A review by imjustadow
Classroom of the Elite, Vol. 1 by Syougo Kinugasa

funny inspiring lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I absolutely love the anime, so I wanted to try going back and reading the source material. It's definitely framed in a much different way with Ayanokouji narrating his inner thoughts instead of seeing things from a 3rd-person perspective that follows him, but I suspect through some hints he drops in his narration that these "inner thoughts" are a performance for the reader on their own. A deliberately unreliable narrator, how exciting!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Rape and Violence

Many of the characters in this series are high school boys, and as such, there is the expected pervy, locker room talk about the girls in their class. Additionally, like what happens in the show,

Kushida threatens to accuse Ayanokouji of raping her if he reveals her secret

so there is no actual or attempted rape, just a bit of blackmail on the part of one of the girls