P.E. Teacher Tadaomi Karasuma

Aside from the ever-lovable Koro Sensei and his gang of misfit students tasked with the nearly impossible assignment of killing him, there's one other character that has been there from the very start—Tadaomi Karasuma, class 3-E's PE teacher! However, even though he's been a constant throughout the manga, the spotlight has never truly shone on him...that is until the release of Assassination Classroom volume 5!

Background Check

Name: Tadaomi Karasuma
Birthday: August 15 (28 years old)
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 187 lbs.
Career: 1st Airborne Brigade, Inter-Services Intelligence, Contingency Special Projects Department, Class 3-E PE Teacher

Not much is known about Tadaomi Karasuma when we first meet him in the opening chapter. Aside from the obvious (Karasuma's a bit grumpy and anti-social), we can only glean tidbits of information throughout the first four published volumes.

He's Creative

Creativity is a must in Karasuma's line of work. After all, he works for the Ministry of Defense and is deployed to deal with a rather serious and unorthodox threat—Koro Sensei! His craftiness is especially on display as Class 3-E's physical education teacher. Unlike a normal PE teacher, everything Karasuma does has the underlying goal of training students to become better assassins through activities like "Assassination Badminton." (from vol. 2)

He's Proper

Any good assassin understands what needs to be done in any given circumstance, whether that means learning how to interact gracefully in social situations or knowing when to blend in quietly. Karasuma isn't exactly the most sensitive gentleman out there, but he does understand when appropriate attire is required. (from vol. 2)

He's Intuitive

Good assassins study their targets, and go about their jobs with well-thought-out plans and back-up plans. But to gather information sometimes requires more than just digging for clues. Sometimes good awareness and intuition provides just as much good information as an all-night stakeout. In this case, Karasuma appears to know more about Koro Sensei than anyone could have guessed! (from vol. 3)

He's Nice

Okay, okay... So this one really doesn't have much to do with his skills as an assassin or Ministry of Defense worker, but despite his grumpy demeanor, Karasuma's a good guy! When Ms. Vitch's skills as an assassin are questioned by her mentor, Karasuma lends a helping hand so that Ms. Vitch could stay on as the class's Foreign Language teacher. (from vol. 4)

If He's All These Things...

Then what in tarnation is going on in volume 5? Because of Koro Sensei's looming deadline to destroy the Earth, the Ministry of Defense expects to see the results of Karasuma's training. Although the students are progressing and improving a great deal, they're still no match for Koro Sensei. But then again, even professional assassins have had a bit of a rough go when trying to take down the octopus-like creature...

But that still doesn't excuse Karasuma in the eyes of his superiors. Karasuma was originally assigned to Class 3-E because of his exceptional skills as an instructor in the Airborne Brigade, but the constant failures to kill Koro Sensei has them thinking new blood is needed to draw out the students' full potential.

And the man tasked with the job of training the students to kill Koro Sensei is Akira Takaoka—a seemingly nice guy with a sweet tooth! But, what the students don't realize and will soon learn is that there's one problem with Takaoka...he's a psychopath!

Can Karasuma find a way to replace his replacement? Will the students all crumble under Takaoka's nice-guy/trainer-from-hell persona? Last, but certainly not least, will the students' grueling training schedule mean they won't have time to play with Koro Sensei after school?

Assassination Classroom volumes 1–5 is available now at viz.com!