Volume 10 of Assassination Classroom features an attractive rainbow cover that is maybe the most memorable thing about it. It also features two assassVolume 10 of Assassination Classroom features an attractive rainbow cover that is maybe the most memorable thing about it. It also features two assassination attempts on Koro-Sensei. One is Kayano’s attempt to kill him through flan—making a huge vat of it with an explosive device buried it, but this is short though of course silly. The second take him much of the volume, and involves new student Itona, who has had tentacles implanted like Koro Sensei.
Our Favorite Teacher is teaching them the fine art of parkour. There’s a certain amount of low level pervy middle school boy humor in this volume. Cops and robbers game playing as part of classroom learning. It’s all mildly amusing at this point. But this was a sort of detour volume/arc, I suspect. The important thing that happens is here over time is a deeper and deeper relationship between the students—whose characters we get to know better—and their teacher, whom they more and more love. . . . even as their attempts to assassinate him ramp up! ...more
This volume features the end of the Nagisa fight, but again, there's a failed assassination, which you gradually get to see is probably not going to hThis volume features the end of the Nagisa fight, but again, there's a failed assassination, which you gradually get to see is probably not going to happen. I loved this series in the first couple volumes. The idea is a octopus-like teacher in a middle school who intends to blow up the world; the students must assassinate him, but they actually come to like him as a great teacher. So they keep trying to assassinate him but are kind of actually glad they fail. But how long can this go on?
Still, having taken a break from it for awhile, I came back to it and liked this goofy story. In it they try to get two teachers to fall in love with each other, that's fun, and there's another class trip, it's pretty fun. I still recommend your checking it out, and there's anime based on it....more
A completely unique manga from the perspective of science/health. Red blood cells, white blood cells, killer T cells, infectious diseases. . . .neuronA completely unique manga from the perspective of science/health. Red blood cells, white blood cells, killer T cells, infectious diseases. . . .neurons, platelets, as CHARACTERS in the series! Because bodies fight off disease invaders, we get manga-like battles between all these different germs/bacteria. It’s essentially an entertaining educational manga series about the human body. Some of the cells are personified or anthropomorphisized (the good cells), and some of them are just monsters (the bad cells). Will Red Bllos Cell and White Cell get together?! A good way to learn science. And pretty silly, which is a good thing in learning something.
Thanks, Stewart, for recommending. Completely unique....more
I liked this quite a bit. It employs a now familiar approach to superheroes and wizards: Schooling. Harry Potter's Hogwarts School for Wizards is, of I liked this quite a bit. It employs a now familiar approach to superheroes and wizards: Schooling. Harry Potter's Hogwarts School for Wizards is, of course, our most obvious example. X-Men has a school for the gifted. More recent examples I have read recently that are fun include Jillian Tamaki's webcomic, The Teenage Supermutant Academy, Brian K. Vaughn's Runaways (okay, not exactly a school, but. . . the point is that they though they rebel, they need to learn skills like their parents, they need mentoring). This Ameri-manga (thanks for the term, Stuart Tame, and for suggesting I read it) by Novik is one of those books, set in an Ann Arbor High School, Liberty Vocational, though the students in it seem more closely aligned to--what I recall from my time living in Ann Arbor--Community High, the alt-left school, also known as "Commie high." Weird kids, different kids, with powers. As with Alan Moore's Top 10, where every blessed person (or creature) in a city has powers, it can get a little ridiculous, but also a little interesting.
Novik, better known for writing a fantasy series, Temeraire, picked up as an option by Peter Jackson, herein writes her first comic/manga. It is also like several other ones I am reading, manga set in schools, just a little like Assassination Classroom (where kids are learning how to kill their favorite teacher. . . who has promised to blow up the world; okay, not that similar) or The Flowers of Evil or so many others.
This is pretty good, fun, energetic, though it begins a little blandly and is mostly introducing the characters in the whole first volume. It's YA shoujo, it's got action, adventure, feels. I might read more into it as it puts the exposition behind it, as I assume will now happen....more
Veni. Vidi. Slimum.-- Korius Saensar (the teacher!)
A very different feel to this volume, as we get to see our 3-E (low track) kids engaging in some reVeni. Vidi. Slimum.-- Korius Saensar (the teacher!)
A very different feel to this volume, as we get to see our 3-E (low track) kids engaging in some real action and use some of their assassination skills against some--admittedly silly--bad guys, though one guy likes to dip his gun into food and eat it. (I don't explain 'em, I just tell 'em like I see 'em. Just the facts, m'a'am). A cross-dressing Nagisa is featured in this volume. He's emerging as an interesting character. If you like action, this one is ramped up. I like the character volumes a bit more....more
Not much seems to happen in this volume, volume eight, eighth grade, it’s subtle, but there’s some emotional growth. And you can see in this one how dNot much seems to happen in this volume, volume eight, eighth grade, it’s subtle, but there’s some emotional growth. And you can see in this one how different it is for others when a girl who wants to be a boy, Takatsuki-san (Yoshino) wears “boy clothes” to school compared to when a boy, Nitori-kun, who wants to be a girl, wears “girl clothes” at school. Double standard! But it is also true that when Nitori-kun (Shuichi, or Shu, also called Nitorin) tells girlfriend/teen model Anna that he wants to wear girl clothes that it is no big deal to her, she thinks it’s cute. She’s pretty cool.
Yuki-san, a transwoman, makes an appearance in this story. A progressive treatment of gender identity with many sweet and vulnerable and totally nice characters amidst kissing and cross-dressing and karaoke. Everything and everyone seems to be changing in the story; all the relationships and many of the identities seem fluid and changing. If you read it fast you just might miss the subtle ways shifts take place between and within the kids. ...more
Volume 7, middle school continues in the story of friends Nitorikun, the boy who wants to be a girl, and Takatsuki-san, the girl who wants to be a boyVolume 7, middle school continues in the story of friends Nitorikun, the boy who wants to be a girl, and Takatsuki-san, the girl who wants to be a boy. Skirts the line between teen drama and slice of life, as we see teens face the horrors of. . . acne. And middle school level desire, which barely gets expressed.
Not a whole lot happens in this one, except, notably, Nitori-kun contacts a famous model for advice. And there's lots of crushes and blushing and confusion and pain and laughter. This is character-driven manga, not issue-driven, primarily, with very likable and realistic and fun characters (more girls by far than boys), not blown up with manga silliness, highlighting issues of gender identity in ways we could not have seen twenty years ago. It's just a middle school story you might have read twenty years ago but one that now narrates and brings out in the open gender questioning/exploring that was always there.
Where I live (in one of the five safest glbtq places in the country, OUT magazine says) this seems to be more a thing than ever, to openly explore gender identity from every possible angle, to role play, to explore real feelings, to change names, maybe to cross dress, maybe not, to not take anything for granted. . . with gay and lesbian marriages now in many areas a regular thing that we might never have imagined twenty five years ago. . . at the same time people are getting assaulted in some areas for being gay. Troubling, fascinating times, exciting times, still, and complicated....more
I would call this the body volume, as the middle schoolers that are the focus of this series see their bodies developing. But this story focuses on NiI would call this the body volume, as the middle schoolers that are the focus of this series see their bodies developing. But this story focuses on Nitori-kun, a boy who wants to be a girl, and Takatsuki-san, a girl who wants to be a boy. So if body changes are sometimes unsettling and somewhat unwanted for any kids, this is especially true for the two and kids like them. The latter gets interested in bras, the latter in breast binders, and so on.
The kids write a play, which is loosely based on Romeo and Juliet, but things don't work out so neatly. Chiba-san, Nitori-kun's friend, has a secret crush on him, and she wants to play Romeo, with Nitori-kun in the role of Juliet. So they have to talk about this stuff. And do, in the way young people talk about these issues, awkwardly, slantly.
The story is sweet, thoughtful, reality-based (vs. the lots of shrieking manga silliness you see so much) and character-based, with lots of reflective space and blushing and halting dialogue, and is pretty entertaining. A trans story for young people that anyone can learn from and enjoy....more
Exam time: Koro-sensei helps us understand high stakes standardized tests:
"Exams are an excellent pedagogical tool. . . even though you'll forget mostExam time: Koro-sensei helps us understand high stakes standardized tests:
"Exams are an excellent pedagogical tool. . . even though you'll forget most of what you crammed into your head practically overnight--and certainly by the time you are grown up. However. . . You'll polish your learning skills, expand your minds, and compete against each other on a level playing field. The experience you get from that is our gold." Ha! This one could be paired with the experimental novel Multiple Choice!
The exam sequence, seen as a battle with a monster, is great, with high energy. Amusing. This sequence is visually the best of this volume. And then Koro Sensei's lower level class does unexpectedly well, which comes with a reward. They get to go to Fokuma Island, also known as Pandemonium Island, where they get to test one area of their scholarship: Assassination of their beloved teacher. They also, not surprisingly, get to explore one of the weaknesses of the tentacled one: His love of curvaceous women. They leave porn around for him, to see if they can distract him, which is. . . uh, just sort of a gratuitous opportunity to show curvaceous women, of course. There's a lot of that in this one.
The assassination attempt is like the others, original and failed. There's another group they're competing with to kill their teacher, okay. . . but it is sort of disappointing that Koro Sensei is continually a shape-shifter. Is it even possible to win against this guy? (Apparently not, or the series would have to end.)
I am glad I don't just read these one after the other, because it is a silly premise and since there are many more volumes, we know the students fail at assassination, but the energy in this one is strong and it was nice to revisit this after some time away. I like it! This one is 3.5 plus, for sure. ...more
Volume 5 of 7 about Shoko, a deaf girl bullied in elementary school by Shoya and others. By the time we are in high school Shoko is trying to make ameVolume 5 of 7 about Shoko, a deaf girl bullied in elementary school by Shoya and others. By the time we are in high school Shoko is trying to make amends. This volume moves pretty slowly to a cliffhanger ending that it feels like it has been building toward since last volume. I would like to have a bit more of an inside view of Shoko. Instead we get this possible redemption story of Shoko. There's Tomohiro's eccentric movie to make, too, which is a fantasy removed from the heavy struggle of the bullied and bullyer. ...more
A little bit slower volume, preparing for exams, with a special incentive for the Assassination Classroom: If you are the best in the class in a certaA little bit slower volume, preparing for exams, with a special incentive for the Assassination Classroom: If you are the best in the class in a certain area, you get to cut off some of Koro-Sensei's tentacles! . . . which would not kill him, but, you know. In this volume we discover his greatest weakness, water! So there's pressure to throw him in the water, weaken him and THEN kill him because, you know, he is planning on destroying the world, so duh, you haveta to do that, but then on the other hand, students increasingly like him, as he gives them incentives to do well on the exams.. . . wacky premise. And you know as long as there are volumes ahead that neither kill him nor does the world end. . .
But you know, it's a pretty sweet coming-of-age manga in spite of the crazy basic story. Friendship issues are addressed, with positive messages. You get to know the characters. Karma is a fave. ...more
In Assassination Classroom a crazy alien teacher with tentacles, Koro Sensei, is planning to destroy the world if his students can't assassinate him fIn Assassination Classroom a crazy alien teacher with tentacles, Koro Sensei, is planning to destroy the world if his students can't assassinate him first. Which is a unique and silly idea, of course. But here's the trick: He's also a good teacher, the best and most caring teacher in the school, so the more the kids train on the side to become assassins, the more they learn, the more they love him, and the more we love him. He's most people's favorite character. And in this issue we actually find he has manga-ka abilities! Not fair! We have to like him!
Overall, the adults are the villains, it's increasingly clear. The new militaristic PE teacher and the principal are the main bad guys. On the other hand, Mr. Karasuma (one of the trained assassin teachers) emerges as likable, a great teacher, as questions begin to be raised in all the apparent silliness:
Why do some educational philosophies seem to depend on inequity, on keeping some kids down, as the principal seems to want for Class E? We also learn about the individual abilities of each student (see the subtitle of this volume, Time to Show Off a Hidden Talent), which Matsui cares most about, clearly. Why not focus on kids' strengths instead of a system of winners and losers? And why train people to kill (or even win) in militaristic ways? What's the value of competition in school, in the classroom and sports? You begin to see Matsui's ideology emerge out of the goofiest story! A negative: A somewhat annoying thread of boob jokes, eh. But overall, cool....more
Third volume anymore of the same, with Koro Sensi continuing to be entertaining. Same basic set up. We begin with the last part of the school trip, anThird volume anymore of the same, with Koro Sensi continuing to be entertaining. Same basic set up. We begin with the last part of the school trip, and there's a new (robot) transfer student, Ritsu, who's a great character, there's a revenge plan and so on. Lots of fun! Maybe this dipped to 3.5 for me, not for the conception, which is great, but because things are settling in. But it's really good!
The craziness continues as we get a new female teacher in the school, who happens to be hot AND an international assassin. She doesn't even want to teThe craziness continues as we get a new female teacher in the school, who happens to be hot AND an international assassin. She doesn't even want to teach, she just wants to kill Koro Sensei, but they want her to teach her, and she decides to stay there, since this is part of the goofy premise of the story, that they want to both be assassins AND learn!
There's a class trip, which Koro Sensei admirably prepares them for. The students have to assassinate him, of course, so he doesn't destroy the planet, and they get this, but now he is such a good teacher that they love him. . . and as the lowest-performing group of the school, are actually improving under his tutelage. It's pretty funny, I will definitely keep reading....more
4/16/23: Update--Three volumes of this series have been banned by Vero Beach High School because they are afraid it might encourage students to kill t4/16/23: Update--Three volumes of this series have been banned by Vero Beach High School because they are afraid it might encourage students to kill their teachers, something it has yet to successfully do after millions of readers have read it. The ultimate point of the book is that this teacher encourages his struggling low-level classroom to believe in themselves.
Original review, 2/21/16: Crazy premise: A goofy-looking smiley-faced monster has already destroyed much of the moon, and now threatens to destroy Earth, in one year, but he also wants to become a teacher. For some reason. And he's a good teacher, too. Koro Sensei, they call him. The unkillable teacher.
So, he makes it clear that his low-performing students, in order to prevent the unthinkable, must assassinate him, of course, and he is aware of this. He encourages them to work on this group project, using all of their analytical and creative skills, learning to work together, to try and save the planet. And he is--so far, at the conclusion of this volume--unkillable, though they seem to be making progress in their goal, getting more inventive as they proceed.
Given the gun violence in US classrooms, this premise would appear to be unthinkable, but somehow Matsui makes everyone pleasant and the plot amusing. There's a range of students you come to like, with varying abilities and strengths as students and. . . assassinators. But I emphasize: This series is comedy, not a guide to classroom violence; it was wildly popular first in Japan, and then in anime, and now across the world.
Crazy, crazy stuff, so obviously you have to read it. You will be smiling like this happy-faced Koro Sensei, this seemingly unkillable teacher, who has an ulterior motive to nurture these young kids. And yeah, they love him. It's pretty funny stuff!...more
Crazier and crazier. So now we encounter the widespread effects of mushroom eating, which leads to. . . religion, apparently, and a cult following by Crazier and crazier. So now we encounter the widespread effects of mushroom eating, which leads to. . . religion, apparently, and a cult following by the mushroom eaters (now and forever The Bad Kids) of a one-eyed mud idol who becomes a chthulu-tentacled monster. Our dwindling but resourceful group of Good Kids decide THEIR god will be a bust of Sho's mother that Sho had made in Art class.
Anyway, the kids developed a kind of government, so now they decided they needed religion, and gods to pray to for help. This is a little children's bat-shit crazy microcosmic representation of society set in the dystopian future. Can the kids do better than their ancestors? Not so far they can't, but there's a core group of Good Kids who may be able to pull it off…. but this is in the horror genre, so I have my doubts.
It would seem this volume anticipates a Monsanto critique: The mushrooms The Bad Kids eat seem to derive from some kind of synthetic protein, which is not good of course compared to the good and healthy organic veggies the Good Kids have been growing and eating. The bad synthetic mushrooms turn kids into zombie-like creatures. Don't eat these, is the moral about these morels!
Bad Kids make insane decisions all the time, impulsively, frantically, manically. Good Kids are resourceful, keep a level head, think things through carefully.
News on another front: Sekiya the once insane cafeteria worker who became docile and infantile and locked in a kid's locker now gets hit on the head and is once again his old evil self. Watch out, volume eight readers!...more
This volume shifts gears to spend a lot of time with mom, who is still and endlessly and frantically trying to reach and take care of her son Sho . . This volume shifts gears to spend a lot of time with mom, who is still and endlessly and frantically trying to reach and take care of her son Sho . . though, and this is how batshit crazy this series is. . . she is doing this from the (near) past. The school, where all the kids and an apparently crazy lunchroom employee are now living and surviving against all odds, through some crazy explosion, blew into the future, where Japan is now some kind of wasteland, most people dead. The survivors are dwindling as Sho attempts to create some semblance of a "government" but they face a few challenges: A quickly dwindling food supply, bug monsters, one large motha bug monster, the Bubonic frickin' Plague, as this volume opens! And this is a bunch of elementary kids who also naturally turn on each other from time to time.
So theire biggest current challenge is the Plague, of course, though he finds a MUMMY (you heard that right) who conveniently has an identifying scar. In a fit of desperation Sho cries out to his mother--who lives in the past--and who apparently is the only person who can hear his cries. ... somehow.... and tells her to get penicillin and stash it inside said Mummy so in the future they will be able to find it and save whats left of their dwindling kid population.
You are imagining several narrative challenges to this scenario. Let them pass like the wind. But mother goes out with a neighborhood kid to look through her town for a guy with a scar (not YET dead, right!) and they do find him.... and he is one of Japan's most famous baseball players, who in a game, gets injured, dies, is embalmed (this is where the mum part comes in) as a national hero, is stuffed with the package of penicillin, which will be found by son Sho who will save the survivors.
I know: When I say it like that, it makes perfect sense, right?
But plague thwarted, it looks like good news happens, when it rains, so young plants they have planted can grow, but as is consistent with this series, the rain turns to a flood, yes, more bad things happen. Mushrooms seem to be popping up--are they edible? Are they the psychedelic ones author Umezu was obviously consuming as he wrote this crazy thing??!
This story is nuts, but it goes VERY fast, obviously, and is now, I think, kind of a COMIC horror comic series, and a fun ride. ...more
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