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Why Were Light Novel Fans Furious at Classroom of the Elite's First Season?


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nobahn
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Joined: 14 Dec 2006
Posts: 5120
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 8:27 am Reply with quote
I will have to make a note of this series for my December "wish list". Dunno if I'll watch the anime, though.....
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Kabu



Joined: 21 Mar 2021
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 9:53 am Reply with quote
I just want to clarify something: There is no such thing as a main female character in the story. That being said, Horikita has always been (and continues to be up to this day) the deuteragonist (the second most important character overall). In fact, in the lastest volume she had almost the same amount of screen time as Ayanokouji.

I won't talk about Kei's role in the story because that would be a huge spoiler.
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BalmungHHQ



Joined: 11 Feb 2006
Posts: 390
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 10:04 am Reply with quote
I think the interesting thing about this whole scenario is how vastly people's opinions on the anime change depending on where they're coming from. Viewers who watch the anime on their own tend to really enjoy it, and the anime is actually what brought in many of the current fans, especially on the English-speaking side at least.

The thing is, when people see Light Novel fans being critical of an anime, it's usually for entirely different kinds of reasons than the circumstances of this particular series. People are extremely used to the idea that "changes = bad", but in fact a lot of Classroom of the Elite's changes arguably make this original first season a lot more focused and concise as a TV-anime viewing experience than attempting to recreate the same experience from the novels as-is.

Like explained in the article, these first three volumes are very focused around Horikita's character arc, so the anime positioning her as a "main heroine" of sorts for that part of the story makes sense. Likewise, the vastly different approaches to how to portray and lift the veil on Ayanokoji was also a change made to suit the medium, because while that can work as it was in a novel, if attempted in the anime it could lead to some people just having a vastly misguided view of the protagonist for episodes on-end. It only made sense to tweak him in a way that makes his air of mystery apparent, while still preserving his "laid back, try not to get involved" attitude. It was a compromise that worked rather well, in my opinion.

Quote:
Ultimately, I would say that anime-only viewers should be fine jumping into the second season. Even after taking into consideration the scenes which caused the biggest backlash among light novel readers, you haven't missed anything major by only watching the anime.

Anyway, I think this is the most important takeaway.
The way some of the LN fans react can leave the impression that something "went horribly wrong" with the anime, when that really just isn't the case at all. The core story and themes of the first 3 volumes are all preserved, and continuing the story should work perfectly fine, regardless of how the 2nd & 3rd seasons approach their adaptation.

==

By the way, there's a small typo in the article: Kakeru Ryuen is from Class 1-C. The article accidentally says he's from 1-B.
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Dark Mac



Joined: 17 May 2008
Posts: 309
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 11:55 am Reply with quote
The first two LNs are pretty weak compared to the rest of the series, so it makes sense that they'd change things up for the anime, especially Ayanokouji's character.
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Yune Amagiri



Joined: 28 Jul 2016
Posts: 921
Location: France
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 12:28 pm Reply with quote
Reader of the LN myself and having seen the first season twice, i've always had mixed feelings towards this debate. Kiyotaka's inner thought which were more often than not skipped in the anime are indeed much more important than most protagonist as those are the only times when we see his real self, even in years 2 he still feings innocence and behave as bland as possible whenever he talks.
However when it comes to the first 3 volumes ( and some of volume 4.5 and 5 if i remember correctly when Sakayanagi was supposed to appears ) which the first season adapted, the focus on his abilities wasn't quite definite yet so i never felt like correcting this part and making him a faithful version of the LN up until there, would have make incredible change.

When it comes to the other changes they made, many were anodyne enough that most of them won't much impact, however, some will certainly have, so until futurs seasons start, i like to think that it's still to soon to say if they were right to do so or not.
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Madaniel



Joined: 04 Dec 2021
Posts: 17
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 1:46 pm Reply with quote
I read the LNs and the first season was really disappointing, just the way some scenes were handled took out half of what made the LN so great.
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Kadmos1



Joined: 08 May 2014
Posts: 13540
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PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:11 pm Reply with quote
Kabu wrote:
I just want to clarify something: There is no such thing as a main female character in the story. That being said, Horikita has always been (and continues to be up to this day) the deuteragonist (the second most important character overall). In fact, in the lastest volume she had almost the same amount of screen time as Ayanokouji.

I won't talk about Kei's role in the story because that would be a huge spoiler.

I don't read the light novels, but "main female character" is the one that has the most screen-time. So, Suzune is the leading lady, heroine, and deuteragonist.
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Covnam



Joined: 31 May 2005
Posts: 3627
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 2:54 pm Reply with quote
I'm planning to rewatch this before the new season starts, so I'll be keeping this in mind this time (didn't know about it at the time). I wonder how this new season will be handled though. Follow the anime or turn back towards the LNs...
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Kabu



Joined: 21 Mar 2021
Posts: 8
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:02 pm Reply with quote
Kadmos1 wrote:
Kabu wrote:
I just want to clarify something: There is no such thing as a main female character in the story. That being said, Horikita has always been (and continues to be up to this day) the deuteragonist (the second most important character overall). In fact, in the lastest volume she had almost the same amount of screen time as Ayanokouji.

I won't talk about Kei's role in the story because that would be a huge spoiler.

I don't read the light novels, but "main female character" is the one that has the most screen-time. So, Suzune is the leading lady, heroine, and deuteragonist.


Yeah, but it's more complex than just that.

First, I said that there isn't a FMC because basically everyone is a secondary character in comparison with Ayanokouji. But Horikita is by far the character with more screen time after him and clearly the Deuteragonist, in the sense of her importance in the story.

Second, the term FMC is often used (wrongly) for the protagonist's love interest. I'd like to expand on this concept within the story, but I prefer to avoid writing spoilers here.

And I really recommend you (and everyone) to read the novels.
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Aster97



Joined: 27 Apr 2022
Posts: 156
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 3:55 pm Reply with quote
ANYBODY HERE READ THE MANGA?
i wanna know how accurate that is haha
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BalmungHHQ



Joined: 11 Feb 2006
Posts: 390
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 4:48 pm Reply with quote
Covnam wrote:
I'm planning to rewatch this before the new season starts, so I'll be keeping this in mind this time (didn't know about it at the time). I wonder how this new season will be handled though. Follow the anime or turn back towards the LNs...

It's not really an either-or decision. Remember, despite the modifications to the story presentation, the core conflicts of the first 3 volumes were well-presented & resolved within the first season of the anime. Season 2 can smoothly start with volume 4 no matter how it approaches the adaptation.

The new series composition writer Hayato Kazano was one of the regular script writers from Season 1, so I'm sure however he & the other writers this season plan to structure Season 2, they'll keep what Season 1 did in mind to some extent.
Personally, I'm expecting some level of rearrangement to make the story flow smoothly as an anime, since Season 2 is likely going to adapt at least four primary story events that each need their own batch of episodes.
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AnimeFlyz



Joined: 31 Aug 2015
Posts: 363
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 4:57 pm Reply with quote
Aster97 wrote:
ANYBODY HERE READ THE MANGA?
i wanna know how accurate that is haha


The manga for Year 1 is pretty awful and has a lot of the same problems the anime had with Kiyotaka. Plus the art just really isnt good (as far as creative decisions)

I hear the Year 2 manga is a big step up though.
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Aster97



Joined: 27 Apr 2022
Posts: 156
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 6:00 pm Reply with quote
AnimeFlyz wrote:
Aster97 wrote:
ANYBODY HERE READ THE MANGA?
i wanna know how accurate that is haha


The manga for Year 1 is pretty awful and has a lot of the same problems the anime had with Kiyotaka. Plus the art just really isnt good (as far as creative decisions)

I hear the Year 2 manga is a big step up though.


thanks for the heads up
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Frog-kun
ANN Reviewer


Joined: 10 Jun 2017
Posts: 118
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 6:58 pm Reply with quote
BalmungHHQ wrote:
By the way, there's a small typo in the article: Kakeru Ryuen is from Class 1-C. The article accidentally says he's from 1-B.


Thanks for pointing that out! Fixed!
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thepepin



Joined: 22 Jun 2022
Posts: 69
PostPosted: Wed Jun 22, 2022 8:52 pm Reply with quote
The adapters were only given 12 episodes. Developing an ensemble cast with nuanced personalities to make it more faithful to the source material wouldn't have left time to actually do anything.

Instead going with the typical "male and female lead" and simplifying the characters to genre-common archetypes was the best way to do it. It freed them up to cover a lot of ground in 12 episodes, depict a lot of entertaining events in the process and have us care about the characters that the events were happening to whether by rooting for or against them. Much better to have the 12 episode series end after the desert island arc with a conversation between tjhe simplified main character pair than have it end after a minor ensemble character shows her vulnerability and pulls Ayanokoji into a pool.

Why show Sakayanagi? Yes their main job was to make the 12 episode season as entertaining as possible, but their secondary job was to create excitement that would lead to a season 2 someday getting made. Showing Sakayanagi plus using the Ayanokoji's internal monologue during the ending conversation to reveal his true character does that. While I have sympathy for the LN fans, the right choices, even if you want to call them compromises and changes, made in adapting S1 are the reason that we are getting a S2 in the first place.
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