Cross stitch pattern of Nagisa and Koro Sensei from Assassination Classroom. The image comes from a keychain that’s official as far as I know. Get this pattern in both PNG and PDF formats by donating to my Patreon.

Grid Size: 68W x 96H
Design Area: 4.71″ x 6.71″ (66 x 94 stitches)
Colors: 10

So I’m about halfway through the second season of Assassination Classroom. I don’t think they thought through that name. People tend to shorten titles like My Hero Academia shortens to Hero Aca. I know it’s supposed to be a comedy anime, but come on, really?

Assassination Classroom suffers from inconsistently blurry lines between fantasy and reality and humor and drama. Like, I know it’s a show about an alien octopus bent on world destruction, but Nagisa’s abusive mom learning the error of her ways in a mere few days is just going way too far into the realm of absurdity for me. The director also makes redemption way too easy for characters who have had a heel-face turn. People just go back to normal without any repercussions and it’s a little jarring.

Again, I haven’t finished the show, but main villain Chairman Asano’s backstory is lame. If a person snapped that hard over the death of one kid, then they had to have been pretty messed up even before, but the anime doesn’t show any gradual straw that broke the camel’s back decent into madness. He’s just a normal guy and then suddenly evil. It would have been funny if his backstory was something mundane like he got a paper cut and turned evil.

It’s still an enjoyable anime, and I like how unpredictable it can be, but if you’re annoyed by the awkward directing in the first few episodes, you probably shouldn’t bother watching the rest.