The fourth volume of Assassination Classroom has just arrived; let’s see what new fun we can discover with Koro-Sensei and Class E.
Is it good?
Assassination Classroom Vol. 4 (Viz Media)

Translation by: Tetsuichiro Miyaki
English Adaption by: Bryant Turnage
Irina Jelavich’s mentor has arrived at the school and wants her to quit, since she has no chance of killing Koro-Sensei now that he is onto her. However, Irina wants to stay, leading to a competition that will determine her fate! However, that’s not what is most important in this volume. What’s more important is that a new transfer student is coming and this one is even far more unusual than the living computer weapon the class got earlier. Not only that but this mysterious student may actually shed some light on Koro’s past…
Of all the volumes we had in the series so far, I would say that this volume is the best one we’ve had, which is impressive considering how great this series has been. This volume brought us more development for quite a few characters, expanded a bit more on the school operations and the sports relationship between Class E and the rest of the student body and most importantly — shed more light on Koro-Sensei. We had a lot going on here with less filler-ish chapters, making Assassination Classroom Vol. 4 a much meatier and content filled read.

Perhaps the biggest deal with Assassination Classroom Vol. 4, however is the storyline that happens in the middle. This is where we are introduced to the new transfer student named Itona Horibe, who claims he is Koro-Sensei’s sibling. Now that would be weird considering how radically different looking the two are, but the revelation that they both have the same tentacle based powers (so they are “siblings” in that regard) is huge. Koro-Sensei’s response coupled with some intriguing flashbacks open up a lot of theories about the truth. And just who is this mysterious woman we keep seeing him flashback to? Are there even more people with these powers? Add all of that in with a pretty exciting action scene and character growth for the entire class, this storyline becomes easily the best arc the entire series has had up until now.

Finally, we turn to the artwork, which still looks as good as the previous volumes. While a lot of the students do have similar looking faces and even body types at points, the facial expressions are drawn very well. Koro-Sensei is probably remains the best in the area, even with a very limited face, with how you can really tell how he feels or what’s on his mind at any point. The layouts are simple, but effective and easy to the follow. This action is static looking, but still gives off that intense and brutal feeling like it should given the circumstances of the scene it is happening in. Overall, it’s another fine looking volume of the series with maybe some minor areas that could use improvement.

Is It Good?
Assassination Classroom Vol. 4 is a setup from the last volume of the series, progressing the story in a very interesting way instead of just having a lot of humor-focused chapters, while also dealing out plenty of fine character development. The flaws there are minor at best, easily overlooked by the amount of good there is in the volume. If you have been on the fence about checking this out, now is the perfect time to jump aboard. You won’t regret it.
Assassination Classroom Vol. 4 is available from Viz Media. Volumes one through three are currently available for purchase, with the fourth volume is set for release in August 2015. An anime adaption of the series is currently going on and a live action film will supposedly arrive in the near future. There’s a poster out for it and everything, with Koro-Sensei looking very creepy as a CGI creature.

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