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Assassination Classroom season 2
Episode 18

by Paul Jensen,

How would you rate episode 18 of
Assassination Classroom (TV 2) ?
Community score: 4.6

With the mock battle between Class E's two factions rushing toward its conclusion, the fight to save or kill Koro Sensei comes down to a duel between Nagisa and Karma. The fight highlights the differences between their personalities, and we're given a look back at how their friendship grew and fell apart over the past few years. Nagisa ultimately wins for the “don't kill” team, but the class only has a limited amount of time to come up with a non-lethal option before they'll be expected to return to the original mission of assassination. Koro Sensei gives the kids a lead on a way to “borrow” some secret government data, but getting access may prove to be Class E's biggest challenge yet.

This episode's success hinges on Assassination Classroom's ability to deliver a serious, compelling action scene, and the show does exactly that. The fight between Nagisa and Karma works in part because it starts with a good setup. The two guys are more or less evenly matched in terms of skill, but their vastly different approaches make for a fascinating asymmetrical battle. Nagisa needs to find an opportunity to condense all of his effort into a single, decisive attack. On the other hand, Karma needs to use his strength to wear Nagisa down without leaving any openings. To further complicate things for both of them, they need to win in a way that will allow the class to reunite behind a single goal. As with many good one-on-one action scenes, the match-up itself is an exciting prospect even before you take the characters' emotions into account.

Presentation also plays a role in making this sequence work. On a visual level, some impressive animation allows the show to keep the characters moving instead of resorting to shortcuts, helping the scene to flow more smoothly. There's also some serious weight behind Nagisa and Karma's attacks, which cuts down on the need for narration a little. We don't need the script to give us constant updates on the characters' physical conditions because we can see how they're both faring just by watching them. The only time Assassination Classroom slips into exposition mode is in depicting Nagisa and Karma's tactics; since the series hasn't had a reason to compare the guys' fighting styles until now, it has to supplement the visuals with some sideline commentary from the rest of the cast. It takes the viewer out of the moment a little bit, but the scene is strong enough to absorb some expository dialogue here and there.

Perhaps most importantly, this fight works because it has meaning and consequences for the characters involved. Good ideas and execution go a long way, but a great action scene also moves the story along. Assassination Classroom uses Nagisa and Karma's contrasting abilities as a way of highlighting their contrasting personalities. The flashback to their previous two years of school shows us how their differences helped the guys become friends, only to drive them apart as they failed to understand one another. While the writing and visuals are less than subtle here, the sequence achieves its goal of easing the tension between Nagisa and Karma and bringing them together as friendly rivals. Their duel's satisfying conclusion also allows the class to reunite behind the goal of saving Koro Sensei without trampling over any dissenting opinions.

After all that good stuff, I'm a little worried about what the next few weeks will bring. “Assassination Classroom in space” may or may not turn out to be a case of jumping the shark, but it looks like the show has at least built a ramp and brought in a big fish. This could go horribly wrong in a hurry, or it could offer a fun and intentionally silly breather from all the heavy emotional material that the series has been putting forward lately. Either way, this week's episode will be a tough act to follow.

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.


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