Eat, Do the Right Thing, Sleep, Repeat

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers.

I've never thought that I would get hooked to an anime where the whole plot revolved around a particular class of students that have been assigned to assassinate a teacher while the teacher simultaneously tries to teach the students of that class while avoiding the students' assassination attempts. But hey, I've binge-watched 47 episodes of that show in five days and here I am reviewing this beautiful masterpiece of an anime now.

Released in 2015 and made by studio Lerche, Assassination Classroom spans over 2 seasons and revolves around a peculiar giant, yellow octopus-like creature that can move at Mach 20 speed & is indestructible to standard weaponry, and class 3-E of Kunugigaoka Junior High School. The creature is named "Koro" by his students, or better known as "Korosensei" (as a friend of mine repeatedly reminded me).

Koro is targeted by the Japanese government and other governments of the world, as the creature confesses to blowing up 70% of the moon's surface with his powers (turning it into a crescent shape). Koro also threatens to destroy the Earth.

Failing to kill Koro in every way possible, the government finally negotiates and accepts Koro's demand to teach the class of 3-E of Kunugigaoka Junior High School for reasons untold. The government also puts a bounty on Koro's head of 10 billion yen to whomever manages to assassinate him. The students are allowed to try and assassinate their Korosensei, and Koro is not allowed to hurt the students in any way, or he will lose the privilege to teach them.

The students are given special weaponry by the government that is harmless to humans, but can kill their Korosensei. Even after innumerable attempts of assassination by his students, Koro patiently starts growing a soft spot in his students' hearts with his quirky and unique methods of teaching, and his unyielding urge to teach the students of 3-E about self-dependence and survival.

It should be mentioned that the students of class 3-E are seen as the remnants of the bottom of the barrel at Kunugigaoka Junior High School, and these students are looked down upon by the rest of the school. Through Korosensei's guidance, the students of 3-E start gaining the respect of the school and the school's chairman, Asano.

The lead character, other than Koro, is an impressive, pint-sized, blue-haired boy named Nagisa Shiota, who narrates the scenes in many of the episodes. Other than him, two more students will keep a hold of your attention: a tough-as-nails dude named Karma Akabane and a girl who remains a side-kick of Nagisa named Kaede Kayano. And among teachers, an older dude named Tadaemi Karasuma and an assassin by the name of Irina Jelavic.

What will keep you hooked is Koro and class 3-E trying to understand each other.

There is almost nothing to nit-pick about the anime's production. The animation is fantastic, the fight scenes are smooth, the comedy feels unforced, the drama is something I did not expect, there are plot twists everywhere, the sound effects are absolutely bang-on and the voice actors do a great job. The only complaint I have with the production is a lack of memorable music. Keep in mind, the anime is meant for a mature audience (aged 16 and above)

Definitely worth a watch, definitely worth a binge, and definitely a show worth going gaga over.

Aka is a tiny bleep on the world's radar, and he finds peace in knowing it. Ruin his peace by poking him on akaaraf@hotmail.com