Tag: korosensei

Could you explain the ending of Assasination Classroom? Why did Koro-sensei have to die and why were, in previous chapters, Karma and some others so insistent on killing him? It was kind of explained directly but I still couldn’t get it fully.

Sure! TBH, I’ll admit that I wasn’t the hugest fan of the ending–I think it fits thematically but I wanted him to live, but he didn’t and it wasn’t poorly written. I was just sad. Lol.

Korosensei had to die because the world refused to allow him to live. The entire last arc was people trying to make it so that he could live, but the world refused to let him. It was wrong, and i do think the narrative was clear that it should not have to happen, but people had hardened their hearts. Korosensei’s dilemma was kind of a metaphor for how the students were treated the entire story. They were kids, they fact that they acted out didn’t doom them but society was writing them off anyways, relegating them to legitimately a separate classroom in the woods. Korosensei had a very very very small chance of destroying the world–it was incredibly unlikely, but fear of what might happen drove the people outside to want him dead. Of course it’s understandable since the risk, while small, was really consequential should it happen. 

But the message is that society essentially writes people off before they should be. Yet at the same time, Korosensei’s last year was spent dismantling that, and his whole existence was a dismantling of that. He lived as if people had worth no matter what they had to offer the world, and that their usefulness did not determine their worth. So in the end, even though Korosensei had to die, when we see Nagisa growing up to be a teacher himself and presumably carrying on Korosensei’s legacy, we know that Korosensei’s death did not continue the system that killed him but in fact helped give the kids the beliefs and strengths they would need to slowly change things. Because all it takes is one person to convince someone they matter just because they exist, and that belief–that’s enough to change a life. 

Assassination Classroom Review

I really loved the story (everyone who knows my love of murder children characters: *pretends to be shocked*). This is my personal opinion/review often stemming from my personal experiences, not a meta.

I really loved how the manga critiqued modern education, in how modern ed treats students like their worth is determined by their results. Too often, both in the high school in India I taught at and at the university I work at now, I see kids making themselves sick (oh hey this was me in school too) to get perfect grades because failure will ruin everything, but AC takes that attitude apart arc by arc while still encouraging students to work hard. Through Asano’s dad, we see how the focus on grades and results is often the result of adult’s insecurities projected onto children, and how it takes a devastating toll on those children. Through Shiro’s treatment of Itona (and his parents’ treatment of him as well), we see how a lack of results is again a smokescreen for adults’ own insecurities, and the toll it takes. 

There isn’t a perfect answer, but Korosensei’s determination to treat each of the children like they were people is powerful and makes a difference.Through being respected as people and loved despite their flaws, yet still encouraged to do better, they grew into beautiful people, and I think it’s important that they never all shared the same viewpoints. They were individuals bound together by love for each other and for Korosensei. 

I also like how it satirized the delinquents being put in one class in the mountains because it’s like a perfect satire. Troubled kids do get written off as a whole and they fall through the cracks. They all too often become defined by their results and lack thereof and are too much work for teachers to see them, because it would involve facing your own fears a lot of the time. 

As a teacher, I found myself relating to the story and remembering some of the troubled kids I worked with, the ones who recovered and those who were still struggling when I left, and I cried. I loved how Korosensei was vulnerable and decided to be weak as if it was a strength, because it was. This was my favorite scene: 

I found when teaching it’s really important to admit when you make mistakes, and to be a human being (trust me kids will call you on your shit if they see you bullshitting). And like Korosensei (not that I was nearly as good of a teacher as he was–I definitely wasn’t), I also felt like I learned just as much from my students as they learned from me, and I’m drowning in feelings and memories right now. 

Anyways, it’s a beautiful story. Read it.