Book Review: Assassination Classroom, Vol 6 by Yusei Matsui

 

Assassination Classroom, Vol 6    

Author: Yusei Matsui

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date:  October 6, 2015

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Action Adventure Manga/192 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

 

Now that his class has learned that one of Koro Sensei’s weaknesses is water, they decide to come up with an assassination plan utilizing that knowledge! While pretending to play around in the new pool he created for them, they’ll throw him into the water. Once he is underneath and helpless, a hidden student will take advantage of his helplessness and stab him. Meg Kataoka is perfect for the job, being a top swimmer, and she is more than up for the challenge! When Meg reveals the reason why, with her good grades, she fell down to Class E, because of a supposed friend, her true friends and Koro Sensei decide to help her break the one-sided co-dependency.

When the pool is unexpectedly trashed, some of the students look toward Terasaka and his friends as the culprits, largely because of his horrible attitude toward school in general and Class 3E in particular. Itona and his assassin/mentor take advantage of Terasaka’s feelings to recruit him for some work for them, namely to help assassinate Koro Sensei. But when their actions endanger the other students and not just Koro Sensei, can Terasaka really go along with the program?

The time has arrived for the Final Exams! As extra incentive, those students who receive first place in a subject in their grade will be allowed to shoot off one of Koro Sensei’s tentacles. Karasuma and Irina warn Principal Asano not to interfere with the tests, and he claims he would never do such a thing. Asano does tell his very intelligent son, who is top of his class, that he expects Class A to defeat Class E. His son says he is sure he can do it, and makes a bet that when he does, his father has to tell him the secret he is hiding about Class E (which would be about Koro Sensei, who is unknown to most of the school, as well as the world). The principal agrees. Than young Asano and his cohorts make their own private bet with Class E, with special stakes.

By now, this class of would-be assassins is beginning to be conflicted. While on the one hand, they are seriously studying to assassinate their teacher and save the world, on the other hand, they like him quite a bit. When the time comes, will they actually be able to follow through? In this volume, we see more of Terasaka, who has been hovering on the edge of the class. But now he is faced with a do or die decision and will hopefully grow in the process. The final exams are going to be real nail-biters, especially given the track records of the other students and their principal. Is it possible there will be no monkey wrenches thrown into the works to sabotage them? Only time will tell.

Good volume, look forward to the next one!