Assassination Classroom Episode 20 Recap & Characters (Spoiler-Free)
Spoiler-free episode guide for Assassination Classroom: recap and characters up to Episode 20 — nothing past this episode.
Episode Summary
Karma Time, Second Period
Karma dodges every grab from the bare-handed hitman Grip, and when Grip springs a paralysing gas on him, he counters with the same gas he had pocketed from the fallen Smog and has Grip tied up. To get through the hotel bar, the girls go in with a cross-dressed Nagisa: Nagisa keeps the rich boy Yuji Norita company, Yada drives off pestering men, and Okano kicks out a quarrelsome guest so the group can slip past the guard.
The boys then stun two guards lured over by Kimura and take their revolvers, which Korosensei entrusts to Chiba and Hayami with orders not to kill. But the hitman Gastro blocks the last stretch, the concert hall.
- Duel with Grip
Karma fights Grip and dodges his attacks, and when Grip springs a paralysing gas on him, Karma counters with the same gas from a spray he had taken from Smog. He disarms Grip and, with Terasaka's help and Karasuma's warning, binds him with duct tape.
- Bar infiltration
The girls go through the bar with a cross-dressed Nagisa. Yada drives off two men pestering them, Nagisa keeps a bored rich boy named Yuji company, and when Yuji's dancing starts a quarrel with a guest, Okano kicks the guest out cold so the girls can slip past the guard.
- Guards and concert hall
Kimura lures two guards into a trap where Terasaka and Yoshida stun them. Korosensei gives the guards' revolvers to Chiba and Hayami, and the class hides when the hitman Gastro enters the concert hall.
Recent Timeline
- Failed hut assassination and extortion call (Episode 18)
The class's all-out attack at the island hut fails when Korosensei shrinks into an unbreakable crystal sphere that leaves him immobile for a day. Back at the resort half the class falls ill with an artificial virus, and a caller offers the only antidote in exchange for Korosensei, to be delivered to a mountaintop hotel within an hour.
- Cliff climb and Irina's lobby distraction (Episode 19)
Instead of handing Korosensei over, the healthy students scale the cliff behind the hotel with Karasuma in command. Inside, Irina poses as a tipsy pianist and captivates the lobby guards, buying the class twenty minutes to slip upstairs unnoticed.
- Hitman's gas ambush and Karasuma's kick (Episode 19)
A hitman posing as a guest releases a gas cloud just as Fuwa recognizes him as the man who served the class drinks on arrival. Karasuma pushes the students clear and breathes in a little, but kicks the hitman unconscious before collapsing himself, leaving the students to press on without their teachers.
- Karma defeats Grip in hotel duel (Episode 20)
Karma goads Grip into a one-on-one fight and dodges every grab. When Grip sprays Smog's paralysing gas at him, Karma, who had covered his mouth with a handkerchief, counters with an unused spray he had pocketed from the fallen Smog. Grip tries a hidden blade, which Karma knocks away, and with Terasaka's help Grip is bound in duct tape.
- Bar infiltration and guard takedown (Episode 20)
The girls slip through the hotel bar with a cross-dressed Nagisa, Yada driving off pestering men and Okano kicking out an angry guest. Kimura then lures two guards away for Terasaka and Yoshida to stun, Korosensei hands their revolvers to Chiba and Hayami, and the hitman Gastro appears in the concert hall ahead.
Character Graph
Korosensei
Class 3-E teacher · Super creature
Super creature who destroyed 70 percent of the moon, vows to destroy Earth next March, and teaches Class 3-E. Still stuck in his crystal sphere, he praises how Karma has learned from defeat and hands the guards' revolvers to Chiba and Hayami, forbidding them to kill.
- Assassination target
He offered to teach Class 3-E himself and the government reluctantly agreed; the students must kill him by March for a 10 billion yen bounty.
- Karma Akabane (Mentor, Mixed)
Student who has learned to respect his opponents since losing in the exams.
- Nagisa Shiota (Mentor, Mixed)
Student who keeps notes on his weaknesses and is pressed into disguise for the bar.
Nagisa Shiota (Nagisa)
Class 3-E student
Class 3-E student who keeps notes on Korosensei's habits and weaknesses. Forced to dress as a girl so the girls can pass through the hotel bar, he keeps a bored rich boy named Yuji company and later tells him to stop relying on drugs, dancing and alcohol to look cool.
- Korosensei (Mentor, Mixed)
His homeroom teacher and assassination target; Nagisa respects him as a good teacher while aiming to kill him.
- Kayano (Colleague, Affinity)
Friend who comes to fetch him when the girls need a boy.
- Yuji Norita (Other, Neutral)
Rich boy who tried to impress him, not realizing he was a boy.
Tadaomi Karasuma
Ministry of Defense · PE teacher
Ministry of Defense officer who teaches PE to Class 3-E and trains the students in assassination. Still recovering from the gas, he recognizes his own defensive moves in Karma's fighting and warns the boys to bind Grip carefully.
- Korosensei (Pact, Hostility)
The target he must see killed; the creature offered to teach Class 3-E himself and the government reluctantly accepted.
- Karma Akabane (Mentor, Affinity)
Student whose combat talent he rates a cut above the rest of Class 3-E.
Karma Akabane
Class 3-E student
Class 3-E student with a sharp mind and a taste for mischief, who returned from a school suspension and was the first to wound Korosensei. He beats the bare-handed hitman Grip by dodging every grab and countering his gas with an unused spray he had pocketed from the fallen Smog, then stuffs wasabi and mustard up the bound man's nose.
- Grip (Other, Hostility)
Hitman he beat by trusting his professionalism enough to watch for anything but bare hands.
- Korosensei (Mentor, Mixed)
Teacher who praises how he learned from defeat, then despairs at his pranks.
Kayano
Class 3-E student
Class 3-E student and Nagisa's close friend. She goes through the bar with the girls, confesses she can't help admiring Yada, and is sent to fetch Nagisa when the girls find they need a boy after all.
- Nagisa Shiota (Colleague, Affinity)
Close friend and classmate.
Ryoma Terasaka
Class 3-E student
Class 3-E student who used to throw his weight around and joined the class as an ally after Shiro used him in the pool trap. He helps Karma pin Grip down, then has Kimura lure two guards over so he and Yoshida can knock them out with the stun rods he had bought to try on Korosensei.
- Karma Akabane (Colleague, Mixed)
Classmate who drags him in to help bind Grip.
Grip
Hitman
Foreign hitman who kills with his bare hands and tacks an odd syllable onto his sentences, thinking it sounds like a samurai. Rather than keep the fight fair, he springs Smog's paralysing gas on Karma, but Karma counters with the same gas, and the boys tie him up with duct tape.
- Karma Akabane (Other, Hostility)
Schoolboy who out-thought him and beat him.
Kataoka
Class 3-E student
Class 3-E student who volunteers with the other girls to slip through the hotel bar and open the back door from inside. She sends Kayano to fetch Nagisa and, with Hayami, drags away the guest Okano knocks out.
- Toka Yada (Colleague, Affinity)
Classmate who drives off the men pestering them.
Toka Yada
Class 3-E student
Class 3-E student who drives off two men pestering the girls in the bar by flashing a yakuza badge borrowed from Irina. She sees Irina's negotiation and hospitality skills as a 'second blade' worth learning for later in life.
- Hinata Okano (Colleague, Affinity)
Classmate she signals to knock out the angry guest.
Hinata Okano
Class 3-E student
Class 3-E student and the most agile in the class. At Yada's signal she knocks out an angry guest with a somersault kick so the girls can get past the bar's guard.
- Toka Yada (Colleague, Affinity)
Classmate who gave her the signal.
Yuji Norita
Hotel guest
Son of a famous TV personality, staying at the hotel. Bored at the bar, he tries to impress a cross-dressed Nagisa and causes a scene with his dancing, but takes Nagisa's advice to heart and gets rid of his marijuana cigarettes.
- Nagisa Shiota (Other, Affinity)
The 'girl' he tried to impress, who told him to stop relying on drugs and dancing.
Gastro
Hitman
Hitman with a habit of dipping his guns in his food and tasting them. He enters the hotel's concert hall just as the class tries to pass through, blocking their way to the top floor.
World Memo
- Crescent moon and the destruction of Earth
At the start of the students' third year the moon suddenly exploded into a permanent crescent. The creature responsible has declared that he will destroy Earth next March in the same way, a standing threat that frames the assassination.
- Government-sanctioned assassination and reward
The government reluctantly accepted the creature's own offer to teach Class 3-E on condition that he harms no students, and secretly tasked the class with killing him, since public knowledge would cause global panic. A successful assassination is rewarded with 10 billion yen.
- Anti-sensei weapons
The government developed anti-sensei BBs and knives that are harmless to humans but break down the creature's cells, and supplies them to the students.
- Class E's standing and the school system
Kunugigaoka's Class E is sent every day to an isolated mountaintop campus and discriminated against as the lowest-ranked class, nicknamed the E-as-in-End Class. The chairman deliberately keeps it at the bottom in grades and treatment so that fear of falling into it drives the other students. To escape, a student must rank in the top 50 of the 186 third-years and get permission from their former homeroom teacher.
- The mountaintop hotel's secrecy
The hotel at the top of the island's mountain is known to house questionable guests and host illegal meetings through contacts with someone in the government, and its privacy policy blocks even government inquiry into guests.
- Anti-terror stair layout
The hotel's stairs are deliberately placed apart from one another, a layout planned to counter terrorist takeovers, and the elevators cannot be used without a separate IC card for each floor.
- Wealthy youth guests at the hotel
Quite a few young guests stay at this hotel: spoiled children of celebrities and the rich who take up illegal pastimes while still innocent-faced, so a group of teenagers can pass as guests.
Clue Board
- Real name unknown (Episode 1)
Korosensei says he has no name worth giving and lets the class pick one; Kayano comes up with 'Korosensei'. His real name remains unknown.
- Woman in the ruins (Episode 1)
In a brief flashback Korosensei holds a bleeding woman in a ruined building; she tells him that with those tentacles he would surely become a wonderful teacher. Who she is remains unknown.
- A promise to someone (Episode 2)
Korosensei tells Nagisa he became their teacher to keep a promise he made to someone. He does not say who.
- Unknown motive for the deal (Episode 1)
Korosensei himself offered to teach Class 3-E, and the government reluctantly agreed on condition that he never harms the students, but no one knows why he wants to teach. His motive remains unexplained.
- Vague answer on the punishment (Episode 4)
Nagisa grows suspicious after Korosensei's punishment of Irina, and Korosensei gives only a vague answer when asked for clarification, leaving the reason open.
- The chairman's words (Episode 6)
The chairman, briefed by the Ministry of Defense, calls Korosensei a sad being who meant to become the world's savior but ended up a great evil that will destroy it. What else he knows is not shown.
- Korosensei's past romances (Episode 8)
Karasuma started to ask whether Korosensei's romances dated from a time when he had two arms and two legs, then let it drop. What Korosensei used to look like is still unexplained.
- Shiro and Itona's score over the moon (Episode 10)
The night before Itona's arrival, Shiro told him that Korosensei is his brother and will be his teacher from tomorrow, then said they would go settle the score over the moon. What the two hold against Korosensei over the moon is still unexplained.
- Reason for current form and teaching Class E (Episode 11)
Students ask why Korosensei takes his current form and why he teaches Class E. He answers seriously that they must earn these answers by trying to kill him, so the reason remains hidden.
- Claimed brotherhood with Itona (Episode 11)
Shiro insists Itona and Korosensei are brothers despite different parents and upbringings, and the fight is presented as proof. Korosensei says he was raised as an only child and does not know what Itona means. The relation is unresolved.
- Source of Itona's tentacles (Episode 11)
Itona has tentacles like Korosensei's growing from his hair. Korosensei demands to know where they came from, but Shiro refuses to answer, so the origin stays unexplained.
- Another critical weakness of Korosensei (Episode 14)
A further weakness of Korosensei surfaced during the pool assault, described as far more important than his inability to swim. The class did not realize it at the time, and its nature is not revealed.
- Shinigami, the world's best assassin (Episode 17)
Lovro says the best assassin in the world is known only as the Shinigami (God of Death), and that targets who cannot be assassinated eventually encounter him; his identity is not revealed.
- Three unreachable assassins (Episode 17)
Lovro tells Karasuma that three promising assassins he had lined up can no longer be contacted; Karasuma wonders whether they lost their nerve, and the reason is not explained.
- Lovro's surefire killing technique (Episode 17)
Lovro begins to tell Nagisa of a surefire killing technique, but the explanation is cut off, leaving the technique unrevealed.
- Unidentified caller behind the illness (Episode 18)
A private caller claims to have caused the students' illness with an artificial, contagious virus that kills within a week untreated. He holds the only antidote, and his identity is not revealed.
- Poisoner identified as the butler guest (Episode 19)
Fuwa deduces the hotel guest who triggered the gas is the butler who served drinks, the poisoner, because the drinks were the only shared item when the class was together and the students who skipped dinner still fell ill; the man neither confirms nor denies it.
- Karasuma's recognition of the guards (Episode 20)
Karasuma seems to recognise the two unconscious guards up close; why has not yet been explained.
Deduction Board
Facts
- Grip defeated and bound by Karma and Terasaka
Grip was paralysed by Karma's gas spray, disarmed, and wrapped in duct tape under Karasuma's warning.
- Grip's gas and hidden blade
Grip sprayed Smog's paralysing gas at Karma at close range, and after being paralysed himself he still tried to slash Karma with a hidden blade.
- Karma pocketed Smog's spare gas spray
After Smog was knocked out, Karma took an unused gas spray from him, figuring it would be useful in later fights.
Evidence
- Film editors skipped dinner but still fell ill
Two students were editing the film during dinner and still fell ill, so the poison was not in the dinner food and points to the drinks
- Karma's pre-fight observation
Karma had been on guard against everything except Grip's powerful hands during the fight.
- Karma's surprise counter-spray
Karma covered his mouth with a handkerchief and released his own gas spray after Grip's gas, paralysing Grip.
Inferences
- Tentacle loss weakens Korosensei
Losing tentacles reduces Korosensei's strength and speed, which is why the class spent the seven tentacles won in the bet at the start of the island attack.
- Karma has learned from defeat
Korosensei sees that losing in the final exams taught Karma to respect and stay wary of his opponents, which is why he anticipated Grip's gas.
- Drinks were spiked with poison
Fuwa concludes the drinks served on arrival were spiked with poison
Suspicions
- Caller's identity unknown
The caller claims responsibility for the illness and knows about Korosensei, but has still not given his name.
- He is the poisoner
Fuwa suspects the butler-guest poisoned the class; he neither confirmed nor denied it
- Grip will use any means
Grip springs gas in the middle of a bare-handed duel, saying nothing is unfair in assassination, which suggests he will use any means to win.
Battle Record
Class E advances through the hotel; guards are knocked out and a third assassin, Gastro, blocks the concert hall.
Island theatre hut assassination attempt
Foiled by the crystal sphere defense · Episodes 17–18
Location: Island water near the theatre hut
Trigger: Class E's planned assassination of Korosensei during the film and water trap
Class E vs Korosensei
- Class E — attackers: Chiba, Hayami, Nakamura, Okano, Isogai, Terasaka, Karma, Hara, Kayano, Takebayashi
- Korosensei — target: Korosensei
Outcome: Attempt failed; Korosensei survived in a crystal sphere form that is immobile for one day.
Aftermath
- Class E is demoralised and returns to the resort exhausted
- Chiba and Hayami feel they missed the moment
- Ritsu's diagnostics show a 50% chance of a kill had timing or aim differed slightly
- Karasuma consults superiors on how to remove the sphere
Karma vs Grip hotel duel
Hotel hand-to-hand duel · Episode 20
Location: Hotel view corridor
Trigger: Karma goads Grip into fighting him instead of calling for reinforcements
Sides
- Class 3-E — Student: Karma Akabane
- Assassin — Hitman: Grip
Outcome: Karma wins; Grip is disarmed and bound with duct tape
Aftermath
- Karma reveals he had pocketed an unused gas spray from the fallen Smog
Hotel guard takedown
Hotel guard fight · Episode 20– (Ongoing)
Location: Hotel floor above the bar
Trigger: Class 3-E pushes through the hotel toward the goal
Sides
- Class 3-E — Student: Ryoma Terasaka, Yoshida, Kimura / Teacher: Korosensei
- Hotel guards — Guard: Two muscled guards / Assassin: Gastro
Outcome: The two guards are knocked out with stun rods; Gastro blocks the concert hall
Aftermath
- Terasaka finds two revolvers in the guards' clothes
- Korosensei entrusts the guns to Hayami and Chiba and forbids killing
Ability Table
| User | Ability | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Korosensei | Mach 20 speed | Can fly and move at up to Mach 20, fast enough to dodge a whole classroom's volley of BBs and to tutor each student at once with afterimage clones. |
| Korosensei | Tentacle regeneration | A tentacle destroyed by anti-sensei weapons grows back within seconds, though regrowing it uses up a good deal of stamina. |
| Korosensei | Monthly skin shedding | Once a month he can shed his skin and use it as a shield. Shedding drains more energy than it looks and slows him afterward; against Itona he escaped by shedding and later wrapped Itona in the shed skin. |
| Korosensei | Keen sense of smell | Has a keen nose: he can sniff out sweets from far away and caught the unfamiliar men hidden in the storage shed by their body odor. |
| Korosensei | Mucus | Secretes a sticky mucus that caught a sniper's bullet on oil-blotting paper and doubles as bath foam that lifts away dirt. |
| Korosensei | Crystal sphere defense form | Shrinks his body and seals it in a tiny crystal of condensed energy that nothing, not even a nuclear blast, can damage. The crystal breaks down naturally after about a day, during which he cannot move at all; even if sealed in anti-sensei material, he can blast his surroundings away when he returns to normal. |
| Nagisa Shiota | Natural assassin's talent | Small and easy to overlook, he can walk up to a target holding a real knife as calmly as if walking to school. In the real-knife challenge he slipped behind Takaoka, froze him with a feinted neck slash and pinned him down, and Karasuma recognized him as a natural-born assassin. Lovro also senses the talent and starts telling him of a surefire killing technique. |
| Ryoma Terasaka | Stun rod electrocution | Stun rods that electrocute a target on contact. Terasaka bought them with some extra money he had come into, meaning to try them on Korosensei, and used them with Yoshida to knock out two guards. |
| Tadaomi Karasuma | Five knife strikes per second | Can strike a target five times with a knife in a single second. |
| Ritsu | Adaptive fixed artillery fire | Fires repeated volleys from her anti-sensei guns at Korosensei while calculating her chance of killing him, which rises over time. She learns and evolves from each attack, so even when Korosensei sees through a firing pattern she adapts and lands hits, once blowing off one of his tentacle fingers. |
| Smog | Paralysing gas spray | An indoor anaesthetic gas Smog makes himself: a single breath can fell an elephant, and it breaks down on contact with outside air, leaving no trace. Grip sprayed it at Karma, but Karma had covered his mouth with a handkerchief and countered with an unused spray he had taken from the fallen Smog. |
| Grip | Bare-handed grip | The grip strength of a hitman who kills with his bare hands, strong enough to crack the glass of the hotel's view corridor with one hand. Knowing a single grab would finish him, Karma dodged every one. |
Season Summary
Season 1 — Season 1
Episodes 1–20
A creature that blew away 70 percent of the moon and vows to destroy Earth next March becomes homeroom teacher of Class 3-E, the looked-down-upon 'End Class' of Kunugigaoka Junior High, and the government offers a 10 billion yen bounty for the students to kill him by March. Karma back from suspension, the assassin English teacher Irina, the AI transfer student Ritsu and the tentacled Itona brought by Shiro all take their shots at him, while the students slowly regain their confidence. Nagisa beats the brutal PE teacher Takaoka in a real-knife match, and Class E wins its final-exam bet against Class A, earning a trip to an Okinawan resort island.
On the island, the class's all-out attack fails when Korosensei shrinks into an unbreakable crystal sphere, and soon half the class falls ill with an artificial virus. When an anonymous caller demands Korosensei in exchange for the only antidote, the healthy students and their teachers scale a cliff to sneak into his mountaintop hotel instead.
Inside, Irina lures the lobby guards away and Karasuma knocks out the poisoner Smog before collapsing from his gas. Karma then beats the bare-handed hitman Grip by countering his gas with a spray he had taken from Smog, the girls slip through the bar with a cross-dressed Nagisa, and Terasaka's group stuns two guards and takes their revolvers. The way through the concert hall, however, is now blocked by the hitman Gastro.
Music Releases
- Jiriki Hongan Revolution (OP)
- Hello, shooting-star (ED)