English Dub Season Review: Classroom of the Elite Season One

These kids can’t play.

Classroom of the Elite is chock full of tropes and features dreadfully cliche characters. It’s tough to get behind a show where none of the characters are likable or relatable. Save for the eyes, the character designs suck, and over the course of the season, we’ve struggled to find a likable character. Instead, even mildly enjoyable characters are often marred by a whiny, offputting sound. What Classroom of the Elite does well is the animation and music.The animation shines with spectacular, vivid colors and I liked the island setting which truly shined with vivid greens, blues, and a gradient of lush colors. The animation overall is pleasing with bright colors which really pop off the screen.

The music is generally solid as the soundtrack delivers a range of pieces: string-based compositions, key-heavy movements, and timpani-filled waves. In fact, the soundtrack may be the best element of the series. often the monologues are pretty pretentious. Sometimes it’s heavy, and others it’s pretty basic material. The voice acting is solid. Notably, I enjoy Ayanokoji’s narration. I also appreciate the school dynamic which is cold and calculating, however, there’s the unnecessary and creepy fan service.

Classroom of the Elite though isn’t as clever as it presents itself. A morose air masquerades as smarts, but on the contrary, the show is pretty predictable.