Lets talk about Ansatsu Kyoushitsu/Assassination Classroom Season 1 & 2

 

I know the name sounds pretty dope, not gonna lie. 

SYNOPSIS 

When a mysterious creature chops the moon down to a permanent crescent, the students of class 3-E of Kunugigaoka Middle School find themselves confronted with an enormous task: assassinate the creature responsible for the disaster before Earth suffers a similar fate. However, the monster, dubbed Koro-sensei (the indestructible teacher), can fly at speeds of up to Mach 20, which he demonstrates freely, leaving any attempt to subdue him in his extraterrestrial dust. Furthermore, the misfits of 3-E soon find that the strange, tentacled beast is more than just indomitable—he is the best teacher they have ever had!

Adapted from the humorous hit manga by Yuusei Matsui, Ansatsu Kyoushitsu tells the story of these junior high pupils as they polish their assassination skills and grow to stand strong against the oppressive school system, their own life problems, and one day, Koro-sensei.

Ah, school. The inescapable part of our lives where we spend a minimum of 12 years of our lives learning a wide array of subjects, facts, and topics that we most likely will never use the majority of in our professional lives. So, with another school anime, what kind of anime would we get from something about a bunch of middle school students? Well...how about one where the middle school students try and kill their teacher?

Story  - 8.12/10

 E class, also known as the end class in the prep school of Kunugigaoka Junior high is a place fabled in the school to be the worst class, housing the worst students in the school, grade-wise. Here, the students of this fabled "failure" are tasked with a rather...unique task, killing this yellow octopus-like...thing who according to him, has turned the moon into a permanent crescent and this coming March, will blow up the earth as well. Oh boy...that's a situation to be in.

Assassination classroom, or AssClass (lol)as a shorthanded was of calling the show, follows the story of the end class as they try and kill their teacher during their first semester in 9th grade. With every few episodes or so, one or more people in the classroom attempt to assassinate their teacher known as Koro-sensei (literally unkillable teacher in translation), usually ending in failure because this teacher can fly at Mach 20, is resistant towards conventional weapons, and only a particular set of weaknesses that you learn over time. (Basically the story of "teacher too OP, GG, plz nerf)

While the show focuses pretty heavily on the aspect of killing an alien creature so to say, a lot of the show as well talks about the idea of teaching and comparing that to the idea of assassination. Because the show is centered around these academically challenged students, the show also emphasizes their growth as students and a person's learning potential, which actually puts in some pretty good themes. But don't worry, this show is plenty about trying to kill an octopus, so you don't have to worry about the actual school learning taking over the story.

Characters  - 8.40/10

 Whenever you're making any comedy anime, the most important part of making memorable comedy is to have memorable characters that you can remember the personalities of to deliver those sweet, sweet jokes that make comedy so good. Luckily, AssClass succeeds in doing this.

Up first, is our main protagonist of the story, the hero among heroes, the one who will bust our funny bones, Koro-sensei. You thought it was one of the E class kids?! No, it's the thing that wants to destroy the earth that's the real hero here. (Ok, that was a bit contradictory). As I have stated before, Koro-sensei is, for the most part, the pathway for the show's comedy. Being a bit of a silly creature that sometimes makes absolutely no sense, Koro-sensei is the most memorable character of this show not only because the show revolves around trying to kill him but because you won't forget him. Like seriously, it's going to be very hard to forget a yellow, pervy octopus that flies around at Mach 20 speed going Nufufufufu everywhere with a big toothy grin.

And then we have class E. I grouped these characters up together for a few reasons. One, there're 30+ of them. I'm not making 30 paragraphs to talk about them, it's too much work. Two, it's easier to talk about these characters' purposes. Throughout the show, you do get to know more about class E. Their names, personalities, and for a couple, how they got put into the end class. A lot of these characters, namely Nagisa, Kayano, Karma, and a few others are talked about a lot and for the audience, are more well known. Inversely though, many of the class E characters don't get as well as an introduction as others do. As a result, many are otherwise unknown or mentioned for a brief second. Because there're 30+ students, it becomes a challenge to really know the individual characters very well mostly because, for the most part, the show treats them all as one unit.

The characters are the most vital part of Ansatsu Kyoushitsu. The main focus for all characters in Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is growth & development. These two things are literally the key to what makes this series work out so great. As to be expected of course, during the beginning of the series season 1 until the ending, the characters are lacking strength, potential, and skill. My favorite thing about the series characters is that I felt like I got to experience growth along with the students, and the teachers in this series. The way the characters react when they learn new things or acquire a new skill because I felt so involved while watching it made me feel like I learned something new too. For example, if Koro-sensei is speaking directly to the students about studying for an exam and he's giving them both words of advice and encouragement then I, the viewer am also receiving some sort of acknowledgment too. Another thing about the characters is that they're all made to be either relate-able and or likable. That way viewers like me feel like they are on the same level as the characters in the show. Out of all departments listed from the "rate the anime" category, I would say that characters are my most favorite thing about the series.

As for side characters, the most noticeable ones are the other teachers of the E class, Karasuma, and Irina, or, as everyone loves to call her, "Bitch-sensei".

 (If I was lying, these parentheses would be saying something else, also she kills people by seducing them). As far as side characters go, these two are the most used and most recognizable, being blessed with roles that have them appear much more often than a standard side character, which makes them better characters overall. The other side characters for this show serve similar purposes in the memorable department, but mostly only serve to be an obstacle for our class E to overcome.

In terms of comedy, I would say it is one of the better ones to come out in recent times. It has a fun, 50 episode runtime, there're great and memorable characters in there, and there is a method behind the madness. The only major issue I have is that the jokes pertaining to a certain character don't always get translated well, so some things might be hit or miss. 

The second season of Assassination Classroom picks up from where it left off, and boy does it get great from there! A few parts of the story in this season feel a little rushed, but it was certainly never boring! It provided a lot of character development for each character in this series, even some of the ones that started out unlikable. 

You should just know that Season 2 is better than Season 1 in all aspects of stories, twists, songs, character development, etc.

The art and animation in season two of AssClass (still amused by this abbreviation) is pretty much the same as in season one, seeing that it's still Lerche animating it, so there really isn't much for me to say here. It's still well-done animation that especially stands out in the easy-to-get-into action scenes. The Japanese voice acting for this season is pretty good, too. Now, as for the music, I honestly thought that both the opening and ending themes of this season left more of an impact than the opening and ending themes of the first.