×
  • remind me tomorrow
  • remind me next week
  • never remind me
Subscribe to the ANN Newsletter • Wake up every Sunday to a curated list of ANN's most interesting posts of the week. read more

Assassination Classroom season 2
Episode 16

by Paul Jensen,

How would you rate episode 16 of
Assassination Classroom (TV 2) ?
Community score: 4.7

If you had told me at the beginning of Assassination Classroom (or at any point in the first season for that matter) that the series would eventually be able to deliver an episode like this one, I would've had a tough time believing you. This series has always been a clever and entertaining action comedy, but it has frequently struggled to maintain that standard whenever things take a turn for the dramatic. There have been some decent serious storylines, but nothing quite impressive or memorable enough to equal its best comedic efforts until now. Score one for old dogs learning new tricks.

This episode brings last week's flashback to a dramatic conclusion, with an antimatter explosion on the moon sending the scientists working on the Reaper into panic mode. Some hasty calculations reveal that the Reaper has about a year before the antimatter in his body goes haywire, and Yanagisawa decides that the best thing to do is terminate the test subject along with the experiment. The Reaper breaks out of the lab before the researchers can kill him, causing plenty of chaos and destruction in the process. Aguri tries to talk him out of his rampage, only to be killed by one of the lab's many deadly traps. The Reaper accepts Aguri's final request for him to take over her role as Class E's teacher, starting him on the path toward becoming Koro Sensei. With the truth finally out in the open, the students start to question their mission to kill him by the end of the school year.

By revealing Koro Sensei's backstory, this episode fundamentally changes his role in the series. Until now, he had always walked a strange line between mentor and antagonist. For all his charm and devotion to teaching, he was still the one who blew up the moon and threatened to do the same to Earth. By showing that he had nothing to do with the moon incident and that he has no control over the danger he poses to Earth, Assassination Classroom transforms Koro Sensei from a villain into a victim. That's one heck of a shift in perspective, but it actually helps to address some of the contradictions in his character arc. It always seemed odd that someone with a plan to destroy the world would bother to teach a class full of teenage dropouts. Why bother when you're just going to kill everyone anyway? Now that we know Koro Sensei isn't threatening the planet by choice, things suddenly make a little more sense. No wonder the kids are starting to lose interest in completing the assassination.

Even as it rewrites its own rules, Assassination Classroom manages to create compelling human drama through the relationship between Aguri and the Reaper. Sure, it gets a little clunky at some points: time constraints force the series to tell us about them through narration instead of showing us through dialogue, and Yanagisawa's role as Aguri's evil fiancé doesn't really add much to the episode. Still, that core dynamic of two people stumbling towards an emotional connection leads to a couple of sweet moments and a compelling final conversation. It's also fascinating to watch the foundation of Koro Sensei's teaching style being built up through his interactions with Aguri; she ends up being the one to show him that strength can be found in weakness. Many flashbacks try to explain how a character became who they are in the present, but few succeed to this extent.

The episode loses its focus just a bit after the flashback ends and the students visit Kayano in the hospital, though you could argue that the script is only mirroring the characters' loss of motivation. This is an interesting problem for Class E to face, as they've never really had a reason to question their mission before. Characters have occasionally pointed out that it seems like a shame to have to kill Koro Sensei, but the flashback's revelations have pushed them to the point of not wanting to kill him at all. It's like the weight of having to take someone's life has finally settled onto their shoulders.

While having the graduation and detonation dates coincide is hardly subtle, the series does at least put that plot device to good use. Nagisa's desire to find a way to save Koro Sensei carries a lot of narrative significance, as it sets Class E up to do what Koro Sensei never could during his time as the Reaper: use their assassination skills to help someone instead of hurting them. Shortly after losing the will to carry out their original objective, the kids have found a new and more ambitious goal in the form of surpassing their teacher's accomplishments. That certainly seems like an appropriate final challenge.

You can find flaws in this episode if you look hard enough, but Assassination Classroom has still done a fine job of breathing fresh life into its story. Pulling off a major plot twist without resorting to cheap tricks and narrative shortcuts isn't easy to do, so all credit to this series for doing just that without sacrificing any emotional impact. Who'd have thought that one of this show's most plot-heavy episodes would also be one of its best?

Rating: A-

Assassination Classroom is currently streaming on Funimation.

Paul Jensen is a freelance writer and editor. You can follow more of his anime-related ramblings on Twitter.


discuss this in the forum (148 posts) |
bookmark/share with: short url

back to Assassination Classroom season 2
Episode Review homepage / archives