Anime Review - Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e / Classroom of the Elite - A View into the Education of the Elites

Classroom of the Elite shows us the education system of the elites, and how elites compete with each other to stay away from the bottom class (D class). I'm not sure whether there is the case in Japanese schools where D class is the class which have the worst performing students, because that would be discriminatory (or perhaps a way to address issues and help fix them, depending on how you think). This anime is recounted from mainly the characters from D class, with some unique exceptions from the higher classes.The idea of D class being the worst and being looked down upon reminds me of the situation in Assassination Classroom, where D class is also looked down upon.

Story (8/10):

The story covers students from an elite private school, who compete against each other to gain currency that allows them to survive since they are isolated from the outside world. There are four classes (A, B, C, D), and A is the best performing class whilst D is the worst performing class. Classes can ascend up the ranks by gaining points from exams, competitions, etc., and these points are also important since they determine your monthly allowance.

I really like how the anime started. Most of the anime perspective is from students of Class D, and it was refreshing to see how spoilt some of them were. They were given 100,000 points to start off, and a lot of them just spent away like nobody's business. Furthermore, they didn't bother to pay attention in class, and as a result for the first month, they had no allowance. Of course we see that the main characters in Class D are not that stupid and are much smarter than the rest of their classmates.

Like I previously stated, the anime goes on to highlight the competitions between the classes, and we also see alliances forged to help each other ascend up the ranks. The anime serves as an introduction to get people interested in the light novel, and that's fair enough. A 12-episode season for an entirely new series usually serve as taste-test serves to increase interest in the series.

For people who watched the anime, I too understand how frustrating this can be, since they were a lot more interesting questions that were left unanswered. There were three main unresolved questions that I was extremely intrigued about. The first is Honami Ichinose having over 2 million points to her account. Why this is interesting is because no one could have accumulated that much since they are given 100,000 points at the start, and max 10,000 points every month. From the anime, it is implied only Kiyotaka Ayanokouji knows of this. Near the end, Ichinose also hints that even a class transfer can be bought, which makes me even more interested in how she got that many points. Bribery? Or was she paid to lead Class B up the ranks?

The second unresolved question is Ayanokouji's past. The anime hints there is something troubling about his past and I definitely wouldn't have expected it to be explained in 12 episodes. It looks like he's an orphan or an adopted individual who was experimented on to become emotionless and to become an elite - the best of the best. Very interesting since we see that he supposedly has no flaws - he is emotionally intelligent, smart, athletic, and it is said that people are in Class D because there is something wrong with them. What could be wrong with Ayanokouji? It seems to be very personal to him as we can see that he warns others not to pry into his past.

The third one is perhaps Kushida's dual personality? I'm not actually sure whether she has a dual personality or whether she is just putting on an act for her other classmates. If she is putting on an act, she is goddamn good at it. But the main question is which is her real self? Even Ayanokouji is intrigued by this mystery.

Characters (9/10):

The main characters are simply amazing since they stand out from the rest of their class. We can see that even people in higher classes can act all smug and arrogant, whilst some act tough to maintain their dominance in the class. We can also see that "innocent" individuals are not so innocent after all, since they all have a dark secret, just like anyone else. I'm also a simple man, I see boobs, I like. People who watched this will know what I mean ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

The main characters from Class D - Ayanokouji, Horikita and Kushida are all interesting and unique. These characters reminds me of the three main characters in Oregairu (Ayanokouji being Hachiman, Horikita being Yukino and Kushida being Yui), and I love it. The difference is that Horikita seems like the only normal one, whereas the other two has either a dark past or some fake act to fool people. The other characters - even the "antagonists" are likable. The other characters I didn't really like is the dumb trio who becomes friendly with the group. They are so annoying and sometimes it was hard to tolerate such idiocy.

Art (7/10):

The art is not superbly beautiful, but there is attention to detail when it comes to backgrounds and facial expressions. Oh boy that scene with Ayanokouji finding out Kushida has a hatred for Horikita, was very ominous. But then again, the studio that worked on this is not a big player in the field, so I'll give them slack.

Sound (8/10):

The OP is very catchy and the ED was ok. The voice acting for the characters are pretty good. I was surprised that I wasn't cringing due to Kushida's fake acting, but by golly, was Kushida's dark voice extra chilling and spooky. Honami Ichinose's voice actor was good too and that was to be expected since she also voice Yui from Oregairu.

Enjoyment (8/10):

I found this 12-episode cour relatively enjoyable to watch. Like any new anime idea, the first season are usually a teaser to what is to come in the future of the series. Even though I really want to know more about the unresolved mysteries behind the main characters, I can understand that it is just not possible to explain it all in just 12 episodes, and it is probably hard to even explain it all in 24 episodes.

Overall (8/10):

Welcome to the Classroom of the Elite is a refreshing addition to that specific season. When I saw the anime as an upcoming anime for that season (yes I know it was a few seasons ago), I knew that the anime was going to be decent, and it looks like the community received it pretty well. I am excited to see whether a sequel will be possible for it, but this will probably be unlikely for a few years since the light novel seems like it is very new (published since 2015/2016 and only 4 volumes so far).