Assassination Classroom, Vol 13       

Author: Yusei Matsui

Publisher: Viz Media

American release date: December 6, 2016

Format/Genre/Length: Paperback/Action Adventure Manga//200 pages

Overall Personal Rating: ★★★★★

Reviewer: Julie Lynn Hayes

Still holding the students of Class 3E hostage, the Grim Reaper watches as Karasuma comes to the rescue, seemingly undeterred by the traps the Reaper has laid. So then he unleashes what he believes to be his ultimate weapon – Irina! But she is also being used as bait, and he explodes the ceiling on both of them. Irina is pinned under the rubble, but Karasuma fails to be ensnared. Still in contact with Koro Sensei and the students, he explains what happened and intends to move on, but they plead for him to help Irina, explaining how she is still young herself and the product of her upbringing. He should be understanding and forgive her.

The Grim Reaper turns his attention back to his hostages and is shocked and dismayed to find they’ve escaped!  But how? Frustrated, he detonates the collars around their necks. Turnabout being fair play, now Irina is being used as bait… for the Grim Reaper. When he takes it, Karasuma is ready, and now the two of them are going to face off! Will it be to the death?

Koro Sensei decides to play career counselor to his students, asking them what they plan to do for a vocation – assuming they assassinate him, of course. If they don’t, then no one has a future, do they? The students make some surprising choices, including Nagisa, who feels he should become a professional assassin!

Nagisa’s classmates and teacher are unaware of his horrific home life with his controlling mother. She decides she wants him out of Class 3E, for his own good, no matter what it takes. Not only is she abusive, but she has treated him like a girl for years, wishing she’d had a daughter instead of a son. She decides she will talk to Nagisa’s home room teacher and get him transferred to the main building, despite Nagisa’s efforts to dissuade her from going there. What can they do? Unfortunately, Karasuma is unavailable, and Irina is a poor choice, as they discover. That only leads Koro Sensei, which is cause for great concern, despite his attempts to disguise himself as Karasuma. During the interview, it quickly becomes apparent how unstable Nagisa’s mother really is. Just when it seems that maybe everything will turn out all right after they return home, his mother drugs him and takes him to the classroom in the dead of night, demanding her son burn it down with his own two hands! This can’t end well, can it?

It’s time for the School Festival! Class A is determined to get revenge on Class E, and everyone is stoked to find out how the two rivals will fare against one another.  Koro Sensei’s students feel they are at a disadvantage, being isolated on the mountain as they are. Who will want to trudge up there for cheap eats? But Koro Sensei shows them how to turn disadvantages to advantages!

This volume of the series sees the students deal with the Grim Reaper once and for all… hopefully.  They are able to utilize the skills they’ve learned from Koro Sensei so far and learn some more. We learn a lot about Irina’s backstory and what has made her what she is. It’s easy to forget she’s not much more than a child herself, one who’s had to grow up in a harsh environment and make difficult choices. Karasuma is beginning to change as well. Perhaps he’s not as hard as he appears to be. Nagisa’s mother is just nuts. What he has to deal with is horrible. I wonder if he becomes an assassin, will she be his first target?

I love the ingenuity of Koro Sensei and the class as they brainstorm how to do well in the upcoming festival, which continues into the next volume. This was a lot of fun, looking forward to seeing what they are able to do, and hopefully outsell Class A, even if they cheat (which of course they will)