Anime Review - Assassination Classroom Season 2
Judging by where Season 1 left off, a second season of Assassination Classroom was inevitable. Season 1 tackled introducing the characters and the situation their world is in, while Season 2 proceeds to be the conclusion to the beautiful story of the End Class and their teacher, Koro Sensei. The End Class are now starting their second term in Kunugigaoka Junior High, so they have about half of a year to find a way to assassinate their teacher and save the world. The question is... can they succeed in doing so?
Season 2 does not stray too far from Season 1 in terms of the tone and atmosphere. Most episodes still retain the insane but joyful fun of the previous season, and it is not ashamed to extend that more to the fullest. From episode plots such as making a gigantic caramel pudding with an explosive implanted on the bottom to lure Koro Sensei, to having a school festival that has a few potential familiar faces to anime fans in general. Season 2 succeeds in continuing the episodic fun from Season 1. However, beyond the fun, things start to get a lot more interesting when the answers to the questions Season 1 gave us become unraveled.
Before I get to those answers, I would like to point out something I forgot to mention in my review for Season 1 that caught my eye. In both seasons, there are a few episodes dedicated to the students taking their midterm and final exams. Instead of just telling us that they took them, the creators of the show decided to make the process a bit more cinematic. As they take their tests, the students get transported to a gladiator arena (not really, it is just for the drama of the difficulty of the tests) where they fight monsters that are supposed to represent each subject. Each student in the group who is talented in a specific subject is shown fighting the respective monsters of that subject. This is not anything that is a make-or-break deal for the show in general, but it was a neat little thing that I thought stood out.
Getting to the moment we’ve all been waiting for: those beautiful answers. Now, I am not going to go into specifics as to what they are, being that I would like to keep my reviews spoiler-free, but trust me when I say that “beautiful” is entirely accurate to what they are. Many things become known later in the season and I could not have been more satisfied. Questions such as “Who is Koro Sensei and where did he come from?” and “Why does the principal maintain this corrupt school system?” all become answered. While you do expect these questions to be answered, Season 2 answers questions such as these in a much more fleshed-out way than you’d expect. This expands to the point where these answers have full-length episodes behind them, so you really feel like you are getting to fully learn them with the characters. What makes these revelations even better than they already are, are the developments the show gives to some of its side characters. I certainly was not expecting some of the things the side characters had to offer in this season, and it is not short of amazing.
Another thing Season 2 executes well is the concept of consequences. You would think that getting involved in a government-led assassination that determines the fate of the world would make your life a bit difficult, and it surely has for the End Class over the past year. From the end of Season 1 to all throughout Season 2, the show takes an interesting take on consequences. They do not really relate to the fact of the world being at stake. They more so relate to the students themselves being assassins in the first place. There are points where their status as assassins gets them into tough situations that could only have turned out the way they did because of their skills. This provides an interesting obstacle for the students, their teachers, and the result of their job to assassinate the loveable Koro Sensei... but I will leave you to find out what happens with that one.
From the moment that I heard and saw the fourth and final opening sequence of this show, I knew I was in for a ride. Assassination Classroom Season 2 is an excellent sequel to its predecessor, and it maintains that excellency to the end. With many twists and turns, it provides a satisfying conclusion for both the story and the characters alike, and one that makes this show in general and its characters even more lovable than they already are, while potentially making you cry. At least, it did that for me.
