Herald Anime Club

The Herald Anime Club Meeting 42: Classroom of the Elite, Episode 12


Meeting Date: 9/30/2017

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. I’m Mike Ferreira, and I’m joined by Lydia Rivers, Anthony Simpson, and L.B. Bryant
Lydia Rivers: Hiii everyone!
Anthony Simpson: Evening
L.B. Bryant: Hey all
Lydia Rivers: It’s over, it’s over! YAAAAAY it’s over!
Mike Ferreira: Yep! Tonight, we’re offering a tearful farewell to Classroom of the Elite. The show that pointed up at a dot and said “see that? That’s rock bottom.”
Lydia Rivers: (Pst, I’m happy it’s over.)
Anthony Simpson: I’m glad that we are done this series.


L.B. Bryant: I posed this question to Mike a couple of weeks ago and I was wanting to pose it to the rest of you as well… is CotE Seiji Kishi’s Jiggly Jiggly Heaven? Obviously it’s not the full experience since this wasn’t an original project and we didn’t get recap episodes halfway through but in a nutshell, is this his fall from grace?
Lydia Rivers: I don’t know. I haven’t read the source material… someone has to be in a lot of pain though, and not just us.
Anthony Simpson: It feels like a nightmare has passed and we are finally free
Mike Ferreira: I wouldn’t say it’s a career ruiner. However, I will say this was a black mark.
L.B. Bryant: Oddly enough, I just looked at both Anime Planet and MAL and saw that this series is pretty highly rated. It’s got over 4 stars (barely) on AP and is at almost 7.5 out of 10 on MAL.
Anthony Simpson: Quality is a subjective thing.
L.B. Bryant: True enough
Anthony Simpson: One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.
Mike Ferreira: And one man’s treasure is a burning dumpster fire for any sane person


Lydia Rivers: So remember how I hoped that we’d end up not finding anything out about Ayanokouji with the teacher blazing in like Yoko Littner? Well, we didn’t get Littner-sensei but we DID get more morally ambiguous sensei so eh.
Anthony Simpson: I still didn’t care for the teacher.
Lydia Rivers: And also, I’m sorry you loves who enjoyed this and are feeling tortured by the mystery. But I’m laughing…
Anthony Simpson: In fact I still don’t care for anyone in this show.
Mike Ferreira: Honestly, she’s the only character I could stomach.
Lydia Rivers: It was cheap until the end. Yeah, me too.


L.B. Bryant: So… what was the low point for this series, the lowest of the low, the most irredeemable point that made you want to say farewell?
Mike Ferreira: Lowest of the low: Fanservice episode after a very frank discussion about rape and sexual harassment
Lydia Rivers: Same.
Mike Ferreira: That was just irredeemable, and when I went from “this could fix itself” to “Yeah, fuck everything about this”
Lydia Rivers: The pool episode was lowest of the low, but I wanted to say goodbye after the boob-grab centered over false accusations of rape.
Anthony Simpson: Episode seven was the starting point, episode seven was that for me. Neither episode had a right to exist.
Anthony Simpson: I wanted to say goodbye after the first episode.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed.
L.B. Bryant: I’ll go one further. It’s not that there was a fan service episode at a very poorly timed place but the comedy plot to peep on the girls changing room which made me want to say farewell.
Anthony Simpson: If it wasn’t for us talking about it each week I would have dropped it right then and there.
Lydia Rivers: Yes, LB. That was the lowest, agreed.
Mike Ferreira: Honestly, that was one of the worst, most tone-deaf things I’ve ever seen in an anime in recent years


L.B. Bryant: The good news is that the next time we meet we will (hopefully) be singing the praises of one of the most anticipated series of the new season.
Lydia Rivers: Yesss! Please please please be good, Magus’ Bride!
Mike Ferreira: Oh thank god. Here’s hoping it’s more Drifters than Seiren
Mike Ferreira: Sorry, not sorry, Seiren is still my low water mark
Lydia Rivers: ….The only reason we didn’t end up with a whole season of Seiren was the lolicon wasn’t it?
Anthony Simpson: We didn’t have anything else to talk about it.
Anthony Simpson: Maybe it was the piss jokes.
Mike Ferreira: We also got lucky because it had 3 distinct plots
Mike Ferreira: So we could cut and run after the first one ended
L.B. Bryant: Has everyone watched the preview episodes of Magus Bride already posted to Crunchyroll?
Mike Ferreira: Not yet. I really need to.
L.B. Bryant: I need to as well.
Lydia Rivers: Nope! I’m going in with totally fresh eyes.


Anthony Simpson: If you gave me a choice between Seiren or COTE I would choose Seiren everytime.
Mike Ferreira: COTE was just… it was infuriating.
Mike Ferreira: Like… this was a show that had good ideas – it formed good concepts – but it just dropped them within an episode. Nobody grew, nobody changed, nobody evolved. It was literally the fucking Simpsons universe in a drama context
Lydia Rivers: At least we saw Horikita be a little dere some more? Before Ayanokouji ruined it with his pointless monologue by confirming what we already knew: He isn’t apathetic at all.
Mike Ferreira: Yeah. He’s just a sociopath. We gathered that from the start
Anthony Simpson: COTE,to me, is this: It’s a series that had potential to be good. It had the potential to do some social commentary on meritocracy.
Mike Ferreira: It had potential to be great.
Anthony Simpson: But what did we get. We got a show that had some flashes of brilliance with episode five and six being a perfect example.
Lydia Rivers: Yeah.
Anthony Simpson: However, the show was so fucking pretentious.
Mike Ferreira: It was so far up its own asshole that it was vaping farts.


Lydia Rivers: Those were the only two that were done well, and by well I mean they reminded me so hard of real life I actually threw up
Anthony Simpson: I can put up with a show with a bad cast if the story is good. But this isn’t the case.
Anthony Simpson: I didn’t like the cast because I didn’t care about any of them.
L.B. Bryant: So question is… was this the worst series that you’ve watched this year or has there been anything worse?
Anthony Simpson: It’s my worst and most disappointing of the year so far.
L.B. Bryant: Right now I’m torn on if this series was worse than Masamune-kun’s Revenge or not. I think CotE might have beaten that one (in a bad way) but just barely.
Mike Ferreira: I watched Neo Yokio, so I can’t comment
Mike Ferreira: Joking aside – that IS a joke – I’d say it’s the worst I’ve seen this year
Mike Ferreira: I was literally yelling at the TV for Classroom of the Elite at points
Lydia Rivers: Right? My roommate and dog were like “…She mad?” LOL
Mike Ferreira: Even this last episode, I was raging at the abject stupidity of how convoluted everything was
Anthony Simpson: Speaking of lets talk about this last episode of the show.
Lydia Rivers: I didn’t rage this time, but there was lots of cynical deadpanning.
Mike Ferreira: The plot twist with Class C had me going
Mike Ferreira: “Oh yes… I STAYED HERE AND LIVED ON WEEDS AND DIRT FOR A WEEK because I’m a mega-badass. Also my obvious spies WERE TOTALLY FRIGGIN’ SPIES!”
Lydia Rivers: …….it wasn’t as clever as Sherlock, definitely.
Mike Ferreira: But the show was so SMUG about it! Like you could hear the writers cackling at their own self-absorbed brilliance as he pored over every line!


Anthony Simpson: I knew right away when we saw Ibuki from Class C I knew she was a mole.
Mike Ferreira: That was a plot element that could be seen from space.
Mike Ferreira: Sorry lol – this show angries up the blood
Lydia Rivers: It wasn’t as clever as Sherlock, but it was smug as Sherlock. Yup, sums it up pretty well. Not even hot sauce can save the plot after 10 bad episodes though.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed.
Mike Ferreira: Then there was that whole “Oh yes, I hate you all and I’m using you as tools” monologue that cut over one of, like, three endearing character moments for Horikita
Lydia Rivers: Unless you’re a pervert who thinks sick people are cute*
L.B. Bryant: I only counted two endearing moments for Horikita.
L.B. Bryant: I kept waiting for her to evolve but it never happened which bothers me.
Mike Ferreira: Yeah.
Anthony Simpson: I kept waiting for the characters to do something that made me like them. That didn’t quite happen.
Mike Ferreira: You mean you didn’t like angry basketball man or perverted friend #1?


Anthony Simpson: I think the only character I liked was the exhibitionist girl.
Anthony Simpson: No they could die in a fire.
Mike Ferreira: Sakura was great.
L.B. Bryant: I swear the first thing I’m going to do after we finish this chat is go watch something moe to wash the taste out of my mouth.
Anthony Simpson: Sakura was great.
Anthony Simpson: If they made a spin off of just her…I would watch it.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed.
Anthony Simpson: Everybody I didn’t care for. I hate the teacher.
Mike Ferreira: Hell – I actually liked the two minutes we saw of Class A’s rival for head of the class. She was conniving and driven.
L.B. Bryant: Does anyone even remember what her name is?
Lydia Rivers: No…
Mike Ferreira: She had a name?
Anthony Simpson: That is something I wanted to bring up but I wasn’t in that chat for that session.
Anthony Simpson: Yes she did
Mike Ferreira: That’s the joke :p


L.B. Bryant: Exactly.
Mike Ferreira: One other question: why the hell did Class C have a black man as a slave?!
Mike Ferreira: That was fucked up
Lydia Rivers: Every. Opportunity. Flaunted.
Mike Ferreira: It’s like… Christ.
Lydia Rivers: He was giving a shave in this episode. Was that even necessary? NOPE.
Mike Ferreira: Exactly!
Mike Ferreira: It’s like… what the fuck?
Lydia Rivers: But with this show constantly repeating the shallowest of points about its characters, it’s not surprising. Yup, we know Class C is run by an asshole who likes black slaves.

Once again: in no context is this ever okay!

Anthony Simpson: I wanted to see more of that girl. What really caught my interest was that she was the only one we seen so far at the school with some kind of physical issue sans bad eye sight. Typically when we think of elites we typically don’t think of someone using a cane or in a wheelchair.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed. They literally focused on the wrong people.
Anthony Simpson: So the fact that we had a character like that I was an interesting touch, albeit never touched on in the way it should have been.
Lydia Rivers: I’m glad. They’re going to handle it as well as sexism and racism.
Mike Ferreira: Exactly! Like… if they focused on classes B or A, this could have become remotely compelling. They actually had power plays and drama. Class D had… pool time perversion and a girl who JUST ONCE hulked out and made nonsensical threats
Mike Ferreira: It’s just… augh!


L.B. Bryant: So anyways….
Mike Ferreira: I’m glad this series is over. I’m going to tell people to run as far as they can away from it and scream at its presence.
L.B. Bryant: Normally once I finish a series I make the decision on if I’m going to show it to my wife… in this case, the less she knows about this series the better.
Anthony Simpson: Smart thinking
Mike Ferreira: Indeed.
Anthony Simpson: I’m glad I am done with this show. I feel like I was in a never ending nightmare each week.
Lydia Rivers: If you don’t want her burning down the neighborhood, yes lol. KEEP IT FAR AWAY.
Mike Ferreira: … … … Now I want to see what happens if he does
L.B. Bryant: I’ll be sleeping on your couch after she leaves me for someone with better taste in anime :D
Lydia Rivers: Well I’m the bubbly big sister character in most crowds right? And I snarked this hard about it.
Lydia Rivers: SEE LOL
Mike Ferreira: lol Yep.
Lydia Rivers: She is not that character lmao
Mike Ferreira: This was rage fuel
Anthony Simpson: And not the good kind of rage fuel.
Mike Ferreira: Not in the least.
Mike Ferreira: I can’t even watch this ironically.
Mike Ferreira: It’s awful


L.B. Bryant: So, have we toasted marshmallows over this fire long enough or does anyone have anything else they want to get off their chest?
Lydia Rivers: CoTE ™ Making it Impossible for Millenials to be Ironic.
Anthony Simpson: Of all of the shows we finished for this chat I said to myself I’m buying them when they get released. This is the first one that I’m going to be saying that I won’t be buying.
Lydia Rivers: Just keep the misspelling in there, it’s a good addition to the slogan.
Mike Ferreira: Just one more thing: This could have been a good show, if the writers could stop acting like distracted dogs who saw a squirrel. Follow the plot lines and grow the characters, and this could’ve been viewed a lot differently.
Lydia Rivers: If you’re going to be distracted like squirrels, look to Nanbaka staff for guidance.
Mike Ferreira: Exactly!
Mike Ferreira: Also, needs more warden
Lydia Rivers: My only lady love
Anthony Simpson: Nanbaka is a great show that more people need to see.
Mike Ferreira: Amen to that
Lydia Rivers: #GayOnlyForHer
Mike Ferreira: #StraightOnlyForHer


Anthony Simpson: Never understood why ANN seemed to hate the show.
Mike Ferreira: It’s too close to Gintama for comfort?
Anthony Simpson: Could be.
Lydia Rivers: It’s Gintama on speed
Mike Ferreira: Yes!
Anthony Simpson: I dropped Gintama after seven episodes so…
Lydia Rivers: It changed gears so hard that it jarred a lot of people silly
Mike Ferreira: Yeah… that turn to the grimdark caught a lot of folks off-guard
Lydia Rivers: Yeah. It made fun of that though by acknowledging with a joke in one of the post-episode dialogues
Anthony Simpson: I can see that catching people off guard. Their loss
Lydia Rivers: I laughed.
Mike Ferreira: Indeed.
Mike Ferreira: So, can we bag and tag Classroom of the Elite?
Anthony Simpson: YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lydia Rivers: And YESSSSS
Mike Ferreira: Yay! There ya have it, folks! Classroom of the Elite: a show that turned even our friendliest panel member into a grousing snark machine. It’s bagged, it’s tagged, it’s gone from our watch lists forever.
Lydia Rivers: Good riddance!
Anthony Simpson: Amen to that.
Mike Ferreira: Hallelujah
Mike Ferreira: Join us next time, when we start up The Ancient Magus’ Bride. Until next time, have a great night!
Lydia Rivers: Stay shiny everyone
About an hour later…
Mike Ferreira: So glad that nightmare of a show is friggin’ over lol

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