Review of Classroom of the Elite III
The last couple of seasons was full of banger shows, so who in their right mind is going to spend their time watching some schlock like Classroom of the Elite? And how come it got the third season when my favorite anime didn't even have a sequel? Much to my surprise, I don't even have to play the Devil's advocate to say that this show is good, because the resolution in the second season was so satisfying that my expectations for this season were fairly high. And despite all flaws this season might have, I'm still pumped for the next one. Up to this point thehighlight of CotE was its mind games and I've always liked that the rules have never been too convoluted. However, this arc has pivoted, so the characters are now the main focus. Characters like Sakayanagi got strong motivations, while characters like Suzune got impressive character development. Over the course the story has matured enough to reach a certain point of believability in this season, where the story can interrupted differently by different people. There are parallels between Suzune and her brother or even more obvious example like Ayanokouji and other students as if the success can be achieved not only by talented people but also by those who work hard.
Whenever CotE is mentioned the same question is needed to be answered: is it actually smart or is it just pretend to be so? And the answer is both. Even though I think the story is mature, the way it is told isn't. And I don't know whether it is solely the fault of the adaptation or the source material is also a part of it. The quotes of famous philosophers before every episode aside, the direction is just terrible. Instead of letting the viewers set all pieces of the story together, it relentlessly dumps a great deal of exposition and constantly reminds of small things that happened before. This way of storytelling is probably the reason why this show and its audience have such bad reputation.
The animation is another sore thumb of the anime, it is fine most of the time because the show is dialog heavy anyway, but when it comes to action it is extremely noticeable. And this season never reaches the heights of the 12th episode. In stark contrast, the voice acting and the music are really good, I've never thought that the dialog can be improved that much if you put a track you'd usually associate with a Final Fantasy battle theme OST.
Being good overall, Classroom of the Elite has tangible problems, which will get in the way of enjoyment for a lot of people. Personally, I'll continue to watch it to see how the rest of the story plays out.