Presumably, everyone has been to school at least once their life, and there is always a teacher or two we come to hold in high regard. On the other hand, there are also the teachers who we love to hate for one reason or another.” Of course every new school year is filled with different expectations and promises, and while not every teacher induces a murderous rage within us, there are always ways to tolerate even the most hateful instructor. However, nowhere, does it state that one is allowed to plot to kill their fellow educator. That is unless you are part of Room 3-E of Kunugigaoka Junior High School, where every assassination is planned with zeal and is part of the curriculum.Assassinating your homeroom teacher is an idea that I am amazed is able to work over the course of several chapters. Of course, one element adds a particular twist to an already strange premise. What would that be? Aliens. More specifically, an alien homeroom teacher that introduces himself by saying he blew up the moon and will also blow up the earth
With such a silly introduction, the reader already knows that Ansatsu Kyoushitsu (Assassination Classroom) is anything but serious. Its plot revolves around a group of students in Room 3-E, who are essentially a bunch of misfits due to their grade average. They are asked to not only raise their grades but are told to kill their homeroom teacher by the Ministry of Defense by next march, with the only rules being that assassination must not interfere with their studies. The students are armed with bullets designed to harm only the teacher and keep other students safe. This is odd as there should be no reason for an alien with the intent to blow up earth to care about keeping the students safe.
What allows Ansatsu Kyoushitsu to differentiate itself with such a simple premise is the creativity shown through the student’s attempts to assassinate their teacher. Now assassination is no easy task when your alien teacher can move at a speed of Mach 20, but with the fate of the world and 10 billion yen at stake for whoever can kill their teacher, students can become innovative very quick. Better yet assassination seems to be one of the many ways that the students bond together because they have a common enemy.
Although Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is not a mystery genre manga, it has elements of mystery in it. The alien teacher’s kindness and desire to teach Class 3-E contributes to this mystery. For example Nagisa is one of the main character who is pressured to wear a grenade by his fellow classmates Terasaka, Yoshida, Muramatsu. When Nagisa is forced to go up and act as a sacrifice for the sake of his classmates, the teacher quickly sheds his skin and protects Nagisa from the impact of the grenade. On top of that the alien teacher also display a sense of anger that his students would perform such a tasteless assassination that has no regards for the welfare of others.
When one look pasts the main goal of assassination, they can see that Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is a simple school manga that focuses on the relationship between a teacher and a class that has been given up on. The students are desperate to be recognized as people other than the cursed students who belong in class 3-E, and with the opportunity to save the earth they have something to look forward to and work for everyday. One way or another Ansatsu Kyoushitsu is sure to create fond memories as the students learn to accept themselves with the help of their teacher.