Ansatsu Kyoushitsu
Assassination Classroom

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

Truly the best manga ever created.This is by far the most enjoyable manga of all time. If you are a school student, this series has got to be the most relatable for your time. If you are not a school student, then you may be able to relive your moments as a school student. The length of the manga is appropriate to the complex storyline that in encompasses. It is really a nice way to enjoy the introduction of characters and see how they are developed before moving on to the core elements of the plot.

Story: 10/10
The story is amazing. As I have said earlier, ... it is about a school, with a slight twist of assassination. The story may seem out of this world initially, with the concept of assassination within a classroom setting preposterous. However, the assassination does not get in the way of the values that lie therein, which strike me deeper than any other manga. Being a student in Singapore, the pressure of school is immense, with the concept of "The Survival Of The Fittest", which is exactly what this series tackles, surprisingly. On top of that, there is an element of strategy; the way you should think in order to outsmart somebody stronger than you. What could be better than all that packed nicely into one comedic comic? Hence, despite the initial plot twist about assassination, which itself is quite appropriate, the plot is nothing more than a school setting with core values that will touch your heart. This is certainly one you will never forget.

Art: 10/10
I declare myself an expert in art after reading Bakuman and so the following could be accepted fairly well. Personally, I feel that the art matches perfectly to the joyful times of school, and so it is still pretty enjoyable. Also, I am sure that the art is good enough for its time period. Characters are drawn well enough and the action scenes are beautifully created; it is quite clear, and you can feel the actions running through the panels. Hence, the art manages to balance out the serious moments and the hilarious moments.

Character: 10/10
Interesting character developments as you get to know the characters a lot more, along with the current position that they are facing. Over the course of the manga, you will discover that there is more to it than just assassination, but being a class, united. With the characters in place, the manga tackles issues such as teacher-student relationships, student-peer relationships, and to a lesser extent family relationships. As the class is a big one, it would naturally be true if not all the characters get enough showtime, and that is perfectly fine. By focusing on two of the class members and having the rest as actively supporting them, you can feel that it is exactly like a classroom setting.

Enjoyment: 10/10
I have thoroughly enjoyed this manga, being a student myself. Each chapter covers something new that adds an interesting twist, keeping you engaged with it all the way. With the values taught in this show, as well as the continuously funny scenes which never bore me out, this has got to be the best manga ever created.

Overall: 10/10
As I have said, this is truly a masterpiece, and to all of you students out there, this is something that you have to read. Stunning, just stunning. You have got to read it for yourselves to find out. For those who have read this far, here's a piece of advice: take it slow, you don't want this series to end that quickly.

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.

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
-----
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
-----

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
-----

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
-----

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
-----

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)