Math in Manga (Vol. 1)

Pictured: Assassination Classroom Manga Series Covers (Image by Good Reads)

During the earlier part of the pandemic, I stumbled across a new interest: anime! 

The Backstory:

In Fall of 2020, I asked my students to create a virtual locker using Google slides. Of course, I modeled my expectations for the assignment by sharing my own version of it (pictured). As a result, I received a large variety creative and thoughtful submissions. I learned so much about my students and was able to revisit "lockers" before meeting with a specific period or student. It was a great way to remind myself of the students' interests and activities outside of the classroom. 

Pictured: Screenshot of My Virtual Locker (Image by Me via Google Slides)

After browsing through all 90 lockers, I found a common theme: anime. I kept seeing images for Naruto, Hunter x Hunter, Attack on Titan, and so much more. At first, I had no idea or ever heard of these titles. However, I was so excited about the student work, I showed a few of my close friends. Check this out! I was very proud and wanted everyone to see. In doing so, a close friend of mine said: "I been told you to check out Hunter x Hunter". By this point, I realized I needed to assignment myself some homework: watch at least 2 episodes of Hunter x Hunter. My life is forever changed. 

Since completing my "homework assignment", I've completely fallen into a rabbit hole of amazing storytelling and character development. But, you didn't start reading this to get into anime. You're probably wondering when is this chick getting to the "math" part of this stuff? Here I go. 

Anime versus Manga

Anime is an animated TV series or movie that's based on a Japanese graphic novel called manga. Mangas are written and illustrated in black and white. You can learn more about that here. Some people prefer watching anime to reading the mangas. I like both! I like to read when I want to know more to the story told in the anime. I've watched quite a few in the little time that I've been into the genre, but I've found some of it to be pretty graphic. That's another reason why I switch to manga. For instance, Attack on Titan is pretty bloody. I have read about 6 volumes and I find the manga (remember: it's black and white) to still be pretty graphic. However, the storyline is incredible. 

Math in Manga, Vol.1

I am currently reading a manga series called Assassination Classroom. It's a series about an alien threatening to destroy the planet under a few conditions. He wants to be a teacher in the lowest performing class of a high achieving school. His students are expected to be able to assassinate this speedy alien teacher by the end of the school year. If the students or other involved staff are unable to master the objective, Koro Sensai (the alien) will follow through with his plan to destroy the planet.

The storyline is wild! A teacher teaches the class to master the art of assassination, ultimately to kill him. As I head into Volume 8, I have caught myself thinking the following: he's a good teacher! That's a great strategy! I'm not going to give it away, but CHECK IT OUT (if you're interested). 

In addition to thinking about Koro Sensai's amazing teaching strategies, I've officially stumbled across a part of the series that's forced me to bring math into it. Koro Sensai is completely horrified about the fact he's only able to move at a speed of 408 kilometers per hour. While reading that part, I paused. 

Pictured: Koro Sensai panicking about his speed (Image by Ansatsu Kyōshitsu name via Assassination Classroom manga)

Do you understand how FAST you have to be moving on a regular basis to be worried that 408 kilometers/hour is too slow? In this series, Koro Sensai can typically move at speeds up to Mach 20. Since his students are used to him moving at that speed, I see why 408 kilometers/hour is problematic. However, I needed to know exactly how fast. This prompted me to do some math to make it real for speeds I understand and reference in my life (eg. miles per hour). 

Mach is the speed of sound. Mach 1 is about 767 miles per hour.
Mach 20 is about 15,5345 miles per hour. THIS OCTOPUS ALIEN IS FAST!
408 kilometers per hour is equivalent to about 254 miles per hour. STILL FAST!

Since I would never drive at that speed, I needed to know if I've been on anything that comes close to Koro Sensai's slowest speed. I've been on Kingda Ka... which is still only about HALF the speed. 

Pictured: The World's Faster Roller Coasters (Image by Ashley DeLeon via TripSavvy)

I also looked up the average speed for an airplane, but I realized that I can't feel that speed like I can on a rollercoaster. So, even if the airplane is going 500 miles per hour, it doesn't feel like anything. Now I wonder, does it feel like "nothing" when Koro Sensai's students get to fly with him across the world and back to class? 

This book makes me laugh, it makes me reflect on my teaching practices, and now.... it makes me think about math. I look forward to stumbling across more math and teachable moments in this series. I'll be back for "Math in Manga, Vol. 2" - and I promise to be `brief·ish.