Yukiko Kanzaki

Yukiko Kanzaki is a student in Class 3-E of Kunugigaoka Junior High School, taught by Korosensei.

Appearance
Yukiko has long, straight black hair and light brown eyes. She is noted for being very beautiful by everyone in Class E as well as Ren Sakakibara of Class A, and is one of the reasons why she's the most popular girl in Class E.

Personality
Kanzaki is a graceful and refined girl who's also very diligent and reliable. She's kind and calm with an elegant demeanor, but at the same time has a lot of backbone and isn't afraid to stand up for herself and will retain her usual smile while doing so. She also shows she does have a rebellious side due to the expectations her father had of her and she is good at arcade games.

Her classmates mention she has bad luck with men, as she usually and unintentionally attracts men with her beauty and her seemingly passive personality, as shown in episodes 7 and 15.

History
Kanzaki comes from a conservative, strict, and what is implied to be a high-class family in which status was everything. Before dropping to Class E, Yukiko states that due to the pressure and stress of her father who wanted her to be an ideal woman, she rebelled and started going to arcades and ignoring her studies which caused her grades to drop and ultimately landed her in Class E.

School Trip Time
Yukiko was one of the first students to get a proper introduction after being introduced with the rest of her class in Chapter 1. She was first spotlighted in the Kyoto Arc when she was invited to join Group 4, Nagisa's group, for the trip by Sugino and when she and Kaede were kidnapped by high school thugs from another school. When Sugino invited her to join Nagisa's group, he referred to her as the class Madonna (or class belle in the OVA). Nagisa then noted her for her beauty, personality, and diligence and stated that there must not have been anyone who would object to being in a group with her.

When the class arrives in Kyoto, Kanzaki is searching for her notebook. When she can't find it, she says she must have dropped it, but unbeknownst to her it was pick-pocketed by some thug high schoolers she bumped into on the train. Afterwards the groups set out to do some assassination location scouting. Group 4 first drops by a convenience store which is the site of the 1867 Ryōma assasination and then Honnō-ji which was the ground of the assassination of Oda Nobunaga. After they visit those sites they then go to the Gion District under Kanzaki's recommendation. She says since the shops turn away first-time customers and tourists don't wander into the district aimlessly, they have to work around them making it the perfect place for an assassination. While the others compliment her on her point, some thug high schoolers walk up to them asking why they would come to a place that's perfect for abduction, alarming them. Karma is the first to step up and attacks the biggest thug there, reassuring Nagisa by saying if there aren't any witnesses then it's no problem. Right after he's hit on the back of his head with a pipe by the same thug who took Yukiko's diary then him and his friends proceed to kidnap Kayano and Kanzaki. When they're in the van, one guy tries to hit on Kayano who tells them they're ruining their trip to which the leader replies that that ruination is just fine then says Kanzaki should know what he's talking about. He shows her a picture of her, in a different appearance from her usual one, the previous summer in a game center back in Tokyo asking Kanzaki if that's her. He says that he planned to kidnap her and didn't expect for her to be a student at Kunugigaoka, but he "understood" in how people with high statuses want to be "ruined" and tells her that the "Ruination Sensei" will teach her absolutely everything on how to bring things to ruin.

When they reach an abandoned warehouse that's serving as the thugs' hideout, the leader says they have to wait for a few more of their friends to show up. While they're waiting, Kaede tells Yukiko that the picture before was a bit surprising and that someone as diligent and responsible as her had phases like that too. Yukiko tells her about her background and how her father was really strict and put status as the top priority. Wanting to get away from that style and to strip herself of the uniform that was her family's name, so she changed her appearance and went to play where no one knew her. She calls herself an idiot and says she doesn't know where she belongs anymore. The leader responds by saying she should become their comrade and mess up people who act like they're so elite referring to themselves as "missionaries of ruination." Kaede calls them awful and the leader smacks her, chokes her whilst telling that he's going to bring her down to their level for being so elite, then throws her onto the couch. It is then that Nagisa, Karma, Sugino, and Okuda show up to rescue Kayano and Kanzaki. The four, with the help of the guidebook and Korosensei, make short work of thugs and before taking out the rest, Korosensei tells them that they are not elite, but instead are the "leftovers" and suffer mass amounts of discrimination because of it, yet they continue to through it with a positive outlook and don't drag others into the mud like they do. He also says that school and status have nothing to do with it and like a fish, whether it lives in a clear stream or a water ditch as long as it continues to swim it will grow beautifully. He and the others then perform the signature "maintenance" and take out the rest of thugs with the guidebooks. After, they leave and Korosensei asks Kanzaki if she's alright, to she replies that is and thanks him.

Later that night when everyone is back at the hotel, Kanzaki is shown playing a danmaku, or bullet curtain game, which amazes everyone as she's playing as if on a pro level. She says she hid these abilities because they're frowned upon in their society, but then says that she thinks that she had been worrying too much about those sort of things and getting swept up with the crowd. Then she returns to the game with Kayano, with Nagisa noting the friendly atmosphere between them. In the anime, she is later tickled by Kayano and Rio Nakamura in an attempt to get her to reveal which of the Class E boys she likes.

Later Spotlights
Kanzaki gets a minor spotlight when Akira Takaoka arrives as their new P.E teacher. Like everyone else she takes a liking to their new teacher until his true sadistic nature is steadily revealed as he increases the severity of their assassin training. She and Hiroto Maehara protest at the new regimen, earning Takaoka's wrath. In her case, when she disagrees with him and states that she prefers Karasuma's teachings with a smile, Takaoka slaps her in the face with enough force to knock her down. It was partly due to this that Nagisa accepts to fight Takaoka with Karasuma's blessing, ultimately giving Nagisa the win.

When the first end of semester exams were approaching, Kanzaki's rival in Japanese literature was Ren Sakakibara. Uncomfortable with his flirting and invasion of personal space, she aimed a pencil with the sharp point at Ren's eye along with her classmates. During the exams the two seem to be evenly matched but when the results were read out, she came in second in the subject, beating out Ren and losing only to Gakushū Asano.

Along with Class E, they were rewarded a summer vacation holiday to a hotel resort in Okinawa. Kanzaki was part of the group to initially distract Korosensei from the others and later helped in the class's ambitious assassination attempt on their teacher, which failed. However Kanzaki and nine others had succumbed to what seemed to be an artificially created virus masterminded by a revengeful Takaoka, and thus incapacitated in the following events. She was later cured. Before leaving the island, Korosensei paired her up with Sugino as part of his Test of Courage. Despite the unusual romantic setting, she remained oblivious to Sugino's crush on her

Second Semester
Kanzaki remains in the background for much of the second semester arcs. When Takebayashi temporarily left Class E for personal reasons at the start of the semester, Kanzaki understood what he is going through (having been influenced or pressured by family peers to perform exceptionally well) and stopped Nagisa from arguing any further. She later watched the boys take on and win against Class A at the Athletic Festival event and helped out at the nursery despite the approaching mid-term exams. During the God of Death incident, she was part of the rescue team but was temporarily betrayed by Bitch-sensei before being set free along with the entire class. At the finals, Kanzaki got an overall score of 437, ranking 7th in the entire third grade, and played the elder wife alongside Sugino in the school play written by Hazama.

At the end of the semester, she witnessed her close friend Kayano reveal her true colours after ambushing Korosensei with implanted tentacles, and afterwards Nagisa ending the fight between Kayano and Korosensei by kissing her. Kanzaki soon learnt of Korosensei's past along with the rest of the class and visited Kayano in hospital two days before the start of the new term. On that occasion Kanzaki suggested that everyone including Nagisa let Kayano rest after the boy's apology for kissing Kayano on the spur of the moment, and later cryptically states that Kayano, having spent most of the year being a little distant from the class, is now part of it.

Final Semester
After learning of Korosensei's past the class became divided on whether to follow Nagisa's proposition to save their teacher or stick to killing him. Korosensei himself proposed that the two sides fight in out in a paintball-style team death match to settle their differences. Kanzaki joins the blue (save) them, stating that she wants to keep asking Korosensei for advice even after their school careers have ended. When the match begins, Kanzaki sneaks behind enemy lines and takes out Chiba and Okajima after her teammates Kataoka and Takebayahi had been eliminated. En route to another position she eliminates Sugaya before being ambushed by Karma, thus ending her kill streak. She soon joins the eliminated students and Korosensi to watch the battle unfold.

Abilities
Marksmanship: Yukiko is ranked 5th for the girls' side in marksmanship who is said to specialize in short-range weaponry. She scores 73/200 for this in June.

Japanese Literature: Yukiko has a mastery over this subject and currently holds the second place spot for Japanese Literature in Kunugigaoka.

Other Skills: Because she ignored her studies and went to arcades often, Yukiko has become highly skilled at games, most notably danmaku and possibly Dance Dance Revolution. Her mastery in online shooters (on a virtual battlefield) would become the basis of her assassination techniques, in particular striking at the enemy's strategic position by flanking from the side.

Kaede Kayano
Kaede and Yukiko bonded over the course of the trip and as of now, Kaede is also the only person who knows of Yukiko's past. According to the official character book, Kayano is one of her closest friends. It is implied in Chapter 142 that Kanzaki knows of Kayano's feelings for Nagisa but is currently keeping silent on the matter.

Tomohito Sugino
Sugino has a crush on Yukiko who is most likely unaware of this and sees him as a good friend. The two were also paired up during the Assassination Test of Courage. Despite being seemingly unaware, she seems to hold a degree of respect for him as she gave him obligation chocolate for Valentine's.

Nagisa Shiota
Yukiko and Nagisa are shown to get along well, Nagisa considers her to be beautiful with a great personality. According to the official character book, Yukiko is interested in him.

Trivia

 * Her favorite subject is Japanese while her least favorite is Chemistry.
 * Her hobby/specialty is computer games and games in general.
 * Her favorite food is Wagashi, it is a traditional Japanese confectionery.
 * Her future goal is to become a nurse/caregiver.
 * Her past club before dropping to Class E was the Ikebana Club.
 * Her most treasured item is a copy of Gradius.
 * Her most recently mastered gaming genre is FPS (first-person shooter), which serves as the basis for her assassination techniques.
 * When online, Yukiko spells her name as "ゆきこ" which is the hiragana writing of her name.
 * She was called 'Grandmaster Kanzaki' in Chapter 91 during Class 3-E's training in using codenames. The one who wrote her codename was Takebayashi.
 * As revealed on Volumes 3 and 4, her relationship with her father remains poor, although she no longer allows him to control her decisions anymore.
 * In the "Girls you're interested in" ranking made by the boys in Chapter 19, she was ranked 1st, with her personality and beauty listed as her best points. The commentary next to her vote tally said "Great personality and super cute looks!"
 * During the Civil War, she was eliminated when Karma ambushed and knived her from the top of a tree. Before being eliminated she scored three kills, behind Nagisa Shiota and Rinka Hayami.
 * In the tankobon extras, her statistics were listed as:
 * Physical strength: 2.5
 * Mobility: 2
 * Close-range assassination: 1.5
 * Long-range assassination: 4
 * Academic ability: 4.5
 * Characteristic skill: 5 (video game master)