Classroom of the Elite (Light Novel) Vol. 1

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Even if you weren’t like him yourself, I’m sure you knew someone who struggled to get results in the conventional school system.

I’m glad I picked up the light novels, though, as even the introductory arc had quite a lot to chew on. Its exposition about the struggle for equality by humanity despite the inherent well-known impossibility of such was unique introduction.

There would have been no point setting it in a school filled with exceptionally gifted children if it was just a microcosm of adult society. Hirata invites Kiyotaka and Horikita to discuss how to increase the class's points, but they both decline. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has landed at the bottom in the scorned Class D, where he meets Horikita Suzune, who’s determined to rise up the ladder to Class A. Not long after, Kushida lets him know that she was successfully able to convince all three to attend. But she still stands up for him anyway, because the fact of the matter is that he was framed for a crime he did not commit.

Horikita isn’t sympathetic towards Sudou because she thinks that his abrasive personality indirectly brought trouble in his direction. Kikyo apologizes to Kiyotaka as Horikita might start hating him due to his role in the plan, but Kiyotaka waves it off, saying that he wanted Horikita to consider the benefits of friendship. I have some problems with the book but the tension between student and school is an interesting one and I can see why this series is so popular. And because of the stark situations they’re put in, they’re pushed to grow and come to an understanding of themselves that they wouldn’t otherwise achieve. Classroom of the Elite paints these sorts of pictures from the beginning of volume one, making allusions to many real life inequalities and big philosophical questions towards the reader intending to showcase how real life’s systems are inherently unfair and flawed to those less privileged.

It’s telling that none of their classmates made an effort to intervene during the first month when those boys were at their least motivated.

They're in this government advanced school that nurtures students to support the country in the future. The class’s casual cruelty manifested in inaction rather than outright bullying, and in a way that’s just as bad. Apart from bad characters, the story itself takes forever to get going and once it does, it takes a single step forward and the book’s over. But I like to think that Sudou’s story will maintain a special place in my heart even as I continue reading this series.Finally, she lets the class know that there will be a midterm exam in three weeks before leaving the classroom. While the hints are there from the start, once the truth comes out school and teachers both feel like very real threats to the students. After becoming an adult, he now looks back on school and realises what a limiting environment it was.