When it comes to anime, the norm is to divide them into very specific genres, as most of them are directed towards a certain type of public that demands the content to be one way or another, in short,to accommodate their likes. Thanks to that is fairly easy to find exactly what you want for any given moment, and discard or start shows based on that. But sometimes, these classifications fail to tell the whole story and might be misleading about the contents of a series, especially when the writers bet on a more creative approach.
Assassination Classroomfinished its run over 6 years ago, and it’s still remembered fondly by a good number of fans throughout the world. The story of Koro-Sensei and the class 3-Ewas one to rememberand toping the popularity charts season after season. Until this day,Assassination Classroomhas been defined as a comedy, or action-based comedy, and easy description given how many hilarious moments it contains, from the very first episode. However, as the real story starts to unfold, the emotion shifts plenty of times, all leading up to a finale that is not precisely typical in a comedy, but more of a tragedy.
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Death, Trauma and Children
Everything starts in a class rather unique. The teacher is an octopus-like yellow being with mass-destruction capabilities and almost impossible to kill. The students are trying to put and end to his life at every chance. Koro-Sensei, name the students gave to him,seems like an amazing teacher, dedicated and passionate about making the students grow in a number of areas, which also include assassination. The life at the Kunugigaoka Junior High School change forever when this omnipotent character decided to teach the class 3-E under the threat of destroying the entire world. In response, the government offered a substantial reward for anyone able to kill him. The other teachers have been replaced by professional assassin that collaborate with the students to win the prize money. The only condition is that it has to happen before a full year passes.
From that descriptionAssassination Classroomwould seem like your everyday Shonen, but witty writing and excellent character development turn the tables for the show, making it funny and entertaining without relying on impressive battles and action scenes. The characters' personalities are as relatable as they can be and represented in the littledetails such as their color or clothes. But what that also shows is how broken some of them are, hidden behind the jokes and cheerful mood that Koro-Sensei always brings around.
A group of teenagers has been told that they have to be hostages to the world’s most dangerous creature, and they also should attempt to murder him in the meantime. A plot completely unattached from reality that somehow achieves to make to spectator care and understand their problems. In that sense, and at this point, the comedy-style is evident, but a clue that points in a different direction is the conflict with the idea of assassination and how this has changed their lives forever. The protagonist and narrator of the story, Nagisa Shiota, has discovered his hidden talent as an assassin and with his classmates treats the idea of killing Koro-Sensei as a game with a reward. Their moral capabilities have been clouded by a society that somehow has agreed to impose on them such a burden, all while concealing the truth about their teacher.
A dark-themed show has presented a group of kids as a tool that society can use in any way, as long as it leads to the desired result. The joy and joking around displayed essentially by Koro-Sensei but also by the students serves as a mask for the frustration and fear, a way for them to embrace what has been thrown at them. The objective is simple, a positive mood helps the students continue with the classes like an ordinary day and allows Koro-Sensei to fulfill a last wish, one that torments him ever since that day.
A Tragic Ending
There had to be a reason for Koro-Sensei choosing this exact class as his hostages, a reason that also explained his powers and why the government accepted his conditions without any second thoughts. Before turning into a giant yellow monster he was the best assassin in the world know colloquially asShinigami. He took and apprentice, but after he mastered all the Shinigami’s teachings, he betrayed him and took his title as the Shinigami. The later known as Koro-Sensei was imprisoned in a facility that was experimenting with introducing anti-matter in living organisms.
It was during these experiments that he lost his human form and acquired hissupernatural powers, and when he met Aguri Yukimura one the professors working in the lab and also teacher of the class 3-E. She was one of the few people he was able to care about, and her death during his lost of control and scape from the facility is not only the reason behind everything, is the most traumatic event of his life to the point of making his life mission to teach that class and help them develop and grow, just how she wanted.
Aguri is only the tip of the iceberg. He wasn’t responsible for the destruction of the moon, the mandate to kill him in one year was because the experiment created a time bomb, Koro-Sensei was going to explode like the rat that destroyed the moon. But closing in on the ending, it was revealed that the explosion can be avoided with a drug they knew how to create, so the whole purpose of this was getting ready a weapon capable of eliminating him. The government saw him as a secret that had to be silenced and nothing else.
The ending itself presents the death of Koro-Sensei by the hand of his students, after they lost all their will to assassinate him. They put his life to an end the way he wanted, but they lost the best teacher they ever had. Moments before they had sworn to protect Koro-Sensei, but with their backs against the wall they had to actually put a knife through his heart, with tears on their eyes. A bittersweet ending that changes the students forever, for better or for worse. Koro-Sensei wanted to follow Aguri’s steps after her tragic death, and Nagisa, deeply hurt by his death, also decided to become a teacher.
A story about the lost of a loved one involving human experiments, children hostages, assassination and government complots, successfully concealed itself as an action-based comedy.Assassination Classroomleft behind a lot of funny moments, but nothing was more impactful thanthe tragedy death bringswith both Aguri and Koro-Sensei. Maybe jokes and word play aren’t enough to define a series after all.
