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「史上最大のプレゼン」 (Shijō Saidai no Purezen)
“The Greatest Presentation in History”
So it’s finally come to the finale, and the time for Classroom Crisis to put everything together and wrap them up. That’s a fairly tall order, considering what we’re working with. There are so many strands of plot floating around, from A-TEC’s shutdown to Nagisa’s rescue to Iris’s confused past. On one hand, it’ll be quite unlike Classroom Crisis to let any of them drop, but on the other hand if they were to try to resolve everything they’ve built in a single episode then it might make it a bit bloated.
The good news is, Classroom Crisis doesn’t necessarily need to try. We got the Season 2 Ending! With such obvious sequel hooks, it would be a travesty if we didn’t get a continuation. Still, even if we presume a sequel, the story we have now, these 13 episodes of Classroom Crisis, need a satisfying conclusion. One thing at a time.
Even without a need to resolve everything this episode, there was still a fair amount to get done, and thus a reliance on on-screen text for exposition, to establish time and place, again. I don’t usually approve of anime making viewers read, especially to keep track of details like timeframes, but in this case I guess I can forgive it. The success of the presentation was contingent on Iris being able to fly, which was in turn contingent on giving Iris an emotional resolution. And since we needed to maintain tension throughout the entire episode, it’s best to present them in parallel for the audience. Eventually the two sides of the story merged anyway, so it wasn’t so bad. In fact, I think it all flowed together rather neatly. What tripped me up more was how relatively easily Iris got off. I was predicting an asteroid field between Mars and Cold Wood last week, but was a bit disappointed that it didn’t materialise for the final episode, especially with the emphasis on things coming full circle. Instead, it seems that the power of friendship was all that was needed. Well, it wasn’t too bad; even though the power of friendship and love and the tears of a maiden are all pretty cheesy, none of it came out of the blue and were fairly well built up. Clichés aren’t necessarily all bad—they’re overused because they’re effective—and good execution goes far to redeem them. I also suspect that they need to keep material for season 2; Iris was still noticeably distressed when flying as opposed to her unflappable daredevil demeanor when we first started, so she’s probably not through with her PTSD quite yet.
Other than that, I found everything was resolved very satisfyingly. I like how the series is bookended and how nothing was overlooked. Even where they got their shiny new spacecraft! I must admit, I forgot all about the memorial rocket, and had to go back to check that it indeed showed up in episode 03 (if only there was a website that blogged anime along with 36 handy reference screenshots. Someone should get on that). Make use of every part, I keep saying, like the traditional hunter-gatherer. But it’s not just the plot being tied up, of course, but also about reflecting on character growth. Nagisa quitting was definitely a triumphant moment, of him repudiating his stepbrother‘s mercenary ways, but it should also be noted that a lot of his plan relied on him believing in A-TEC and their ability to engineer the revolutionary X-3 engine so that they can drum up the investment capital that allowed them to quit. As for Kaito, he’s never going to grow out of his soapbox speeches, but you’ve got to give him credit for being able to follow along with Nagisa’s scheme (until he ran out of gas, anyway). I doubt he would have the patience for a fancy boardroom presentation at the beginning of the series. Sure, Nagisa and Kaito are still going to butt heads on various things in the future, but seeing them able to team up and use each others strengths was the defining moment of their growth. Again, it’s not surprising, but it’s satisfying.
Where now, though? A-TEC has incorporated as its own bold startup. Kazuhisa is probably still going to go ahead and get rich off warbots. Iris still can’t manage to tell anyone about her past (a past that includes a lot of shares, apparently). And of course, there’s the love triangle which, considering it’s the friendliest rivalry ever, probably isn’t going to be resolved by murdering the hypotenuse (though if it’s a love quadrilateral and Angelina, unrequited ninja is involved, all bets are off. Maybe she’ll hook up with Kaito though). Classroom Crisis actually has a surprisingly full hand to play, still. Though we ended at a pretty good point and pretty well, if they don’t make a sequel, I would frankly be hurt.
Epilogue:
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Final Impressions – a gem of the season
I actually wound up covering Classroom Crisis because I was Julius Caesar-ed in the seasonal blogging-pick knife fights. I wasn’t panning the show or anything; it just didn’t stand out as much as it should have before the season started. In hindsight, I’m pretty thankful for how things turned out; I landed quite the interesting original series without really trying. Ah, happy endings.
…I only blog good shows these days, don’t I? Don’t tell the others, they’ll shiv me in the fall.
Would it be right to call Classroom Crisis a sleeper? It certainly was sleepy for the first few episodes, spending a bit too much time on setting up, slow enough that I was afraid that it failed the three episode rule. And it did seem to deliberately hide exactly what kind of show it was in its promotional materials. But then, once it had built enough momentum, it just sort of kept rolling and rolling and I do think it just kept getting better. Those opening set-up episodes, though potentially turning some viewers off, were put to good use. They could have used some slimming, sure, but they were certainly not wasted.
Perhaps Classroom Crisis was shy about quickly defining itself because it really was difficult to define. It didn’t really buck genres or do anything offbeat, but rather put a lot of different genres together in way that was, as a whole, new and interesting. There’s some soap opera here, some sci-fi there, some intrigue everywhere. It didn’t let itself be confined to any particular set of conventions, but felt free to diverge into any number of them. There really isn’t anything new under the sun, so mixing and matching is good enough. So much of fiction are just genre checklists these days (because humans enjoy familiarity), so Classroom Crisis was a relatively refreshing take. I attribute the success in this field mostly to writer Maruto Fumiaki, whom I’m familiar with from his work on Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata. In fact, it was partly my respect for his writing there that let me keep faith in Classroom Crisis even with its slow start. Classroom Crisis really is a show that is carried by its writing. Sure, the competent support was indispensible—the animation was solid (pretty lively the entire way), the art was solid (only going off model occasionally for far shots, but there’s tasty background detail), the music was solid (not too standout most of the time, perhaps, but it mustered effective drama when it had to). But it’s the kick of the plot unfolding and the various intrigues of the story paying off that is the main draw. So hats off to Maruto and the production team for what I can only call ‘masterminding’ Classroom Crisis. It felt like a thoroughly planned experience.
In the mid-year retrospective podcast I, with three-quarters of the panel, named Classroom Crisis as one of the most under-appreciated shows of the season. I, in particular, was afraid viewers may be turned off by the deceptive promotional materials and the slow start. Classroom Crisis certainly rewards patience; I daresay it has emerged as one of the strongest shows of the season. More people need to watch it; like A-TEC, it has turned out to be excellent return on investment. Mostly, though, I just really want that season 2. You can count on me being here again if and when that happens. I hope you’ll be, too.
I have been Maruto fan from the days when he was an H-game writer, and I always have had very high opinion of him. So I’m very glad and very happy that it turned out this series is one of the better ones of the season.
Speaking of games, now at the end of the series, it definitely has “chapter 1” feel like White Album 2, and there is definitely one boy and two girls(and the two are the best of the best friends) situation like White Album 2.
Yeah, it definitely screams season 2.
Very disappointed with the ending.
Many subplots were left hanging, many characters entirely undeveloped.
The love triangle out of nowhere is probably the biggest fuck you. Not only did Iris drop this bombshell in the last five minutes of the final episode, but Not-Nagisa and Mizuki seemed a done deal, yet somehow it appears his feelings were suddenly completely reset. What is this? I guess the alcohol destroyed his brain cells or something, glug glug.
Many were unhappy with the initial romance subplot, though I didn’t mind. But was a love triangle really necessary? And this late in the game just because Maruto likes this nonsense too much?
Also, a sequel hook for a sequel that will never happen because sales are probably abysmal.
What a mess. And I was quite fond of the show, too.
The triangle is only out of the blue if you didn’t figure out that not-nagisa was a servant before the reveal. If you consider the exaustave lengths not-nagisa went to to both protect and avenge nagisa, you’ll realize his feelings were already there. Feelings he’d hoped would never bear fruit, because if they did nagisa would be exposed. He then developed feelings for Mizuki believing that nagisa would never be an option. He is now faced with choosing between his old love (wich is suddenly viable) and the new. Triangle and anime cliches insue.
Given that anime love triangles tend to be not that good if we’re lucky, it does seem like a poor, semi-stereotypical choice to shove one in at the end. They could have easily just said not-Nagisa was doing it out of loyalty. You’d think the Japanese of all people could appreciate a retainer doing something out of loyalty as opposed to shoehorning in a love story at the last minute that may never pay off if we don’t get a season 2, and even if we DO get a season 2, knowing anime, there’s a chance its payoff could be deeply unsatisfying.
“If you consider the exaustave lengths not-nagisa went to to both protect and avenge nagisa, you’ll realize his feelings were already there”
They were kids. Little kids. I know Japanese series love their childhood romance stories, but even then they tend to happen when they are adult, not when they are children and don’t udnerstand love. Given that until she recovered her memories Iris had shown zero interest towards Nagisa, and Nagisa even having his memories intact didn’t show any interest either, it really seems shoehorned.
The childhood sweetheart romance has long been used by all forms of fiction. It has no bearing on reality or plausibility. It’s fiction. The lack of interest on not-nagisa’s part was purposeful. The lack of interest on amnesiac nagisa’s part was due to him being a dick as far as anyone could see, besides Mizuki of course. Which led to his interest in Mizuki. True I don’t see it as a positive part of the plot, but the setup was there.
@KaleRylan
Yeah, one of the problems with love triangles/harems in anime is that, far more often than not, the MC (male or female) will never actually be made to choose any one of the potential love interests by the end. Partly because, if they do, that’s pretty much the end of the “story” as the antics involved are usually what largely keep things going, and probably because companies are afraid of possibly alienating certain pairing fan bases who can’t take off their pairing goggles.
Like, as much fun as I have with To-Love-Ru, and even though Rito still has eyes for Haruna (even though he has warmed up to Lala at least), it’s also obvious to me that it’s much more the harem style/ecchi antics that keep things going (especially, now, Momo and the literal Harem Plan), trying to maintain that status quo rather than really moving things forward between Rito and Haruna (though, they did at least take one big step forward FINALLY, even if it happened accidentally).
The few anime that actually did have the MC choose someone out of the triangle/harem tend to turn out pretty good, all things considered, but as said, there are not many (that I’ve seen anyway). The only ones that immediately come to mind being ones like the Shuffle! anime (Rin choosing Asa), the Mashiro-iro Symphony anime (Shingo choosing Miu), and the White Album 2 anime (Haruki choosing Kazusa by the end).
@Cracked
Fiction or not, writing can be bad too. As they say, tropes are tools. That the tool is used very often doesn’t mean everyone uses it well.
In this case, Classroom Crisis didn’t use it well.
What you can “purposeful”, I call “not enough”. Last time they saw each other, there wasn’t anything between them. Only days ago, Mizuki was the most important person for Iris (to the point her answer for everything was “Mizuki wills it”) and arguably for Nagisa. Now, however, Iris goes so far as throwing something at them when they hug. That was… WTF? And then it jumps to the hospital scene.
If they are supposedly so clever with their hints, couldn’t they have hinted that too?
I mean, imagine if the “throw that bottle because suddenly I’m tsun-tsun” and the “Betty and Veronica with gifts” scenes weren’t there. We would have got just the rescue. Iris cries, Nagisa tries to console her and Mizuki shows a shadow of jealousy. Leave it at there and you are hinting at sentimental complications for a future season.
I don’t think they left the subplots hanging. If anything they are baiting for a 2nd season.
OT3 end please! 😀
What Iris made her capable to hold trough the entire Flight, was that she was not alone, she had more then her Own Life to burden on her shoulder. Yes, this “Stress” let her fight her inner Demon and win barely. If she really want to get rid of this entirely let her Fly not alone, until one day She is “used” to it, and then there you can think of let her fly alone again. But this time, use an Autopilot or Override from the HQ, you do not know how many Lifes she has left from all this crashes.. She is not an Cat with 9 lifes you know 🙂
also, if there would be an 2nd Season…
Then, old Brother here want to build these War machines right? Why not “help” some Countries or Company’s not out in giving Stuff to surly beat their Enemy’s? and to maximize his Profit, help the Enemy’s around. Like the Weapon Seller in Brotherlands 2. Selling to “friend and foe” to maximize the Profit
Of course underhanded, perhaps this Old Father on this Phone, will help from the Shadows, with his old connections
“if there is no Fire, then i give them my Lighter and Wood to start one” or watch Stefan King movie, what started with small pranks and ended in killing each other.. i forgot the Movie name
Unfortunately, too many ingredients spoil the broth.
…clever? Weird?
Did they live stream that rescue?
What he present them on the Screen, got broadcast to all others. he mention it
Ah, I feel a bit dissatisfied. Not because the ending was bad, on the contrary, but it’s clear that there are many, many loose ends that won’t be resolved until there’s a second season. And we don’t know if there will be one.
(Please, let there be another season)
The streaming was epic. I also liked how Kaito pointed out to the executives at the beginning that yes, the timing is bad, but seriously: would have they had any other chance to present their project? Probably not. So please, bunch of hypocrites, sit down and watch.
And that final line: “Let’s take over the world”. Nagisa is channeling his inner Lelouch.
Head writer Fumiaki Maruto admitted in an interview Classroom’s story was his first attempt at writing human drama, after the trendy drama of White Album 2 and Saekano’s comedy.
The anime director further explained the story was supposed to depict “the tragedy of being a student and a salaryman with a light touch.” The scifi elements were to make the drama more interesting, and the rocket invention was to tie in to the “creative work”* theme prevalent in Maruto’s writings.
*This article also briefly discusses how Maruto tends to romanticise artistic creativity and rejects corporatism in his writings, as can be seen through A-Tec’s struggles and the coldness of Kirishina Co.’s activities.
https://fantasticmemes.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/art-love-and-politics-in-the-works-of-fumiaki-maruto-white-album-2-saekano-classroom-crisis/
Awwww yeahhhh!!! Finally! I’m soooo glad Iris still has a feeling towards Nagisa! This is my ship right over here! Nagisa X Iris FTW!
Mizuki is good. But for me, Iris is better. Perhaps I have a bias for childhood friend. xD
There’s definitely a second season as the trap has yet to be revealed.
OH YEAH! That’s right! I completely forgot about that lol! We need to see the truth!!!
OT3 doujins incoming!
To me the show delivered, my only lasting disappointment (and I use the term lightly) was how many of the ATEC members had little presence. If you were telling someone about the show how many of them could you describe, without mentioning their looks, besides the hacker and the penny pincher?
P.S. I’m ok with harem ends, heck its the future (the sci-fi setting was too underutilized) and polygamy might be a non issue by then.
i dont much about season 2 , but one thing i do knew there will OVA (bundle with 3rd bluray ) i guess that will decide whether we are getting 2nd season or not.
Still curious on Nagisa Kiryuu (not Nagisa) real name, the last episode kida “mute” his name when Iris (Nagisa Shinomiya ) call out for him
Definitively one of the surprises of the season.
I quite enjoyed the ride and look forward for a possible second season… One can hope :/
Man what a show. Definitely an underdog this season. I’ve seen lots of people criticize the slow beginning which I completely understand. I was also turned off by it, but really, some people just completely dismiss it and judge the series based off of that, which I find quite unfair. The perfect example is Steins;Gates. It had such a slow start that I dropped it after 2 episode and only picked it up after my friends nagging me to watch it. And I tanked through it and the pay off was amazing, when they found out the effect of time traveling was so awesome, and like Classroom Crisis, just started steamrolling once the plot kicked in. Sure, it handled it a bit better than Classroom Crisis but it was still seriously slow as hell in the beginning. People seem to easily forgive Steins;Gates for their slow start yet seem to harshly and unfairly criticize and judge solely based off of the slow start Classroom Crisis. Honestly, Classroom Crisis deserves a lot more love than this and it was definitely a great ride through.
Anyways off with my rant, CC definitely started off as something slow, and it made watching it more of a chore than entertaining, but once it picked itself up, it never stopped and it was really great. Kinda bummed that they didn’t really have a Mizuki and Nagisa moment but oh well 😛 I’m conflicted with the love triangle. Iris is great too, but I want to ship Mizuki with nagisa so bad, but I can’t bring myself to fully abandon Iris. CC why you do this to me! 🙁 Overall, story was great, sound was pretty good, nothing that stood out for me, but still did its job. Animation was imo really good. There were some slip ups here and there but overall, great animation, and I don’t get why my friend found the animation to be such a turn off. Definitely recommending this to everyone!
PS: They better have a second season after that teaser! It’ll be unacceptable if they don’t >:(
I loved CC, though the company dynamics were hard to sit through at times….merely because I’m not a Japanese salary man and don’t fully understand their corporate structure. In that regards it was very informative!
My one issue is more in that love triangle, particularly towards Not-Nagisa’s feelings. After reading through the comments and the post I can’t help but wonder….couldn’t Not-Nagisa’s feelings towards Nagisa be more in line with feelings of loyalty over romantic interest? I know that this is anime and logic sort of flies out the window in terms of romantic entanglements, but I just thought of it as something interesting. Yes, Not-Nagisa promised to protect Nagisa, but let’s remember he was raised in an environment to do just that; protect Nagisa by any means necessary. His whole life has been about Nagisa, there literally has been no room for anything else. That’s why I think Mizuki, in terms for Not-Nagisa, works for being “best girl.” Mizuki, at least in my head, represents something outside of serving Nagisa for the rest of his life. Mizuki I think is the first time Not-Nagisa desired something of his own, as opposed to something related to Nagisa.
Just a thought.
I find CC boring from the first half of the series, I didn’t understand the political arc as I’m not Japanese. Although the later series began to perk up my interest. Overall, it was engaging to watch. Though, I was a bit skeptical when the writer, suddenly throw-out a romantic subplot, but I guess it’s necessary for the story development.
I’ll anticipate Season 2 (if ever there will be), as there are many things left open, the fact that they didn’t know that the real Nagisa is still alive. And if the Dad and Kazuhisa found out, what are they going to do about it? Will they let her live her life, just the way she wants. I do wonder if Iris told Mizuki her real identity afterwards, when they get cut-off to save Nagisa?
Speaking of Iris, I think her characterization isn’t flesh out yet. On the other hand, Mizuki’s character is likeable. The mere fact that she will go out of her way to help Nagisa, She can be a crybaby, but she is strong enough to support him emotionally, and that’s the reason why Nagisa got tangled with her.
I hope in the next season, the romantic subplot will be resolve.