Name: A failed attempt at adapting a great novel series that is never given the time to forge an identity.
Item: Classroom of the Elite
Rating: 60
Author: GwynXV

Waifra

A failed attempt at adapting a great novel series that is never given the time to forge an identity. · Waifora

Note: The following contains spoilers for the anime and a few references to moments in the Light Novel

Let me preface this review by saying one thing: Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e is my second favourite light novel of all time.

Is this anime a good adaptation of the Novel I love so much?
No, not in the slightest.

The protagonist of You-Zitsu is one Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, a student whose only wish is to live an average high school life yet is dragged into numerous conflicts in the competitive environment of Koudo Ikusei Senior High School.
Watching the anime, Kiyotaka seems like the most uninteresting human being to ever live. 80% of his scenes he is stood around like a jackass doing absolutely nothing while the plot happens around him, the other 20% he is asspulling random complicated solutions to issues.

In the novels Kiyotaka is barely even the same character, he's somewhat socially awkward but still tried making friends at the school. And most certainly does not stand around doing absolutely nothing. In the novel Kiyotaka has emotions and expressions and we constantly get to witness his thought process and his struggles at being in an environment completely unfamiliar to him.

Everyone knows how infamous Kiyotaka is for being a completely overpowered protagonist in almost every regard, but does the anime do a good job of portraying why and how Kiyotaka is like this? No. We see a few glimpses of his past in the white room but never anything concrete or useful. He's just a guy, who stands around doing nothing and occasionally pulls out big brain 4000 IQ plays nobody could of realistically just made up on the spot.

Regardless, I'll stop chatting about the novel now and focus on the anime.
What does the anime adapt? Well, just about the most UNINTERESTING AND STRAIGHT UP BORING part of the entire story. Whatever godforsaken entity compelled Lerche to adapt only up until the end of the third volume deserves eternal damnation. Because You-Zitsu's first three volumes are boring as hell and ultimately fail to be anything other than setup for the following story. It's only AFTER the reveal that Kiyotaka was only using those around him that the plot of You-Zitsu really starts to take off. And where is this scene placed in the anime? Literally the final scene of the final episode.

There's also something inherently infuriating about the Director or whoever the hell's decision it was to completely shoehorn Horikita Suzune into every scene possible. She's probably the least likeable character in the entire cast, and has nowhere near as large a role in the Novels as she does in the anime.
Several scenes were edited from the novels, for example the scene of Suzune confronting Sudo's would be attackers after placing a fake security camera to trick them into thinking evidence was recorded against them in the incident.

Well, in the source material. Suzune doesn't even play a ROLE in this sequence, never mind being it's main focus. The plan is the same, but it was concocted by Kiyotaka and Ichinose Honami, another character handled poorly by the adaptation.

This happens several times with small changes that seemingly make no sense and would inhibit any chance of a continuation due to there being callbacks to these scenes later on in the novels that would make literally zero sense with the new context.

For example, episode 7 of the series RANDOMLY decides to take a sequence of events from VOLUME 4.5 and shove it in there without any context, despite the current story being at the end of VOLUME 2.
This episode feels so disjointed and unfitting with the themes of the show so far, and that's because Volume 4.5 is a side story that is disconnected from the overall narrative.

Anyway, I digress. On a technical level, You-Zitsu is appealing. The animation is nice and the character designs are nicely adapted by Lerche into anime form. The sound design is good and the soundtrack works nicely.

Aside from a few questionable directorial and storyboarding choices that I've mentioned previously. The actual minute by minute shots and animation looks professional, with especially unique and visually appealing eyes for the characters.

I'm going to stop ranting now. Should you watch You-Zitsu? If you really want to I guess. But do me a favor regardless. Read the Light Novel. It's vastly superior in every regard and you will have a better time than watching the anime.