Episode 16

Closing Time: First Semester is the sixteenth episode of the Assassination Classroom anime series. The episode is scheduled to air on May 8, 2015.

Overview
The two days of exams are finally over, and Classes E and A have put up a fierce battle. As the results of the tests come in, the students of Class E prepare for the outcome of their wager...

Summary
Over two whole days, the entire third grade take their end of term exams. In English Seo struggles to answer one of the questions despite having spent a year overseas learning English. However Nakamura and Nagisa answered the problem easily, having read The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger in both English and Japanese at Korosensei's recommendation. In Science Natsuhiko Koyama's memorization skills hinders him from solving a complex formula though Okuda succeeds, finally understanding the power of language in science. In History, Isogai's knowledge of Africa's development gets him ahead of Teppei Araki thanks to Korosensei taking him to Africa personally one night. In Japanese Literature, Kanzaki seems to be evenly matched against Ren, while Karma and Asano prepare their battle in Math.

A couple of days after the exams have ended, the results arrive. Korosensei reads them aloud according to subject. Overall Asano retains his number one position, with the top six spots being monopolized by Class A. Class E's overall top scorers, Kataoka and Takebayashi tied at 7th. Karma's laziness and arrogance however caused his rank to drop from 4th in the mid-terms to 13th. Korosensei nitpicks him for this which furthers Karma's despair and makes him walk away, though his approach is questioned by Karasuma. Korosensei reasons that Karma, talented he may be, needs to experience a crushing loss and not rely on winning constantly so as to learn from that and develop over time. Meanwhile Asano is shamefully admonished by his father, having lost a bet to Class E despite being top of the year.

With Class E winning three of the top spots, Korosensei prepares to fulfill his part of the bargain by allowing them to destroy three tentacles. Secretly though, he is glad as having six destroyed would seriously weaken him. However, Terasaka, Hazama, Yoshida and Muramatsu interrupt his thoughts and reveal that the four tied for 1st place in Home Economics. Terasaka states that no one said which of the five subjects has to be included, thus they have the right to destroy one tentacle each. An outraged Korosensei remarks that Home Economics is a secondary subject compared to the top subjects but Karma, at Chiba's egging, questions whether it is rude for the teacher to say such a thing. The class capitalize on this and thus a horrified Korosensei is conned to have seven tentacles destroyed. Isogai requests that the assassination be delayed for the time being, as he and the class have agreed to use the prize won in the bet with Class A for their attempt.

At the school's end of term closing ceremony, Class E confronts Asano and the Five Virtuosos, following through with the terms of their prize. During assembly (which Karma attends after previously skipping them), the Dean's futile insults at Class E does not work to lift the morale of the other classes as Class E successfully competed for the top spots, and thus were able to hold their heads up high. The principal notes that even with this development, the other students realize the importance to studying competitively and not end up being worse than Class E, and will take measures to return back to the status-quo after the summer holidays. Class A gets mad at the Five Virtuosos' arrogance in having lost a simple wager but Asano also swears to get revenge against Class E.

Class E's reward is revealed to be a holiday resort at a tiny island in Okinawa and will be the location for their grand assassination of Korosensei. Their teacher is proud of the class, having come a long way in three months, and learning the fundamentals of assassination as well as life, as he officially declares the first semester to be over.

Episode Notes
This is the first episode where Kirara Hazama speaks. despite episode 4 where she was one of the three characters that were seen practicing the V sound.

Differences between the Manga

 * In the anime, during the school assembly scene, Kataoka was the one who comforted a nervous Okuda whereas in the manga, it's Kayano who comforts her.
 * The anime shows the reactions of the other Virtuoso in the assembly where the manga did not.