Can Koro Sensei survive the masterful tactics of Itona and his Sensei when they use his two greatest weaknesses against him?!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Yusei Matsui
Translation: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
Adaptation: Bryant Turnage
What They Say
Ever caught yourself screaming, “I could just kill that teacher”? What would it take to justify such antisocial behavior and weeks of detention? Especially if he’s the best teacher you’ve ever had? Giving you an “F” on a quiz? Mispronouncing your name during roll call…again? How about blowing up the moon and threatening to do the same to Mother Earth—unless you take him out first?! Plus a reward of a cool 100 million from the Ministry of Defense! Okay, now that you’re committed… How are you going to pull this off? What does your pathetic class of misfits have in their arsenal to combat Teach’s alien technology, bizarre powers and…tentacles?!
The 3-E students discover that Koro Sensei’s greatest weakness might be a common substance. Will they be able to use it to assassinate him while he helps Meg, formerly of the varsity swim team, with her greatest weakness? The next assassination attempt, implemented by Terasaka, is more elaborate but endangers his fellow students. Can he save them without saving his target? Then, the top class at school, including Principal Asano’s son, conspires to prevent 3-E from ever rising closer to the top!
Content: (please note that content portions of this review contains spoilers):
The hard driven Meg gets her moment in the spotlight with this volume. She is a bit of an enigma to her fellow Class 3-E students. Meg is driven, great at swim, and gets good grades so it doesn’t make any sense that she would be relegated to Class 3-E. This examination of a minor character is exactly what I like about this series as we learn about Meg’s personality, and she also presents her plan to assassinate Koro Sensei to her classmates.
Meg points out that Koro Sensei can’t handle water well; it makes him swell up and slow down. She wants to use it to their advantage, but Itona and his Sensei will beat her to the punch. They have secretly pulled one of the Class 3-E students to their side and used him to set chemical traps around Koro Sensei and the pool. It will be quite a sneak attack on their part, and they plan to throw in a last devious piece to the puzzle to handicap Koro Sensei even further. I dare say that it may prove to be the end of Koro Sensei and Class 3-E will also lose out on the bounty for killing Koro Sensei.
But before all that can happen, can Koro Sensei prepare his students enough to get them to finish in the top 50 students in any topic for this year’s finals? While it seems unlikely, nothing is impossible. In fact, the students are so convinced that they can finish well that they accept a challenge from Class A. The class that gets the best grades can give the losing class one order. While it seems innocent, Principal Asano’s son is in Class A and the best student in school and he wants to blackmail his father and needs something against him. Thus, he writes a complicated contract for Class A and Class E to sign, and buried in that contract is a clause that he hopes will give him something to use against his principal father.
Can Class 3-E save themselves from the inevitable humiliation that Class A will mete out? Can Koro Sensei survive Itona’s powerful attack? Can anyone kill Koro Sensei before the year is up and he destroys Earth?!
In Summary
The thing I love most about a good property is when the anime does a faithful adaptation of the original manga, yet leaves some things out. Assassination Classroom is living up to my high expectations. While most of the manga has been adapted into the first season of the anime, there are chapters scattered along the way that did not get adapted. Having personally watched the anime first, it is proving quite enjoyable to now read through the manga and find those little-hidden story nuggets. This volume has a great example with a chapter focusing on Meg and the reasons she was demoted to Class 3-E. But what makes it shine is Koro Sensei’s ability to point out Meg’s faults and help her remedy her problems. Another great volume in a highly entertaining series.
Content Grade: A-
Art Grade: A-
Packaging Grade: A-
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Viz Media
Release Date: October 6th, 2015
MSRP: $9.99
