Manga Review: Assassination Classroom Vol. 10

By: MithrandielSchool is back in session with Assassination Classroom volume 10, though it seems to be slowing down a bit story-wise.The first arc explores the most...interesting attempt at destroying Koro-sensei yet: a gigantic flan with a bomb hidden at the bottom.Why a giant flan? Well, after discovering there was a nationwide excess of eggs, Kayano decides that with the assistance of the defense ministry they could put them to good use; knowing that their tentacled-teacher is a sucker for sweets, Kayano is confident that her plan would work. However, like most of the well thought plans (of mice and men) it goes awry when Koro is able to sniff out the explosive and remove it before it poses any harm to him. Instead, he helps to serve up the monster-sized flan to the rest of the class as they move on.Now, I enjoy some lighthearted/comedic attempts on Koro's life. At this point it's hard to deny that the class is so torn on their mission that most of the time they're relieved when Koro is able to escape their plots. That being said, the formula is starting to get old.The next arc is an important lesson for any assassin: developing excellent mobility through parkour. Karasuma takes the lead in some death-defying movements through the forest as he demonstrates the value of catching your enemy by surprise.This lesson quickly turns into a game as Koro suggests that he and Karasuma play the "cops" in a large scale game of Cops & Robbers. The wager: if the students are able to avoid capture, Karasuma will buy everyone cake! If they are all caught,  however, Koro doubles their homework. A risky game, but the students are excited to take it on nonetheless.It was cool to see the students demonstrating their acrobatic skill, as well as Karasuma and Koro's terrific partnership. Nagisa also takes the lead again near the end as he helps secure victory with a couple of his classmates (go Nagisa go!). Overall, this arc was pretty fun, but again, it felt a bit shallow to me.The theme seems to continue with the next arc as a mysterious bra thief seems to be plaguing the town, and all of Koro's students are certain that their pervy teacher is the perpetrator. Though insisting on his innocence, all evidence seems to point at him, so the class decides to host a stakeout. When the real thief is caught, it turns out to be an elaborate trap to lure Koro into a fight with Itona, Koro's supposed "younger brother" who commands tentacles of his own!Surrounded by "anti-Koro" material everywhere he turns, things are looking bad for Koro until he reveals a new technique he developed in teaching the students of class E. Though it seems natural, the revelation that Koro continues to grow stronger while he teaches the assassins of Class E is a new hurdle for the Defense Ministry and global armed forces as they struggle to contend with Koro in his current state.After Itona is defeated, his guardian abandons him to die, prompting Koro to take him under his wing - er, tentacles. Though stubborn at first, Itona eventually becomes a member of the class and demonstrates his technical expertise as he builds a miniature tank equipped with a video camera (which the boys promptly use to attempt to sneak peeks up girls skirts). Overall, the volume has some entertaining elements to it, but the pacing and formula is definitely impacting my enjoyment of the series at this point. Itona's former guardian seems to have a few aces up his sleeves, so it will be interesting going forward to see how they plan on battling Koro as he continues to grow stronger. Nagisa is also alluded to once again as the "sleeping giant" of class E, so we will likely see the spotlight shift back towards him in the coming chapters as well.I'm definitely still on board the Assassination Classroom train, I just hope it picks up some steam soon...otherwise I might be getting off.Have you read the latest volume? What do you think? Let us know in the comments, or join us on our Discord server!