After episode 11 of Classroom Crisis, I was ready to call Nagisa x Mizuki the OTP of the season. I like the way Fumiaki Maruto writes romance, and there was something really refreshing and honest about Nagisa and Mizuki’s relationship. I mean, geez, they even got around to kissing, which was unexpected but definitely not unpleasant.
But then, in the final minutes of the final episode, they introduced a love triangle. And everything went to shit.
In general, there were some weird and random subplots that only made the ending more confusing, like Nagisa and Iris’s true identities. In the end, I’m not really sure what real purpose that conspiracy served. But the love triangle had to take the cake for the most unnecessary plot development. The rationale behind Iris falling for Nagisa was that they were actually childhood friends or something like that. Unfortunately, this reveal came way too late to serve any dramatic purpose. All it did was take away screen time from Nagisa and Mizuki’s burgeoning relationship, making their subtle and down-to-earth romance look more like a tacked-on afterthought.
On balance, I would have to say that I liked the early and middle episodes of Classroom Crisis better than the final arc. I enjoyed the slice of life focus, especially because we get to see a slice of some very extraordinary lives. The futuristic setting, the engineering geekery and the corporate politics added a lot of spice to your average school life story, so none of those typical anime tropes felt tired to me.
I think my favourite episode was the one where the class tries to teach Nagisa all the stuff in their engineering course so that he doesn’t fail the midterms. It perfectly shows the different outlooks of the characters and the way they complement each other’s strengths. Mizuki, as a calculating yet unfailingly cheerful person, acts as the intermediary between her naive brother and the cynical businessman Nagisa. She’s the one who defrosts Nagisa’s cold and elitist attitude. So naturally, I shipped them.
Iris was a good character until her trauma came to surface and she spent all her screentime angsting about events that never really made sense. I always thought she was angry about Nagisa getting chummy with Mizuki because she was protective of Mizuki, so the idea that she wanted to make babies with Nagisa came out of nowhere for me.
It would have been better if she was revealed to be Nagisa’s sister or something, so then they could have had a connection without it devolving into a meaningless love triangle. But then again, this is an anime, so if she was his sister it would have been even more likely that she would want his babies.
Oh well, at least Kaito x Angela is still a good ship.
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Totally agree with you on this. The kiss scene was a total surprise to me. A positive surprise nonetheless. I hope we get to see more of that assertive attitude in future anime.
I was considering starting this anime but reading this I’m having second thoughs about it.
This is one of my most hated things in anime: Unneccesary sudden new love interest that always ruins a series that I started to like and never ceased to irritate me.
I wouldn’t complain if it was introduced earlier but if it is in the last episode like you mentioned then there is a problem here.
On balance, I would say that Classroom Crisis was okay but never brilliant, so you’re probably not missing much by skipping it.
I was certain that Iris liked Mizuki at the start
Same. I thought nothing was more obvious. So when did she turn straight?
Why is no one ever satisfied with a threesome anymore? :(
THough in all honesty, I’ve been meaning to watch the last two episodes of C*C for a while. Maybe I’ll actually get to it after this post…
…or on second thought, maybe not.
I don’t have anything against threesomes in principles (I mean, I liked White Album 2), but this was a pretty half-assed effort. And I say you should keep your good memories of CC with you since episode 11 was a high note of the series.
The triangle is a result of several things:
1) Iris as a pilot is too strong and it will wipe out all tensions on the rescue. So she need a weakness.
2) Motivation for Nagisa’s revenge needs a break for him to change his plan. If it’s his own revenge then it would need more reasons for him to stop his revenge, but if it’s for Iris then as long as she is fine with it he has the room to back off.
3) Maruto is known for his liking for muddy romantic relationships in his works, and you can see some parallel with White Album 2 in the setting of this relationship. Then for a full happy end he wouldn’t just “choose the present and leave the past”, but “take it all”. Anyway, there just isn’t enough time to make intensive romantic drama so it’s just open end with comedy tone.
Anyway, I agree that the triangle is the worst thing in the ending, but within limited time there are just tails you can’t tie up well.
As to the purpose of the conspiracy, it’s the structure that carries the series. What is being presented is every factor affecting the survival of A-TEC, from working hour management, budgeting, office politics, to corporate decisions, government policies, and world resource distribution. By the conspiracy plot the audience is being carried from that little workshop, step by step, to the presentation at the end with a solution affecting the entire world. The conspiracy plot brings the scale up so the plot can move to where it’s destined.
You can see the rationalisations for the love triangle, but that just goes to show that it’s lazy writing meant to cover up more serious flaws with the script and structure of the narrative. The themes of the story (like dealing with external factors affecting the survival of an organisation) could have been conveyed without resorting to such cheap plot devices. Iris is too OP at piloting? Then why portray her character like that in the first place? And why does the identity-switching plot have to necessarily lead to a love triangle? As for Nagisa losing motivation for his revenge plot, I felt like his relationship with A-TEC was having that effect on him and that this was one of his main conflicts as a character. The creators didn’t have to make up an extra plot device for the change in his character to happen.
The more I think about it, the more I think that Classroom Crisis suffered from having too many ideas and lack of ability to tie them all together cohesively. Maruto’s good at character drama; he should have stuck to his strengths.
I can’t say I really enjoyed this anime that much. But the romance between nagisa and mizuki was a nice touch that I enjoyed because it actually felt so real.
The triangle ruined everything that I liked about this series.
You have good taste (except in LNs) I thought I was the only one shipping sensei with ninja accountant.
I FULLY HEARTEDLY AGREE TO EVRRYTHING YOU SAID AND I am upSET but it’s fine cause i will just enjoy the moments of mizuki and nasiga. i fully enjoyed their relationship and it was so nice. :( stUPID triangle which literally stopped any moments of there relationship to be shown at the finale.