A few words beforehand. First of all, I want to say that I take the concepts brought by pieces of fiction very seriously because more often than not, they represent the author's own point of view towards the world. It is that and also the fact that it was recommended to me on the idea that the protagonist was a villain or something like that. For that matter I would say that it's not totally right. Ayanokoji or however his name was spelled(, I'll say AA for short), is never really the villain in the story. Although his behavior is certainly manipulative and at some pointsabrasive, The original statement doesn't make sense.

At the end of the day, the media is made through the perspective of the main character and without arguing semantics, it merely represents his fight towards freedom and more importantly for his understanding of the world.

This is a person who never saw the outside and couldn't even know if he wanted to be there.

Right, I could end this review here and say that I recommend it but I want to focus on something I found in other reviews.

More precisely, I want to correct some things that were said, or perhaps to bring up some points to further the discussion.

II.Fundamentals.____

When I was recommended this work, I found varying opinions on the comparison between the anime, manga and LN. I have found a way to view the first two legally but didn't find the light novel's site, so I will only base my opinion on the first two sources.

*Edit*
I have found the LN so ignore that part.

From what I have found in discussions online, apparently AA's representation is pretty divisive. It is said that the LN's version fits both how he is seen and how he acts and that the other two sources are split.

They say the anime is entirely from how he sees the world and that the manga is from how the world sees him.

This also brings about the opinion that the anime is somehow bad while the manga is somehow good.

At first glance this might seem the case, but that isn't so.

I will Begin by admitting that his portrayal in the anime is quite strange because it makes him look like a psychopath with no emotion. It is strange for teenagers to interact with someone like him and not have weird reactions. This brings evidence to the opinion that it is only his perspective that we are observing. However This unique perspective doesn't bring about as many downsides to the show as one would expect.

I found it very original, not only because I like watching such characters ( if anyone knows from my other reviews), but also because he is a fascinating case study into the myth of creating a genius.

The white room is a spectacular piece of world building because their goal of producing outstanding individuals sounds simple in concept.

I found many people hate classroom of the elite. They find the protagonist as edgy or too extravagant. Or did they say try hard?

This hate comes from the stereotype of the “manipulator”, or in other terms uneducated folk who have just started knowing about psychology. It is said that accidental aspiration to become like the protagonist brought the show so much reputational damage.

But Ayanokoji really isn't that kind of character. Under analysis I couldn't find his actions made just as a shock factor. The show is also wrongly criticized for his schemes being coincidences that just seem to be planned beforehand.

I saw this in other shows like Sherlock Holmes ( the 2010s version) or with Sage from the Boys season 4.

But not for AA. The series is much much better written than it is given credit online.

I am an author myself and I can honestly say that the games and acts are well coordinated and planned. Because of this AA also leaves them victorious as a smart person, not as just a lucky one.

I honestly believe that a lot of the hate the show gets is merely the association with real life stereotypes.

About to return to my point, The choice to portray him as empty wasn't a mistake made by the director. It is honestly a very good adaptation of the material.

Because AA is unlike other smart protagonists like in Tomodachi game( for which I won't make a review) that act joyful. He isn't human inside.

With the anime as an imperfect medium that doesn't let his internal monologue out, the audience would be given the bad impression that he actually does have a heart.

That he actually cares.

But he doesn't.

It is very clear that his actions are calculated and made from an outside perspective. The people around him are tools. There is nothing corny in that.

From the worldbuilding done, it is very clear that he didn't live life as a human. So being a manipulator isn't “cringe". It isn't a “power play" from an “ego trip". He is a psychopath.

AA represents the most vicious of society. People that Will do anything to rise. Like J.P. Morgan, or Rockefeller.

The series is actually social commentary and not some kind of teenage “power fantasy".

The reason the director chose to have him emotionless is precisely because he is not meant to be self-insert-ed into. The audience isn't meant to sympathize with him or to try to put themselves in his position.

The bad apples that ruin His reputation certainly wouldn't be able to resist in the white room.

This will be a slight spoiler so you are free to jump over it

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In the LN

We learned that AA lived all his life in the white room. He started crying when he was a baby and eventually stopped because he realized that no one would come for him. He spent all his life not talking with any of the other kids because he simply had no reason to.

I remembered that he precisely noticed that in one year he only used his mouth to eat. Could anyone live like that? To not say a word for a whole year?

I don't think so.

This kind of suffering is not meant to make you sympathize with him.

This is what people who don't properly understand the media fail to see.

His backstory is merely a way for us to understand how he became like this.

Nothing more.

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End of spoiler

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End

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So what I am saying is that it is exaggerated. No one from the real world would be able to survive in his skin.

Humans are fundamentally built for social interactions.

Socializing isn't a popularity contest. It is a primal need to exchange information. More than that. Is this a primal need to exchange emotion.

Feeling alone isn't just something that happens to loners. Loneliness is deadly because it messes with the brain. A person that is isolated goes insane.

And yet AA is functional.

More than that he is frightenedly functional.

He is able to traverse social interactions as if he is a master when it is the first time they happen to him.

I threw the word psychopath I was there and I'm sorry for that because it furthers a very bad stereotype.

Psychopathy for people who don't know is a disease that appears from birth where a person isn't able to define right from wrong. This mostly concerns ethical matters. It has something to do with the brain. A lack of connection between two parts I forgot. I'm sorry it's a bit late and I don't really feel like going through the books again but it is really a biological reason.

Sociopathy is the opposite. Although it also concerns not being able to define right from wrong, it isn't inherent from birth. It is formed from trauma usually during teenage years or childhood. It is a sort of insanity that leaves the person highly functional but usually very prone to violence and to emotional outbursts.

Neither of those diseases is inherently dangerous for society. About 1 in 100 people are psychopaths and the similar percentage is also for sociopaths. It is very likely that we have seen people like this in our lives. That we have interacted with them. Maybe we even have them in our families.

These diseases are very rarely the cause for violence.

It is true that a lot of killers are sociopaths, and that most serial killers are one of either of those two categories, yet the cases of such peoples involvement actually makes up only a fraction of the worldwide murder cases.

Most cases of murder are from Petty fights between families or Petty robberies or drug dealings gone wrong. Perhaps even petty gang fights.

I call all of this Petty because in comparison they are seen as mistakes. Because they could have been avoided but because of human negligence or emotion they happened.

Well thought-out murder like in the case of serial killers is very rare.

Because most of these people are functional members of society. Even if they don't necessarily adjust right for wrong, this doesn't mean they don't have common sense as humans.

The very basis of society is law. And law dictates that crime brings punishment. And that infraction also means punishment.

Most people aren't aware that we as humans don't really dictate our actions from morality but merely from law and repercussions.

Any of us would be greedy enough to take more than we could if there wasn't a punishment. You don't need an inherent disease for that.

The human heart is greedy enough.
If it wasn't, we wouldn't have wars and neither conflicts.

What I'm trying to say is that AA isn't out of place.

He is merely a very proficient observer of society. He's merely capable of adapting to it

That is a very intriguing quality because this medium, the anime, manga and LN, brings the viewer with the expectation that he will see a show like all others but in actuality it has nothing to do with the school story.

Yes, the whole premise of the show with the school and ranking is just an excuse to showcase his outstanding brilliance. To showcase his out-of-the-box way of thinking.

It could have used any other medium, but the other chose this precisely because people come with expectations.

Something familiar like this actually brings more of an impression.

This is why I'm saddened by the fact that many people reduce his character to merely “trying to hard to look cool". Because he isn't like that at all.

III.A fight between two adaptations

Now to the most important part.

Comparing the adaptations and deciding whether the online fight about them is concrete.

As I said earlier, many people say that the anime shows from his perspective and that the manga shows us from how he is perceived.

But it isn't right.

The manga also has serious moments where the blank face AA shows up.

It is just that the author uses these very sparingly.

If one paid attention when reading it, he would observe that AA is always serious in matters regarding his origins or reason to stay at the school.

These moments are rare, but very importantly do exist.

This brings about an interesting conundrum.

Is he actually normal?

On a first glance he would seem like any other smart game-manga protagonist, but the intention is very clear that he doesn't actually do the things he does for simple driving factors like friendship that other MCs would.

A lot of things need to be compressed for the format to work and sadly there are very few panels where he actually looks into the distance or through people instead of “at them" like he should.

This created the wrong impression that he actually wasn't as complex as premises brought him.

Yeah if you overlook some things you could read the manga like any other game type manga.

You could see he was just a normal teenager.

But that would be very wrong.

If you pay attention to his background and the white room, then in makes no sense for him to actually be normal.

For the type of training he suffered, he fundamentally lacks the sort of attachment needed to be a teenage boy.

How could someone like him who lived all his life to think nothing of social interactions possibly care about a friendship? Or about love?

I'm sorry, even after so much time with the source material I'm still very bad with Japanese names.

For example the basketball guy. Why would AA help him for " the sake of helping out his first friend”????

This is obviously an excuse. He would clearly want his sports abilities for future challenges. It is unthinkable for a being like AA to even entertain the idea of friendship.

It would be like someone from sentinel island( for people who don't know it is an island where the locals are still barbarians with no information of the civilized era) be brought technology and just accept it. A fundamentally different concept.

People who interpret the manga through these glasses are just purposefully blinding themselves to not think about the larger narrative.

Because of this mistake that *from my perspective* brought more damage towards the true interpretation of the source material, I would say that the anime is a better adaptation.

At the end of the day everyone is free to choose for themselves, or to interpret the material themselves.

Fiction is only what we make of it.

Who knows, maybe I was the one overthinking the material, though I think that at least the root of what I said was right.