Have you ever been in that one special class in Junior High, you know, the kind where a fully-bearded, trench-coat wearing kid casually jaunts in 15 minutes late? The kind where students wrestle and take a snooze on the floor during midterms. The kind where seeing a kid walk by with a two-by-four firmly in hand is no big deal. And even then, nothing compares to Yusei Matsui's Assassination Classroom and the outcasts of Class 3-E...

Meet Class 3-E of Kunugigaoka Junior High, a special class where special students get special treatment! Kunugigaoka Junior High rose to prominence under the stewardship of Principal Gakuho Asano, a forward-thinking educator whose "Worker Ant Theory" thrust the school into the upper echelon of the school rankings. Unfortunately though, this ascension came at the expense of a class of students...

The Worker Ant Theory

Because of Principal Asano's radical "Worker Ant Theory," Class 3-E, otherwise known as the "End Class," was formed to create an environment where 95% of the school works hard. How did he expect to meet such a high success rate? By turning Class 3-E into the scapegoat—in other words, he's using Class 3-E as an example by which all students strive to avoid.

Since the principal considers the class expendable for the greater good of his school, it's no wonder that they're given the unenviable task of eliminating the alien threat known as Koro Sensei, a mysterious octopus-like creature who becomes their homeroom teacher, and a good one to boot! Koro Sensei's not happy about the principal's practices and hopes his students can place at the top of their classes in the upcoming midterms, but the principal has other plans to keep them in place...

Ms. Hellab...er, Jelavitch

It's really rare to find a manga that literally makes me laugh out loud while I read, but Assassination Classroom really cracks me up. Case in point: professional assassin Irina Jelavitch.

Upon first meeting the class, Irina Jelavitch's highfalutin attitude takes a blow when the students mockingly call her Ms. Hellabitch. And the joke doesn't stop there, as Matsui Sensei milks that comedy gold for all its worth with hilarious diagrams and a great play on the difficulty in differentiating between a "v" and a "b" sound for native Japanese speakers.

Need for Speed 

So why would an alien-like creature who's intent on destroying the Earth by the end of the school year care so much about a class of misfits and miscreants? It's a fascinating paradox that's in keeping with the spirit of this manga. Koro Sensei's irreverent yet thoughtful, selfish yet caring, and most perplexing of all, he tries so hard to help his misunderstood students despite his sinister intentions.

But that's the fun and allure of this great manga. It's got mystery! Intrigue! Hilarious antics! All wrapped up in an octopus-like creature in a doomsday setting. To say that reading this manga is equivalent to a religious experience...would be a big, fat lie. But nothing beats "BLRF"-ing when seeing incredible panels like the one below.

Assassination Classroom volumes 1–2 are available now at viz.com!