Short Review - Mostly Spoiler Free (unless I put a warning)
Classroom of the elite is a decent show. I mean, it would have been pretty good had I not read the source material first. I'm not here to rate the LN, but it was in fact so good that I internally cringed when thinking about it and comparing the anime adaptation. That's how bad it was for me.
This part of the LN (vol 8-9 especially) are considered to be some of the best of the series. But the anime felt so rushed it was confusing. They skipped through some great parts, and it only diminished my enjoyment. The worst part is that the driving force of the entire series, being Ayanokouji's internal monologues, where skipped. It resulted to the main character just feeling like and empty shell being driven by his intelligence and his want to escape from his unknown background when he is so much more than that. Basically, it was like putting an Op Mc with smarts but no personality away from the typical isekai fantasy setting and putting him in a school-ranking system. I know that's the point of the whole show, but come on! If the creators want to make a show they should at least make the viewers understand the character. Ayanokouji's character in the anime is extremely bland, and his desires aren't fleshed out enough to make the viewers understand his character when he really is an extremely complex person. The only moment I could actually see some of his character was in the last episode, where they (finally) give us some of his internal monologue-ing which should have been there from the beggining. It's the whole point of the series!
The only relevant characters this season were Kei and Ryuuen. I love my girl Kei but only-anime fans wouldn't get to like her character just yet so I'll be talking more about Ryuuen. I've always felt like he was a weak antagonist, even while reading the LN. He had some intensity to him and all but he is a character that I could easily forget if not for Spoiler, click to viewHis epic fight with Kiyopon at the end of the season so I wasn't surprised when they made him even worse in the anime. He is smart and all that but just wasn't interesting enough to keep me on my toes, and his desire to dominate wasn't really up my alley. All in all, he just isn't a memorable character from my P.O.V, though I do know a lot of fans will disagree. My opinion on him is pretty unpopular, but this is just what I think.
The music wasn't anything special. The opening was good and all but the ending and the Ost's were forgettable and not something that I'd add to my "anime Ost's" playlist. The animation is probably my biggest issue with this season. The first season's animation was OK, it was average but at least looked like the producers put in effort even with their limited budget. But the animation for this was so bad. Like, they are anime's with far worst animation out there, but with the 5 years long wait and anticipation of fans they could have at least made it look like something. But the animation felt so bad and stiff overall it was sometimes hard to look at the screen. The characters looked awkward too, and some of the scenes where their eyes looked so far from each other made me cringe.
Overall : The title for this review was misleading. Honestly, go read the LN.. "el fin"
