Manga Mumbles - Assassination Classroom

Assassination Classroom, a 21-volume manga done by Yusei Matsui and the English version distributed by Viz Media. I seem to have bought this series on a whim or even possibly influenced by the movies that came out around the time I decided that I should get them. Whatever the real reason is, I started to buy the series. I do admit, that I sometimes, almost affectionatley call it Ass Class, mostly cause it's easier too.

The first volume amused me to no end but not enough to go off and buy the series. Then eventually I started to get bit by bit. I finally hit around the 7th volume and then the story grew on me and I wanted more, before long I started buying the volumes in bundles but a few times I had to stop due to other series gaining priority, mainly those dastardly out of print series.

Recently, I manage to obtain the last four volumes and felt a huge relief, knowing I had the series in my hands. I basically read them all in a few days and it was such a trip, I laughed, I got angry and I cried with the characters and in the end, I felt so happy and sad to say goodbye to class E because I went through so much with them.

This ramble is more about my experience with the series rather than giving people a reason to buy it. Why? You are probably wondering, because I feel that the series can sell itself better than I could ever say about it.

My collection at it's finest

So, I will try my best to review this series without spoiling it and talking about the manga overall that one usually does in a review.

The art is simple but appealing with great detail to attention with a unique style and recognisable characters, despite having so many. I also enjoy the covers, especially when the creator decided to play with patterns, designs and colours. Even then, it was so simple but striking, it’s a series that is both colourful and dark, I cannot name many series that can pull that off too well.

Even with all the characters, each with their own unique skill and story, Matsui manages to make every character matter and a focal point during the story. This amazes me to no end and I love how each character gets a turn in the spotlight, despite Nagisa being the main character. Even a few characters break the fourth wall, making references to being minor characters or even saying “yes, Nagisa, you are the main guy”. Even one point made a joke about another manga series being run with the theme of spending several pages emphasising how good a meal is. This sort of thing helps makes a manga an amazing read, it’s always the little things and quirks each character provides to the overall story.

With the story, there is so much that happens. We have entertaining fillers between major arcs as to remind the readers that it’s not an overly serious manga and that most of the main characters are children trying to get through school.

So, you have the usual culture fests, sports fests, exams and just general school life. Then you have the side where they are training, trying to eliminate their teacher and facing off with bigger adversaries and overcoming them in the end, which helps develop the characters in many ways.

I like how it wraps up so nicely at the end. Despite being what could have been 20 volumes, the final one is a nice addition where you see Koro-sensei doing other things while his students are busy or even the bonus manga which I would love to see as a major series cause of how unique and amusing it is.

I give this 5 out of 5 bookmarks.

I could possibly spend the next month talking about this series, but I don’t want to give anything away. It’s a series full of surprises, emotions and other amusing things that one can’t help but enjoy. I recommend people to read this series, especially if they like action, heartfelt and a series that just grabs you with it’s tentacles and drags you all around it’s world filling you with knowledge and feelings you never would have expected.