Gakuho Asano

Gakuhō Asano is the board chairman of Kunugigaoka Junior High School. He is the father of Student Council President Gakushū Asano. He is referred to by Class 3-E students as 'the last boss'. He initially serves as an antagonist of the first half of the series, but later a supporting character.

Appearance
Asano is a tall and notably handsome man. He has brown eyes (purple in the anime) and brown hair that is neatly jelled back. He commonly dresses in crisp, neat suits and wears a sawtooth leaf pin that was given to him by some of his former cram school students on his tie.

Personality
He is noted to be a shrewd administrator who made Kunigigaoka Junior High School the best in the nation within the 10 years since its founding. He was the one who created the Class E system, under the thought that having someone to discriminate makes one progress more. His aim is to create a world where 95% of people work and 5% of people are lazy. With 95% of the school focused on not becoming that 5% (the 5% being Class E), the ratio is achieved. To do so, he used the assassination, secretly being conducted in Class E, as an excuse to extort money from the government to help fund his ideal world of perfection.

It appears that he has his priorities mixed up as he prioritizes the maintenance of this system of discrimination over the world's future. A system that he seems to obsess over maintaining, and prioritizes its maintenance over morals, willing to resort to things that has made even his own son question him and is unafraid to get his hands dirty to make sure that his system stays intact. The closest thing to a moral that he has ever shown was allowing the honest placement of the top students and grades without modifying or censoring them, however even this may play more into his ideal than anything else and all of his other actions far outweigh this single act of honesty.

To maintain his system, Asano is willing to take his educational methods to the classroom giving the entire main school building a personal lesson and later supercharging the final exams to be akin to a college or university exam and purposely excluding Class E just to ensure that they do not pass. However his role as a teacher does not change his lack of care towards his students and sees them as nothing more than tools to further his own ends and to prove how inferior he thinks of them is willing to defeating a student in single combat to show how beneath him they are.

Karasuma himself notes Gakuhō Asano to be a powerful man and dangerous enemy, willing to extort money from the Ministry of defense at every turn in order to personally finance his goal, and the ministry has been powerless to stop him, willingly giving him the hush-money in order to avoid mass panic.

His dangerously low morality is also shown with his relationship with his son, with constant pressure to produce results and utterly defeat Class E in a perfect victory being a defining point of their relationship and he uses his son for his own aims instead of anything else, never once treating him or thinking of him as his own kin and instead only as a useful tool for the maintenance of his system, not bothering to love or hate him. He is also unafraid to mock his son's inability to produce the desired perfect victory over Class E, and is willing to turn his son into a slave should it suit his goals.

The maintenance of this system is his very driving force throughout the series, being very disappointed when Class E failed to achieve their usual lowest quota, and disregarding his son's second victory in favor of rubbing his past losses in his face.

In the past his personality and methods of teaching were almost mirror images of Korosensei's. He allowed students to do mock assassination attempts on him only to evade them at the last moment, similar to what Korosensei, during class time saying that anyone who can land a proper hit on him can have free time. He also teased his students using his superiority, similar to how Korosensei teases his students of their inability to assassinate him. Overall, he was a kind and caring teacher who wanted to raise students to be "good" adults. He particularly cared about three specific students who were the first to attend his cram school which in ten years time will become what is now known as Kunigigaoka Junior High School. He kept a close relationship with them and even kept in touch with them after their graduation. However when one of them commits suicide after being constantly bullied in high school, Asano's personality flipped. He came to believe that his ideal way of teaching kids to become "good" adults instead of "strong" adults was the reason for his student's death and blamed himself for it. He eventually used his charms and manipulative skills to ruin the bullies' lives, who picked on his student and drove him to death, by making them become addicted to gambling. He continued to change his method of teaching and created the Kunigigaoka system. After his defeat at the hands of Korosensei, it seems he may have somewhat reverted back to his old self after seeing that class E follows his old principles of teaching, though he still stubbornly believe in his current system.

The cruel discriminatory policy still exists, but Gakuho no longer directly intervenes.

History
In the past, Asano had a very similar teaching style to Korosensei. He raised them to become kind and well rounded in the same building class E studies in. However, one of the students he got along well with committed suicide because he was often bullied and couldn't defend himself due to being too kind. He believed he raised his students the wrong way and decided to raise them to become "strong" instead of "good."

The board chairman later sought to learn more on the concept of "strength" where he started by learning how to fight. Asano utilized his skills as a genius, and he defeated a blackbelt in karate on his 3rd day learning karate. The way he did this was after he was defeated on the first day, he watched and created a strategy on the second day, and defeated the instructor on the third day.

He built a new building and left behind the old which brought back memories of his failure. He would later use his brainwashing techniques to turn his students bully into a desperate gambling addict as revenge.

Asano eventually married and fathered a son named Gakushu. Their relationship however was one of competitiveness, each wanting to control the other. Later on, Aguri Yukimura came to work as the Class 3-E teacher at Asano's school, and the chairman sensed her passion for teaching and implied to have a positive working relationship with her.

Between the time of Aguri's death and Korosensei's arrival, Asano and his assistant welcomed a student who had passed the transfer student exam on her first attempt. However the student destroyed one of Asano's prized possessions, stating that she had heard about Kunigigaoka's renegade class. Asano promptly sent her there with a blank face, wondering why she would want such a thing.

Test Time
Chairman Asano's initial appearances had been in shadow when Korosensei first arrived at Kunigigaoka Junior High. He had been briefed of the situation by Karasuma of the Ministry of Defense and allowed Class 3-E to attempt to assassinate Korosensei in secret in return for monetary compensation. After a school assembly however he witnessed Nagisa Shiota of Class 3-E somehow scare off two Class D students and began to realise that Korosensei's influence was disrupting Asano's status quo. Chairman Asano met Korosensei for the first time at the old mountain building and subtly sized him up prior to the mid-term exams. Despite Korosensei attempts to motivate his students, Asano subtly intervene by inserting questions too difficult for Korosensei's students to solve.

Time for a Ball Game
Asano made another appearance in the exhibition baseball game between Class 3-E and the school baseball team. Seeing how the students' tactics had unnerved the team thanks to Korosensei's tutelage, Asano stepped in to coach the baseball team and proceeded to slowly brainwash the team's captain. Asano's efforts however were for naught as Korosensei countered by having Karma Akabane purposefully provoke the audience and later copied the baseball team's counter tactics. Asano left afterwards acknowledging he lost this time.

The chairman later approved of new PE teacher Akira Takaoka to teach Class E with a very demanding schedule. However Takaoka's brutal methods as well as the man himself losing to a student in a mock knife duel resulted in Asano personally dismissing him from the school.

End of the Semester
When the chairman's son lost a wager with Class E during the finals, Asano berated him for losing a simple bet. The wager also had the effect of energising Class E while at the same time demoralising the main campus. Chairman Asano later acknowledged that Class E's victory, while threatening his education philosophy, would spur the rest of the main campus to work harder so as not to feel as though they would be left behind by Class E's recent successes.

Watching Class E's rise
The chairman and his son conspired to divide Class E by manipulating Kotaro Takebayashi into leaving his class and join Class A based on his finals performance. In the process the two tried to get Takebayashi in reciting a drafted statement that vilified his old classmates in front of the entire school. However Takebayashi returned to Class E by smashing one of Asano's possessions (after hearing how another student was sent to Class E doing the same action as punishment) during assembly time. Since then he witnessed Gakuho attempting to impede Class E's rise in the Athletic and School Festivals, and admonished his son for failing each time. Class E's victories over the more superior Class A gradually had the effect of the main campus students turn from discrimination to admiration, and Asano's philosophy was becoming increasingly threatened.

Teacher Malfunction Time - Finals exam
Upon winter after the school festival Gakuho's fears of the loss of his system began to weigh down on him and he resorted to personal actions of brainwashing and feeding his students bloodlust to dangerous levels, and executing an exam of such difficulty that even other teachers were shocked by how far he would go. He even personally taught Class A and brainwashed the students except his son to "kill" Class E. When Class A failed to secure the top spots over Class E, his composure completely faded away and in its place was the first sign of anger towards his son he has ever displayed. However when one Class A student offered to be transferred to Class E, Gakuhō Asano flipped and decided to completely remake Class E into a prison and dismiss Koro-Sensei in order to finally assure his perfect educational system would hail supreme.

He took matters into his own hands by forcing Korosensei into a drastic situation with a 20% chance of victory in his favor, which was far more than any of the Class E's previous attempts, of using grenades on himself and the teacher to finally kill the biggest obstacle of his ideal. Instead, Korosensei protected Asano who was prepared to be blown up using his skin. Korosensei commented that he had an identical teaching style to himself years ago. Asano reflects on himself and leaves asking if he could drop by sometimes to try and kill him again in a somewhat playful manner contrary to his usual intimidating impression.

While the chairman had not discarded the current system, he was not as discriminatory to Class E as previously. However he sensed that a major event was finally beginning to happen as the end of the semester arrived.

Final Semester
Chairman Asano met with Korosensei on Valentines' Day after hours, though not before attempting to kill him. Learning that Korosensei would not self-destruct in March from Nagisa and Sugino, Asano offered his former opponent the chance to continue teaching students at Kunigigaoka Junior High. Although flattered by the offer, Korosensei declined, wanting to see the world after his students' graduation. The two also talked about the late Aguri Yukimura, with Asano admitting that her passion for teaching would made her a great teacher to balance Korosensei and Asano if it were not for her untimely demise.

One week before the March deadline, Korosensei was fired upon by a satellite weapon dubbed the "Lance of the Heavens" and immediately trapped by an unbreakable dome called Earth's Shield. The secret matter of the main culprit responsible for the moon's destruction teaching a class of students at Kunigigaoka Junior High became public knowledge and the media vilified Chairman Asano's decision to let him teach. Asano briefly considered shifting the blame from himself but remembering Ikeda's words, he stood by his decision to hire Korosensei to teach Class 3-E, and brainwashed a select few influential reporters to write positive reports about him. Asano privately thought however that it would not be enough for Korosensei to be killed by the rest of humanity.

Aftermath - Post-Graduation
The chairman presided over the graduation ceremony, commenting to Nagisa that he has good eyes as the result of his teacher's work. After the ceremony, Gakuho was severely criticized by the community and vilified in the media for his involvement with Korosensei, 'endangering' his students in the process and his cruelly discriminatory teaching method. He is ultimately forced to step down and relinquish his position as the chairman of Kunugigaoka Institution. Just as he was preparing to leave the academy, two of his former cram school students came to visit him as a surprise. They symphatize for the death of Ikeda and Gakuho offers wine for them to make a small celebration of reunion with the first batch of his own Cram School students. The three then celebrate for the reunion, and for a new beginning that the three will start together. It is in this interaction that Gakuho Asano has regained some semblance of his former self as an educator.

Powers and Abilities

 * Intelligence: Asano possesses a gifted intellectual mind that allows him to learn and comprehend any subject in a short amount of time, and teach it to his students.


 * Fighting skills: His fighting skills were shown during episode 5 of the second season. He challenged 4 American exchange students to a fight and won without a single scratch. Asano stated that he defeated his karate teacher on his 3rd day.


 * Charisma: Due to his unique leadership and personal charm, Asano can easily brainwash children, teenagers, and adults alike.

Gakushū Asano
Gakushū is the chairman's son, and has been under the chairman's influence for the longest. Gakushū inherited Gakuho's ability to persuade others using just his voice. They both use knowledge to control people. However, their relationship is rather strained, each trying to control the other. Gakushū intended to use his father as a pet of sorts, while Gakuho wanted to keep his son as a corporate slave. After the chairman was finally defeated by Korosensei however and reminded of his early teaching career, father and son began to reconcile.

Ikeda
Ikeda was a former student of Gakuhō, whom of which he was very close with. He had played with Ikeda which ranged from allowing him to initiate surprise attacks, which failed, to showing off his various talents to Ikeda and his other two students, Mori and Nagai. It was also during this time, Ikeda had promised Gakuhō that he would grow up being a “good” student. When news of Ikeda's death (which was suicide due to frequent bullying) reached him, Gakuhō later snapped as he came to believe Ikeda’s death derived from how he neglected to make Ikeda “strong” rather than simply “good.” He would later avenge Ikeda by ruining his bully's life.

Korosensei
To simply put, Asano is the antithesis to Korosensei.

Initially, the Chairman presented himself as Korosensei's superior and made it a point to show his education ideals were also superior and right. He stood as a major block in Korosensei's goals as a teacher and major adversary to him in general. However, it was revealed that they share many similarities in how they want to raise strong and capable students and how they are both "monsters" that dedicate themselves to teaching. As of Chapter 126, their relationship is better and the Chairman respects Korosensei as an equal as well as his teaching style when its revealed Korosensei modeled it after his former way of teaching. Later he offer Korosensei to remain teach on Kunugigaoka in case he survived but Koro-sensei rejects his offer softly, Korosensei even told him that having a rival like him in this school makes him able to enjoy his experience as a teacher.

Quotes

 * (To Akira Takaoka) "Once you lose to a brute force weaker than your own, your lessons are stripped of all persuasive power."
 * (To himself) "I have always acted rationally. Whether for the management of the establishment or a murder, I like things to be logical and conform to reason."
 * (Remembering Aguri Yukimura) "She possessed an inexhaustible vitality and an extreme passion for education. A few more years and she would've be an outstanding educator"
 * (To Nakai and Mori, two of his First Batch Cram School student) "Will you both help me celebrate to fresh beginnings for myself and your juniors! And while we're at it... while you indulge my rants, fill me in on what's been going on with you guys"

Trivia

 * His hobbies/special skill is education and management.
 * He graduated from Harvard University.
 * His motto is, "Live as though you were to die tomorrow. Learn as though you were to live forever." which is a famous inspirational quote by Mohandas Gandhi.
 * Some of his other qualifications include: Being a vegetable sommelier after studying on a three day holiday to become eligible, color coordinator, and jumbo jet pilot.
 * At 183 cm, Asano is one of the tallest humans to appear in the series (the average height of a Japanese man is 171 cm to 173 cm).
 * According to Roll Book Time, his schedule is listed as:
 * 1:00 - 3:00: Sleep
 * 3:00 - 4:00: Early morning jog
 * 4:00 - 6:00: Intensive reading of all world’s newspapers
 * 6:00 - 7:00: Breakfast (with Asano-kun)
 * 7:00 - 8:00: Leaves for work
 * 8:00 - 12:00: Various business processes concerning the school
 * 12:00 - 13:00: Lunch
 * 13:00 - 15:00: Speaking conference with the VIP school inspectors
 * 15:00 - 18:00: Detailed meeting with the school staff
 * 18:00 - 20:00: Dinner with politically influential people
 * 20:00 - 21:00: Returns home
 * 21:00 - 23:00: Education-related research
 * 23:00 - 1:00: TOP SECRET DATA NOT AVAILABLE
 * Asano is represented by a centipede.
 * One of reasons Gakuho only sleeps for 1/2 hours a night is because he still has nightmares about Ikeda after his suicide
 * During his life on cram school, most of the times he brag about his income which makes the students (Ikeda, Nakai and Mori) are jealous. The last time he brag it he was able to acquire seven million yen in just a day.