Volume 1 of Assassination Classroom has us following a strange alien creature named Koro-sensei who, after destroying a portion of the moon, threatens to destroy the Earth in a year’s time. He decides to become a junior high homeroom teacher and teach what are considered “misfits” who have been tasked with assassinating him to prevent Earth from being destroyed.

The premise alone is what you call insane but I’ve got to admit that it’s actually really interesting. Anime and manga have a way of having these really off-the-wall ideas and turning them into interesting stories. The premise seems ridiculous at first (as do most manga) but reading through the chapters it’s actually pretty unique.  There is a lot of humor, particularly in the students efforts to kill Koro-sensei, but the lessons that the kids learn and developing arcs led to really moving moments.

Despite the premise, volume 1 really doesn’t feel like it has a story. It feels more slice of life. This isn’t necessarily bad but I’m sure by the next volume more of the story begins to develop.

Koro-sensei, despite having the power to destroy the moon and plans on destroying Earth, is actually quite a likable character.  He shows a deep passion for teaching often imparting life lessons to his students  He does show a fair amount of goofiness but he truly cares for his students.  But he does have quite the dark side when he gets pissed off or is offended.

The students themselves are considered losers for their poor behavior or poor grades.  The characters have their own small arcs which revolve around their attempts to kill Koro-sensei and compete with the other students of a Junior High School.  Despite this, Koro-sensei’s class is pretty lackluster with few distinguishing qualities.  The main student is Nagisa and the kid is pretty generic.  He would’ve came off better as a more determined, more ambitious character, ready to take Koro-sensei’s challenge.

The art-style is what you’d expect from this type of manga so Yusei Matsui gets a thumbs up for the art. Shounen isn’t bad and is quite fitting for the school setting.  Koro-sensei’s design is pretty simple, basically a yellow space octopus with super powers who’s color changes with his mood. Ridiculous in every since of the word but it completely works. The paneling isn’t bad so the transitions and storytelling are evenly paced.

Matsui manages to solidify my interest in volume 1 with the brilliant writing. I’m not familiar with any of his other works. His narration works on the side of Koro-sensei as well as Nagisa and helps to work out their characterization. The story is serious but has a lot of drama, humor, and emotion. The lessons learned in class transitioned to the kids’ lives, personalities, and their development.

There were some things that did irk me such as when the characters constantly refer to his speed as Mach. Why don’t they just say super speed? They keep saying Mach. Most of the other characters lack any kind of characterization so I’m hoping that in the next volumes they become more fleshed out. The manga falls under a certain formula which could be good or could be bad. He teaches them and helps them get better grades, they try to kill him and fail. Then it repeats. The writing’s not bad.

In the end, Assassination Classroom Vol.1 is actually a really good introduction. I like the direction of the series and I want to see where it goes. Koro-sensei’s an interesting character and I want to see more of him. I hope more of the characters get fleshed out in the next volume. Thumbs up to Matsui’s writing and art. Assassination Classroom Vol.1 gets 4 out of 5.