Assassination Classroom is more than just an unusual comedy about kids trying to bump off their high school teacher. Especially in this second season, the members of Class E begin to confront the realities of life after school. Nagisa ponders becoming a professional assassin until Koro-Sensei, ever the caring teacher, tells him to think about the decision more carefully. It’s these heartfelt moments of drama that help lift the series up beyond mere whimsy and gimmickry to the realm of long-lasting classic.
This second season continues the combination of beautiful animation, witty comedy, and kinetic energy that made the first season enjoyable. The 13 episodes in this first half of the second season are binge-worthy by any measure and great indications that part two is sure not to disappoint either.
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The Video
Assassination Classroom continues to look superb on Blu-ray in its second season. Arriving in an AVC 1080p encodement framed at 1.78:1 from Funimation, there isn’t much to complain about with the vivid primary colors, excellent contrast that shows deep, inky blacks and nuanced shadows, crisp detail in the line art and very little noise or color banding.
The Audio
As with Season One, Season Two, Part One gets both the original Japanese-language track in Dolby TrueHD 2.0 stereo and an English dub from Funimation in Dolby TrueHD 5.1. The latter isn’t much to speak about from an audio standpoint considering it doesn’t do much with the surround channels or even add much low end in the LFE. We really only get some added atmospherics. The English cast do an okay job, but I don’t like the way much of the translations often change the meaning slightly from the literal translations in the subs. The Japanese stereo mix seems too loud and devoid of dynamic range, but the cast also don’t sound as canned.
The Supplements
Two English audio commentaries and a featurette on the malleable face of Koro-sensei fill out the usual slate supplements on this set.
- Episode 3 Audio Commentary
- Episode 5 Audio Commentary
- The Many Faces of Koro Sensei (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:06:06)
- Textless Opening Song “QUESTION” Ver. 1
- Textless Opening Song “QUESTION” Ver. 2
- Textless Opening Song “QUESTION” Ver. 3
- Textless Closing Song “Waning Moon”
- Previews (1.78:1; 1080p/24; 00:03:24)
- Funimation Trailers
The Final Assessment
High school life can be treacherous, and Assassination Classroom skillfully tucks that experience into the symbolism of if comedic and absurdist world while also providing an energetic, wholly watchable series with gorgeous animation. This second season is off to a great start in its first half. This set from Funimation looks great and offers a decent if hardly overwhelming set of extras.
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