I discovered Assassination Classroom way too late. The manga, written by Yusei Matsui, was serialized in Shueisha‘s Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from July 2012 to March 2016. The anime debuted January 2015 and I must have been sleeping. It’s the classic tale of a bunch of misfit students forced to band together to defeat an evil being and save the world. Except the evil being is actually a really nice guy with a tragic backstory and shaped like an octopus. Oh, and he’s their teacher. Literally their school teacher.

It’s my kind of weird and quirky, so I gave it a try thinking it would be a silly show to pass the time. Ten minutes into the first episode and I realized my foolish mistake. The series is chalk full of likable and relatable characters, fun adventures and plot that doesn’t feel like the artist just stuck things in random places to fill up time before the main battle. Every episode drew me into their world and I did not want it to end at episode 47. But, I’m not here to discuss the series details – that can be another post. It’s karma I want to talk about.

Specifically, Karma Akabane.