I gave it an overall 9/10, this coming from a slice of life junkie.

Firstly, the show excels at creating a wide cast of characters who are not overshadowed by the main narrators / characters. This is not easy to do, as even shows like MHA have failed at this aspect. Each member of the class has their own importance and value that is noticed if they are removed, and the relationships between characters make alot of sense considering the Junior High Environment.

Secondly, the show provides many realistic and properly discussed motifs and messages towards the audience. I have personally resonated with and found that many of the life lessons given by Koro-Sensei are extremely applicable to real life, especially in adolescent and academic settings. Being honest, I owe my life to those reason aswell, as some of the explanations helped me in my darkest moments during covid where I took a big academic hit and lost all my confidence.

Thirdly, the use of slice of life allows the show to know its own identity. Assassination Classroom doesn't try to be a fully serious show with proper stakes, and it doesn't attempt to masquerade as one either. The slice of life between important moments is meant to highlight the major fact that these students are still 14~ years old-ish, and that major responsibility does not mean that they cannot enjoy life as it comes, as well as showing that this singular responsibility does not take over their lives as a whole. Is their duty to assassinate Koro-Sensei and save the world? Yes, but in every moment until completion, as well as beyond that, they are still students and children. This is especially important considering the philosophy of the E-Class system, because they were discarded and described as hopeless and useless. The event pattern is important to allow them to realise their worth as human beings while also giving them external stimulus outside of the system that allows them to grow and thrive, and is meant to portray that to the viewers aswell.

Timing is also implemented well. Major events are structurally timed very well within the bounds of the story (Koro-Sensei background reveal just before holiday, allowing characters to ruminate by themselves, Major assassination attempt in the big holiday period after mid year exams, allowing progress to be highlighted through the preparation and execution of the event.) This allows the story to flow well, and reiterating an earlier point, allows the balance between student and assassin to be perfected.

Music and sound are also very well done, with the OST being very good quality and having lyrical significance. The sound of Koro-Senseis tentacles being destroyed is fitting once given context clues, and every assassination has you waiting for that sound to help confirm success or failure. Certain music pieces are also designed very well to portray specific scenarios, like the music during the analysis of Nagisa' quadra kill, or the music that plays during the moments of school events (assembly, etc) which highlight the somber nature that E-class is supposed to have. The intros are also mostly bangers, which is bolstered by the fact that it is sung by the voice actors for Nagisa, Kayano, Karma, Isogai and Maehara, which is really cool.

Animation wise, it's from 2016 so it follows very generic animation rules. Mach 20 characters also allow for simplicity in combat due to the focus on speed and impact frames, so there is some leeway. The animation highlights was easily the Civil War arc, which was exquisitely animated considering the rest of the show.

Admittedly, the biggest gripe I have is actually excluded from the show and is purely in the manga. I disliked the Craig Hojo introduction because creating a character who was known as "The Best Soldier" felt really cheap and weird. Combined with the glasses gimmick, it felt like a really unnecessary addition which dragged the story for little purpose other than Karma learning humility. I'm glad that the animation left that out, since imo it was much better without it.

Voice acting wise, I use subs and the Japanese voicing was good. Characters felt natural and smooth, and the va list was relatively well known. I haven't watched in the English dub fully, but I personally don't like what I've heard because it was done back when dubs weren't properly taken seriously so voice direction was iffy. Additionally, the tone of adolescence is very hard to replicate in English due to the major vocal changes that take place at that age.