Disclaimer: I am not familiar at all with the source material for this show so I dont know if my criticisms of the work are more appropriate for the author or the director. I also dont know how many of these issues exist in the source material and how many could be due to poor adaptation. I think the basic failing of Classroom of the Elite is its failure to obey one of the most important laws of sales: underpromise overdeliver. Instead Classroom of the Boring overpromises again and again while either underdelivering or just flat out forgetting to deliver at all. There were countless times while watching this show that I thought oh this character is promising I wonder if theres more to that person this is a cool concept I wonder how it will play out in future episodes. Unfortunately every time I got my hopes up the story just bashed them down again. I decided to frame my review as a dialogue between myself and the show which would be either the writer or director. If you care about spoilers now would be the time to stop reading. The first person I was intrigued by was Cheery Popular Girl who insists that she wants to be everyones friend. In fact the first scene in the show is her asking a kid to give up his seat on the bus for an old lady. How sweet She definitely wont have a hidden side right? SHOW: So actually Cheery Girl is a terrible person. Our...hero?...will find out how much of a bitch she truly is. ME: Oh this is starting to get interesting This will surely be an integral plot point right? A major aspect of this story will be Cheery Girls duplicity and how our hero interacts with both sides of her right? SHOW: Nahhh her bitchy side might show up for a minute later on but really it doesnt matter because for 99 of the story she is going to be Cheery Girl. ME: Okay but her terrible side is going to something dramatic that will fuck her over right? SHOW: Actually her horrible side will never do anything of consequence to the story Wont that be fun? People hate tension in their stories. ... ME: Okay maybe there wasnt enough time to expand on that part of the story. But what about Loner Girl? She gets the second most screen time surely were going to learn about why she is afraid of getting close to others. SHOW: Of course She wants her brothers approval ME: Oh cool is her brother like some mega super genius who never talks to other people or something? SHOW: No hes student council president so a lot of people like him. Also he will directly tell Loner Girl that not working with others is her main flaw. ME: So because shes so focused on earning her brothers approval she does the exact opposite of his example and advice? SHOW: Now youre getting it ... ME: Okay forget about the characters for a second. This point system you dedicated like more than half your first episode explaining this is gonna be super important right? Because now these kids dont get any money for the second month there will be some obvious consequences right? SHOW: Yeah We will show everyones point totals in the credits at the end of each episode ME: But...thats it? There are no...consequences? SHOW: Oh there are The characters will feel bad that they dont have points. ME: Okay lets gloss over that nonsense for a minute...after the midterms they go up in points so theyll get some money. That will definitely have an impact on the characters SHOW: Actually there was an issue with the system and they dont get their points. ME: Are you ever gonna address what that was all about? SHOW: Nahhh. Repeat ad nausea for every character and narrative device in this show. Classroom of the Elite is nothing more than an barrel of empty promises utterly devoid of any tension or momentum. I kept watching hoping it would deliver on some of its setups but found myself halfway through episode 10 thinking jeez how are they gonna wrap up all these threads in just 2 more episodes? Surprise They hardly wrap up anything. The production was competent and the narrative was comprehensible so it gets a 2/10. Do not recommend.
20 /100
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