#assclass meta

So firstly, to get the more minor/personal stuff out of the way: like I mentioned earlier, it's been 5 years since I really experienced Assclass and I loved it while reading it, so there's definitely this big nostalgia that comes with me re-experiencing one of my favourite series. And the timing of it all is honestly... perfect, actually. I was literally in middle school when I first read the manga, and this year I just graduated high school. The fact that the setting is a middle school (or junior high but close enough), and that the theme of graduation hits me in the face at the end, definitely struck a pretty personal chord with me. Watching the series again really did feel like I was revisiting my middle school days of loving and experiencing Assclass for the first time, and then the ending was like a pull to the reality that now I've graduated high school. There's this sentimentality I get from it all, especially with the fact that my last year in high school was cut in half by self-isolation and I ended up barely making any lasting memories with my friends towards the end of the school year. And even though I didn't consciously acknowledge all of this when I was rewatching Assclass, I think it definitely played a part in my feelings about it. It just hit too close to home for me, in several ways.

And secondly, it's me fully seeing Korosensei's death for what it is this time around. It's not just the death of an amazing teaching figure and a person, it's the death of the entire assassination classroom. Like, it truly hit me: the members of Class E will never be able to experience anything like this ever again, both this assassination classroom and this teacher. 

All the assassination attempts, from the exciting to the absurd, all the hard work, in both assassination and studying, everything they've gone through with him, and this wonderful, funny, kind teacher who gave them so much warmth and guidance--the students were able to experience something so, so incredible over this past year. 

And now, it's truly all come to an end. 

It's... It's just such an incredibly bittersweet thing to fully realize, and when I think about this, my heart really hurts for Class E. Maybe it's because of my recent graduation, but this whole thing just resonates with me so much, and I think I can genuinely empathize with them in this situation.

And another thing is, we all knew that this was inevitable. They would've all graduated and left the class eventually. And although it's a very sentimental thing, but it's not necessarily bad.

And... I think that's part of why it hits me even harder.

Like, from my experience in anime, when someone dies, it's usually sad. The music is emotional, the characters are devastated, and overall it's portrayed as a very unfortunate event that the characters would want to avoid if possible.

But with Korosensei's death, it's happy and warm. In fact, I'd even say that he's probably happy to be able to spend his last moments with his students, receiving the thing that they've all been working towards for the entire year--his own assassination. He probably dies at peace and satisfied with everything he's been able to do, knowing that he's been able to nurture every member of the class into both better students and better people, and so happy and proud to see how far his students have grown since the beginning of the year.

And the song during the scene--it is emotional, but it's honestly... peaceful, too. Uplifting, almost. It's not a requiem to mourn Korosensei's death or the end of everything or anything like that. I probably say that it's celebrating it. Celebrating how far they've come, celebrating the start of a new chapter in their lives. 

So when I think about this death, it's not two lovers being separated forever, or someone's best friend dying in front of them, or anything like that. It's not a tragedy. 

If anything, it’s a testament of what they've accomplished and the mark of something new. It’s the graduation that has always been awaiting them at the end of all of this, and honestly, I probably wouldn’t change it at all.

And that’s the thing. His death and the graduation that it symbolizes--it’s sad, but it’s not meant to just be sad. It’s just... something that was bound to happen.

I think, when someone tells you to watch an anime like Clannad or Anohana, the main thing you hear is that it’ll make you cry and it’s sad. But when someone tells you to watch AssClass, it's never about “Korosensei's death is going to be sad" or "you’re probably going to cry at some point”. It's about all the amazing moments--whether it’s the intriguing, the humorous, or the badass. I don’t think people could even predict that the ending would leave them so emotional.

And so when I reach the end of AssClass and I watch Korosensei die and Class 3-E graduate and the story come to an end, it’s like experiencing the loss of something I genuinely care about. I’m not watching this show to try to be sad, but when the story ends, I feel the loss of it. And the tears I cry aren’t just from sadness. They're tears of everything: sorrow, gratitude, longing, joy. And watching the story come to a close in this way... it’s heartwarming as much as it is bittersweet and sad. It's the culmination of everything I've been through with him and the rest of Class 3-E.

And this, I think, is the reason why the death of Korosensei and the ending of AssClass is able to move me so much. These feelings are just too real.

To me, this schism arc scene is the logical follow-up to Karma and Okuda's exchange during the test of courage. On its own, it's nice, but the scene holds much more weight to it when tied back to other moments in the story as it really fleshes out the characters.

Before I get to talking about the scene itself though, let's talk about Karma for a second.

I've gone over this before in a previous post, but a lot of Karma's character development focuses on learning the value of hard work. Through that, he also learns humility and respect for his peers. Karma has a very sharp mind and it shows in all facets of the assassination, whether it be in planning or in academics.

So let's go back in time a little -- back to the second semester's final exams. Recall Karma's monologue about "talent" during the the exams. I reference this scene a lot when discussing Karma's character as it serves as a culmination of much of his character development and is one of the few instances in which we really get a look inside his mind.

In a flashback, Nagisa and Karma compare their test scores.

Nagisa sees Karma as something of a prodigy, and according to Karma, he reiterates this point a lot. However, Karma doesn't seem to view himself as a genius. The rest of Karma's monologue follows up on this idea of perceiving talent. Now, I could go on about how the Assassination Classroom manga is way better than the anime, but the anime did do something (which the manga didn't do) that I liked.

Karma describes “talent” as being a part of oneself that people don’t see.

In the manga, all we get is a panel of Karma's hands as he says this, but in the anime, that same line is paired with a visual of Karma studying earnestly at his desk. It's a good visual contrast between how Karma views himself, and how he feels he is viewed by others. To the people around him, Karma appears to be a genius, but that's only because they don't know the amount of hard work he's put in to achieve success. Basically, Karma seems to view his diligent nature as his real "talent." We, as the audience, know for a fact that Karma's been putting in a lot of effort since the end of first semester.

This is all the way back in chapter 76. When Korosensei goes to ask Karma if he'd like to go to the summer festival with the class, Karma acts like he's bored and says sure, he'll go, because he was just relaxing at home. ...And then you see a haphazard mess of textbooks on a lower table beside his desk. Later on, this scene gets called back to by Korosensei, who notes that the pile of textbooks didn't escape his eyes.

There's an implication that Karma didn't want Korosensei to know he was studying so much (which comes as no surprise when you consider how much Karma hates having his pride stepped on -- kid does not want to be reminded of the shame he felt when he underperformed on the math final because of his arrogance). Ever since he was humbled in the first semester final exams, Karma's learned to match his confidence to the amount of work he puts in.

Nagisa's not the only one who puts Karma on that pedestal of “genius” either. When Karma and Nagisa are about to fight, Terasaka remarks that he'd always thought Karma was a genius, but after being pitted against his classmates and seeing hidden sides of them, he realizes that Karma has actually been really hardworking, and conversely, Nagisa’s the genius in this classroom.

To a lesser extent, there’s also Maehara and Isogai’s brief conversation. When prompted to pick a winner in the duel, Maehara gives Nagisa a chance because of his unpredictability, but his money's still largely on Karma winning. All of these moments show us how Karma is perceived by his peers. Terasaka and Nagisa both saw Karma as a genius of sorts, but with that label, there's always a connotation that you can achieve success without having to work hard, which is the complete opposite idea of the crux of Karma's character arc.

Karma's good at a lot of things and while his nonchalant front has a lot to do with it, the people around him tend to overlook his hard work (i.e. his own perception of his talent).

And that brings me to this scene.

It's the logical follow-up to Karma and Okuda's test of courage conversation what with how it rounds out Karma's character arc and goal, but I like how it also subtly ties into Karma's monologue about talent.

Karma seems to be perceived as a prodigy by his classmates, but in this scene, you have Okuda acknowledging all the hard work and resolve Karma's put in over time. Even though others would call him a genius, she recognized his commitment and dedication -- how serious he was about achieving his goal. Learning the value of hard work is such an integral part of Karma's character development but all that effort he spent studying -- much of it in the shadows, to be fair -- is chalked up to genius rather than his diligence. That diligence is a virtue Karma comes to be proud of and it becomes a central aspect of his character -- enough that he comes to see it as his "talent" -- that so-called "invisible" part of himself.

Okuda doesn't amount Karma's achievements to a gilded veneer of genius; she recognizes all his hard work and resolve when others tend to assume it all comes naturally to him. Okuda sees Karma's talent for what it is as opposed to how it's perceived by others.

Karma trusts Okuda a lot. I sometimes feel this fact is very understated. Karma hates showing weakness in front of others, but he feels at ease showing moments of vulnerability in front of just Okuda (see: the test of courage scene). I think it's nice that someone whom Karma trusts so much noticed and appreciated all his hard work and resolve when their classmates didn't initially.

The best thing about this scene is that it links up so well with other moments in the story and further builds on characterization and character relationships. I guess I love the connect-the-dots nature of it most, but there are a lot of other things I like about this scene too.

I remember seeing KaruMana shippers joke about how they wished Okuda had joined the Kill team with Karma. Now, I favour KaruMana a lot myself, but I'm more than happy that she chose to be on the Save team. First of all, it's way more in line with her personality to save than to kill -- hell, Roll Book Time even tells us that one of the reasons Karma is close with Okuda is because she shows zero aggression. Second, and just as important, Okuda doesn't exist as some satellite character to Karma; she's her own person and has her own goals and beliefs. Her friendship with Karma is a significant detail about her character, but her character does not revolve around her relationship with him. Okuda chose to join the Save team because she wanted to save Korosensei. Her choosing the Save team is what makes her support for Karma all the more meaningful as it shows how much she cares for Karma.

She wants Karma to win, but that doesn't mean she wants to kill Korosensei; she still wants to save him. However, the trigger for her outburst of support for Karma is because he's fighting Nagisa. It's a callback to their conversation during the test of courage, where Karma declares he won't lose despite Nagisa's talent making him better suited for the assassination. The moment Okuda heard it was a 1-on-1 fight between Karma and Nagisa, it wasn't just about Korosensei anymore. As much as it is Karma versus Nagisa in a duel to determine the fate of Korosensei, it's also a personal fight for Karma, who sees Nagisa as his biggest rival in their assassination classroom. I'm sorry for the title drop.

Voicing her support for Karma despite him being on the opposing team shows how much she values Karma as a person; as a friend. It's not that she wants the Kill team to win -- she just doesn't want Karma to lose. Okuda knows how hard Karma's been working and doesn't want to see all his effort and resolve amount to nothing because that would be crushing for him. She took Karma's feelings and motives into consideration, and they're just as important to her as saving Korosensei. Look at her mannerisms when she says she wants Karma to win: she shouts and she’s a little flustered. There’s an urgency to her words, like she's afraid Karma might lose.

Even though Karma lost, Okuda is as happy as Kayano here when they see Karma and Nagisa reconcile their differences, showing they are friends once again. It wasn't about saving or killing Korosensei here, it was just joy in seeing that Karma and Nagisa could remain friends despite their differences. So even if Karma lost against Nagisa, seeing that Karma could accept the loss and be at peace with the result was more important.

The schism arc had a happy conclusion, but that doesn’t mean there weren’t regrets. I mean, we all see later on that it stings Karma that he doesn't get to be the one to deal the killing blow to Korosensei.

Visible silence/ellipses always mean they’ve got something on their minds but not saying it. ALWAYS.

Look at Karma’s rueful expression and Okuda’s concern.

Even if Karma accepted his loss during the survival game, it still must have hurt to some degree that he didn't get to be the one to do the job after working hard towards that goal. Even after he conceded defeat to Nagisa, which was also somewhat a metaphorical concession of the status of best assassin in the class, Okuda can see that Karma still wants to be the one to deal the killing blow to Korosensei. Although Karma was able to gracefully bow out and accept his loss to Nagisa, part of him still wishes he could be the one to finish off their teacher, not Nagisa.

I like that Karma isn’t 100% happy with the result. He can’t just sweep all that hard work he put in under the rug, but I think it shows that Karma was mature enough to realize he couldn’t always have it his way even if he did work hard for it. I rambled a bit there, but I like this panel. It's simple storytelling continuity from the cave scene and builds on what we know about Karma and even Okuda. Karma may have accepted the way things turned out against Nagisa, but even if he doesn’t say it, Okuda can tell he isn’t completely happy with the way things went.

Karma is close with Okuda for a very simple reason -- he appreciates her overt but kind honesty and that’s why he can drop all his barriers when he’s with her. Despite his cautious attitude, he does appreciate having people that he can drop his guard around, but he’s very particular about whom he allows to get close to him. I think that cautiousness, paired with his sharp mind, makes him a good judge of people, and it’s also why he’s good at recognizing a person’s talents and positive traits (e.g. Karma talking about the talents of his friends; recognizing Mimura’s ability for recon because of his talent and interest in film and production).

Just like how Karma recognizes people’s talents and their good points, I think it’s nice that Okuda noticed Karma’s hard work and dedication when they flew under people’s radars initially. She cares about Karma a great deal and is always supportive of him, even if their ideals don’t always line up (like in the schism arc) but her kindness isn’t overbearing. I guess that’s another reason they get along so well. Okuda doesn’t pry into his business but is there to listen if Karma wants to talk.

you know they're close if you read ankyou character profile from roll book time, karma and nakamura literally can talk about anything bcs they're kinda the same type of person...

As I said in the original post, Karma and Nakamura definitely do get along thanks to their similarities. However, that does not necessarily entail that they’re close. I do think that on some level, they're friends, but more of the casual type of friends who actually don’t spend time together outside of school much if at all. I wouldn’t say they can talk about “literally everything” but they do discuss topics that are reflective of their similarly mischievous personalities and high intelligence, which, as Roll Book Time shows, is along the lines of extortion[1] and world economics. They're both so smart and think on a similar wavelength that they can discuss things like economic issues on an equal level. I’d also point out, though, that these two examples aren’t exactly “personal” topics.

Which brings me to what I want to say next: I’d also hold up a little on calling them the “same” types of people. They share common traits like a penchant for mischief and high intellect, which allows them to get along and see eye-to-eye on things like strategy, but at their cores, I find they are quite different.

Nakamura is more outgoing and social. She’s a mood maker, if you will. As a child, her stunning grades and high intellect didn’t make her happy though; rather, they left her feeling different and isolated from her peers. What she wanted was an unexceptional normality where she was no better or different from the people around her. She wanted to be normal and she wanted friends, so she acted like a fool in order to make herself more relatable to others and vice-versa. But when she does this, she realizes she lost something important to her: the happiness of her parents, who gradually watched as their daughter squandered away her academic potential, and the fact that she did want to remain smart. Her character growth focuses on being able to fit in with her peers while still maintaining her academic excellence, but it’s also about being comfortable in showing the serious side of herself as well, which both Terasaka and Karma’s comments to her in Graduation Album Time make reference to.

Whereas Nakamura is quite social, Karma is much more distant and closed off due to how cautious he is of other people. He puts up walls between himself and others, especially so at the start of the series, and yet he’s never shown to express any sort of negativity or loneliness over not fitting in with Class E initially, to the point that he doesn’t even care if he disrupts the classroom with his behaviour as long as he gets to do what he wants.

Like Nakamura, Karma is exceptionally intelligent, but unlike Nakamura, who felt isolated and lonely because of it, Karma enjoys the satisfying feeling of superiority it gives him. He goes around derisively labeling certain people or actions as “idiotic” or “stupid” so often, it’s clear how much he values his higher IQ; he’d never try to act “dumb” in order to fit in, is what I’m saying. This is not a knock against Nakamura at all; rather, it’s a difference in their levels of pride and even their individual capacities for loneliness.

As far as his grades are concerned, Karma has always been an honour student without even having to try. This is what makes him so arrogant during the first semester finals -- because he perceived himself to be above his peers, he didn’t study as hard as the others in his best subject (math), thinking he could ace it without putting in the work. The greatest chunk of Karma’s character arc is not just about learning the importance of hard work, but also learning to appreciate the people around him and realizing what it means to be part of a group. That train of development culminates in his second semester finals monologue where he talks about how all his friends and classmates have their own individual talents, and in that regard, he’s no better than any of them because they’re all equal.

However, one other aspect that I do find similar between them is that they both tend to hide the more serious and pensive sides of themselves from others, though their reasons differ slightly. Nakamura, because her fun and outgoing side is what landed her friends, and Karma, because he wants to be seen as someone who can do anything flawlessly, with no perceived weaknesses, when in reality he’s busting his brain learning and utilizing anything that can give him an edge in their assassination classroom.

about referring himself as 'akabane', i think the point is because karma call nakamura his 'vice commander' so he wanted to make his message more formal by calling himself 'akabane', that's it!

you know karma (and nakamura) are the type who joke about that,

So, you’re saying that Karma signs his name as “Akabane” to “joke” about being more formal -- “that’s it” -- but what exactly points to it being a joke? Is there anything I can draw reference to within the manga that shows Karma’s name being signed as “Akabane” is supposed to be for the funnies? Is there anything telling me he actually would’ve signed as “Karma” if he wasn’t, as you put it, making a joke? Sure, Karma and Nakamura are pranksters, but how do we know that this is one of those cases? It’s an abstract assumption if there’s nothing to back it up.

Try thinking about it another way: if Karma really is equally close with Nakamura as he is with Okuda, Nagisa, and Terasaka, why didn’t Matsui just have Karma sign his message to Nakamura using his first name to begin with? That would’ve been so much simpler than any roundabout “joke” he was trying to make. Karma considers the entirety of Class E to be special to him, and nobody in Class E ever calls him “Akabane” anyway -- everyone uses his first name, “Karma.” Considering all that, it wouldn’t have been strange in the least had he signed his message to Nakamura as “Karma” but that’s not what happened. Karma specifically signed his name as “Akabane” for Nakamura, and I believe this was deliberate to underscore a point about Karma’s character.

Remember that Karma also signs his message to Asano (Gakushuu) as “Akabane.” As I said in the original post, this is rather unsurprising because Asano addresses him by last name, Asano isn’t part of Class E, and Karma and Asano definitely aren’t friends. In other words, Karma and Asano are not close with one another.

Karma and Asano aren’t close -- that’s a valid reason for why Karma signed his message to Asano as “Akabane” instead of “Karma.” So then why, in your view, is this same reason not valid in the case of Karma’s message to Nakamura?

I don’t believe that Karma's name was signed as “Akabane” on account of some sort of joke that was being made. It’s roundabout and counterintuitive if all Matsui wants to do is show that Karma and Nakamura are actually close friends. What is the point of having a lack of consistency in the reasoning behind why he writes “Akabane” for both Nakamura and Asano? The simplest explanation makes the most sense in this case: Karma isn’t close with Asano, and he's closer with Okuda, Nagisa, and Terasaka than he is with Nakamura.

Karma and Nakamura aren’t as close as people think.

Also, from what we know, the title of “Vice-Commander” appears to have been self-styled by Nakamura during the survival game/civil war. She’s the first one to refer to herself by that title, and the only one to do so in the series proper. It was never depicted that Karma bestowed that title on her or referred to her as such himself, but he does call her "Vice-Commander (or fukukan-san)” in his comment to her in Graduation Album Time as a callback to their partnership during the survival game, where she understood his strategy without him having to point it out to her.

But again, mutual understanding of strategy doesn’t necessarily make two people close. Especially in the case of a wary individual like Karma.

so you can't easily say nakamura is not as close to karma as okuda, nagisa, terasaka, bcs honestly that's kinda ridiculous!

Oh, it’s not ridiculous. You might not agree, but it’s not a farfetched claim by any stretch to say that Karma is closer with these three than Nakamura.

Remember when I said Karma is quite distant and closed off at first? This, of course, all stems from the hostility directed at him from other students (mostly delinquents) in addition to his former homeroom teacher’s betrayal of his trust. Karma finds it hard to trust others so he puts up walls around himself as a defense mechanism. He hides his rampant wariness of people behind a facade of composure and while he appears nonchalant, he’s ready to take action at literally any second. Roll Book Time states there are only a few students in Class E that he really allows to get close to him -- all because he’s so cautious of other people. He's extremely careful about whom he befriends and those who approach him, because for a good while, the only people that neared him were looking to fight him.

So let’s take a look at the few students that I concluded Karma felt closest with, namely: Nagisa, Okuda, and Terasaka. These are people he seems to let his guard down around in particular, and the three characters being compared to Nakamura here. Nagisa and Okuda are quite simple to group together: they’re genuinely nice people who wouldn’t tease, ridicule, or senselessly harm others. Karma described Nagisa as being “an honest guy” and Nagisa’s a very good-natured kid. Okuda is honest to a fault and unafraid of him, so Karma genuinely trusts her. Terasaka is slightly trickier. He’s much more rough around the edges, but is ultimately well-meaning, particularly after the summer incident with Shiro. After that ordeal, Terasaka is much more caring towards Class E and always speaks his mind, partly because he apparently has no mind-to-mouth filter. But since Terasaka was a bit of a bully before, and Karma was basically a bully hunter, Karma also relishes in messing with him. Also, Karma can see right through him, so he doesn’t see a need to be on guard when he can read his every move.

I also want to give a special mention to Sugino, whom Karma hangs out with often along with Nagisa. Karma mentions in his “talent” monologue that Sugino is friendly and good at endearing himself to others. He’s a genuinely nice guy who’s quite honest himself, especially when it comes to what he loves and cares about.

In other words? Karma has a particular affinity for people who are kind, honest, unafraid of him, and are willing to trust him -- in other words, they’re kinda...not like Karma at all. Terasaka's not the best definition of “kind,” but, he is honest, trusts any plan Karma draws up, and isn’t afraid to make fun of the guy. These are the types of people that he feels okay with dropping his guard around. It’s important that they’re not afraid of him, or else Karma likely wouldn’t feel comfortable relaxing his guard with them. In a platonic sense, these are the types of people Karma likes being around because it allows him to take a break and not be so on edge all the time.

Earlier, I went over why I think Karma and Nakamura aren’t completely the same, but they do share a number of similarities. Karma seems to be particularly fond of people that aren’t like him, and since Nakamura’s similar to Karma, well, she doesn’t fall under that narrow umbrella just outlined.

Another thing I want to mention is that within the scope of the series and in terms of what they contribute to his character (and development), Karma’s most significant friendships with Class E students are the ones he has with Terasaka, Nagisa, and Okuda.

Whether it’s the summer incident with Shiro or the civil war/survival game arc, there’s a stronger sense of trust in place between both Karma and Terasaka, and Karma and Nagisa by the end of both. Karma comes to an understanding with both of them, and so too do they come to have a better understanding of Karma. Terasaka, with conviction, owns up to his mistake and atones for his actions after getting decked in the face by Karma; Nagisa and Karma go mano-a-mano and fight for what they believe to be correct in what’s the first real showing of a rift in their friendship.

But in the end, everything’s water under the bridge, and they’re closer for it. Sometimes, having a serious argument/fight with someone, or being forced to work together with someone you don’t really like in a pressure situation actually brings you closer together in the end, and I think that’s true in both the cases of Karma and Terasaka, and Karma and Nagisa. When Karma insults and pranks Terasaka, Terasaka bites back and isn’t afraid to give him a taste of his own medicine. People tend to be scared of Karma so they avoid him, which is why I think Terasaka’s willingness to insult and retaliate against the redhead is a good thing, as it shows that Terasaka was able to shed his slight fear of Karma.

I also mentioned Okuda. Okuda never butts heads with Karma like Nagisa and Terasaka do and she also gets fewer appearances than both, but we know from Roll Book Time that she and Karma get along well. As shown during the Test of Courage, Karma willingly confides in her about his fear, and he's completely at ease doing so. No false pretenses, no sarcasm; just his honest thoughts. This is also the scene where Karma declares he doesn’t want to lose (against Nagisa) in the assassination. Considering how guarded he is, the fact that Karma could open up to Okuda is a testament to how much he trusts her. As Roll Book Time states, Karma feels he can talk to Okuda about anything -- he trusts her enough that the barriers he usually puts up drop when he’s with her. Okuda, for her part, is naively honest and well-meaning to the point of being easily tricked, but her honesty is one of the things that Karma finds makes her easy to talk to.

Karma was able to lay bare his feelings with all three of them, but the reverse is also true and that’s important in forming close relationships, as friendship is very much a two-way street.

And that brings me to this: recall this scene from just before the start of the survival game. It seems fairly minor in terms of story significance, but I think Matsui has good attention to detail with character relationships, especially so in the case of such a guarded kid like Karma. Just before the war game begins, it’s just Nakamura and Karma on the mound as everyone sets off to their respective positions. Karma sits there looking pensive and Nakamura, suspecting that something’s on his mind, asks him what’s wrong.

And how does Karma answer her?

By playing it off like nothing was wrong.

...And then quickly reverting back to how he usually appears.

He doesn’t even give her a hint as to what’s bothering him. If he really is as close with Nakamura like you say he is, then surely he could’ve let her known even vaguely, even a tiny bit as to what he was thinking like he did with Okuda in the cave during the Test of Courage.

From Okuda’s profile in Roll Book Time, the caption on the side of the panel reads:

“When Karma declares he won’t lose to Nagisa, Okuda is there to offer him a reassuring[2] smile. Just as Okuda is not afraid of him, Karma trusts[3] her as well.”

Pretty different from the above example with Nakamura, Karma talked quite a bit about what was on his mind with Okuda.

but your opinion can be proven if karma also referred himself as 'akabane' to the other girls (or also boys) in class E

but you don't know that!

Of course, none of us know how he would have signed his name for other girls (or guys) in Class E, but to be frank, if he didn’t even sign his name as “Karma” for Nakamura -- someone we can all agree he seemed to get along pretty well with -- then it’s very unlikely he signed his name as “Karma” for any of the other girls either except maybe Kayano.

 i know it's your opinion but you can spread a hoax by false opinion!

It definitely is an opinion, anon, but it’s an opinion formed after deliberating information found in the manga, Roll Book Time, and even Graduation Album Time. To say I could spread a hoax is quite a stretch, and to call it a “false opinion” is equivalent to saying my post was baseless and unjustified, which I don’t at all agree is the case.

if you want to make statement of nakamura and karma's closeness bcs of his tiny formality, why don't you pay attention to the fact that ALL THIS TIME karma call okuda 'okuda-san' and karma call nakamura only 'nakamura' without '-san', how about that? i'm not blaming you, but yes your statement that judge their closeness based on reckless opinion kinda annoyed me, i hope you answer my question, thank you so much! have a nice day

Don’t worry, anon. I’ve been paying plenty of attention, so I assure you it’s not a “reckless opinion” at all. It’s an inference made based on information from the manga as well as Roll Book Time and Graduation Album Time. As for the matter of Karma dropping honorifics with Nakamura, anon, keep in mind that Karma also doesn’t use honorifics with Okano or Yada. What was that about reckless opinions again? Since Karma drops honorifics with Okano and Yada, does that mean he’s close with them? No -- he’s barely even interacted with them. Simply put, in Karma’s case, the way he uses honorifics with the girls in Class E isn’t actually indicative of how close he is with them.

Just because Nagisa only drops honorifics with his closest friends (Sugino, Kayano, and eventually Karma), it doesn’t mean that Karma, or everyone else, for that matter, operates on the exact same principle.

For example, Kurahashi tends to give the boys nicknames. Does that mean she’s close with all of them? Or how about Kataoka, who addresses Isogai as Isogai-kun, but then drops honorifics with Karma, Nagisa, and Sugino? Last I checked, she spends way more time around Isogai than the boys from Group 4, and yet she doesn’t drop honorifics with him. Alright, we know that Kataoka canonically likes Isogai romantically, so maybe that’s why she keeps the -kun honorific attached to his name. ...But then she also addresses Okajima as Okajima-kun. What’s the deal?

Basically, the way characters use or drop honorifics with each other is so arbitrary in some cases, the fact that Karma addresses Nakamura without honorifics isn’t really evidence of anything, especially because he also drops honorifics with Okano and Yada, both of whom we’ve almost never seen him interact with.

oh i remember when watching civil war arc, i think nakamura call karma only 'karma', while okuda call him 'karma-kun', i really think karma referred himself as 'akabane' following the term that he call nakamura 'miss vice commander', the formality is to make a joke about the formal relationship between 'commander' and 'vice commander' not bcs of nakamura is not as close to karma as okuda, nagisa, terasaka like you said

Most of the Class E kids follow a general “rule” in how they address their classmates (typically, that means honorifics or no honorifics), but as I said earlier, it can be rather arbitrary in some cases. Nakamura is one such case: she seems to lean towards dropping honorifics with her male classmates -- like Karma, Nagisa, and even Takebayashi -- but then also has at least one exception to the rule in Chiba, whom she addresses as Chiba-kun according to Roll Book Time. I wouldn’t say Nakamura’s particularly close with Takebayashi either, so again, it seems rather arbitrary in some cases. Whatever conditions some of the Class E kids use to determine whether they use or drop honorifics with their classmates isn’t something made entirely obvious to us.

As for Okuda, she addresses everyone with honorifics. Everyone. No exceptions. But here’s another thing to keep in mind: in Japanese, Okuda always speaks in standard distal, otherwise known as “polite” speech. This is the case even with her classmates. Aside from Ritsu, all the other kids speak to each other in plain (otherwise known as “informal”) speech which is common among not only friends but also peers of equal rank or standing (e.g. people in the same grade as you in school). With that in mind, the fact that Okuda addresses everyone with honorifics is more reflective of her polite personality rather than how close she is with the person she’s addressing.

And again, the basis for Karma signing as “Akabane” being a joking formality is completely abstract. If Matsui really is trying to show that Karma’s equally close with Nakamura as he is with Okuda, Nagisa, and Terasaka, then he could have just had him sign as “Karma” instead of “Akabane” straight up. That would have indicated and with solid evidence, that Karma didn’t necessarily separate which students he was closest with and wasn’t as close with in his mind. But that’s not what happened. His name was signed as “Akabane” in his comment left to Nakamura and not “Karma” like it was for the other three.

Karma’s very wary of people and the first name/last name discrepancy was a simple but effective way to illustrate that he still maintains certain boundaries with people while also showing that he’s made very close friends in Class E. It might seem minor but this one tiny difference shows great attention to detail in characterization.

If anyone actually did read all of this, then congrats and thanks for reading these walls of text. I think I went on a tangent in some sections but oh well.

Notes

[1] I believe this was translated as candy from the Japanese --> Chinese (--> English) translation of Roll Book Time, but apparently, the original Japanese actually says カツアゲ katsuage as the first topic, and that refers to mugging or extorting money from people.

There was this in chapter 33, so...not surprising.

[2] I used “reassuring” to make it sound more natural while hopefully still encapsulating the original meaning, but the text says 見守るような笑顔 mimamoru you na egao or more literally, “a smile that watches over him” or “a watchful smile.” I think it ties in well to when Okuda says she wants Karma to win against Nagisa during the survival game -- she’s seen the effort and resolve he’s put in ever since he shared his thoughts with her during the Test of Courage.