(Review edited and restructured)
Introduction:
An ordinary high school class tasked to kill an octopus creature that is responsible for exploding the moon??
It was the second anime series that I watched, and I found the character design unique, I was initially skeptical towards the plot. Then, I followed the series and discovered that this series has everything I like, from the OP/ED, the character arcs, suitable hilarious comedic moments, good fight scenes, interesting or likeable characters, impactful moments and lessons, and so on. Now it remains in my top 5 anime series of all time.
What I like:
- Multiple characters spotlights or growths
At least half of the 20+ casts are given spotlights for this season. The spotlights are given either through its dedicated arcs
Spoiler, click to view
(Sugino, Kanzaki, Irina), or are contained in major arcs
Spoiler, click to view
(Karma, Hayami, Chiba). Even the minor "antagonists" are not exempted from character developments
Spoiler, click to view
("Red Eye").
Spoiler, click to view
At first I did not like that Korosensei was depicted as an overpowered despicable bad guy. Luckily, the first few episodes quickly dispersed my perception towards him. In addition he is hilarious, loveable, dependable, wise, and badass, a role model many can look up to; and despite all of this "perfect" traits, he still has a room to improve,as shown when the episode when 3E class failed the first examination.
All of them, including OP, ED, BGM
Although not the main focus and not particularly sophisticated, the fight scenes have clean animations, they are impactful, and the fight scenes did not feel like they were dragged unnecessarily. One of my favourites is
Spoiler, click to view
Karma vs Grip (one of Takaoka's hired assassin).
Spoiler, click to view
2 major plots centered around class 3E students, who have been unjustly outcasted by the fundamental flaws of education class systems, a circumstance relatable to real life (minus the assassination thing). Due to these plotlines, we naturally want to see E class students succeeds in their endeavours.
- Good twists
They create unstaleness and unpredictibality. Examples including
Spoiler, click to view
Takaoka destroying the serum, Koro Sensei giving life lessons to "Red Eye", Karma "failing" the examination.
What I dislike:
- Some characters are slightly underutilised
Spoiler, click to view
I think Irina should be used more, I did not get to feel her direct impact towards class 3E, in terms of skillsets and lessons (it was probably mentioned a few times by the students, but that's about it). Some of the students spotlights are missing as well, though I suppose giving spotlights to everyone is almost impossible. I would prefer if some of them are not used purely for comedy (looking at you, Okajima and Terasaka's group (excluding Terasaka himself)).
Overall:
- One of the best animes personally
- 10/10, as in a not necessarily perfect, but a complete satisfying series
- Definitely recommend to watch, especially for high school students
