Fear the Reaper
What They Say:
One day a weird tentacle creature destroys 70% of the moon and threatens to do the same to Earth in a year. However in exchange for being allowed to teach a group of misfit students called the E-Class, he’ll allow them to try and assassinate him. With the chance to earn 10 billion yen and prove their worth to the world, the kids are willing to give it a shot, but this thing might just end up being the best teacher they’ve ever had.
The Review:
Content (warning as portions of this review may contain spoilers): It’s time for yet another “serious” episode of Assassination Classroom and what an episode it is. This week brings us the proper introduction of a major threat that the show’s been building up for a while now, and it makes for one of the breeziest entries the show’s had on a while. On the downside that makes some of events here feel like half an episode, but it definitely gives the feeling that Class E’s found themselves in their deadliest situation yet.
Thing start off on a fairly light note as Irina’s birthday just recently passed, and the kids try to use it as another opportunity to have her and Karasuma hook up. However their plans quickly backfire when they buy a gift for Karasuma to give to her and doesn’t take it well when she finds out. Interestingly enough though, it seems that Karasuma’s no fool and has actually been aware of her feelings all along, but believes they’re unnecessary to the mission at hand and that she instead needs to be laser focused on taking out Korosensei. Irina suddenly disappears for the next few days after that and the kids are concerned, although it doesn’t take them too long to realize what happened.
Remember that flower shop guy who’s been in the background for the last few episodes? Well if you haven’t you’re in for a surprise as it turns out he’s been observing the kids for a while now and is none other than the Reaper, who’s been built up since last season as the most dangerous assassin in the business. He’s taken Irina hostage and tells the kids that if they want her back they have to come and face him alone. Needless to say it’s a trap but the Reaper does a pretty effective job of living up to his reputation as the kids usual brand of tactics are no match for him, and even Nagisa’s assassin mode isn’t much of a threat. While he takes out the boys one by one, the girls attempt to rescue Irina but they’re only in for another big surprise as Irina double-crosses them in favor of working with the Reaper as Karasuma and Korosensei finally figure out what’s going on.
While the show’s history with actual assassins is a bit of a mixed bag, this one is definitely one of the better efforts on that front. Unlike Takaoka and his goons who felt a bit more like comical shonen villains than professional killers, the Reaper feels like much more like a true assassin, and the visual direction really helps to sell his presence as his “assassin-mode” appears as a black void that the kids have no hope of touching and it adds a touch of horror to the situation as the kids realize they’re more in over their heads than usual this time. Although it’s worth noting that the episode avoids letting things get a little too dark, and there’s still a few good gags thrown in to take a bit of the edge off without completely detracting from what’s happening. As for the Karasuma/Irina stuff though, it does it’s job but it’s also pretty obvious at this point that Irina wouldn’t really sell the kids out, so it’s not as strong a cliffhanger as the show clearly intended it to be. Still it’s not enough to take away the rest of the tension here, and while the effectiveness of what’s happening is pretty dependent on how this concludes, it’s certainly leaving me eager to see how that happens.
In Summary:
The show gets back into serious mode this week as it finally brings us the long awaited introduction of the Reaper. Thankfully unlike some of the other assassins encountered thus far, he actually lives up to the hype, and his presence is terrifying enough to make for Class E’s most dangerous situation yet. The Irina/Karasuma drama here isn’t quite as effective but also helps to add to things a bit, and it all makes for a pretty hectic scenario. Of course a lot of what happens here is dependent on next week’s episode sticking the landing, but the show’s had consistent delivery so far so I have the feeling it’ll make it.
Grade: B+
Streamed By: Funimation, Hulu
