Fantasia Film Review: Assassination Classroom – Graduation

Koro-sensei is back!

Eiichiro Hasumi brings us Assassination Classroom: Graduation, the sequel and conclusion to last year’s Assassination Classroom. Calling this a fan favorite is putting it mildly as the Hall Theatre (now renamed as the SWGU Alumni Auditorium) was packed to the rafters. It was all with good reason, for this one’s a crowd pleaser.

Back again is the entire class of 3-E, united with the goal to killing Koro-sensei. Soon enough, the class will divide due to a new revelation: their tentacle professor is going to explode. You see, Koro-sensei’s origin is not extra-terrestrial, as previously stated. He was once a human assassin picked for a tentacle experiment gone awry. Unfortunately, a similar experiment took out a chunk of the moon, so if he’s not killed in the span of a year, the earth will suffer a similar fate. With half the class trying to rescue him and half trying to finish him off before the date, we’re in for a battle between the meek but clever Nagisa and the rebellious but smart Karma.

The cast once again includes the crazy characters from the originals but one has been keeping a secret for a long time. Before long, Koro-sensei will have to reveal his true origin and reconcile the students back into one class. The government is not that understanding, as they’re aiming a laser from a military satellite towards the 3-E classroom. Yes, of course there’s more to it.

You gotta have a silly movie in Fantasia. It’s the law (Disclaimer: No, it’s not). It balances out the other crazy movies you watch (specially the WTF ones). Okey, that’s my personal theory anyway. This one just for fun. Entertainment can be a tricky thing, after an entire movie of shenanigans and I’m happy to say I was entertained.

Perhaps this sequel’s biggest weakness is its predecessor. Assassination Classroom gave us a gradual introduction to each of its cast, allowing us to be a part of the classroom. That makes the first movie required viewing if you don’t want to end up with a ton of questions for this one. Also, it’s always going to be more fun getting to know the cast that saying goodbye to it.

Highs: More laughs, fun and crazy antics. If you loved the first one, you must see its conclusion. Also, we finally see Koro-sensei’s human face pre-transformation. Entertaining throughout.

Lows: You’re either into it, or really not. The second movie is not as fun as the first, as this one has to give us some exposure via a flashback to the past. That also means we spend less time in the classroom. We say goodbye to our professor.

Highly recommended for anime and manga lovers, specially fans of UT/Koro-sensei. Sentimental and silly, it requires a high degree of suspension of disbelief, so if you were into the first one you’re want to see this one through.

Coming up, maybe!