The Classroom of the Elite anime has an interesting concept. It's intriguing and definitely decent from a psychological aspect. However, the anime's execution is terribly lackluster. It feels rushed, of course, as many animes prefer to cut scenes from its source material: the manga. The plot feels strung together by sugar floss.

Additionally, the characters feel bland, maybe even slightly unlikeable at times. The MC has a robotic-like vibe to him, especially thanks to his monotonous voice and "laid-back" personality. Horikita's insistence to stay alone annoy's me at times. And I just dislike Kushida's bubbly personality as a whole. Despite all that, the MC's backstory is worthwhile to explore. Perhaps in season 2, Horikita will open up and reveal the layer's of her personality. Kushida.... I just hope she doesn't get as much screentime as she did this season.

And MY GOD, are we meant to like Sudo or whatever his name is? I wish he was just expelled but no... apparently it's too risky for the rest of class 1-D. This anime tries to make Ike likeable in the camping episode, but I genuinely CANNOT from his actions in episode 7.

About episode 7, the fanservice is absolutely atrocious. What in the absolute world is this episode? I watched the whole episode in 2x speed and even skipped multiple parts. I don't see the need for so much fanservice, especially since they're teenagers. And Sudo, my god. You nearly got expelled and you're already plotting on doing something practically illegal? I can positively say that episode 7 is a filler episode, and is just dumb to even include in the first place.

Also, what's with all the quotes? Maybe I'm not philosophical enough for this but I really don't see the point.

This whole season felt so... filler, actually. It's like an extended prologue in order for us to get to know the characters better. I'm pretty sure the main goal of this anime is to reveal the MC's backstory in some dramatic way but I don't see how so much petty feuds these characters have is going to benefit to the plot. I genuinely believe Sudo's episodes could've been skipped.

This season's ending felt almost like any other episode, but I do like how we're able to understand more of how the MC feels about his classmate. This helps his character and backstory become more interesting, which is what's preventing me from dropping this anime.

On a more positive note:
I like how we lightly explore different characters. This allows viewers to build a connection between certain characters, and/or either build some sort of suspense for the next season(s). This helps with providing a bit of depth to the anime. This aspect is very minor, however, so it does kinda fall flat a little.

The ways Ayanokoji and Horikita tackle the problems they face are... satisfactory, I guess. The MC further proves his intelligence, but I do find it annoying as to how he gives away all the credit. Horikita is also able to prove herself to be a strategic character who apparently does things for her own benefit. The two of them are good as a platonic duo, so I hope the next season(s) don't turn them into romantic interests (although I'm now aware that this anime is tagged as 'Female Harem').

All in all, Classroom of the Elite is worth watching if you're into a mix of mystery and harem elements. I watched this without knowing this was kind of harem, and felt thrown off by it lmao, but that's my own mistake. My take is incredibly subjective, so I can definitely understand if there are people out there that takes a liking to this anime. That said, I will be watching season 2 as soon as I can.