Assassination Classroom: Season 1 Part 2 (UK Rating: 15)
The big three of Shonen Jump may now be down to one, but there have been plenty of new series in the last few years that have been great breakout hits. My Hero Academia, Black Clover and Assassination Classroom, for instance. The manga series may have ended in Japan, but the anime is only just reaching UK shores. This second half to the first season collects 11 episodes, along with some nice extras, and is available from All the Anime on 26th September.
Part 1 of this first season spent its time building up the premise and introducing the cast, and a very original premise it is! A fairly omnipotent Octopus-looking humanoid destroys 70% of the moon, and he then threatens to wipe out the Earth, unless they manage to kill him first, that is. Heck, he will even help them off him by training the perfect assassins! He offers to train a class of delinquents and failures from one of the top schools in Japan; these kids will be trained to become the perfect assassins.
The students may have an opportunity that school kids the world over would kill for: the chance to try and off their teacher! However, these children find that this monster isn’t as bad as he seems. As the first part developed, it was obvious the monster, dubbed “Koro-Sensei” by the youngsters, really cared for his students and, while his methods may be slightly eccentric, he helps his class to develop not only into killing machines but also helping them in their studies and their home lives to become better students and better people.
The class is filled with likeable characters, an impressive feat considering it’s a class of twenty-eight, yet the series still manages to make each character individual and three-dimensional. Some of the class, of course, get more screen-time and development – the quiet and somewhat effeminate Nagisa, the slacker genius Karma, and the simple bully Terasaka – but they all get some time to shine. On top of the class, the first half also introduced some faculty members: a highly skilled female seductress/assassin known affectionately by the class as Miss Bitch, a sinister mastermind in the school chairman Asano, and the stoic Karasuma, an ex-special forces officer who is tasked with overseeing the operation and also acting as PE teacher to the class.
This second half to the season starts strong but finishes with an arc that is quite disappointing. The beginning of this second part includes some great standalone stories; E-Class is still training to take out Koro-Sensei, but along the way some new challenges appear. An ex-special forces teacher with a cruel streak and a unique teaching method is recruited as a new PE teacher. E-Class is forced to take on the best the school has to offer in an exhibition match where they are embarrassed every year, followed by taking on the school elites in some big exams. There’s also the small matter of the mysterious Shiro, a hooded and robed figure who seemingly has a past with Koro-Sensei and his new disciple Itona, a young boy whose hair has the same abilities as Koro-Sensei’s tentacles. Although many of these stories are quite episodic, they all develop the characters and the overarching plot of the story. Most importantly, there is plenty of the comedy and heart, which has made this show such a hit since its launch in JUMP!
The show has problems in this half, however; the arc where the kids are taking their exams has some strange design choices. Now, this is a shonen show and, as such, battles are a necessity, but the decision to show the students undertaking the exams depicted metaphorically as a gladiatorial showdown against Minotaurs and other beasts is just strange. Then there is the finale to the season; it starts promising with the children hatching a masterful plan to finally off their dear old Koro-Sensei, but things take a turn for the unexpected and a group of the students end up facing off against trained assassins and killers to try and save the day. It gives a little character development to Nagisa and shows how far the class has come in its training but feels just out of place and far weaker than following the day-to-day lives of students at school and their attempts on Koro-Sensei.
There are some major voice actors in both the English and Japanese versions; for example, Koro-Sensei in Japanese is voiced by Jun Fukuyama, the voice of Grell in Black Butler and Lelouch in Code Geass amongst plenty of others. In English, it’s Sonny Strait, best known as Krillin in Dragon Ball Z and Maes Hughes in Full Metal Alchemist. The English voice actors provide a special bonus on this release, too. As opposed to just having the usual trailers and clean opening/closing sequences, there are commentary tracks for two episodes, along with a “Top 10 Best Moments” feature. Episode 14 has a commentary track from Lindsay Seidel (Nagisa) and Sonny Strait (Koro-Sensei), while Episode 17 provides a track from Martha Harms (Miss Bitch) and Chris Ryan (Karasuma). The commentary tracks are really enjoyable, and both pairs of actors/actresses play well off of each other, and the banter has some funny moments and some interesting insights into the stars and the show.
