The Classroom of the Elite started out as a light novel series, which has since received a manga as well as an anime that has been brought over to the west via Crunchyroll. For those who are curious, it is focused on a class full of problem students in a near future school that is run in what most people would consider to be a rather harsh manner, which is intended to produce the people who will be responsible for the future of Japan. Here are 10 things that you may or may not have known about The Classroom of the Elite:
1. The Title Isn’t a One for One Translation
The Classroom of the Elite isn’t a one for one translation of the Japanese title, which translates to something along the lines of “Welcome to the Classroom of the Supreme Ability Doctrine.” This isn’t an uncommon occurrence in translations because what sounds right in one language might not sound right in another.
2. Set in the Near Future
On the whole, The Classroom of the Elite is one of those stories that are set in the future but not so much so that the setting becomes unrecognizable. Given its premise, this makes sense because changing too much would’ve blunted some of its narrative impact.
3. Unreliable Narrator
The main character Ayanokoji Kiyotaka is considered to be an example of an unreliable narrator. In part, this is because there are parts of his background that don’t match up with the image that he presents to the readers. However, it should also be noted that he is not above speaking lies.
4. Kiyotaka Is Bad at Pretending to Be Average
Speaking of which, Kiyotaka is pretty bad at pretending to be average. After all, it is perfectly possible for someone to show themselves to be abnormal by being too normal, as shown by his 50s across the board for the various academic subjects.
5. Holds a Pretty Cynical Position
Kiyotake holds the position that equality isn’t a thing that exists. This is something shared by the series, though it is rather complicated than the social Darwinist take on that particular premise.
6. Not Quite a Stock LN Protagonist
In many ways, Kiyotaka resembles a stock LN protagonist. For example, he is a seemingly ordinary person with extraordinary abilities who goes on to attract the interest of a number of women. However, he isn’t quite a stock LN protagonist, as shown by the fact that he deliberately acts in a manner to attract people so that it will make them easier to manipulate. On the whole, Kiyotaka is a selfish character, which is very much the opposite of what one would expect from a stock LN protagonist.
7. Warms Up a Bit
Perhaps unsurprisingly, a fair amount of Kiyotaka’s narrative arc is focused on him warming up to other people to some extent. However, the narrative is far from being a simple and straightforward slide from one position on the spectrum to another, as shown by the fact that he still sees most people as nothing more than tools even when he starts warming up to some people that he cares about.
8. Horikita Suzune Isn’t Quite a Stock Character Either
In a lot of ways, Horitaka Suzune seems like an example of a yamato nadeshiko, which can be considered a Japanese take on the ideal woman that pops up a lot in anime and its affiliated forms of media. In practice, well, suffice to say that her more positive traits are combined with crippling problems such as her contempt for normal people, which is so bad that she can’t even communicate with them in a meaningful manner.
9. Has a Complicated Relationship with Kiyotaka
In the LN, Suzune has a complicated relationship with Kiyotaka that has a fair measure of hostility mixed into it. Unfortunately, the anime takes a more standard approach, with the result that they are a popular romantic pairing both in and out of the series. Something that is perhaps unsurprising considering Suzune’s communication problems.
10. A Little Bit Too True to Life at Times
The school in the series maintains its high scores by booting out underperforming students. Unfortunately, this is something that happens in real life, which is one more reason for people to remember that look at the full context when reading statistics.
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