Meeting Date: 9/23/2017
Disclaimer: The Herald Anime Club discusses shows as they’re airing. Naturally, there will be spoilers for a given episode. You have been warned!
Mike Ferreira: Good evening, and welcome to the Herald Anime Club. Tonight, I’m joined by Anthony Simpson.
Anthony Simpson: Evening
Mike Ferreira: Tonight, we’re talking about Classroom of the Elite episode 11: “What People Commonly Call a Plot Twist is Mostly their Own Stupidity.”
Anthony Simpson: I’m going to start by saying that I will be glad when this show is over.
Mike Ferreira: I am right with you.
Anthony Simpson: This weeks episode it was just meh…
Mike Ferreira: Yeah… the plot twist was just insulting, though. It’s not like they’ve been foreshadowing it since the crews arrived on the island. To try to pass it as some genius of screenwriting was just… augh.
Mike Ferreira: the classes – sorry.
Anthony Simpson: yea it was stupid.
Mike Ferreira: Honestly, i thought Class B had the better arc out of all of it. “Yeah, we’re blowing our points and fucking off. We get our beach episode. Later, fuckers”
Anthony Simpson: I though it was Class C that blew their points? Maybe I’m confused or maybe I just don’t care anymore about this show.
Mike Ferreira: Whichever class, lol. I forget who did, and frankly, doesn’t matter. They did it right
Anthony Simpson: I would have done the same things. Same as the other dude from Class D. Faking an illness and call it a day.
Mike Ferreira: I mean, overall, this series continually proved to be its own worst enemy. Every time they build intrigue, they drop it within the span of an episode. Any character growth? Forgotten by the next installment. This island arc has just been the very embodiment of that. You have these conflicts that are forgotten within a half an episode, then brought up as the WORST THING EVER.
Mike Ferreira: And agreed on the other Class D dude. He did it right. “This sucks, I’m outta here.”
Anthony Simpson: This series so damn pretentious.
Anthony Simpson: Or in the mortal words of Eric Cartman from South Park “Screw you guys, I’m going home.”
Mike Ferreira: Oh god, yeah. If this were a person, it’d be the annoying fucker in a fedora who vapes and talks about how amazing his intellect is wherever he goes
Anthony Simpson: I was going to say an edgy 14-year-old who read Nietzsche and thinks he is hot shit.
Mike Ferreira: That works, too.
Mike Ferreira: “I read Catcher in the Rye, I know how the world works!”
Anthony Simpson: Back on topic, I get what they are trying to do, but it just isn’t working. At all.
Mike Ferreira: Agreed. And, really, I think that’s what kills me.
Mike Ferreira: It’s particularly stinging because the ELEMENTS of a good show are there. The core concept, described bluntly, is interesting. The core characters, again described bluntly, are interesting! The show itself is freaking gorgeous, and the musical and sound design are stellar.There’s a ton of potential within this show – so much that it *could be*, that it’s painful to see it implode so spectacularly. These elements, on their own, work… but putting them together has created this unwatchable dreck that often dives into the depths of depravity and pandering to desperately try to keep people engaged.
Anthony Simpson: Production wise its top-tier stuff, even I just muted the show I wouldn’t have a problem just looking at it.
Mike Ferreira: Agreed. It’s a beautiful show – the shots, the composition is a thing of beauty
Anthony Simpson: Even the fanservice is excellent, however out-of-place it is in this series.
Mike Ferreira: Oh god yeah… the fanservice was just a stupid idea for a dramatic series. It felt so tone-deaf.
Mike Ferreira: I mean, honestly, I know I’m being a broken record, but going to that “let’s spy on the girls at the pool” episode directly after a very frank and dark illustration of sexual assault was, like, the very epitome of that tone deafness… though you could see elements of it as early as episode 2
Anthony Simpson: I never cared for any of the characters right from the first episode. The concept to something ambitious with the story is there, and we got flashes of genius for that such as episodes five and six which I though were handled well. The story should have been swinging for the fences each episode, but it failed so hard most of the time.
Mike Ferreira: I couldn’t agree more. This is a textbook example of wasted potential
Anthony Simpson: I’m also going to sound like a broken record here, but I wonder how much of the faults here can be on the original source novel. Or was the studio given way too much freedom with the adoption.
Mike Ferreira: Or not enough freedom.
Anthony Simpson: We are seeing more hints about the MC’s back story but that is it. Just god damn hints. I wanna know more about this past, is he some kind of test tube wunderkind from a government project?
Anthony Simpson: Hell at this point if they just said “Well a wizard did it” I would be at least satisfied. It would be asspull but at least it would be something.
Mike Ferreira: “A wizard did it” would be an amazing explanation
Mike Ferreira: The biggest, most blatant “fuck you” to date.
Anthony Simpson: The most blatant fuck you would be if they get to the end show the ending credits, then shows the MC waking up realizing it was a fever dream. If the show pulled that off it would be AOTY material just on that alone.
Mike Ferreira: See, I’d be laughing my ass off if that happened.
Anthony Simpson: I would to.
Mike Ferreira: That or if we got the Tommy Westphall ending.
Anthony Simpson: If it even did that I would still say AOTY.
Mike Ferreira: Oh yeah. Just something to say “Yeah, we fucked with you and wasted six hours of your life. Deal with it.”
Anthony Simpson: I would probably buy a copy of the show once a month for as long as it is in print as a sign of respect.
Mike Ferreira: I wouldn’t go that far, but I’d buy the LE. “Yeah, this is a show where the creators literally said to get fucked. I had to respect that =D”
Mike Ferreira: Next week is the finale for this trash fire, isn’t it?
Anthony Simpson: I hope so. I wanna be done with this show so badly.
Mike Ferreira: I’m declaring it over at that point – I will not watch a second cour of this horse crap.
Anthony Simpson: Neither will I.
Mike Ferreira: Here’s hoping that next season gives us more Drifters than CotE in terms of quality.
Anthony Simpson: Next season is looking to good.
Mike Ferreira: Amen to that. I have nearly a dozen shows on my “must watch” list, plus our club title… which we’ll disclose next week
Mike Ferreira: Hrm… any final words for this week?
Anthony Simpson: I’m hoping that this shit show ends next week and I can rid my life of having to watch week to week.
Mike Ferreira: Dear god, yes. I eagerly await dropping and forgetting about this one.
Mike Ferreira: Anyway, thanks for joining us, and have a great night, everyone!
Anthony Simpson: Good night.
Mike Ferreira: Man, this is a show where they just need to take it out back and shoot it
