Ansatsu Kyoushitsu / First Impressions

「集会の時間」 (Shuukai no Jikan)
“Assembly Time”

The brand name behind Kunugigaoka must be strong, because going through class 3-E is absolute hell. If class 3-E was already this discriminated against during the series, it’s unimaginable to think what life was like before Koro-sensei came into the fray. The school must’ve sent only the lowest tier of teachers to instruct class 3-E, because who in their right minds wants to navigate through to a path full of snakes, bees, and other natural disasters just to go through an assembly? Granted, all these troubles have hardened them and made class 3-E better assassins in the process, but having to study under such contempt and blatant discrimination is disgusting.

The whole premise is pretty straightforward, meant to rile one up against the plight of 3-E, but at times I feel the whole concept of using one class as bait goes too far. The students of the main campus are flat-out different, from their personality to even their physical conception. There is little room for empathy of the other side when the rest of the school is explicitly painted in this manner, much less for the so called logical and utilitarian thinking of their chairman. At the same time though, I can imagine that this sort of discrimination, though caricatured, strikes very close to a lot of Japanese students as well as classrooms worldwide. Perhaps this easily hated school isn’t so far from reality in some places, despite how depressing that is.

Thus, it is clear that the real antagonist of this show is not Koro-sensei, but rather the institutionalized class-based discrimination of Kunugigaoka. Even Bitch-sensei and Karasuma are disgusted by the school’s various practices, where Koro-sensei himself cannot stand by and let his students be so unfairly treated. The show seems to be heading in an arc that will emphasize this conflict of interest between the mountaintop and the campus, as the school’s chairman seems to have a nasty plan up his sleeve to be revealed next episode. In essence, this seems like a better focus for the show in terms of creating conflict–these short improvement stories are far too shallow to have any sort of meaningful emotional depth, but with the addition of a true antagonist who wishes only harm on 3-E, perhaps we will see some more meaningful developments along the way.

Before that, we should address the character development that happened today, with Okuda Manami (Yahagi Sayuri), whose direct assassinations are…interesting? Her ultimate lesson in being well-rounded was straightforward, but it was humorous to see more of Koro-sensei’s potential weaknesses. Other than his weakness for snacks (which they should get around to poisoning sometime soon), Koro-sensei is casually open to experimentation from students, presumably to help them hone their skills in a low-pressure environment. As the snack theme has been repeating for a few episodes now–Koro-sensei is a real snack artist–the final piece of the puzzle for a potential suicide has completed itself with Manami’s chemistry skills.

The show is shaping up slowly, a bit slow than necessary, but with a new focus of antagonist, perhaps the real ride starts now.

End Card

22 Comments

  2. https://randomc.net/image/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu%20-%2005%20-%2036.jpg
    What’s this, first tentacle monsters and now vampires?

    https://randomc.net/image/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu%20-%2005%20-%2011.jpg
    Daaaw, she’s adorable. I’m a real sucker for the shy nerdy megame archetype. Loved how she straight up offered him poison and the chemistry session, though they really needed a fume hood and some PPE for that sort of work. Koro-sensei’s right kiddo, even in the sciences we need to be able to write right and spin things to get people to give us money to play with our amazing shiny super-expensive toys make exciting new discoveries for the benefit of all mankind. Now, back to writing my thesis. 😛

    Hochmeister
    Reply

  3. Manami was so adorable.

    And the discrimination is even more cringe-worthy when you got the elitists even saying things like, “What do you think you’re doing laughing and having fun?”

    For those who have kept watching, a similar mindset is done in Cross Ange too – purposely having a class of outcasts (Norma) and outright encouraging the rest of society (Mana-users) to hate those outcasts in order to keep the vast majority united and peaceful with each other, and to keep from falling into chaos and war and whatnot.

    HalfDemonInuyasha
    Reply

    1. Show Spoiler ▼

      Ani_BEE
      Reply

      3. @Dwarg has a point. Nagisa has pretty ”big ass” for a guy. I’ve been spoiled to the reason why he looks like a girl but I don’t see how that would give him womanly hips unless he wears one of those padded underwear.

        Sean
        Reply

      1. Good to know, from day 1 I was thinking he was a bit to curvy from just watching the Anime but i didn’t want to say anything. I appraise it, for once it make clear it’s not a straightforward either. 😉

        Ani_BEE
        Reply

  6. You would think that with that environment, there would be deaths, suicides, or other things that would get parents, the government or media poking around and looking into the school. I mean parents might not like their kids doing poorly in school, but I don’t think anyone but the most horrible parents would think their kids deserve to die for it. This school would either have a tragedy that would make them reconsider their stance on treating the lowest achieving students so poorly, if only to cover their butts, or be sued out of existence.

    zrnzle500
    Reply

  7. One of the most chilling aspects of the discrimination is that promo-cartoon thing where the cute little character spouts hatred and all the children-voices go “Yay!!!”. It actually made my skin crawl. The other aspects…I was just sitting there feeling sad and enraged on the behalf of E-Class.

    Aki-Chan
    Reply

  8. I get the feeling that you were kinda expecting an action series- and given the premise, it’s easy to fall to that preconception; and while there certainly are some great action-packed arcs in the series, these small episodes of self-improvement and life lessons are the core of the series- and one of the reasons why it’s so popular.

    Were it just about assassinating him- the series would be no more than standard Hollywood action fare.

    But by showing just how sincere, effective, and sympathetic of a teacher Koro-sensei is; his genuine desire to nurture those whom all others have considered rejects- that is the major selling point of the series. There is not a single reader who has not thought “Man, I wish Koro-sensei was MY teacher”.

    Stranger
    Reply

  10. https://randomc.net/image/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2015.jpg
    I laughed when he just pointed out the only advantage of that form even though it is not very discreet. I would surely notice something like that in my desk.
    https://randomc.net/image/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2022.jpg
    This will never get old…
    https://randomc.net/image/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2031.jpg
    as in this….
    https://randomc.net/image/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu/Ansatsu%20Kyoushitsu%20-%2005%20-%20Large%2036.jpg
    P.S. Sorry to bring this up but… Aizen! (^_- wink)

    random viewer
    Reply

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