginning, I loved the series from the moment I picked it up and I highly recommend this series to anyone that likes "alternative" shounen that isn't just fighting, overused drama or full of fillers.

I really hope you'll enjoy it as much as I did ^_^

Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (Assassination Classroom) incorporates a mix of comedy and action which is executed well and differs from other shounen manga that I have read before. From the start I found the premise a bit strange and how could this be popular at all, but as you go on I found the series to be interesting and enjoyable to read.

How exactly do you assassinate someone that can travel at Mach 20 and move from one location to the next in the blink of an eye?

Story: 9/10

The story is simple and is about a super powered alien octopus (Koro-Sensei) that has destroyed a part of the moon and declares that he will destroy the Earth unless he becomes the Homeroom teacher of Class E (End Class) at Kunugigaoka Middle School. His students train to become assassins where they have to assassinate him before they graduate and be able to claim a large sum of reward money from the Japanese government.

It is not solely based on the students trying to assassinate Koro-Sensei as we get to see how the students have to deal with being in Class E and labelled losers and rejects from the other classes. The situation the students are in is definitely not ordinary, but at the end of the day they are just only students who have to study and sit exams like anyone else.

All the antics that the students and Koro-sensei get up to are always fun to read and most of the time there is a lesson that has been taught which I enjoy.

Art: 8/10

The art is simple, but is unique in that all the characters are drawn differently and are quite distinguishable from each other. The best part is Koro-Sensei’s face and the various emotions that he portrays. From smiling, being flustered and perverted to outright angry and furious I always get a smile at how many he can pull off and continuously be ridiculous. His emotions may be simple, but sometimes simple is best and this works so well with Koro-Sensei.

The cover page for most chapters are always great to look at as you get to see something different involving the teacher and/or his students.

Character 9/10

The students that develop and grow throughout the series is what I really love about this series. The way they overcome being in Class E together and work as one to accomplish their tasks is what I love seeing. Nagisa Shiota who is the main character is someone that believed being at the bottom meant he had no chance or opportunities to display his actual worth to the people and world around him. However with Koro-Sensei’s guidance he and all the other students were able to overcome their current situations and set out goals that they wanted to achieve.

You would think that a super powered alien octopus that has super speed along with other abnormal abilities would be menacing and terrifying all the time, but turns out he is ridiculous with his approaches to teaching and the things he does such as travelling from one side of the planet to get a dessert or wanting to watch a movie.

Even with his outrageous approaches Koro-Sensei is still a teacher at heart and wants his students to achieve their goals.

The other teachers Karasuma and Irina Sensei are also both enjoyable characters as they grow to understand the students and each other as well.

Enjoyment: 9/10

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this manga and I look forward to each week wondering what kind of adventures they will get up to next. Whether it be inside or outside of the classroom.

At the time of posting this review I have already collected 8 volumes of the English translated version of this manga and plan to re-read this series as this is how much I love reading this story.

Overall: 9/10

This is a fun and enjoyable manga to read. The story is simple enough to grasp and easy to pick up. The premise may sound strange, but I would definitely recommend this to anyone that loves the shounen genre or anyone that is looking for something different. Just because you are at the bottom doesn’t mean you can automatically give up. By working together and encouraging each other you can accomplish the goals you set out.