Nagisa Shiota

Nagisa Shiota is a student in Korosensei's Class 3-E of Kunugigaoka Junior High School and the protagonist and main narrator of Assassination Classroom. Despite his overall passive nature, Nagisa has a natural talent for assassination.

Appearance
Nagisa is a petite-framed boy with blue hair and azure eyes. His hair goes past his shoulders due to his mother forcing him to keep it that way. He kept it in a long ponytail until Kaede Kayano joined the classroom and styled it in two pigtails. He is known for his androgynous appearance which has often been poked fun at by many people - most notably, Rio Nakamura and Karma Akabane.

Seven years after graduation, his hair is noticeably shorter and no longer tied in pigtails, though he still keeps his bangs. He retains his signature uniform waist coat when working as a teacher.

Personality
Nagisa is a calm, collected, and friendly individual who can be exceptionally observant and circumspect of his surroundings and the situations that develop around him. He tends to pay strict attention to Korosensei in hopes to understand the motives of this mysterious being and compiles the information he has gathered in his notes for reference.

Nagisa is noticeably more reserved and shy than other students in his class, thinking much more than actually talking and referring to himself as "invisible" because of this. He seems to be commonly nervous about what he says in important situations, being hesitant and harboring a slight stutter, which is possibly due to his mother telling him he "isn't good enough". However, Nagisa is not easily fazed by things that would unnerve the average person, as shown with his interactions with Karma and the prospect of using a real knife.

Despite his calm and empathetic demeanor, Nagisa harbored deep insecurity about his talents and how he was perceived by the people around him. This was reflected by a lack of goals and general pessimism about his own future, which caused him to be put in Class 3-E. However, Nagisa eventually gained more self-esteem, became even more objective, and found his own goals thanks to his experiences with his classmates and Korosensei.

History
Nagisa is the son of Hiromi Shiota and her presumable ex-husband. His mother had hoped for a daughter so she could experience all the things she had missed as a child through her but got a son instead. As a result, she dictated his life from forcing him to keep his hair long, to being forced to cross-dress and verbally abused him whenever he spoke against her. Her personality also caused her husband to leave her and Nagisa.

Nagisa was revealed to formally have been in Class D during his first two years of middle school before falling into Class E due to poor grades.undefined During those two years, he hung out with fellow classmate Karma Akabane, though they slowly drifted apart before becoming classmates again.

Soon after starting the new term as a Class E student, Nagisa met Kaede Kayano, who gave him what would become his signature pigtails instead of the ponytail he usually uses to keep his long hair from being less noticeable, thus beginning their friendship.

Introduction: Assassination Time
As the narrator and main protagonist of the series, Nagisa is the student that is given the most screen time out of all his classmates. Introduced in Chapter 1, after homeroom is started by Korosensei, Nagisa gives the command for the class to stand. They all draw their guns, aim and fire at Korosensei while he takes the register. Nagisa listens to the creature lecture the class on their supposedly simplistic plan and demonstrates the effect the special bullets have on him if hit, much to Nagisa's astonishment. Nagisa, along with the rest of class 3-E tidy up the classroom under Korosensei's instructions.

When Kaede Kayano whispers to him pointing out the permanent crescent moon in the sky, Nagisa remembers the destruction of the moon and the meeting and introduction of the culprit. This happened along with Karasuma from the Ministry of Defense both explaining and actively showing what their future jobs will be, along with revealing the 10 billion yen reward.

Later, while thinking about how the students of Class E are not normal students, Terasaka, Yoshida and Muramatsu approach him about working on an assassination plan, which he agrees to do with them. After the trio left, Korosensei appears beside him with a rocket, which he says that snagged off an attack from Japan's Self-Defense force when he was returning. Nagisa asks Korosensei if it was troublesome being a target, but the latter says that it instead proves that he is indeed very powerful.

Upon this, Nagisa is reminded that he himself is the opposite - nobody would fear or acknowledge him. He figures that Korosensei might not even acknowledge him as a hitman and that if he succeeded in the assassination, he can be acknowledged, somehow. He affirms that he has to succeed, by any means necessary.

When Korosensei is seemingly less alert Nagisa attempts to strike him with an anti-sensei knife. Korosensei blocks it as expected, but it turns out to be a feint as Nagisa throws himself onto his teacher with a grenade around his neck. Terasaka detonates it via remote and the plan seems to have succeeded. However, Nagisa had been covered by Korosensei's shedded skin while the target escaped the blast. Initially extremely angry that Terasaka and his friends had pulled such a stunt and not caring about their classmate's welfare, Korosensei nevertheless praises how Nagisa had approached him in such an innocent manner but hiding his real motives. Nagisa then thought that this teacher might just accept their killing intent. This assassination attempt would be a large focal point behind Nagisa's abilities - mainly his ability to hide his bloodlust.

Helping friends and new additions
For most of the series Nagisa would act in a supporting role to classmates that receive a spotlight in various chapters such as his two friends Tomohito Sugino and Karma Akabane, or other classmates he gets along well with such as helping Maehara get revenge on a selfish female student and saving Yukiko Kanzaki from rogue high school students. At the same time, he would observe and note down Korosensei's various weaknesses and habits to assist his classmates in further assassination attempts, some of which do actually come in handy such as Korosensei's fear of water.

After a school assembly, Nagisa hangs back from the class, wanting to get a drink. However, he is accosted by two of his former classmates, who attempt to remind and enforce the unofficial rules and customs imposed on Class E to Nagisa. When Nagisa remains silent, one grabs him by the shirt and threatens to kill him. At this Nagisa coldly chuckles and calls their bluff, scaring them off. This is witnessed by Korosensei and Karasuma, but also by the principal, who sees this as a minor threat to the school's status quo.

Nagisa and the rest of the class also saw the separate arrival of three assassins, each failing in their attempt to kill Korosensei. One being their new English teacher Irina Jelavic, and the other two being so-called transfer students - an A.I. nicknamed Ritsu by the class, and Itona Horibe accompanied by his mysterious guardian named Shiro. While the first two failed their task, Itona's near-success (due largely to being implanted with the same tentacles as Korosensei) brings home the possibility to Nagisa and the class that should someone else other than the students succeed, they would go back to being misfits and nobodies with no goal or purpose. At this, they resolve to improve themselves so that they are the ones that will kill their teacher to save the world.

Talent time
Two months since Korosensei's arrival, Class E's PE teacher Tadaomi Karasuma initially had the impression that Nagisa was an average student. However, during training, he felt a strange presence coming from behind, similar to that of snakes. He parried the attack only to realise that the 'snake' turned out to be Nagisa. When Akira Takaoka arrives at Kunagigaoka in order to train the Class E students better against Korosensei, Takaoka's brutal methods forces Karasuma to intervene. He challenges Karasuma to choose one student to attempt to assassinate him, using a real knife.

Karasuma decides to choose Nagisa based on the presence he had felt earlier from the boy. Although Karasuma does not force Nagisa to fight, Nagisa trusts his teacher's decision and does so, in part due to the fact that Takaoka had injured Maehara and Kanzaki earlier. Realising that he only needs to kill Takaoka to win, Nagisa calmly walks up to his opponent with a smile, close enough to whip the knife at Takaoka's throat in close range. The intent to kill catches Takaoka off guard and causes him to lose his balance. Nagisa grabs Takaoka's shirt to pull him to the ground and swings around to the back, covering Takaoka's eyes with one hand and with the other holds up the back end of the knife at the throat. The teachers and the class are stunned at this result, with Karasuma realising that Nagisa does indeed have the talent and ability to hide his bloodlust for assassination. Nagisa's victory resulted in Takaoka receiving the sack from the principal himself, Karasuma getting his job back and an increase in respect from his classmates.

Assassination Island Arc
After Class E won a wager against Class A in the end-of-semester exams, they journeyed to an island resort in Okinawa for the summer vacation. It was also the place where they planned to kill Korosensei. Nagisa contributed to the attempt by scouting underwater for the best places to hold the attempt and later helped create a hydraulic water cage to trap Korosensei. Despite the class's best efforts, their plan ultimately failed when their teacher resorted to his last resort - transforming himself into his absolute defense form, a sphere with an invincible crystal barrier surrounding him. However, in this form, he cannot move.

Later that night, half of the class succumbed to poison. Nagisa was among the other half unaffected. The mastermind behind it called Karasuma and would hold them to ransom. Claiming to have the antidote to the poison, he demanded to have Nagisa and Kayano come up to the mountaintop hotel with the helpless Korosensei within the hour. Everyone knew that the two would be held hostage if they followed through with his demands, so the standing students, as well as the teachers, infiltrated the heavily guarded hotel with Ritsu's aid to steal the antidote. The heavy guard presence forced Irina to separate from them and act as a distraction, while Karasuma was incapacitated by a paralyzing gas in downing the professional hit man Smog. Nagisa was given the duty of holding Korosensei and at one point swivelled him around when the latter carelessly mentioned that this was a summer vacation, much to the class's anger. In Chapter 66 Nagisa accompanied the girls through a crowded bar in case they needed a guy to distract any guards, though to his dismay he was forced to cross-dress to avoid any suspicions. To add further misery, Nagisa was approached by a rich boy named Yuji Norita and was forced to put up with him while the girls continued their plan. In the end, the girls used Yuji's unfortunate accident with another patron to distract the guard, leaving Nagisa bemused that he had to cross-dress for nothing.

The class finally manages to reach the top floor and discover the mastermind to be Takaoka, who wanted revenge against Class E for the humiliation he suffered when he returned to the Ministry of Defense. He swore vengeance against Nagisa in particular ever since his loss to him and claimed that Nagisa's smile was the source of his nightmares. Takaoka led Nagisa and the class to the helipad and beckoned Nagisa to fight him again. Nagisa complied and attempted to reason with Takaoka to no avail. Instead, he blew up the antidote, triggering Nagisa's bloodlust and intent to kill in his despair. However, Terasaka knocked him out of it using his thrown stun rod before collapsing from the poison. Nagisa and Takaoka then fight, but the latter's combat skills and increased awareness initially overwhelms the boy, making even Korosensei worried about the potential outcome. Despite being badly beaten, Nagisa revealed to have one trick up his sleeve, a technique he learnt from Irina's mentor Lovro before the class left for the island resort. By making Takaoka concentrate on Nagisa's knife, Nagisa lets it fall before disorienting him with a sudden loud clap. The sudden attack surprises Takaoka enough for Nagisa to retrieve the stun rod and electrocute Takaoka into submission. Takaoka collapses to his knees and Nagisa points the stun rod at his throat. Despite the former's cruel actions, Nagisa thanked him with a smile for teaching him about bloodlust as well as the importance of friends in controlling said bloodlust before striking him unconscious.

With the incident behind them, Nagisa thanked Terasaka for snapping him out of his moment of madness. Terasaka shrugs it off, stating that if Nagisa died or was at least incapacitated permanently, it would be one less helper to kill Korosensei. As the ill students recovered, the exhausted class spent the rest of their resort time relaxing. Before leaving Korosensei (who returned to his normal form following Karasuma's failed attempt to seal him with concrete), created the Assassination Test of Courage, a trial supposed to scare the students in pairs with the idea of drawing them closer together but the students saw through his ulterior motive to create love gossips. Nagisa was paired with Kayano, though the latter still felt the physical injuries from the fight with Takaoka.

Early Activities
The start of the second semester was eventful as Kotaro Takebayashi briefly left Class E and went back to the main school campus with Class A. When the class confronted him after the end of the first day, Takebayashi cited personal reasons despite the bounty to kill Korosensei rising to thirty billion yen if a group took him down. Nagisa attempted to stop him but was held back by Kanzaki, who was well aware of and understood Takebayashi's intentions. Nevertheless, Nagisa and other Class E students tailed their former classmate to ensure that he was alright and settling down comfortably. Takebayashi later had a change of heart and discovered his motivation to kill, thus returning to Class E after destroying one of the principal's prized items.

To increase the intensity of their training, Karasuma started teaching the class 'free-running', a skill where any person can use their mobility to quickly reach a goal point regardless of any obstacles. Korosensei would soon put the students's new skills to the test by playing a game of cops and robbers, where the teachers would try to catch the escaping students in a one-hour time limit. Nagisa's group was forced to free their classmates early on due to Karasuma's inhuman abilities in catching them, using any method to make Korosensei turn a blind eye. The students won when Kataoka, Okano, Maehara and Mimura (as the fastest students) lured Karasuma away from the school, allowing Nagisa and his group to submerge themselves in the pool to prevent Korosensei (known for his weakness to water) from capturing them in the last minute.

After this, Shiro and Itona made their third attempt on Korosensei after framing him for actions he did not commit. Itona's failure, however, leads to Shiro abandoning the boy, leaving the class to take care of Itona who finally joins the class. Later, Nagisa and the boys were led by Yuma Isogai in a fierce game of boutaoshi against Class A led by Gakushu Asano. Class E's Hannibal-like tactics and Isogai's leadership were able to outwit Asano's command despite the backing of four physically intimidating Western students and their goal of crushing their opponents instead, and this allowed Class E to gain the win.

Mistake and Nursery Time
As the midterm exams were approaching in two weeks time, the class barely have time to train. To study and train at the same time, some of the students including Nagisa began free-running from the mountain school to the city using the trees and rooftops. However, this gets them into trouble after surprising an old man and breaking his leg, which greatly angers Korosensei enough to slap them in their faces. To teach them a lesson (and not exactly a punishment) Korosensei forbids ALL of Class E to study for the mid-terms and force them to help out the injured old man. The class helps out at Wakaba Park's Nursery where the old man runs the place. While most look after the kids or rebuild the run-down building, Nagisa takes care of a young abusive girl named Sakura who is the oldest of the kids and of elementary school age. Initially having trouble connecting with her, he soon learns that Sakura is constantly bullied on by her classmates, and thus her high rate of absenteeism causes her to fall behind in her studies. Nagisa helps her with basic arithmetic, and also teaches her how to deal with the bullying problems. After two weeks Sakura comes back from her school happily exclaiming to a very pleased Nagisa that she came first in the math test, adding that her surprising presence distracted her bullying classmates from concentrating properly. It was this more than the class's reconstruction work that the old man forgives the class and allows them to return back to their school. Those two weeks without being able to study cost the students greatly, with everyone except for Karma dropping in rank from the first semester exams.

The God of Death Arc
Nagisa and other students run into a young male florist, who earlier witnessed the old man's fall. While the florist charms everyone, Nagisa feels oddly at ease with him. When Irina is suspiciously absent from the school following Class E's failed attempt to romantically hook her up with Karasuma, the florist shows up unexpectedly and reveals to have kidnapped her. He identifies himself as the God of Death, demands all of the students to come to a secluded warehouse that night where Irina is held hostage and not tell Korosensei or Karasuma. Using the special gym suits they were given by the Ministry of Defense, the students arrive at the warehouse. Before entering, however, Nagisa asks his fellow peers permission to perform the clap stun technique (the same one he used against Takaoka) should their rescue plan come undone. He brought along a real knife to show the seriousness of the situation. Thinking that the hit man would recognize the technique, Nagisa proposed that he would perform the technique as a distraction while everyone else would attack when their target is too focused on Nagisa.

After entering the warehouse, the God of Death had trapped the class in a makeshift prison to use as hostages, However, the class was prepared for this and made their escape. The class was then divided into three teams based on combat, rescue and reconnaissance, with Nagisa placed into the battle team. Soon after separating, however, the God of Death appears before the battle team and quickly takes out Kayano. Seeing how fast the hit man is and with victory highly unlikely, Nagisa attempted the clap stun technique. The hit man did recognise what the boy was up to and immediately performed the technique on Nagisa first. The difference in ability and skill paralysed Nagisa and would fall unconscious, though not before witnessing the whole team get annihilated and listening to the hit man explaining about the wavelength of a person's consciousness. After that point, Nagisa is too dazed and paralyzed from the God of Death's attack to play any further role, but he had recovered enough to witness Karasuma eventually defeat the hit man.

A Time for Revolution - Nagisa's Time
When Korosensei holds a career consultation for the class, Nagisa seems unable to decide on a suitable career. Before being interviewed, Nagisa silently removes a size label from Irina's newly bought clothes without her noticing, which the class notices. Speaking with Korosensei, he tells him that he may have the talent for assassination, being able to discern people's intentions and expressions with ease, further amplified after receiving the God of Death's clap stun attack. Korosensei, however, saw through Nagisa and reminds him that his assassination talent has only flourished due to his bravery, which is unfortunately fueled by desperation, noting that Nagisa had no thoughts about what happens to himself. Korosensei agrees that Nagisa has the talent (but not the discipline) and will support him as his teacher should Nagisa wish to pursue this path despite the dangers.

When Nagisa returns home, his mother Hiromi speaks about her plan to have Nagisa return to the main campus as soon as possible. Nagisa immediately disagrees and begins state his case until he senses a quick change in his mother's mood. She lashes out at him for not wanting to follow the path she laid out for Nagisa and the boy knew that further discussion would provoke her even more. Nagisa grows even more anxious when Hiromi intends to talk to his homeroom teacher the next day.

The topic of Nagisa's mother opens up in class, and Sugino notes that Nagisa's mother would react negatively to him and Karma playing at Nagisa's house. With Karasuma out on a business trip and Irina sorely lacking the maturity to answer questions in a mock interview session, Korosensei disguises himself as Karasuma to avoid suspicion.

The meeting initially goes well until the topic of mother and child looking alike arises. Hiromi begins obsessing over Nagisa, revealing her inferior complex and control-freak nature as she prevents Nagisa from speaking all the while trying to convince Korosensei to let Nagisa return to the main campus. Korosensei, seeing how Hiromi treats her own son, finally understands how Nagisa came to be the person he is now and refuses, citing Hiromi's inferiority complex and Nagisa's lack of assertiveness/independence as his reasons. He tries to counter Hiromi that Nagisa should control his own life and is not a tool for her to hide behind. Hiromi's temper erupts instead, shocking the whole class eavesdropping outside. Hiromi leaves in a rage, swearing that she will show the truth to Nagisa. Korosensei admits that he said too much, but tells Nagisa that he should take control of his own life. Nagisa ponders over this.

Nagisa returns home finding his mother in an uncharacteristically good mood but is drugged to sleep during dinner. He wakes up at night in front of the Class E building with Hiromi standing with a fire torch in hand. Hiromi wants Nagisa to burn the place down with his own hands so that his guilt will prevent him from returning, but he refuses. Suddenly, a hidden assassin who was targeting Korosensei disarms Hiromi of the fire torch with a whip but Nagisa stands up to him. Declaring that he wants to have a different life even if it means "graduating from his mother", Nagisa defeats the assassin with a weaker version of the clap stun technique before Korosensei arrives. While Korosensei drives Nagisa and his exhausted mother back home, Nagisa decides to use his talent to save and help people rather than for assassination, something that his teacher agrees to. The next morning Nagisa begins easing his mother's burdens, with him starting to cook breakfast, do chores and go into a respectful high school, but on the condition that she let Nagisa stay in Class E. Hiromi begrudgingly agrees.

School Festival and Final Exam
When the school hosts its annual festival, Class E is disadvantaged in attracting customers due to its mountain location one kilometre away from the main campus. Nagisa performs the role of a waiter as the class tries to sell its acorn noodles speciality, using the natural ingredients of the mountain against Class A's sponsored cafe. Thanks to Nagisa's continued tutoring of Sakura and the kids from the nursery, they were among the first to arrive to Class E's restaurant. However, Nagisa was surprised to see Yuji Norita from the Okinawa summer vacation to track him down. Forced to crossdress again (this time by Rio Nakamura) to get more money, Nagisa gives Yuji hospitality but the latter becomes increasingly suspicious as more questionable characters (such as Lovro and Red Eye) arrive at the restaurant (invited by Korosensei). Yuji eventually figures out that Nagisa is lying thanks to a skill he did not want to pick up. Nagisa teaches him that he can turn his weaknesses into strength and also reveals that he is male, to Yuji's shock. Seemingly depressed he refuses Nagisa's attempt to refund him and walks away.

The next day the class finds their store lined up with customers, and Ritsu finds out that Yuji was behind this, having advertised the class's menu on his blog as a famous food critic. Yuji's actions would keep the Nagisa and the class busy until they ran out of acorn noodles to sell, thereby having to close the store early and sacrifice the chance of beating Class A. Afterwards Nagisa is surprised by the visit of his mother Hiromi, who makes it up to him and allows him to stay in Class E. She also pleads that he stays with her until he becomes an adult, which Nagisa happily agrees to. The festival ended with Class A making the most money though many note that the result could have been different had Class E (who came in third overall) continued to fight to the end.

In preparation the second finals exams, Gakushu Asano asks Class E to kill his father's education philosophy by monopolising the top 50 spots and give Class A being taught by the principal himself a decisive defeat. Nagisa, being one of the two best Class E students in English, helps tutor his classmates in the subject. When the exams arrive even Nagisa had trouble solving the questions during the English exam. Despite the harsh difficulty of the exams set by the principal, the efforts of Nagisa and the class rewarded them all with the top 50 spots, thereby beating Class A decisively.

End of the Semester: Truths and Revelations
The end of the second semester takes a dangerous twist as Kaede Kayano launches a surprise attack on Korosensei. She reveals to have implanted tentacles upon herself and hid her massive bloodlust by making Nagisa more noticeable, as well as stating that she is the sister of Aguri Yukimura (Class E's former teacher). The next day, she attempts to assassinate Korosensei once more but the power of the tentacles was gradually consuming her which will kill her. When Korosensei asks the class to find a way to distract Kayano, Nagisa is unable to believe that everything his friend had done for the whole year was all an act. He walks up to her calmly and negates her bloodlust with his own by kissing her. The act surprises Kayano and shocks her into unconsciousness, giving Korosensei enough time to remove the tentacles from her neck.

Seeing that the situation has changed, Korosensei tells the class of his past as the original God of Death and how meeting Aguri would influence him into becoming a teacher. He also revealed that the antimatter inside of his body will eventually blow up, kill him and destroy the world by March if no one is able to assassinate him. Now knowing the truth, the class spent the winter break with very little activity towards planning his assassination. Two days before the term begins again, Nagisa was among those who visited Kayano in the hospital. He apologised to kissing her on a whim to save herself which Kayano seemingly brushes off.

Schism Time: A Divided Class
Still reeling from listening about Korosensei's past, the class returned to school with very little enthusiasm and with two months before the March deadline. Having thought about it during the winter break, Nagisa calls the class for a meeting after the day's end. In the mountains, he voices out how the class feels and proposes that instead of killing their teacher, they find a way of saving him. Most of the students seem to agree with Nagisa,  Kurahashi and Kataoka being among the first to express their support. However, Nakamura and Terasaka's group disagree to Nagisa's surprise. Nakamura states that the bond that was continually developing between assassin and target is precisely why Korosensei has to be killed while Terasaka's group observes the slim chance of coming up with a solution within two months, time which could be productively used in planning for more assassinations.

Karma is the most vocal opponent; he accuses Nagisa of becoming too confident as his talent for assassination grows and walking over others who work hard to kill their target despite not having any talent. Nagisa retorts that given everything Korosensei has done for the class, it feels right to try to save him. The argument quickly becomes violent when Karma crosses the line by insulting Nagisa's appearance and goading him to fight, escalating into a scuffle between the two close friends. Each was pulled away from each other by Maehara, Isogai and Sugino until Korosensei himself arrives to mediate the situation. Not wanting a schism to divide the class after nearly a year of standing united, Korosensei establishes a team death match, capture the flag paintball game, where the winning team's opinion will dictate the class's next step. Nagisa watches on as the class divides itself up and, seeing more of the students joining the red (kill) team than he initially thought, begins doubting about being so sure of his opinion. After joining the blue (save) team, Isogai allows Nagisa the freedom to do as he sees fit before the match commences, nothing that as Nagisa lacks battle strengths, it is more advisable to let him do what he thinks best than to command him.

For most of the battle, Nagisa is nowhere to be seen. When both sides are down to the last few, Nagisa comes out of hiding and ambushes Nakamura, Terasaka, Muramatsu and Yoshida as they head for the blue team's flag, completely obliterating Red team's attack strategy. Many are impressed that Nagisa had hidden behind Karasuma who was in the perfect position to referee the battle until the moment presented itself for the boy to eliminate as many as possible. With both teams down to their last man, Karma calls out to challenge Nagisa to a one-on-one duel. Not wanting to divide the class any further, Nagisa comes out and drops his gun despite having a clear shot and Karma's close combat advantage. After reminiscing their past friendship, the two resume their earlier fight but Karma continually has the upper hand despite being disarmed and allowing Nagisa to hit him.

Karma eventually strikes Nagisa with an uppercut followed by an axe kick, seemingly knocking Nagisa unconscious. This proved to be a ruse as Nagisa uses the clap stun technique when Karma prepares to end the fight, though the shock is somewhat negated due to the opponent biting his tongue. Nagisa nevertheless rises and brings out his holstered knife, and appears to allow his bloodlust to rage. However, he catches Karma off guard by throwing the knife filled with his bloodlust at him, causing Karma to deflect it and get caught into an arm choke hold, intending to make Karma lose unconsciousness. In a vain attempt to throw Nagisa off, Karma finds his discarded knife but chooses not to strike him. Instead, he surrenders and Nagisa wins the war for the blue team. The two friends reconcile with each other, dropping the honorifics in the process. Karasuma decides the honor the agreement but on the condition that comes February the class resume their original goal to kill Korosensei should they fail to find a way to save him.

Outer Space and Final Resolve
The class comes across information about US research of the antimatter within Korosensei. However, the experiments are being conducted at the International Space Station, with supplies launched from a Japanese launch site. The class infiltrate the site and selected Nagisa and Karma to hijack the ISS with Ritsu's help. The two boys replaced the crash test dummies with themselves and, after launching to the ISS took one of the inhabitant's hostage with a rubber knife and fake bomb. Fortunately for Nagisa and Karma, the astronauts (some being soldiers) agreed to hand the data over to them provided that they helped unload the supplies. The pair soon returned to Earth with Ritsu and Korosensei's help and landed safely in Class E's pool.

With Okuda's deciphering of the data, the class learned that there is a solution to save Korosensei based on the poison she concocted in the first semester. Furthermore, the chances of Korosensei self-destructing is less than 1% due to his large size compared to the test mouse that caused the moon to explode. Despite having a solution at hand to save their teacher, Karasuma points out that the government will not retract their mission and Korosensei is still dangerous. Nagisa resolves that they resume their assassination attempts on Korosensei until their graduation. At that point they can leave the outcome to the world governments should Korosensei still be alive by March.

Entrance Exams - Time to Decide
As the entrance exams approach, Nagisa has already decided on the high school and university he wants to enter according to his mother's wishes. However, he is worried about what he wants to become afterwards, compared to the rest of his classmates who had already decided on their future careers. It is during his tutelage of Sakura at the Wakaba Park nursery that the girl planted the idea of Nagisa becoming a teacher. While the boy knows he can never be like Korosensei, he does admire him and realizes that those who admire others for saving their lives (doctors) or having a particular skill (such as hit men) could eventually become whom they admire. After the exam, Nagisa's score placed him on the waiting list. Korosensei, however, comforts him that as others would take different entrance exams, Nagisa essentially passed.

On Valentines' Day, Nagisa attempted to mediate the situation between Okano and Maehara but was knocked out by the former throwing a chair to his face. Later he was pulled aside by Kayano who asked him whether he had decided on a career. Nagisa only gave a vague answer but sees Korosensei perched on a tree. He considered striking but then relented as he was too far away. At that moment Kayano gave him her box of chocolates, stunning Nagisa to stutter that he should be thanking her instead of the other way around.

Later in the month, Nagisa had been accepted into his first high school preference. Korosensei celebrated the occasion by collating a graduation photo album with the class, though the students ripped up most of the 'private photos' their target had secretly taken. After calming Sakura down as she remembered her bullying experiences during another tutoring session, Nagisa later met with Korosensei for the careers consultation, and finally confirmed that he wanted to become a teacher.

Assassination Time, 2nd Period
That night, (one week before the deadline) Korosensei was fired upon by a satellite weapon called the Spear of Heaven and immediately trapped in the classroom by an unbreakable dome shield dubbed Earth's Shield. Nagisa and the rest of the class rushed to the school but were blocked by army soldiers guarding the perimeter at the base of the mountain and forced to escape the hounding media. After briefly scouting the perimeter the whole class was quickly snatched by elite mercenaries (the same men that a few of the students briefly confronted earlier) and brought before the bureaucrat in charge of the operation, the official reason being that the students' safety after being presented as being held hostage by Korosensei for the past year.

The students were soon confined inside the makeshift command centre and listened helplessly to the media vilifying Korosensei and presenting Class 3-E as having Stockholm Syndrome. Karasuma later met the students and stated that there was nothing he could do to free them when the class should have waited. The security perimeter was well guarded until the fifth day when the soldiers become laxer but the area between the perimeter and the school would be guarded by the mercenary group led by the legendary soldier Craig Houjou named Wolfpack. Nagisa pleaded with Karasuma to let them go to Korosensei but Karasuma threw him down, told the boy to not cause trouble for him, and left the class to cool their heads for the next three days. Nagisa immediately realized what Karasuma actually meant, referring to a conversation the two of them had a few days ago and relayed the information their teacher had just told them.

Knowing that the class did not have the heart to truly kill Korosensei, they could not allow a group of strangers finish the work in a few hours that the students spent a whole year for. The class spent the next three days biding their time, planning their infiltration and defeating the enemies stealthily. On the fifth and final day, Irina briefly greeted the class and kissed Nagisa and a few other students. After she left that kissed spat out components of Takebayahsi's explosives and used it to escape their makeshift jail. Nagisa headed back home to prepare but was confronted by his mother Hiromi. Although scared at the sight of her, Hiromi allowed Nagisa to go ahead, the boy happy at finally being understood. With only three hours to go before the deadline, He and the rest of the class race to the mountain classroom. Under Karma's direction, the students efficiently subdued the Wolfpack mercenaries who had severely underestimated their abilities thanks to Karasuma's false intel. Houjou, however, put up more resistance but the class adopted a hit and run strategy they had settled on during their confinement. Eventually, a tranquilizer dart struck the mercenary, allowing Nagisa to successfully use the stun clap technique to daze him and Karma followed up with a swift axe kick to defeat Houjou. With 90 minutes left on the clock, the class penetrated the barrier and happily reunited with Korosensei.

Their celebrations, however, were interrupted by the arrival of Shiro and Korosensei's former apprentice (The Reaper) who was now a giant tentacle monster. All three proceeded to fight, where it was obvious to Nagisa and the whole class that not only was Korosensei being overwhelmed but the ferocity of the fight was nowhere near the amount of time the students trained themselves to be assassins and were completely helpless to intervene. They also knew that Korosensei could not reach his full potential while the class was present; hence they were his critical weakness. Shiro then orders No.2 to attack the students, forcing Korosensei to take the full brunt of the attack to protect them. The repeated attacks prompt Kayano to intervene and distract No. 2. However, to the horror of Nagisa and everyone else, their classmate was pierced through the chest. Korosensei turns black as a result and proceeds to violently attack the God of Death, prompting Nagisa to grab the unconscious Kayano and move away from the fight.

The Chosen - Time Has Come
Korosensei eventually defeats Shiro and his former apprentice. Nagisa prepares to set Kayano down but Korosensei prevents him to avoid any more bacterial harm. Using the blood collected, he brings Kayano back to life to the joy of Nagisa and the class, though he soon collapses from exhaustion. With less than half an hour away until the Spear of Heaven fires its antimatter cannon, Korosensei addresses Class 3-E that the assassins should not miss their dying target and that the inevitable has come. He further states that all good times must come to an end, hence the classroom. The students, after briefly discussing whether or not to kill Korosensei with their own hands, ultimately all decide to continue maintaining their 'bonds' as assassins and a target by lending their hands on giving him the final peace. Exploiting the fact that he was unable to move when pinned down, the students grabbed all of Korosensei's tentacles, sealing his maneuverability. Nagisa volunteers to perform the harshest task: deliver the coup de grace to their teacher's heart with an anti-sensei knife.

After Korosensei completes his final roll call and said farewell to the students and faculty, the time had come for Nagisa to deliver the final blow. However, the feeling of uncertainty causes Nagisa to become overwhelmed by his emotions; before he could stab him, Korosensei calmed him down and told him to kill with a smile. Nagisa, having regained his composure, gave his teacher a tearful goodbye and plunged his anti-sensei knife into his teacher's heart. After Korosensei disintegrates into particles of yellow light, Nagisa and whole class 3-E wailed in profound grief.

They head inside the classroom and fall asleep whilst reading the graduation album and book of advice Korosensei had written for each of them. Nagisa attends the school's graduation ceremony along with the class at the town hall, with Chairman Asano parting ways on good terms. To the boy's surprise, he finds his mother and father watching their son's graduation together. His father reveals that Korosensei had approached him one month before to state Nagisa's wish for his parents to be together once more. Happy to hear that they are willing to start over, Nagisa leaves with his class, escorted by Gakushu and his friends to protect him and Class 3-E from the media that were attempting to interview any of Class 3-E members about their beloved teacher.

After graduation, Nagisa entered and then graduated the high school his mother wanted him to study at.

Graduation Trip Time
A total of three years passed since graduating junior high. Nagisa planned to take his university entrance exam, but at the current time, he could not due to heavy snowfall. He receives an invitation from Karma to a family restaurant and with no other plans, made his way to the restaurant. After looking in awe at Karma's impressive height, the latter suggested that they and the class take a graduation trip. However, Nagisa noted that Kayano would be unavailable due to a film shoot. As a solution, Karma proclaimed that the film shoot would be their destination.

Nagisa and the rest of the class later met up at the airport and boarded a plane, working to deduce the location of the film shoot. Hazama concludes that their destination had to have a ruined temple with a Buddha statue and upon asking him to confirm her hypothesis, Much like Korosensei once did, Nagisa handed the class guidebooks detailing various temples at their specific destination. The class soon correctly deduced the location of the film shoot and celebrate. At the same time, Nagisa reminisced about how their English skills have developed since junior high and silently thanked Korosensei. Eventually, he and the class came across Kayano at the film location and take a moment to greet her. There, they watch Kayano about to act out a kiss scene with actor Jerome March, but the former turned away at the last second.

Filming Time
An argument rose between the film director and the line producer, who soon quit his job on the spot, which resulted in mass panic amongst the film crew and prompted the class to help out in various roles. Nagisa, however stuck to doing tasks which didn't require much strength after failing to help out with heavy lifting, while lamenting how unmasculine he was despite the fact he was going to college.

Temptation Time
That night, Nagisa rode a motorized rickshaw along with Okuda, Karma and Kayano, the latter whom he sat beside. As he gazed at Kayano, he was then caught off guard upon being asked by Karma if he was worried about her working with Jerome's flirtatious behavior. Nagisa plainly stated that Kayano wouldn't be fazed by something minor; this disappointed both Kayano and Karma, the latter silently noting Nagisa's denseness to Kayano's feelings for him.

Some time later, Nagisa and the rest of the class boarded a pleasure boat. After Maehara called on Class 3-E to start dancing, Nagisa is invited by Kayano to dance with her.

Killing Time
After a total of seven years after Korosensei's assassination he became a student teacher at Paradise High School as the Homeroom Teacher of Class 3-5, a class that was disorderly and full of male delinquents. He was bullied at first for his short stature and androgynous appearance and the leader of Class 3-5 threatened to kill him if Nagisa continued to order his class around. Reacting to the word "kill", Nagisa used the Clap Stun technique and quickly maneuvered behind him, pointing his middle finger on his neck and frightening the rest the class. Instead of punishing him, however, Nagisa encouraged him and bids him good luck to try and kill him until he can graduate. He made his way to the front of the class, and while looking at his students, Nagisa smiles and starts the class.

Nagisa is later seen having a field trip with his Class 3-5 students. Even though he seems to have some success in taming the delinquents, he still hasn't gained their full respect as they are annoyed at his clumsiness.

Kaede Kayano
Kaede is one of Nagisa's closest friends and the two sit next to each other in class. Out of all the females, Kaede is definitely the one he's closest to. They get along well and are often seen together and were paired together during the Assassination Test of Courage. It was revealed in Chapter 130 that Kaede is the reason for his signature pigtails and that she was using him to mask herself.

When Korosensei later attempts to remove Kaede's tentacles, Nagisa uses Irina's special kissing technique on Kaede to distract her from her bloodlust, so Korosensei could remove the tentacles from her neck. The two are still close friends after Kaede's near-fatal assassination, though Nagisa is currently unaware of Kaede's strong romantic feelings for him; which, according to Rio Nakamura stems from his then still low self-esteem.

In the Graduation Album, the two planned on spending time together, but Kayano was pointed out as Haruna Mase by Nagisa's pupils, much to their embarrassment.

Karma Akabane
Karma is another of Nagisa's closest friends. They were in the class for their first two years of middle school which continued into their third year. Unlike many people, Nagisa is unfazed by Karma's violent behavior, and although they have basically opposite personalities, they do have similar interests and get along well, such as their love for superhero movies. Karma also enjoys teasing Nagisa, but the latter doesn't pay it much mind despite often being incredulous to the extent of the teasing. It has been noted that while Nagisa greatly admires Karma's brilliance and easy going personality, Karma considers him as a prodigy as an assassin and an honest and kind person who he is willing to listen to his advice. It is stated in Assassination Classroom Roll Book Time that Nagisa is the only one who has seen the house that Karma and his parents, with their odd interests, live at.

Chapter 147 reveals that they usually hung around a lot, such as when they saw the movie "Sonic Ninja". However, their friendship was short lived, as at that time, Karma saw Nagisa as an honest and nice yet harmless person who he can be less guarded him. However, after being surprised by Nagisa in a fast food outlet with what felt as though Karma had been stabbed in the back, he did not know how to respond to the mysterious feeling hiding within his friend. This caused that Nagisa believed that Karma simply became tired of "sharing" with him, particularly when Karma became violent, and invitations gradually became rare. By the time of Karma's suspension, their relationship went back to being just classmates, until reuniting again in Class 3-E, which caused them to become close friends again, and additionally dropping their honorifics when addressing each other.

Tomohito Sugino
Nagisa and Sugino seem to be good friends since Chapter 2. Sugino is the first boy in Class E whom Nagisa doesn’t use honorifics with. They are very close friends along with others in Class E and are often seen hanging out together. Sugino also considered Nagisa as the much-trusted friend to the point he chose him over Terasaka as his partner during baseball tournament.

Rio Nakamura
Nagisa sits beside Nakamura in class, with the latter often teasing him and playing on his androgynous appearance. Despite that, the two get along well, and Nagisa doesn't pay much mind to her teasing. Unaware by him, Nakamura actually has a crush on him, which ended up being surrendered after she let Kayano make her move to gain Nagisa's affection.

Ryōma Terasaka
Terasaka and Nagisa have not gotten any closer since the suicide bombing incident, but the one who understands the matured Terasaka the most is Nagisa. The words he said during his second duel with Takaoka still leave a deep impression in Nagisa’s heart.

Yukiko Kanzaki
After Kanzaki got slapped by Takaoka, she saw how Takaoka was magnificently defeated by Nagisa, which greatly raised Kanzaki's affection meter towards Nagisa, and becomes comfortable when around him. In the manga, Kanzaki is the only girl who can make Nagisa blush only by smiling in their first introduction.

Korosensei
Korosensei is the first teacher Nagisa feels sees him head on, as Nagisa himself has had bad experiences with the teacher from his school since they only cared about grades and once he dropped, any respect they had for him was lost. While he frequently tries to kill Korosensei, Nagisa also respects and cares for him as a teacher and a mentor, and arguably even a parental figure.

Korosensei, in turn, particularly focuses on Nagisa's development and watches out for him, especially since he can sense Nagisa's hidden bloodlust and low self-esteem. Korosensei even helped him stand up to his mother and demand freedom, and after gained it, he encouraged Nagisa's parents to reunite together for their son's sake as a family.

When there was a chance Korosensei could be saved, Nagisa was the first who suggested they should. However, Nagisa ultimately was the one who killed Korosensei, crying the most when he had to. As he grew up, Nagisa followed his former mentor's example and became a teacher (ironically with a bunch of delinquents) and used the assassination skills he learned to keep them in line.

Tadaomi Karasuma
Karasuma thought that Nagisa was a mild student with no special physical abilities until he senses the presence of Nagisa's natural talent for assassination. Because of that, he chose Nagisa to challenge Takaoka in a "mock assassination", which Nagisa skillfully won.

Like most of Class E's students, Nagisa is fond of him, due to the fact that Karasuma treats him and the others as a professional equal. He also learns several techniques from Karasuma such as a triangle arm choke that he uses later against Karma in the Civil War arc.

Irina Jelavić
Though initially, it began with Irina's ruse to get information on Korosensei with a 'Kiss of Death "30 hits"' and timidity on the part of Nagisa, the two eventually become good allies with the good bonds of teacher and student. On several occasions, Irina demonstrated some valuable techniques as an assassin to Nagisa, and was surprised by Nagisa's hidden talents and bloodlust, the more notable examples being outsmarting a combat veteran such as Takaoka in a fight and subduing Kaede Kayano with her own technique: the Kiss of Death.

Lovro
Instructor during Summer Break, Lovro heard about his traits of defeating Takaoka from Karasuma which gained his interest about his assassination skills. He sees Nagisa as a pure talented assassin by just looking at him, and he was the only one that was willing to teach Nagisa his Clap Stun technique which later Nagisa used it for the first time to defeat Takaoka for the second time. Aside of Hayami and Chiba whom he values as great marksmen, Nagisa in the other hand is valued as a pure talent assassin.

Sakura
Sakura is a young girl Nagisa sometimes teaches at Wakaba Park's Nursery, eventually becoming her personal tutor. He had problems connecting with her at first, but eventually, he was able to befriend her and help her with both her studies and her bullying problems. Sakura is also very fond of Nagisa due to his kind nature. She was the one who gave Nagisa the idea of becoming a teacher which he later decides to follow.

Yūji Norita
Yūji is a rich boy Nagisa met in Chapter 66 when he was forced to cross-dress during a mission to save the remaining students of Class E. Yūji had a crush on Nagisa after seeing his smile and the later teaching him what it means to be cool. They meet again in Chapter 117 where Yūji revealed that he had been searching for Nagisa ever since their first meeting. Nagisa then reveals to Yūji that he is male and teaches him that he can turn his weaknesses into strength and though shocked (and heartbroken), he still considered him a friend.

Abilities
Assassination: Nagisa's physical abilities are mediocre, and it is worthy to note that he is one of the weakest amongst the boys as his constitution and strength are more easily comparable to a female of his age. However, Nagisa has an extraordinary amount of natural talent as an assassin due to his impressive observant nature, his remarkable stealthy movements, and his immense bloodlust. This inclination has also been made apparent numerous times during the span of the story, such as his duels against Takaoka, his fight against Karma, and Korosensei respectively. Several other characters such as Karma and Maehara have noted that he is full of surprises - one can never know when or where Nagisa will aim to strike, and his talent in the art of assassination has garnered respect from even those who are not his peers to the point that others have commented on the potential Nagisa possessed that could be fulfilled in the role of a professional hitman. In the end, though, Nagisa does not pursue this path and decides to use his abilities to help others in the same way Korosensei did: teaching to a "problematic class".


 * Bloodlust: Nagisa possesses a massive amount of hidden bloodlust despite his initial character, impression and appearance which can affect his opponents in varying ways; the most significant, powerful reaction can involve immobilization and an inability to counterattack or to fight back, and this type of reaction affects even trained professional assassins. This is made very clearly evident for the first time during his mock assassination with Takaoka, and another early event is the incident when two of his old classmates threatened him, sparked the interest of all three of Class E's main faculty. When Nagisa's bloodlust is released or directed at someone, it is metaphorically represented as a large, blood-soaked snake coiled around his target with its fangs bared and ready to strike at any moment. In later chapters, his bloodlust takes the form of a flaming aura around him in a way that either mimics or reflects that of the God of Death. However, if Nagisa were to lose control of his bloodlust due to emotional provocation, his inability to rein his bloodlust back under control is indicated in his eyes, which are illustrated as dull, and as such can cause him to grow reckless or lack foresight during combat while focusing on his target, apart that would cause that opponents with bloodlust that exceeds Nagisa's own are not affected in the slightest.
 * People Reading/Discernment: Nagisa developed the ability to read people's expressions, intentions, and most of their actions' reasons with ease as a result of his past experiences with his mother, Hiromi Shiota, and after being placed in the Class 3-E, even more after meeting Koro-sensei. There are occasions when he can detect if a person is lying or not being entirely truthful, such when Terasaka was plotting with Shiro. After being placed on the receiving end of the God of Death's improved Clap Stunner, this ability later evolves, now allowing Nagisa to analyze a person's state of mind simply by looking at them, being described as "wavelengths" or "wavelengths of consciousness" of people that represent their breathing, line of sight, facial expression, body language and more. This allows Nagisa to find a person's "gap in consciousness" or "openings" where they let their guard down, as well as their "peak in consciousness", which is the state of mind that happens when a person is highly susceptible to outside stimuli such as the Clap Stunner, which he has made effective use of in different ways, from stunning enemies before attacking them to simple, almost trivial things such as being able to remove a size label from clothing without the person wearing it noticing, etc.


 * Marksmanship: In June, Nagisa scored 84/200 in Marksmanship, making him the fifth best among the boys and seventh overall amongst his class.


 * Kiss of Death: Nagisa has shown some level of skill when using Irina's "Kiss of Death" technique, able to acquire 15 "Hits" off of Kaede. Irina has remarked that Nagisa's training in indiscriminate French kisses have bestowed on him remarkable enough skill to exceed his classmates by a large margin, as he is supposedly capable of registering a total of 40 "Hits" if he were to place more effort into his kiss.

Quotes

 * (About Korosensei) "I might just be able to kill him. After all, this teacher can't see me, either."
 * (About Korosensei) "Chew out at Mach 20, then praised with waving tentacles... This unusual education made me pretty happy. All because this unusual teacher was actually looking at us head-on."
 * (About Korosensei) "We've never assassinated anyone before, and there's plenty of other stuff we should be doing. But you know... I think this teacher might even accept my bloodlust."
 * (To Korosensei) "Before you destroy Earth... I'll kill you."
 * (To his former Class D classmates) "Kill me, huh? And yet it looks like you've never killed someone before."
 * (To Kaede Kayano) "I want to know more about everyone, try killing sensei more, and live so I don't leave anything unfinished."

Trivia

 * Nagisa is one of the few people in the entire manga who is referred to by his first name (similar to Karma) when nearly everyone else is referred by their family name. According to Koro-sensei in his talk with Nagisa's father, it is because Nagisa asked everyone to call him by his given name so he could easily make the transition back to his old name if his parents ever ended up getting back together.


 * Nagisa was called "Gender" due to his feminine appearance during the class 3-E training using code names. Nakamura was the one who gave him his codename.
 * He also is the shortest male student of Class 3-E.


 * Nagisa is usually represented by a snake due to his ability to hide his bloodlust and strike at the least expected moment. In Chapter 147, this is taken a step further where instead of simply being represented by a snake, he is represented, in Karma's perspective, by a version of himself that resembles a Gorgon due to snakes being heavily involved in their appearance.
 * In the popularity poll of Volume 12, Nagisa was ranked 2nd.
 * In the art rankings of Volume 5, he placed 5th among the male students.
 * His favorite subject is English while his least favorite subject is Science.
 * His past club before dropping to Class E was Concert Club.
 * His hobby is researching.
 * His favorite food is sushi according to Chapter 2.
 * He is later seen eating it with his father.
 * For Nagisa himself, a word "Kill" directly when being threatened, is much like a magic word for him that enables him to use his assassination abilities, even in his adulthood.
 * If he earned the reward from killing Korosensei, Nagisa would like to buy himself some height.
 * Nagisa was noted as the most prodigious and the best assassin at the Class 3-E, mainly noted by Karma, because he considers Nagisa as a prodigy and Kayano, who claims Nagisa is the best killer on the class.
 * Nagisa is the only student that takes note of every weakness of Korosensei, even the ones which appear to be "insignificant".
 * By the end of the Class 3-E Civil War, Nagisa is the last man standing with a score of five kills (including Karma's surrender), the highest of the class followed by Rinka Hayami (four) and Yukiko Kanzaki (three). He is also noted as the fastest kill streak in just a second (four kills in one second) and shares the kill streak with Hayami in terms of kill with four kill streak (Exclude Karma who surrenders).
 * He also is the only person on the no-kill team that never got tracked by Mimura.
 * In episode 24, there are various messages left on a blackboard by Korosensei and 3-E students. Nagisa's message was "It's great to meet you guys!"
 * Nagisa was the one to complete the assassination by stabbing Korosensei in the heart with an anti-sensei knife after he volunteers to be the one to end Korosensei's life.
 * In the Assassination Classroom extras, a girl named Hotaru working in a restaurant with her mother appears to resemble Nagisa, with only slight differences such as hair.
 * In the Graduation Album, it stated that even after his parents are back together. His parents decided for Nagisa change his surname when he wants to, should he run into trouble and gain public attention.
 * In the Assassination Classroom spin-off, Nagisa's bug is that when he takes a step forward with a strong will, it will have a random effect.


 * Nagisa appears as a Story Mode NPC in the PS3 game J-Stars Victory Vs, along with Irina and Karasuma.
 * In the tankobon extras, his statistics were listed as:
 * Physical strength: 2
 * Mobility: 3.5
 * Close-range assassination: 3.5
 * Long-range assassination: 3.5
 * Academic ability: 3.5
 * Characteristic skill: 5 (Anti-human assassination)