If you gaze too far into the abyss and long enough into the abyss, then maybe you will become the abyss or something. If you are act like a monster, then you become the monster. Or something. My best friend Friedrice Natzsche told me that one. He's a German philosopy who lived in the 1800s or something. He's a good guy.
Pictured (???): Friedrice Natzsche.
Everybody quotes him. I don't know why. Like they haven't even read anything he's written, but they're just quoting him nonstop. "He's the God is Dead guy, WE HAVE TO QUOTE HIM."
"WE HAVE TO MAKE OUR SHOW OR SERIES LOOK SMARTER OR DEEPER THAN IT IS, PLEASE, WE HAVE TO INCLUDE A FRIEDRICE QUOTE. OTHERWISE, THEY WON'T GET HOW UNBELIEVABLY DEEP WE'RE BEING."
If you start a work of fiction with a Nietzsche quote without even having read the Nietzsche work the quote is actually from, then you're a hack. Like this person.
Whoops!
#Introduction#
All jokes ~~and self-depreciation~~ aside, I don't even really know where to begin with this one. I honestly don't. This adaptation of I'm assuming an equally terrible novel series is brought to us by Lerche. Who brought us things such as Ranpo Kitan and Kino 2017... and Classroom of Elite is even directed by the same guy who directed Ranpo Kitan ~~(actually, it's listed as having two directors)~~.
...Which is kind of surprising, because at least Ranpo Kitan had a clearer and more logical plot, and things actually happened. But again, Classroom of Elite is an adaptation of a series of novels so whatever.
...I honestly have no fucking clue what genre I'd even call it. Looking at its Anilist page, it's under comedy, romance, and drama. Comedy...? No? Romance? Definitely no. Drama? Fuckin'... they WISH.
I felt like most of the time this show had me at knifepoint screaming at me like an insane person. You have to care! YOU HAVE TO CARE! THIS IS DRAMATIC, THESE EVENTS THAT ARE HAPPENING RIGHT NOW, THEY ARE IMPORTANT AND YOU MUST FIND THEM IMPORTANT. Please care that this idiotic and completely and almost comically unlikable punk is about to get expelled from school!
But... but I don't. I just don't give a flying fuck about this character. Or any of the other characters, for that matter. There is nothing to cheer these characters on for, there are no stakes, and nothing that happens is interesting or entertaining in any way. As a matter of fact, it's honestly almost shocking how over the top this show is while simultaneously being full of nothing. But I'll get into that. There's gonna be a whole fucking section of this review that discusses that.
If you care about getting spoiled on this series, then I guess... this is the point where I warn you about that but... why would you care? Nobody cares. Like thinking about it now that I've completed it, there is absolutely nothing about this series I'm interested in. Like the "plot" or the point of the series was very much unresolved but there's just nothing? Why ever make a season two for this? Why even read the original series after watching the anime?
Like you should actually want the viewer to be interested in seeing a continuation of the story whether it be through a possible season two or just getting them to look at the original. This show even ends like on a "OH SHIT WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED" type of note but...
NOTHING OF NOTE HAPPENED IN ALL TWELVE EPISODES. YOU GLASSLIP'D ME, YOU ABSOLUTE SHITHEELS.
#Characters#
At least this section will be quick, because there's only one character that matters or is worth even discussing to any length beyond like a sentence or two.
You have Main Girl, she is a loner and will repeatedly state that she is a loner and prefers being a loner despite showing signs that hint otherwise. Oh, and her only motivation is that she wants her brother's approval. That's it.
You have Other Girl 1, she is super nice to everyone and wishes to be friends with everyone on the planet and there is definitely nothing at all wrong with her in any way shape or form despite the fact that she was placed in the worst class of the school.
You have Other Girl 2, she is shy girl but she has a different side to her that she keeps secret and her purpose in this show is to almost be raped by a creepy mall employee and then she shows at a trial a couple of photos I guess and then after that she's a character from that point on.
You have Delinquent Failure. He is a delinquent failure who gets into fights and arguments and he wishes to play the basketball but if he gets expelled he can no longer play the basketball but despite this he doesn't care about studying and keeping his position in school secure so he can play the basketball that he so dearly loves ~~and he is a REAL FULL FLEDGED CHARACTER THAT YOU SHOULD CARE ABOUT.~~
You have the Teacher. She is harsh and at one point calls the failure class garbage, but then eventually at some point she apparently cares about or wants to get her class to the top of the garbage pyramid. It just sort of happens. She seemed like she could have cared less before then, but whatever, who needs clear motivations for characters anyways???
Then we have the main male character, Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. I'm saying it right now, but Ayanokouji is the only character in this entire show, in this entire series that is worth anything at all. It was actually somewhat interesting or entertaining at how ridiculously far they took it. This character is absolutely completely emotionless the entire way through, and does not care about ANYTHING. And even at the end of the show when Main Girl
Spoiler, click to view
actually finally changes and starts showing emotionsSpoiler, click to view
she eventually gets tuned out by Ayanokouji's inner monologue about how he just does not give a fuck about anyone and all other human beings are just tools to be used. This was actually my favorite moment and one of the few scenes I actually liked out of the entire fucking show.Ayanokouji's facial expression is basically entirely the same throughout all twelve episodes. He's never angry, he's never sad, he's never surprised, he never laughs, he is simply Ayanokouji.
He has absolutely no problem from having someone smear mud into Main Girl's hair so she has to bathe to purposely intensify her sickness or even committing arson. Fuck it, who cares. He just wants to have an ordinary high school life but simultaneously he's going to win at all costs. Win at what, you may ask? I don't know man. The universe.
Ayanokouji will win against the entire universe because he is perfect and flawless in every single way.
But TGG, isn't being an emotionless husk that wants to only be perceived as an average guy by everyone else Ayanokouji's fla--
#Over the top drama#
It's impossible not to make the comparison now that I've realized both shows aired in the exact same season (Summer 2017). Classroom of the Elite and Kakegurui are both shows that are very over the top about schools that for a multitude of reasons, would never ever exist in real life. But there is a very key difference between these two shows. I mean hell, Kakegurui even has a never losing protagonist, just like Classroom of the Elite.
~~I didn't watch Classroom of the Elite while it was airing because I was too busy watching Kakegurui.~~
In Kakegurui, horrible things can happen as a result of the gambles. At the very least, you may go into debt and be forced to essentially be a boot licking slave to one of the other students or you may have the rest of your life beyond graduation basically decided by another. It's very, very over the top, but it is rightfully and for that matter enjoyably over the top.
What are the stakes in Classroom of the Elite? You may not have a perfect choice of whatever college or job you wish to end up at. Oh. So why is everything presented so fucking dramatically and over the top? Like very early on, the show establishes that the monthly money given to students is determined by merit, and the bottom class which the show is focused on, Class D, very quickly ends up dropping down to earning zero points ~~because they're all failures~~.
I was under the assumption that the points would matter. But the show makes a point of showing that the stores at least offer a couple of free items to students who have ran out of or wasted their points. Even later in the show, it's shown that there essentially is a free menu for the cafeteria.
After all, it IS still a school. It wouldn't be realistic if the school was allowing students to starve as a result of their own poor choices or just generally because they're failures.
Meanwhile, in Kakegurui:
Like honestly. It's treated so goddamned dramatically when the Delinquent Failure is about to be expelled as a result of failing the exam that he refused time and time again to study for but. Like the moment Ayanokouji got up and followed the Teacher out of the classroom, I immediately went: "Oh okay, so the delinquent isn't going to be expelled." And of course, he wasn't.
But like the way they save him from getting expelled is by selling the Teacher their points because the first thing she told them about this school was that anything could be bought. But... but the points DON'T MATTER AND NOTHING WAS FORCING HER TO SELL THEM THE TEST POINT. And Ayanokouji and Main Girl selling the Teacher their money points for the single test point Delinquent Failure needs so he isn't expelled doesn't matter either. In fact, it's like after that the points just completely cease mattering entirely. How is the majority of Class D faring as a result of having wasted most of their points and most likely getting no or very little points in the next month? Who cares!
Like when Other Girl 1 is suddenly revealed to be hiding a super dark personality beneath her smiley and friendly facade? That doesn't matter. Because even after that when she's alone with Ayanokouji, she just talks in the "nice girl" persona except for like two times when she actually drops it again. What was the point of threatening him that she'd blackmail him with rape if he ever told anyone else? He basically didn't even care upon discovering it in the first place.
Or what about Other Girl 2. Her initial role or purpose in the show is basically to have been the witness to Delinquent Failure's innocence when some other students from Class C provoked a fight with him but... her testimony barely influences the result at all. And like they show like one of her modeling pictures off of her camera's SD card but... she didn't have to keep that photo on there when they would use it to show the actual relevant pictures.
Then after that, she just almost gets raped by the creepy weird mall employee guy. But hey, Ayanokouji saves her. And then... and then she's just a character. A part of the main cast. Whatever!
Then like in the final arc of the show, where the school has all four classes go and stay at this deserted island for a week, there is like a fight scene between Main Girl and one of the other girls from one of the other classes and it... it literally came out of nowhere. But violence isn't allowed! But theft isn't allowed! The other character just outright says the rules don't matter as long as nobody sees. Oh... so... none of that mattered at all. Okay.
Wait, isn't Other Girl 1's whole thing that she'll tell everyone that Ayanokouji raped her, but nobody was around to see nor was she recording her forcing him to grope her. But then in this instance, the show says it doesn't matter if nobody sees--oh just... nevermind. Fuck it!
But like there was also an incident where somebody stole a girl's underwear and it causes a schism between the boys and the girls of Class D and like the boyfriend/leader character is all like, I'll accept possession of the stolen underwear because she's my girlfriend I guess and that'll lessen the impact? But I don't think they ever actually reveal that he's in possession of the missing underwear because that's when Ayanokouji says fuck this, I'm just going to set our SURVIVAL MANUAL ON FIRE BECAUSE REASONS AND I'M MANIPULATING A VERY CONVOLUTED SERIES OF EVENTS FROM BEHIND THE SCENES.
The show ends with Class D, almost entirely as a result of Ayanokouji's capability of manipulation, beating all three other classes. And while they weren't purposely attacking Class B because they have an alliance with them, Ayanokouji's manipulations factored in Class B getting fucked over as well, just not directly by Class D.
So... Ayanokouji is basically perfect, and no other student is even close to matching him. There maybe actually is one, but in the context of what they adapted, she is on the screen maybe like three or four times and is purposely absent from the final arc of the show. ~~And I'm sure in the novels, Ayanokouji just beats her anyways.~~
And the show ends like it's ending on this grandiose note of a cliffhanger like... like you're supposed to be interested in seeing Class D continuing to rise against the higher classes to become the Classroom of the Elite. But... you just don't. Like I said at the start of this review, there's absolutely no motivation to ever actually want to see a continuation of this series. Whereas comparatively, I'm totally down for Kakegurui 2 because while that protagonist also basically never loses, the show actually manages to be entertaining.
Which is something this show repeatedly time and time again fails at.
#Filler, Fan service, and Garbage#
I shouldn't even be wasting the time but I should at least address it.
The Delinquent Failure should not have had four episodes revolving around him. Especially considering after that, he's essentially just nothing but a supporting character. And one of the most minor ones, at that. Like Other Girl 1 keeps going on and on about how Main Girl should not want Deliqnuent Guy to be expelled but...
Main Girl was completely right? He's a fucking failure and none of them should have went anywhere near as far as they did to save him from getting expelled. If he wanted to play basketball and him playing basketball depended on him staying in the school, then maybe his brain should have worked and he would have realized that perhaps actually studying on his own volition would be a good idea.
But even then after he is essentially dragged into caring about it and after they get the old test questions, he STILL fails. And then after that whole ordeal, they right away start up a new arc where Class C tries to frame Delinquent Failure for assaulting three people and the punishment is... BEING SUSPENDED FROM SCHOOL! And then when the student council president gets involved, he's like...
"I'M PUTTING EXPULSION ON THE TABLE."
_I could probably do an entire breakdown of all of the terrible logic or just everything just generally horribly wrong in that trial scene, but I just do NOT care._
Who... who fucking cares? Again, that image of the show screaming and armed with a knife comes to mind because like... it really seems like they want the viewer to care. But I can't even comprehend caring about anything that happens in this series. How can I when like...
The very first episode ends with the shocking reveal that things aren't exactly like they seem at this school. The classes compete and if you're garbage, you don't get points that are essentially money but also simultaneously don't matter, and their Teacher outright tells them all this and that they're garbage ~~which I should note is very, very true~~.
But immediately, the second episode just opens with them in pool class. And for several minutes, they're just doing pool class things, but eventually like a switch was flipped, and then they start like having a strategy meeting and going over what their Teacher revealed to them in the prior episode. "Gosh, who knew there was gonna be a darker turn to this school!"
And the entirety of episode seven is just outright a pool episode. Which I mostly just skimmed through because at the time, I just was not having any of that shit. But the show sure showed me, because then the entirety of episode eight is just a boat vacation. Granted, the boat trip at least leads into the deserted island arc, but did the boat trip really need to be an entire episode? Or rather, did we need the pool episode when you could basically squeeze as much fan service (and they basically did) into a boat trip episode???
Did there need to be a blond guy character whose entire purpose was to be arrogant, annoying, and completely useless? Like he tags along with Ayanokouji and Other Girl 2 at some point in the Deserted Island arc and he's like swinging from trees and shit and then he gets too far ahead of them, and then the episode just ends with him going back to the boat therefore penalizing the entirety of Class D.
I'm so glad that was the contribution his entire character gave to the show.
Like I just don't understand it. You have this over the top concept and idea, but like... for twelve episodes, basically nothing happens. I mean, I'm willing to believe that the original novel series is probably more or less the exact same. But like... why. Why create a series where absolutely nothing happens? Like it's maybe one thing if you're just throwing a bunch of chickens and metaphors around. But Glasslip isn't a novel series. This is.
Based off of episode one, I imagined like the students were gonna have to start bartering or like trying to earn points. Then the whole angle of competing with the other classes was thrown out there, and I was like oh okay, then we're gonna go in that direction. But it's not like until the last five or so episodes of the show where they actually start competing with the other classes and even then, Ayanokouji just wins. He just wins.
#Conclusion#
No stakes at all, basically no motivation at all, nothing of any note happens, and it's not entertaining. Classroom of the Elite? More like Classroom of the FAILURES! HA! Ha... ha...
~~I really wish I hadn't watched this show.~~
But uh yeah no, I give this show a 1.5 out of 10 or a 15 out of 100.
I would never recommend anyone to seriously watch this show and I hope it doesn't get a second season because if it does I'll be forced to watch it because I actually genuinely like Ayanokouji for how absolutely absurdly unlikable he is. And even as far as masochism/watching bad shows for the sake of watching bad shows go, I'd say Glasslip is a way more interesting show in which also absolutely nothing of note happens.
So yeah, go watch Glasslip instead. Or Kakegurui, I guess. Or anything.
Just not this.
