Assassination Classroom by Yuusei Matsui

After several problems, usual health stuff, corrupted picture files, and wrong info, this post is much later than I thought it would be! Geeze, I am always nothing but excuses. Anyway, the Easter post probably won't be done by the day of Easter now but I'm glad I'm still able to sit and read so many good (and even the bad) stories. So, obligatory Shonen Jump parody:

What sort of manga do you suppose that is?

Assassination Classroom by Yuusei Matsui

Art and story (c) Yuusei Matsui

Well, I guess that's not that great of a color title picture...

Better? I think so.

Genre: Shonen, Action, School Life
Length: 21 Volumes – 180 Chapters and 4 Bonus Chapters


          This manga was created by the same mangaka who did Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro, which is a particular favorite of mine (so much so that I have mentioned it several times in other posts for absolutely no reason except because I love it so much). The art of this

manga does differ from Neuro in some ways but stays exactly the same in others. There is a strangeness to the art that I attributed to lack of practice and the supernatural nature of Neuro, but Assassination Classroom has shown that a lot of the strangeness in the art is just actually very characteristic of this artist. Odd angles and the body proportions do seem strange at first, but once you are used to the art it hardly even registers. The creepy factor is turned way down on this work, though it is thrown in for no reason any chance the author finds, but the same care to clothing and backgrounds is there. The background characters, too, are the same weirdly normal and oddly not normal that tends to lead the eye to roam the crowds. The main characters themselves are very varied, and its almost strange to see all the young, fresh faces amid some of the terribly real looking monster faces. Another thing you get used to, though. The student characters are one of the big differences from Neuro, though, they seem so wholesomely cute most of the time. I suppose it helps with the discrepancy between their usual demeanor and the fact that they will instantly be trying to kill something the next panel. The big star, the tentacled teacher, is really rendered well, too, to the point that his movements are completely plausible. Its not as reality breaking and Neuro, but Assassination Classroom has the same mix of realness and odd-ball situations that makes for an interesting manga. What can I say, all its faults are pretty much moot because I'm such a fan of the artist.
           A certain junior high class had the strangest beginning of the year. Not only was the moon permanently turned to a crescent by an an unknown force, when they started the semester a literal monster appeared as their teacher claiming to have done the deed!

Now, since the government cannot actually kill the octopus-looking creature, they have given in to the monster's demands for now and what the monster wants? To be a teacher. And because of the secluded nature of their particular classroom they were chosen to be his students. Along with the new teacher they are given a special assignment, however, if they do not kill the creature by the time they graduate, he will do to the earth what he did to the moon! Now this group of misfits has become the official saviors of the world and the so called Assassination Classroom where they do school work and the work of assassins is in session.
           I was looking up finished Shonen Jump titles on a whim when I found out that this manga had finished. I immediately went to find it and read it, I was so pumped up to see it was done! Majin Tantei Nogami Neuro left such an impression on me that I was sure I'd like Assassination Classroom as well, and I was not disappointed. The set up is already very interesting, and allows for a typical school life manga to be oddly juxtaposed with intense violence. It also allows for a large set of characters that you get to know one by one in an easy going fashion while a tentacle monster dodges bullets and knives at the speed of Mach 20. The humor is excellent, there aren't a lot of manga that I laugh out loud about, but this one I did so through out the whole thing. The weird gags and the silly characters can bring back the humor during even the most intense fight. You know what, I'm going to throw another joke in here just because I want to:

The tentacle teacher, known as Koro Sensei (a play on words combining sensei, or teacher, and korosenai, which means can't be killed), is a twist on the “perfect teacher for delinquents” character and seeing the class become one minded in working together to do him in as well as earn his praises is very entertaining. The school life of the students gaining confidence and growing beyond themselves is really the main part of the story beyond the whole assassination stuff and you really get to know them well in a natural way. Its not like, here's this person's chapter, now its this person, though there is a little of that when new characters are introduced but its all in a light and heartwarming fashion that things progress. Though there are a few I'd like to get to know better, actually. The chubby girl, for example, needed more face time. The school sections were just as compelling as the

This guy is a tame one.

assassination sections, truthfully. Seeing the students succeed is very rewarding. Speaking of the school sections, that was one of the times the creepy was allowed in. Utilizing the fact that taking a test is just sitting at a desk, you are thrown into the minds of the students where the questions are strange and grotesque monsters, the harder the question, the weirder the creatures, and it really lessens the boring act of watching test taking. That tall guy is one of them, though he's pretty normal. I found that to be a very intriguing way of getting around the normalcy of school, and the principal's twisted nature adds to that, too. The ending is really uplifting as well, and the extras included in the last volume are full of laughs. I really don't want to give anything away about the ending though, lets say if you imagine what might happen with the basic knowledge that Koro Sensei is the best teacher and that the students are getting better and better at attacking him, you'd probably guess how it ends but, I assure you it will not be predicable beyond that. There's a lot of twists and turns that come full circle, too, so that is pleasing to see as well. The one issue I had was with the too easy way that a certain issue was sidestepped, which explaining will give too much of the ending away so this all might not make much sense with how vague I'm being, but I think final actions of the story allow the situation to get away with it's simple and “happy” resolution. I don't think I mentioned it in my Neuro review, but the author likes to sprinkle in complicated theories and interesting hobbies as the manga goes on, which makes things more interesting, too. A big part of the plot is the school work, for example, so math problems and chemistry stuff is thrown in during those times. And then there is all the student's hobbies that leak in, and the science behind Koro Sensei himself. So there is a lot to get engrossed in. I really liked to see what would happen next, plus when and where the next fight would happen. To sum up this fangirling vomit of a review, the fight scenes are really good, the characters are interesting and grow on you very quickly, and the story sees itself all the way to its conclusion in a rewarding manner. There isn't much else you can ask for in a story about a whole group of kids trying to become killers and ace their final exams. Though, I still liked Neuro better...



5/5 Fun, exciting, and filled with tentacles.

An odd assortment, indeed.