Assassination Classroom

Assassination Classroom (Japanese: 暗殺教室, Hepburn: Ansatsu Kyōshitsu) is a Japanese science fiction comedy manga series written and illustrated by Yūsei Matsui. The series follows the daily life of an extremely powerful octopus-like being working as a junior high homeroom teacher, and his students dedicated to the task of assassinating him to prevent Earth from being destroyed. The students are considered “misfits” in their school and are taught in a separate building; the class he teaches is called 3-E. The series was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from July 2012 to March 2016 and compiled into twenty-one tankōbon volumes.

Assassination Classroom
Cover of the first volume as published in Japan by Shueisha featuring Koro's face.
暗殺教室
(Ansatsu Kyōshitsu)
Genre
Manga
Written byYūsei Matsui
Published byShueisha
English publisher
ImprintJump Comics
MagazineWeekly Shōnen Jump
DemographicShōnen
Original runJuly 2, 2012 – March 25, 2016
Volumes21
Original animation DVD
Directed byKeiji Gotoh
Music byShinsuke Nakamura
StudioBrain's Base
ReleasedDecember 27, 2013
Runtime23 minutes
Anime television series
Directed bySeiji Kishi
Produced byNoriko Ozaki
Written byMakoto Uezu
Music byNaoki Satō
StudioLerche
Licensed by
Original networkFuji TV
English network
Original run January 9, 2015 – June 30, 2016
Episodes47 + 1 OVA
Game
Assassination Classroom: Koro-sensei Dai Hōimō
DeveloperBandai Namco Games
PublisherBandai Namco Games
GenreAction
PlatformNintendo 3DS
Released
  • JP: March 12, 2015
Anime film
Assassination Classroom the Movie: 365 Days
Directed bySeiji Kishi
Written byMakoto Uezu
Music byNaoki Satō
StudioLerche
Licensed by
NA/UK
Funimation
ReleasedNovember 19, 2016
Runtime92 minutes
Live-action films
Spin-off

An original video animation (OVA) adaptation by Brain's Base was screened at the Jump Super Anime Tour from October to November 2013. This was followed by an anime television adaptation by Lerche, which aired on Fuji TV from January 2015 to June 2016. A live action film adaptation was released in March 2015, and a sequel, titled Assassination Classroom: Graduation, was released in March 2016.

In North America, the manga has been licensed for English language release by Viz Media. The anime series has been licensed by Funimation. The series was obtained by Madman Entertainment for digital distribution in Australia and New Zealand.

As of February 2016, the Assassination Classroom manga has over 20 million copies in circulation.

Plot
See also: List of Assassination Classroom characters

Earth is left in jeopardy after an immensely powerful tentacled creature suddenly appears and destroys 70% of the moon, leaving it permanently in the shape of a crescent. The organism claims that within a year he will destroy the planet next, but offers mankind a chance to avert this fate. In class 3-E, the End Class of Kunugigaoka Junior High School, he starts working as a homeroom teacher where he teaches his students regular subjects, as well as the ways of assassination. The Japanese government promises a reward of ¥10 billion (i.e. US$100 million) to whoever among the students succeeds in killing the organism, whom they have named "Koro-sensei" (殺せんせー, Korosensē, a pun on korosenai (殺せない, unkillable) and sensei (先生, teacher)). However, this proves to be a highly unachievable task, as not only does he have several superpowers at his disposal, including accelerated regeneration, visual cloning, an invincible form, and the ability to move and fly at Mach 20, but he is also the best teacher they could ask for, helping them to improve their grades, individual skills, and prospects for the future.

As the series goes on, the situation gets even more complicated as other assassins come after Koro-sensei's life, some coveting the reward, others for personal reasons. The students eventually learn the secrets involving him, the Moon's destruction and his ties with their previous homeroom teacher including the true reason why he must be killed before the end of the school year. The series is narrated by Nagisa Shiota, one of the students in the class whose main strategy in killing Koro-sensei is making a list of all his weaknesses over time. At first, Nagisa appears to be one of the weaker members of Class 3-E, but he later emerges as one of the most skillful assassins in the class.

Media

Manga
Main article: List of Assassination Classroom chapters

The series began serialization in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine on July 2, 2012.[3] The first collected tankōbon volume was published on November 2, 2012.[4] The initial print run for the first volume was 300,000, but after several reprints over 1 million copies were printed.[5] Volume 20 was released on June 3, 2016.[6] 10 million copies are in circulation. A VOMIC (voiced comic) version, which added voice clips to the manga pages, was featured on the Sakiyomi Jan Bang! variety show between January and June 2013.[7] The series has been licensed in English by Viz Media, who began releasing the series in physical and digital editions from December 2014.[8] The series ended on March 16, 2016[9] with 180 chapters.

A spin-off manga, titled Koro Sensei Quest, was written and illustrated by Kizuku Watanabe and Jō Aoto, and began serialization in Shueisha's Saikyō Jump magazine on October 2, 2015.[10]

Anime
See also: List of Assassination Classroom episodes

An original video animation based on the series was produced by Brain's Base for the Jump Super Anime Tour and shown at 5 Japanese cities between October 6 and November 24, 2013. It was bundled with the 7th volume of the manga, which released on December 27, 2013.[5] An anime television series based on the manga began airing on Fuji TV from January 9, 2015 and ran for 22 episodes.[11][12] The anime television was directed by Seiji Kishi at Lerche, with Kazuki Morita as character designer and Makoto Uezu as the lead scriptwriter.[13] An OVA episode was included on the first BD/DVD volume released on March 27, 2015, following a screening at Jump Special Anime Fest in November 2014.[14] The anime has been licensed by Funimation, who simulcast the series as it aired and began a broadcast dub version from February 18, 2015.[15][16] The first opening theme is "Seishun Satsubatsu-ron" (青春サツバツ論, lit. The Theory of Savage Youth) while the second opening theme is "Jiriki Hongan Revolution" (自力本願レボリューション, lit. Self-reliance Revolution); both are performed by 3-nen E-gumi Utatan (3年E組うた担). The ending theme is "Hello, shooting star" by Moumoon.

The second season of the anime began airing on January 7, 2016 and ran for 25 episodes.[17] The third opening theme is "QUESTION" and the fourth is "Bye Bye YESTERDAY" (バイバイ YESTERDAY, lit. Bye Bye YESTERDAY) by 3-nen E-gumi Utatan (3年E組うた担). The second ending theme is "Kaketa Tsuki" (欠けた月, lit. Waning Moon) and the third is "Mata kimi ni aeru hi" (また君に会える日まで, lit. Until the day we can see you again) by Shion Miyawaki. Anime Limited has licensed both seasons in the UK.[18][19]

On June 30, 2016, two anime films were announced: Assassination Classroom the Movie: 365 Days and Koro Sensei Quest!. Both aired on November 19, 2016.[20]

Adult Swim's Toonami programming block began broadcasting Funimation's English dub of the anime starting on August 29, 2020.[21]

Film
Main articles: Assassination Classroom (film) and Assassination Classroom: Graduation

A live-action film was released in Japan on March 21, 2015.[22] It opened at number one on the Japanese box office with $3.42 million and as of April 5, 2015, has grossed over $20 million.[23] It was the tenth highest-grossing Japanese film at the Japanese box office in 2015, with ¥2.77 billion (US$23 million ).[24] A second film, titled Assassination Classroom: Graduation, was released on March 25, 2016.[25][26]

Video games

A video game based on the series, Assassination Classroom: Koro-sensei's Great Besiegement!! (暗殺教室 殺せんせー大包囲網!!, Ansatsu Kyōshitsu: Koro-sensei Dai Hōimō), was developed by Bandai Namco Games and released on Nintendo 3DS in Japan on March 12, 2015.[27]

Koro-sensei appears as a playable character in J-Stars Victory VS, originally released in Japan for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita on March 19, 2014, with an international version, J-Stars Victory VS+, released for PS3, PS Vita, and PlayStation 4 in Summer 2015.[28]

Reception

In May 2013, over one million copies of volume 1 were printed,[29][30] and individual volumes frequently appeared on the lists of best-selling manga in Japan.[31][32][33] Volumes 2, 3, 4, 1, 5, and 6 placed 26th, 32nd, 36th, 37th, 41st, and 50th respectively on the list of the best-selling manga volumes of 2013,[34] making it the seventh best-selling manga series in Japan of 2013 with 4,595,820 copies sold.[35] As of February 2016, the manga had over 20 million copies in circulation.[36]

It was ranked second in Zenkoku Shotenin ga Eranda Osusume Comic 2013, a 2013 ranking of the top 15 manga recommended by Japanese bookstores.[37] It was nominated for the 6th Manga Taishō.[38] It placed second in male-oriented comics category on the list of "Book of the Year" by Media Factory and manga news magazine Da Vinci.[39] Nippon Shuppan Hanbai elected it the best work of 2013 in their "Recommended Comic Books Across the Country Clerk's Choice".[40] It was number one on the 2014 Kono Manga ga Sugoi! Top 20 Manga for Male Readers survey by Takarajimasha.[41] In February 2015, Asahi Shimbun announced that Assassination Classroom was one of nine nominees for the nineteenth annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize.[42]

In November 2019, Polygon named Assassination Classroom as one of the best anime of the 2010s.[43]

At late October 2020, it is ranked as 531 in Anikore.[44]

References
  1. Jensen, Paul (August 5, 2016). "Five Lessons I Learned From Assassination Classroom". Anime News Network. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  2. "Official Website for Assassination Classroom". Viz Media. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  3. "Neuro Manga's Matsui to Launch Ansatsu Kyōshitsu Series". Anime News Network. June 20, 2012. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  4. 暗殺教室 1 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  5. "Assassination Classroom Anime's 1st Visual Revealed". Anime News Network. August 7, 2013. Retrieved December 6, 2014.
  6. 暗殺教室 20 (in Japanese). Shueisha. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
  7. "『暗殺教室』 集英社ヴォイスコミックステーション-VOMIC-" (in Japanese). Shueisha. Archived from the original on 2013-05-04. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
  8. "Viz Adds Assassination Classroom, Resident Evil Manga". Anime News Network. 4 March 2014. Retrieved July 2, 2014.
  9. "Assassination Classroom Manga to End in 5 Chapters". Anime News Network. February 18, 2016. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
  10. "Assassination Classroom Gets Spinoff Manga Series". Anime News Network. September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  11. "Assassination Classroom Anime to Air Late Friday Nights in January". Anime News Network. July 9, 2014. Retrieved July 9, 2014.
  12. "Assassination Classroom's Teacher Videos, 22-Episode Length Posted". Anime News Network. January 9, 2014. Retrieved January 10, 2014.
  13. "Persona 4's Seiji Kishi Helms Assassination Classroom at Lerche". Anime News Network. 2014-06-15.
  14. "Assassination Classroom Blu-ray/DVDs to Bundle Event Anime". Anime News Network. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  15. "Funimation to Stream Assassination Classroom Anime". Anime News Network. December 18, 2014. Retrieved December 18, 2014.
  16. "Funimation Dubs Assassination Classroom, Death Parade, Tokyo Ghoul √A, 7 More Winter Shows". Anime News Network. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  17. "2nd Assassination Classroom Season's New Visual Revealed, 25-Episode Count Listed". Anime News Network. December 13, 2015. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  18. "Anime Limited Acquires Assasination Classroom and New K". Anime News Network. September 27, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2015.
  19. "Anime Limited Acquisitions". Anime News Network. October 27, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2016.
  20. "Assassination Classroom, Koro-sensei Q! Manga Get Theatrical Anime Films in November". Anime News Network. June 30, 2016. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  21. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (August 20, 2020). "Assassination Classroom Anime Premieres on Toonami on August 29 and also is full of porn". Anime News Network. Retrieved August 21, 2020.
  22. "Assassination Classroom Manga Gets TV Anime & Live-Action Film". Anime News Network. June 23, 2014. Retrieved August 7, 2014.
  23. Gavin J. Blair (April 13, 2015). "Japan Box Office: 'Birdman' Opens in Sixth Spot in Limited Release". The Hollywood Reporter. (Prometheus Global Media). Retrieved April 13, 2015.
  24. "Top 10 Grossing Domestic Japanese Films of 2015 Listed". Anime News Network. January 1, 2016. Retrieved January 1, 2016.
  25. "Assassination Classroom Gets 2nd Anime Season, Sequel Live-Action Film". Anime News Network. 24 April 2015. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  26. "暗殺教室　卒業編". eiga.com (in Japanese). Retrieved March 29, 2016.
  27. "Assassination Classroom 3DS Game's 3rd Promo Video Previews Gameplay". Anime News Network. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  28. Steve Baltimore (December 21, 2014). "J-Stars Victory VS+ Is Coming to North America". oprainfall. Retrieved 20 May 2015.
  29. "Kuroko's Basketball, Assassination Classroom's 1st Books Each Top 1 Million Copies in Print". Anime News Network. 14 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  30. 暗殺教室:コミックス1巻が半年で100万部　異例の大台突破－ 毎日ｊｐ(毎日新聞). Mainichi Shimbun (in Japanese). 13 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  31. "Japanese Comic Ranking, April 28-May 4". Anime News Network. 8 May 2013. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  32. "Japanese Comic Ranking, July 1–7". Anime News Network. July 10, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  33. "Japanese Comic Ranking, May 6–12". Anime News Network. May 15, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  34. "Top-Selling Manga in Japan by Volume: 2013". Anime News Network. December 1, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  35. "Top-Selling Manga in Japan by Series: 2013". Anime News Network. December 1, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  36. Hodgkins, Crystalyn (February 18, 2016). "Assassination Classroom Manga to End in 5 Chapters". Anime News Network. Retrieved February 20, 2016.
  37. "Japanese Bookstores Recommend 15 Top Manga of 2013". Anime News Network. February 4, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  38. "Akimi Yoshida's Umimachi Diary Wins 6th Manga Taisho Award". Anime News Network. March 21, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  39. "Da Vinci Magazine Lists Top Manga in 1st Half of 2013". Anime News Network. June 8, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2013.
  40. 日販「全国書店員が選んだおすすめコミック2013」発表 (in Japanese). Nippan. February 4, 2013. Archived from the original on 2013-06-19. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  41. "Top Manga Ranked by Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2014 Voters". Anime News Network. December 9, 2013. Retrieved December 11, 2013.
  42. "19th Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize Nominees Announced". Anime News Network. 23 March 2015. Retrieved 24 March 2015.
  43. "The best anime of the decade". Polygon. November 6, 2019. Retrieved January 24, 2020.
  44. anikore. "おすすめアニメ動画を感想評価/人気でランキング【あにこれβ】". www.anikore.jp (in Japanese). Retrieved 2020-10-18.
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