Assassination Classroom season 2

Episode 4

This episode is counted as #26 on the Funimation website

I'm not sure if Itona's headband is a long-term fashion choice or just a temporary solution in the aftermath of his mutant meltdown, but it occurs to me that Assassination Classroom is missing a golden opportunity for sight gags here. The show could change his headband to match what's happening in each new episode, and the thing is big enough to sneak in some amusingly elaborate patterns. Serious assassination plot? Camouflage pattern. Silly episode? Koro Sensei-style happy face design. Budget wearing thin late in the season? Sell it as on-screen ad space. The possibilities are (probably not) endless!

Now that Itona has joined Class E, his plans for assassinating Koro Sensei have begun to resemble those of his new classmates: charmingly elaborate and uniquely suited to his personal strengths. For his first plot as a member of the class, Itona modifies a remote-controlled model tank to carry a camera and launch anti-Sensei BBs from its tiny gun turret. The rest of the guys in class immediately jump on board for the chance to mess around with a deadly toy, and their enthusiasm increases once someone brings up the possibility of using the tank's camera to look up girls' skirts. The second half of the episode starts with some of the kids complaining about the mismatched and gimmicky names that their parents gave them, and the discussion ends with the class resolving to pick code names for one another. The group gets tired of the idea by the end of the day, but the experience leads to at least one student growing fond of his given name.

This may be a result of personal childhood nostalgia for model rockets and remote-controlled cars, but I found the story of Itona's tank very entertaining. It's fun to watch the guys as they get way too excited about the plan and start assigning formal titles to mundane tasks like picking up the tank when it gets flipped over. That gap between the silliness of the mission and the seriousness with which the characters approach it is the chief source of the story's humor, and it's delivered well. This is a case where it doesn't really matter that the plan is destined for spectacular failure on all fronts, because the journey from idea to disastrous result is entertaining enough on its own.

A goofy and somewhat inconsequential segment like this is also useful for helping Itona transition from a recurring antagonist to a member of the class. Having him spend time on a project like this with some of the other characters gives the audience a new reference point for his personality now that he's no longer an unstable enemy with weird tentacle hair. We get to see how he fits in with Terasaka's group of friends and how he interacts with the class as a whole, and we also see how he adapts to his sudden loss of fighting prowess. Having Itona work with electronics also shows that he's been able to make some amount of peace with his past. At this point, he's no more out of place in the classroom than any of the other eccentric members of Class E.

The code name story in the episode's second half is the weaker of the two as far as comedy goes, since it's essentially just a clever way to recycle obvious jokes about each member of the class. Some of the code names are worth a quick laugh, but the segment as a whole is underwhelming in a harmless sort of way. Not great, but not especially bad either. Its strongest moment comes early on, with the kids' various gripes about their given names striking a chord despite the language barrier. Giving your classmates grief for having funny names seems to be a universal part of growing up.

The end of the episode foreshadows a return of Class E's academic rivals in Class A, which is a welcome sign. This new season of Assassination Classroom is in need of a major plot arc, and the previous clash between the two classes proved to be pretty entertaining. Facing off against the school's honor students gives Class E a good chance to embrace their quirky side and find some unconventional routes to victory. That underdog story plays into the central themes of the series, so we could be in for a good episode or two soon.

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.