×
  • 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 5

by Paul Jensen,

How would you rate episode 5 of
Assassination Classroom (TV 2) ?
Community score: 4.4

I had a difficult time refraining from making an endless litany of inappropriate jokes while I was watching this episode. There's something about two passionate teams of dudes fighting to see who can keep their large wooden pole up the longest that awakens my obnoxious side. I've watched a lot of anime comedies make a lot of BL jokes over the years, so the commentary practically writes itself on this one. This is your brain on anime, ladies and gentlemen.

This episode starts off with a few members of Class E visiting Isogai at his part-time job. Their good-natured griping about Isogai's natural charisma is put on hold when Asano and some other familiar faces from Class A arrive at the restaurant. Since the school forbids students from working, Isogai faces expulsion if Asano reports him. Instead, the two of them agree to a deal: if Class E can defeat Class A in a pole-toppling competition at the school's sports festival, Isogai's secret will be safe. The situation begins to look desperate when Asano brings in extra players who are clearly not Japanese high school students, but Isogai manages to lead Class E to victory with some unorthodox tactics. After the match, Asano receives exceptionally harsh criticism from his father in the principal's office, but he stays true to his word and keeps Isogai's secret.

Stories like this are Assassination Classroom's specialty. The competition gives Class E a chance to put their unique talents to the test against a powerful opponent, and victory hinges on one particular character stepping up and discovering their hidden potential. Isogai is the latest name on an increasingly long list of main and minor characters who've had an opportunity to play that critical role. The series has used this premise often enough that it doesn't come as a huge surprise when things work out. Isogai is a little too upstanding and responsible to be a particularly deep character, but it's still entertaining to watch him score a victory against the snobby honor students.

As one of the more bizarre events on the anime sports festival roster, the pole-toppling battle offers some easy opportunities for Assassination Classroom to throw a little comedy into the mix. The difference in brute strength between Class E and their “exchange student” opponents is absurd enough that they have to employ some amusingly underhanded schemes in order to win. The plan to confuse the opposing team by running into the crowd of spectators is certainly worth a laugh, and it features a few moments of solid animation as the Class E kids vault over chairs and signboards. Thankfully, the big scary American players even speak passable English.

This episode is amusing for what it does in the moment, but it's also intriguing for what it seems to be setting up in the long term. As the principal shows off the more violent and maniacal sides of his personality, we see some doubt creeping into the back of Asano's mind. Is being the best really worth it if it requires trampling everyone else on the way to the top? If Assassination Classroom pursues this conflict further, it stands to reason that Asano will eventually have to choose between his father's brutal methods of instruction and the more supportive approach embodied by Koro Sensei and Class E. If the school's lovable misfits can find a place for a former rival like Itona, perhaps there's room for another reformed villain.

On the whole, this episode is pretty average by Assassination Classroom's standards. It's reasonably clever and entertaining, but it sticks closely to the show's established strengths. This series is good enough that I'd like to see it take a few more risks, which is why I'm hoping we'll see more of Asano this season. As one of Class E's more competent foes, he's worth more than a one-shot appearance in a sports festival episode. I can't be the only one who wants to see Class A go rogue and kick off a free-for-all battle between themselves, Class E, and the school administration.

Rating: B

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