Feelings of Unease in the Elite Classroom

"Something isn't right."

"Something doesn't feel right."

Two highly similar statements that have drastically different implications.  One brings a level of certainty while the other brings a level of uncertainty.  Humans take comfort in certainty by nature.  Even when an outcome is bleak or unfavorable, if it is certain then measures can be taken to come to terms with it.  This in turn provides some semblance of relief.  Conversely, humans find a lack of certainty discomforting.  Uncertainty can turn even the most joyful occasions into trepidatious affairs.  That nagging feeling in the back of the mind prevents someone from fully enjoying themselves.

From a story-telling perspective, the latter statement provides for a more intriguing experience.  If the viewer knows something is off, even if they don't know what that "something" is, then it becomes a question of when that issue will be addressed.  In some instances this may even cause the viewer to become impatient and lose interest if the matter isn't acknowledged in a timely manner.  If the viewer only feels like something is off, however, then the question becomes if the matter will be addressed, or if the matter even exists in the first place.  This causes the viewer to constantly reevaluate their understanding of the situation and, as a result, keeps them engaged in the story.  This is the state that Classroom of the Elite maintains with its viewers.

The setting of Classroom of the Elite is Koudo Ikusei Senior High School.  At Koudo Ikusei students' living expenses are governed by the S-system, which distributes classroom points based on non-disclosed metrics.  It's a simple set-up that you can find often in other stories such as Harry Potter and Baka to Test to Shoukanjuu (to give examples that are polar opposites of each other) but the conditions for success in those stories are readily apparent.  In CoE we saw that even scoring at the top of all the classes during mid-terms was hardly enough to show an improvement at all.  Those "non-disclosed metrics" of the S-system are what set the stage for Koudo Ikusei to be the unsteady ground that the characters tread upon.  Of those characters, the three mains, Kushida, Horikita, and Ayanokouji, stand out and each serves a specific purpose in perpetuating the feelings of unease the story gives off.

Establishing a Baseline

A prerequisite for uncertainty is to find something abnormal.  To find something abnormal a notion of normality must exist to compare it to.  This is the role that Kikyo Kushida plays in the classroom.

As the positive, chipper girl who "wants to be friends with everyone", Kushida serves as a beacon for her classmates to return to whenever the situation turns strange.  She reminds them of how life as a high-schooler should be despite never having experienced it themselves.  Her presence in the classroom is blinding and completely overwhelms that of her classmates.  That brilliant presence serves to further emphasize the unsettling presence of the school.

In fact, Kushida tries so desperately to maintain a status quo, that that in and of itself comes across as abnormal.  These feelings of unease came to pass at the end of the third episode when Kushida's "other self" was revealed.  The signpost for normality came toppling down and one concern was replaced with another.  Two-faced characters are nothing new to anime but the dissonance between Kushida's two selves in this case was especially alarming.  Her transformation was jarring and seemed genuinely dangerous, as if she could publicly eviscerate someone without a moment's hesitation. 

What matters more than Kushida's reveal was how the show handled it after the fact, in that it didn't handle it at all.  Kushida's reversion to her original self was just as sudden as the change from it.  She's carried on exactly as she always had been, giving nothing so much as a glance or glare towards Ayanokouji who witnessed her change.  It's been almost as if nothing happened.  Something feels off about Kushida.  She has ulterior motives that seem to go beyond simply being popular and her shifts in personality approach psychopath levels of extreme.  It's difficult to get a bead on what she is actually capable of and that makes Kushida so unsettling as a character and as a baseline for the show.

Putting the Pieces Back Together

It probably comes as no surprise that when people are faced with uncertainty in their situations they tend to base their decisions on systematic thinking.  Logic is a means of alleviating uncertainty, or eliminating it all together.  As the problem-solver of the group, Suzune Horikita brings forth those suspicions.  If Kushida serves to point out abnormalities, Horikita puts them under the spotlight with her reasoning.  Issues such as the requirements for class advancement and the criteria of point distribution are brought under intense scrutiny by her sharp mind.

As we moved forward and discovered Horikita's weakness to her brother that sharp mind ended up working against her.  Similar to Kushida's two-faced nature, Horikita's ineptitude to function around her brother was a radical departure from her usual self.  What's different in Horikita's case, however, is that these mental shutdowns severely damage her reputation with the viewer.  It calls into question her reliability as the established problem-solver.  Although Horikita was able to resolve the class trial incident, worries about future potential breakdowns still linger.  With her status as a problem-solver so unreliable, Horikita ends up contributing to the disconcerting nature of the school.

Taking it All In

Finally we have the last of the three mains, protagonist Kiyotaka Ayanokouji.  In his case there is no question that something lies buried beneath his stoic exterior.  The show has heavily alluded to such facts and has even shown a short flashback in a recent episode.  It's practically guaranteed that we will get some sort of revelation in regards to Ayanokouji's past as the show progresses, which is one of the rare certainties indeed.  While he doesn't contribute much to the show's discord himself, Ayanokouji plays the important role of the silent observer.

It is through Ayanokouji's eyes and senses that the viewer perceives the world of Koudo Ikusei Senior High School.  He provides an unfiltered outlook on the events that occur, remaining detached throughout all proceedings.  The lack of emotional hand-holding is unusual for an anime since the characters in it are usually... well, animated. Over-exaggerated facial features and grandiose movements provide cues that direct the viewer on how they should be feeling towards specific occurrences. 

Ayanokouji's eternal poker face provides no such cues.  While characters around him may express themselves their emotions in the face of Ayanokouji's apathetic observance are essentially normalized to zero.  Not positive nor negative.  This leaves the viewer in somewhat of an emotional limbo as the decision of where to go from that zero is left to them.  Having such responsibility creates a surprising amount of discomfort as the viewer doesn't want to settle into a particular mindset in fear of being jostled from it later on.

Unsteady Footing

Classroom of the Elite is a strange beast that seems relatively straightforward on the surface, maybe even generic.  No one has been killed.  No one's life has been ruined, or threatened to be.  No earth shattering plot twists.  Yet as the show went on its unsettling nature has slowly bubbled forth thanks primarily to the synergy between its three mains.  Ayanokouji, Kushida, and Horikita have together created a dynamic within the show that begets a constant sense of instability.  It's difficult to tell what to expect, or to expect anything at all, and that is the strength of Classroom of the Elite.

Author's Notes:

This is a rare exception where I'm going to add some AN's because, quite frankly, I'm unsatisfied with this piece.  Uncertainty and suspense are highly subjective matters but I truly think that Classroom of the Elite has factors that make it objectively so.  Presenting those objective factors in an objective manner, however, proved MUCH more difficult than I anticipated.  I even had to put pen to paper for the first time ever with this blog in order to do some brainstorming and mental organization.  I feel like in the end this still turned into a highly subjective article and I also feel like I was talking out of my ass for the vast majority of it.

All that said, though, I've put way too much time and effort into writing this piece to not post it.  I hope at least some of my points came through and that you got something from what I was trying to say.  I don't think I'll have another article this convoluted for a long time, hopefully never.

P.S.  I think I used pretty much every single synonym for "uncertain" out there in this one piece alone.