barbrastreisand 8.5

I've waited to be a bit further into the series to confirm my internal conflict on the evolution of the story and a couple of other aspects. First of all, this is the opinion of a semi-picky spectator: When I'm shown particularly good material, starting from the premise, I get emotionally invested and begin to pay more attention to the technical aspects, among other things... Now then, for my impression 10 episodes into Classroom of the Elite: The premise was SO GOOD, and so original, so in tune with what I sought after at the time (*), so marvelously displayed visually, the CONCEPT it offered to dive into so promising, I was instantly hooked. It paints a scenario in which a selected few are permitted entry into another reality; a school cut off from the rest of the world, complete with its own living and commercial facilities, and most of all, a system of merital points with monetary value, through which each student navigates this privileged world... What isn't apparent at first is just how ruthlessly competitive it is, and how the internal hierarchy works, in line with the institution's own infrastructure. *To be precise, the "theme" I was interested in (and am, currently) is this Macchiavellian side to the main character, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, that enables him to exert influence in the most surrepticious way: due to his purposefully dispassionate appearance, sharp intellect and level-headedness, it possible for his outstanding abilities and unperturbable character to pull strings from behind the scenes, completely unnoticed. So what's the catch?, you ask. Here goes: The first episodes had me on my toes, begging for more, counting the minutes to the release of the next, in weekly agony. That until I began to notice how it slowly diminished the pace, once the audience was firmly on the hook. Then there's the ecchi obsession as well, dedicating a large porcentage of the story to contriving ways to frame the anatomy of the female characters, writing a group of pervy boys into concocting elaborate ways to peep on them, steal their undergarments, etc. So this decrease in story quality was dissappointing. Mainly because the initial promise of Ayanokouji's and his ally's (Horikita Suzune) character evolution in climbing the social ladder is put on hold. And the series suffers for it, having the rest of the ecchi/oppai junk stretched out to compensate. (It doesn't, in my female opinion). At least there're no lolis or yuri action (thankfully). So there you have it. The dissappointing part. The good news is that around episode 7 or 8 there is a new arc that injects a much needed renewed momentum into the story. Let's hope this reduces the need for filler episodes for the rest of the series, though I'm keeping my expectations in check now. I've learned my lesson... *sigh* If you came to this section wondering if it's worth watching, it is, definitely. Just don't expect the entire series to sustain the wonderful plot strength it displays in the beginning thoughout the entirety. If you've come to the reviews, as I have, having watched quite a chunk of it already, seeking the comfort of someone else spotting the same flaws you have, or wondering whether or not to continue in this travesty, please do. It picks up the pace later on. Let us hope it just gets better from here on out. Hope this helped in either case, I needed to vent these issues to continue, myself. Thanks for reading~