Title: Assassination Classroom Vol. 10
Author: Yusei Matsui
Publisher: Viz Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 192
Genre: Shonen, Battle, Comedy
Publication Date: June 7, 2016
The Story
The tenth volume of Assassination Classroom has two small story arcs in the beginning and rather large story arc that encompasses the majority of the manga.
We open up with a news story about a huge surplus of eggs that are about to be thrown out. Kaede gets an idea on how to use those eggs to try and kill Koro-sensei… by creating one of the biggest puddings the world has ever seen! Of course, it’s no ordinary pudding as there are anti-Koro-sensei explosives hidden within in. Koro-sensei loves pudding so when he goes to eat it, it’ll just explode and kill him. At least, that was the idea, but of course, the plan is foiled and Koro-sensei lives.
The second mini story arc shows the class undergoing more training. This Karasuma-sensei decides to train them in parkour, or free running. This results in a rather amusing game of cops and robbers which just ends up as comedic relief as a prelude to the main story of this volume.
The rest of the volume focuses on a previous character in Itona Horibe. We’ve seen him before as he is the tentacle user that was ordered to kill Koro-sensei by the mysterious masked man. The story arc opens up with someone disguised as Koro-sensei going around and stealing women’s undergarments and framing him for the crime. Wanting to clear his name, Koro-sensei investigates only to discover that it was the masked man and Itona behind all of it. The plan was to lure Koro-sensei out into the open so that Itona could battle him one on one and assassinate him. The battle was fierce, but Koro-sensei ends up winning.
Due to his second defeat, the masked man abandons Itona right at a time when the tentacles are going out of control. Itona escapes and is now alone in the city and in a berserker rage. Koro-sensei and the class end up tracking him down and find a way to sever the tentacles from his head. This calms Itona down and returns him to normal. Itona ends up joining Class E and we are left with a pretty big clue about Koro-sensei at the end of the manga. Underneath his tie lies his heart and that is his greatest weak spot. Now that the students know this information, Koro-sensei feels that assassinations from here on out will be more interesting.
I liked this volume a lot because it took the time to reintroduce us to a past character and flesh out their background. The fact that they are added to the cast now has me worried because it is a rather large cast as it is. I just hope that itona doesn’t get lost in the shuffle as the volumes continue on. The two stories in the beginning were fun reads and they are a classic example of the light-hearted nature this series brings to the table, but Itona’s story also gives you the sense of how dark and dramatic the series can get.
Characters
While Kaede does get a little bit of time to shine, Itona took center stage here. You get excited because up until this point, Itona was Koro-sensei’s greatest challenge. To see them fight again was a thrill, but what happens to Itona afterwards makes you build sympathy to the character. Having his background shed upon us, you feel a connection to the character and it ends up putting a smile on your face when he permanently joins Class 3E.
His personality finally starts to shine through now that he can think and act for himself, but just because it does, it doesn’t mean it’s unique or that it stands out. Itona does seem to have a bit of a chip on his shoulder and even though he was saved by Koro-sensei, he still vows to kill him. It is that impassioned rivalry between the two of them that fuels Itona’s desire to assassinate Koro-sensei and the fact the Koro-sensei welcomes the challenge just shows how confident and capable he is.
Again, I hope Itona doesn’t fade into the background and he gets some more time to shine, but the track record speaks for itself in this series.
Final Thoughts
All in all, I liked this volume as it took a break from the main overall plot in the beginning and treated us to some comedic relief. Trying to kill Koro-sensei with pudding was pretty hilarious, but I wasn’t too much of a fan of the whole cops and robbers arc as it seems like it was just trying too hard at that point. The Itona story was fantastic and now that all of the students know his ultimate weak spot, it makes you want to see what will come in volume eleven and what kind of assassination plots that the students will cook up.
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media.
