Classroom of the Elite is the first-ever light novel series that made me read two volumes a day. I don't usually enjoy the type of atmosphere this story gives, but the first volumes were page-turners. Although engaging for a lot of people in the light novel community - is the story as a whole good? My answer would be no. Enjoyment does not equal an objectively good story. And it took me a while before I decided to write a review so I could remove any bias I may have. I don't want it to look like I completely hate the story (Which I don't), so I'll just say this now that this review is mainly criticizing the flaws of the story. Spoilers ahead.

Let's begin by quoting a question at the beginning of the novel series.

"Are humans truly equal?"

Starting the story with this line made me question how good this series was deemed to be. Not only does it sound pretentious, but it's also laughable as the answer for this question, since the begging of time, is "no." Any rational human being would come to the same answer. Address a topic or situation concerning any human status and I'll gladly list all inequalities within these topics.

The story takes place in a school supported by the Japanese government to nurture students who are to lead the country in the imminent future. They don't accept students with academic superiority alone but students who are also competent in separate fields like judgment, physical ability, and cooperativeness. So everyone has a chance to enter the school. But it just seems too easy. Each year 160 students from all over Japan can enter the school, meaning that 160 out of millions of students in Japan are selected to enter the country's top school. This concept makes me question why students like Ike and Sakura got accepted in the first place. With the school's standards, and with the benefit of the doubt, I can understand why Sudou got accepted in the first place, and why students like Koenji and Horikita are in class D despite their overwhelming competence. But students with straight C's in all the fields by logic should not have passed the school's standards. It's the same flaw I find with My Hero Academia with students like Mineta and Hagakure passing UA High school and in the hero course as well. It may look like I'm nitpicking students, but it's been made clear that there are many students not only in class D but scattered throughout the entire school that are incompetent in all fields of ability.

These said students, after passing the entrance exams and the interview, are then assigned to a class decided by their abilities. This is the part of the narrative where the author associated the question involving equality, but inherently, does that even matter? Are the different classes representing the different levels of people in society? The higher classes as a representation of those with power and the lower ones as powerless? It just fails to use the flawed school system and characters as a representation of how cruel and difficult society can be.

Yes, I used the word flawed as an adjective for the school system and characters, basically everything about the story that is deemed to be what makes it not like other light novels. Although I do admit the story does have an intriguing premise, it's still a generic light novel written by a mediocrity who knows how to attract an audience.

Let me tell you why the school system is flawed. I've explained some flaws at the beginning of my review but allow me to give more. How rich is Japan? I mean, the school basically gives free money to the students each month, supplies the items in each store throughout the school including an entire mall. Not to mention that the school hired all the employees for all the stores, owns crews ship, and gives extra class points and private points given as awards for tests. It's not even a matter of how rich Japan is but how much they are willing to invest in the school. While the school's goal is to nurture the country's elites, it's still basically throwing money into a pit of fire as there is no reason for the school to use its current regulations to raise the "best" students of Japan. Not to mention the school's rules that have conveniently been left with holes so they can be bent for the sake of the plot.

Now for the characters. We have the perfect cast to create a generic high school classroom. A school bully who can't control his temper, a sociable and handsome class representative who the girls yearn for, an annoying girl who is in a "relationship" with the said handsome class representative, the class genius, a bunch of morons who have no special qualities (As I said, they shouldn't even have passed the school's standards, to begin with), and the popular girl who is secretly a yandere with her big fucking tiddies. Let's also not forget the protagonist who sits at the back of the class just left of the school windows who is secretly the second coming of Jesu- I am getting way too informal as the review progresses. My point is, this is not a light novel where it deserves the title of "not like the other novels." It has the formula for a generic story just with a different setting. Furthermore, Ayanokyouji "tries his best" to hide his competence yet he recklessly goes overboard on special tests from time to time like the race with Horikita Manabu, which has the sole purpose to introduce Sakayanagi, nothing more. Maybe he's not as smart as the author portrayed him to be. Also, what's up with fifteen to seventeen-year-olds looking like divorced fathers in their forties with two kids that chose to live with their mother? I'm looking at you Katsuragi, Albert, and Kitou.

There is something as being too edgy, and that's this light novel. Any dialogue not involving logistics are dramatic and corny. But I guess this was the reason why this light novel series is popular, as its target audience holds a large percentage in the anime community.

Feel free to give Classroom of the Elite a try if you like stories like Oregairu or Hyouka or just highschool stories in general. Don't give in to the hype though, because the premise is not as realistic as other reviews made it seem to be, and the characters aren't at all relatable. If you think I may be wrong with any of these statements or if I left something out, feel free to discuss it with me as my main objective is not to hate on the story but to give voice to the minority.