Alright Maybe They’re All Elite In Their Own Special Way – Classroom Of The Elite Review

To my surprise, Classroom of the Elite became very popular among the community. I had a lot of doubts after my three episode test. It was mostly because I didn’t see a proper story lining up with the set of characters they gave us. And to me, the one saving grace was our main character, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, whom I will be referring to as Kouji. Looking at the series as a whole, it’s structured ordinarily. They have an average first three episodes with a small hook in the end, that ultimately is just bait, that keeps you interested enough. The next three episodes starts another “story arc”, followed by a “fan service” pool episode. Then we get a setup episode and concluding with the final arc that is four episodes. I think this series has great momentum because although the beginning is a little rough, it does ultimately get better towards the end. My initial complaint would have to be the focus on the delinquents in the first 6 episodes. I can understand the second arc’s purpose of setting up the mood for the final arc between classes. I can even understand the importance of Airi Sakura to some degree. It just boils down to personal enjoyment and I didn’t enjoy the second arc. Maybe it’s because there was nothing clever about how everything was solved in comparison to the other events. Now the second half of the series, the final arc, that’s when this series really shines. This is when the psychological aspect comes alive. The students are thrown onto a deserted island with minimal tools and are tasked to survive for a week. This is brought to their attention as a “test” versus the other classes to earn more points to their respective class. As you can imagine, surviving out in the wilderness is no joke especially when it’s just a class of students. Trouble can occur from every angle without order or a leader. With the four classes of A, B, C, D, all fighting to get a boost in points, you can bet on underhanded schemes and different tactics all around. Overall this arc was, undoubtedly, the best arc and it’s what I expected a constant of once Horikita declared her goal to ascend to class A. I wanted this struggle between classes and the battle for wits (and points) to be apparent throughout the series. I mentioned before that Kouji is the defining factor to this series. You could say that he pretty much carries class D to victory on multiple occasions. His mysteriousness leads you to wonder about his backstory which they do nothing but tease about. Kouji is undoubtedly the smartest, most cunning, and possibly most dangerous student in class D. The most impressive thing is that, we perceive Kouji as someone who likes to stay in the background but we learn that he might actually care once he puts in a little effort. BUT ACTUALLY, he truly doesn’t care about anyone at all. We learn this through his inner monologue when Horikita kinda-sorta acknowledges him as an ally. Final thoughts about Classroom of the Elites, although this series has solid structure, it gets a bit messy at times but it holds true to the objective. Everyone wants to be the most Elite, I feel like there isn’t enough backstory on any of the characters to feel their struggle when trying to obtain their goals. On the other side, I feel it almost had to be structured this way because we’re not focused on individuals but the classroom as a whole. Which confuses me because there have been a few times where it was hinted at Horikita being the focus but shifts completely to shine on Kouji instead. Classroom of the Elite, for me, was an uphill battle to watch. I really had to fight through the first half of the series to enjoy it but once I got to the final arc, it was perfect.