Classroom of the Elite (Light Novel) Vol. 8

ようこそ実力至上主義の教室へ [Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e] (Novel) #8

by Syougo Kinugasa, Tomoseshunsaku (Illustrator)

The third semester kicks off in high gear with a special boot camp deep in the mountains. Forcibly separated into groups along grade and gender lines, the first, second and third years alike must work together to survive the rugged terrain. Even worse? The leader of the group that comes in last will be expelled. Can Class D make it back to campus intact, or is this where they finally say goodbye to one of their own?

Genres: Light Novel, Fiction, Manga, School, Slice Of Life, Mystery, Japan

237 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 25, 2018

About the author

Associated Names:
* Syougo Kinugasa / Shōgo Kinugasa (English)
* 衣笠彰梧 (Japanese)

Reviews

[Da · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not bad bad but somehow it feels more like a side story than an actual main story arc. Like everything happen seems like had nothing to do with the main character, which actually okay, sometimes a series need something like this to develop other characters, too. But this one is pretty boring and somewhat pointless.

[Mika (Hiatus) · Rating 4 out of 5]

You don’t need to change your personality to be a part of society. You’re free to express your individuality, of course, but you must take other people’s feelings into consideration as you venture out into the world.

Short summary of the review
Due to a new enemy being introduced in this volume it might it immediately appealing and interesting to see how things turn out. A new perspective is being shown than in previous volumes > Ayanokouji barely interacts with the girls but more with the boys. Due to the terms and rules of the new special exam, this volume felts way more tense than some previous ones. This tension was also shown to influence some characters, making it hard to know till the end who was expelled and who wasn't. This new special exam allowed room for intimacy which was also shown, making this volume having an aspect which is seldom shown due to Ayanokouji's usual demeanour. Ayanokouji was also honest to himself in this volume and showed consideration towards his classmates. Since the special exam required big groups it was sometimes hard to distinguish each character.


The Review

This is the first time while reading the first year volumes where I absolutely can't remember anything from it in the anime I watched. I watched the anime before reading the light novels and I honestly can't remember this whole 'chapter' of the story, which is astonishing as I liked this volume a bit more than the previous ones.

To be real honest, I like when a new enemy appears for the protagonist, makes things a bit more exciting so of course this volume where Negumo was featured was more interesting than the last one which was the end of the last enemy (also the principle the last enemy worked with was kinda ridiculous). This time the enemy is way more cold-hearted and quite cruel. I prefer such a type of enemy, especially for Ayanokouji-kun who has people he wants to protect. I can already see that Ayanokouji's and Negumo's conflict will be way more exciting to see than the previous one. But I'm glad that this is the order of the enemies as it would otherwise be disappointing. I hope this author continues to make the story more and more exciting the further it goes, as I myself prefer stories who have a weak start but finish strong.

I even ironically liked how the girls weren't a big part (almost no part actually) for this volume. Since Ayanokouji seems to have more female than male friends I found it interesting to see more of his male friendships and perhaps also new ones forming. This whole volume just gave a different perspective to the story than I usually experienced and I like that it was a bit different this time and not always the same. So far, this volume had regarding perspectives the greatest variety.

This volume was also more tense than some other volumes and I really thought even near the end of the volume that some character I liked will get expelled. Since I can't remember this part of the story anymore (or maybe the anime didn't include it for whatever reason) I felt tense again like the first time, but I have the feeling that the light novel did it better than the anime once more. The characters also felt very tense and the responsibility for own actions which also influenced the whole group made it even worse.

My favourite parts where one can see that Ayanokouji has feelings even if it doesn't look like it on the surface is when he is asking Sakayanagi if she is alright. I mean, I get it that they are enemies and he might even do it to use her as a tool, but another scene, which didn't happen yet so I don't spoiler, showed that he actually cares for her wellbeing. Sakayanagi is physically weaker than the average person and one can see that even though students seem to show respect towards her many actually secretly look down on her 'cause they see her as weak. A weak body doesn't mean a weak mindset and that's exactly why I like Sakayanagi so much. First impression of her is that she is weak, unimportant and just nothing special but she is so much more and I really like her for that. She isn't the perfect character and even with her disability she is still so strong.
Anyway, my main point here, which I realise even better now after reading the light novels is that Ayanokouji might use people as tools but that doesn't mean that he can't feel anything specially towards others. Even if it's just a small gesture he sometimes does, it shows that he has feelings and is human after all.

Ayanokouji-kun isn't the emotional type of protagonist but we still got some intimate scenes in this volume. Though it didn't concern him, I found it interesting to see how people's relationships can develop so fast in a more positive direction by intimacy, especially by one that is linked to achieving the same goal. I always thought people get more intimate/honest when they are sleepy, which is still true, but I didn't know that it also works for talking in the dark. I do understand why now, as it gives you some kind of freedom of expressing your thoughts and emotions without feeling the eyes of the person you speak to, after all it's dark. It fascinates me so much 'cause I experienced in my life the same and always wondered why the person was so honest when they weren't sleepy enough to just sleep instead of talking to me, now I understand why.

Lastly for my positive aspects for this volume is that Ayanokouji showed lots more feelings compared to previous volumes. He didn't change his personality or anything no, but he showed more consideration towards his peers. For instance, he had the idea in his head to protect everyone from his class and only discarded this thought as it wouldn't work for the special test, but concluded to protect a few anyway. Of course he needs to protect them from being expelled from school if he wants to continue using them for his own advantages, but since he favoured the people he had already formed some kind of relationship with, shows that he might actually cares for them. There were some other smaller moments in this volume, but for me was this one the most important one.



Even though, as I mentioned in my last review, I like how I can distinguish every character as they each have their own unique personality and also get introduced slowly and not too fast, I found myself for this volume a bit puzzled who was who again. That's probably 'cause of the type of special exam, which required lots of students to form a group, but there were quite a lot we didn't know beforehand and I had some struggle finding out if they are relevant now and if I need to remember them or not.

—————————————————————
This might be totally irrelevant, but the meditative discipline called Zazen was way more difficult than I imagined. As I was curious what the characters did their on their special test, I tried to do it myself and it was way harder than I initially thought. I fortunately didn't try to stay in this posture long as I read shortly afterwards that Keisei got numb legs from it. That's some crazy mediation discipline!

StoryGraph review

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

After 7 and 7.5 there was a high bar to reach and frankly volume 8 didn't come close. Especially since the real meat of the story is in the last 100 (or fewer) pages. Not to mention the totally inexplicable episode in the middle of it all. On the whole I was just a bit disappointed in this book.

I am sitting here wondering why I didn't rate it lower -- and it's because I still love the series, and because I can see it setting things up for a larger story than the single volume plot. I just checked out book 9 from my local library so I'll be reading it sooner rather than later.

[Rusty Grey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[autumn]

this exam was pretty pointless ngl

[Kristin ✨ · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.25

I liked this one more in the anime. But quite a fast read nonetheless. Interesting to see all the ally ships building.

But the measurement competition in the middle.... What was that

[Emily Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

"You don't even need me to answer, do you? I won't let you get expelled. No matter what methods I have to use."

Nagumo plays dirty. He's clever and sneaky like a rat, but that's actually why I like his character. Other than Ayanokouji, the other characters aren't very deceptive. I guess you can argue that Kouenji is also that way, but he's a bit of an oddball. He honestly does have his own agenda.

That one scene with the guys in the shower/bath was weird and unnecessary. It honestly felt out of place.

I did enjoy getting to know Keisei a little more and it was nice to know more about Nagumo too. I'm pleased that he does live up to his reputation.

Admittedly, I was disappointed that Kanzaki from Class B wasn't in Ayanokouji's group. I feel like Kanzaki is similar to Ayanokouji, but obviously not as intelligent. I don't think anyone so far has bested Ayanokouji yet. Maybe Nagumo will.

[Nathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the 8th novel of the you-jitsu series and while it did have many exciting parts the story as a whole was kind of lackluster compared to the other novels. In this novel Ayanokoji and his friends got put in a different school to sleep in, kind of like an exam. They made different groups with all the students and tried to compete in events like relay or presentations. Ayanokojis group was able to do pretty well and they got pretty close as a result. Ayanokoji also got to learn a bit more about the new student council president and more people also started to learn about him. Overall, it was a pretty boring arc but its a good series.

[Md. Ismail Hossen · Rating 3 out of 5]

The whole training exam seems stretched out and the ultimate outcome was not that impactful as well. It did not change the progress or put any proper characters in danger as well. In reality the whole exam seemed irrelevant with any major character development or change. This edition did not add any value to the contents and one can easily skip this one without any issue whatsoever.

[Reza · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5
بعد چند سال که ولوم 7(پیک ناول) خونده بودم و برگشتم ادامه بدم ولی الان خیلی راحت با خوندن ولوم 8 ناامید شدم... بنظرم باید ضعیف ترین ولوم کل سری باشه و در نهایت یکم بهتر شد ولی درکل کاری کرد که فعلا سری کنار بزارم تا ببینم فصل دوم در چه حدی اقتباس میشه و بعد تصمیم به ادامه خوندن ناول بگیرم.

[Cloe_ktz · Rating 4 out of 5]

P'tite petite ça régale comme à son habitude.

[Elisha Reads For U · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was volume was one of my favorites as well!

I know some people say it's boring since they're at a camp and are following the same set schedules. But I just enjoyed the dynamics between the guys from other classes. Yes there was one I didn't like and I'm glad the anime skipped it idc. Koenji was the golden character this volume. He may annoy me all the time, but it this volume he was pure entertainment 🤣. We saw some character development and I was kinda sad we didn't see Suznne much just because Ayanokōji was avoiding her. But anyways this was a fun volume.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A new Game Theory aspect on display. Cooperation and weaponized sacrifices. Some nasty shit.

I'm really enjoying the mechanics in this series. It can teach quite a bit about politics. :)



Personal note:
If anyone reading my reviews is be interested in reading my SF (Very hard SF, mind you), I'm open to requests.

Just direct message me in goodreads or email me on my site. I'd love to get some eyes on my novels.

Arctunn.com

[Aigis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay this is the first volume so far that i give 3 stars to instead of 5... it's just a whole bunch of nothing. If i could i'd give it 2.5 simply because even though stuff happens, it feels like nothing happens at all. Last few pages were somewhat interesting, but again, it was just... nothing, lmao. Volumes 4.5 and 7.5 were more significant for the story than this one. Dissappointed, but hopefully the next volumes make up for it big time.

[Bjarne Teske · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finally I am reading this series further, and while I have enjoyed it, this volume didn’t feel like the story has progressed much. Also, I found the challenge quite boring, unlike the desert island, which is still the volume I enjoyed the most. Can’t wait to keep on reading more.

[Jovial Johnny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Less happens in this entry than even the .5 books

[寿理 宮本 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I say I love this series, but it's a lot more I like how it plays out more than other works, the whole, "Look at this mess we made for ourselves, now we have to fix everything" setting. It's less that the solutions are particularly clever or anything so much as the fact that they're nonviolent and relatively ordinary (no special magic or whatever, although some of their tech MIGHT be better than current), a nice change from what my brother calls the Sailor Moon "Winning by Wanting to Win Badly Enough."

That said, the fact that it spends a chapter in the boys' locker room is... fan-servicey... and what I dislike most is that it predictably gets into a you-know-what measuring contest that, of course, ends with the Main Character having the biggest, because what OTHER result is there?

I don't mind the odd day-to-day "kids just hanging out" story, but... not excited about being a grown adult reading about naked high school boys.

The exam itself is sort of filler material. Nothing about it was described in a way that was interesting; the classes just did various exams with no particular tricks (and the actual exams weren't described in any detail, because who wants to read detailed maths and history test content?)

[Sorry about reviewing these out of order, but I only have a handful of my reviews recorded and timestamped, so I'm slowly adding them here as I go.]

Edit to add: The new season starting with this volume just dropped (2024/1/3), and I can see everyone is excited to see if the "T-Rex" scene makes it in, haha.

Edit to update: THEY SKIPPED IT. COP OUT. (Then again, extremely unlikely they could have pulled it off without coming across as complete perverts... "oh well"?)

[Matthew · Rating 3 out of 5]

Probably the weakest exam so far in the story. That’s not necessarily an insult as the story overall is still fairly engaging. But it’s clear Kinugasa is trying to figure how to move the story now that Ryuuen isn’t a key player and how to make Manabu fill those shoes.

The issues is that Manabu while clearly cunning hasn’t shown to be a strong character yet. Despite a large portion of this story focusing on him. He largely comes off as a jerk with no clear motivations for his actions. I couldn’t help but see him as a clown when he started blatantly laughing about Tachibana being expelled.

The rules and expectations set up at the beginning of the novel certainly held a lot of potential. The possiblity of someone being expelled was a certainly an exciting premise. Not to mention the large plays the classes could make to essentially rise to class A if they played their cards right. But in the end no large moves were really made.

The story focused mainly on a group of students that offered nothing interesting to the story, boring activities, and an underwhelming twist. Making the whole arc feel largely meaningless besides Horikita’s class losing their position. A class we hardly engage with in the story anyway.

Overall, the heart is there but the execution could’ve been much stronger. Here’s hoping Kinugasa takes some larger risks moving forward.

3.5/5

[HardLight · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this is a WEIRD one. After the Sports Festival and the abdication of Council President of Horikita's brother, we've got a semi-big bad start up in this with Nagumo (and I hate him) who is sort of a semi-retarded Light Yagami if I were to give him a term.

The volume involves a winter excursion to a school camping trip, where the men and women will be split apart and tested on various things together from academics to endurance. For the first time we get a hint at the intelligence and physical skill of a resident crazy blond Adonis Koenji and he is a guy who measures up to Ayanokoji in more than one way. (ba-dum tiss!)

To be clear as well, the continued development relationship and cute banter between Kei and Kiyotaka is adorable in this especially seeing as they can barely be around each other as guys and girls can only interact at meal times. It feels as if its superfluous but when looking at a building conflict for what comes in year 2, it's groundwork being set for someone and I love that.

[Vince · Rating 4 out of 5]

Even though this volume meanders quite a bit and ultimately doesn't achieve much, it's still Classroom of the Elite. I'd read 500 pages of Kiyotaka pondering his way through math homework with pleasure.

Nagumo isn't quite the villain that Ryuuen was for me at this point. It's going to be hard to top that fight in Volume Seven, but Ryuuen was also built up since the Island Exam. The bar for Nagumo is high.

Although I do enjoy the female characters quite a bit in this series, it was endearing to see all the boys together. The fact that this light novel has an actual dick measuring contest, complete with dramatic twists, further cements this as right up my alley. Kiyotaka is even an unreliable narrator when it comes to his own penis, and you just don't see that in many stories.

A rare point off a COTE volume from me for the ending basically being Ayanokoji saying "I told you so" to Kei. Pointless.

[Kay · Rating 4 out of 5]

There is something about these books that take space in a specific bubble of time and/or event, and I will still read hundreds of pages about it. I love delving into Ayanokoji's mind, and discovering his plans, even if they are simply doing nothing. He's an unreliable narrator, so it's fun to pick out bits and pieces of what are his real capabilities, and what is just for show.

Another thing I enjoyed is the character relations. I've grown fond of Yukimura, so I liked reading more about him. And it's always great to see the Ayanokoji group get together. And as always I'm drawn to any Karuizawa and Ayanokoji interactions like a man seeking water in the desert.

Once again it was interesting to see all the differences between anime and novel. The scene in the baths felt like a fever dream though. It was so weirdly hilarious.

[jarne · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very interesting volume, to say the least. A number of silly things happened, like the whole measuring contest for example. On the other hand, a more serious theme throughout was the introduction of Nagumo's methods. It seems he is shaping up to be a kind of "super villain" for Ayanokoji to take down. Koenji also got some more spotlight, and he is definitely an interesting force as well. The fall of Ichinose is also starting to be set in motion, which will probably be a big theme in the upcoming volumes too. I like how Ayanokoji's group in this exam started out as a bunch of combined wild idiots, but ended up as a unit. It was heartwarming when they were finally nice to each other. Even Koenji ended up co-operating in the end.

[Mithun Sarker · Rating 3 out of 5]

Classroom of the Elite Vol. 8
By Syougo Kinugasa

Another special exam is finally here. This one felt a bit, lacklustre compared to the others. There was progression, but it seemed rather slow. This gotta be my least favourite volume in the series.

The special test was okay, nothing too exciting. I thought the anime had done a better job at adapting this part.

The whole group bonding was great to read. From enemies to friends. The progression of the group to become friends or at least be friendly during the test was delightful. The public bath scene was somewhat hilarious. Ryueen trying to take revenge and failing was funny.

The clash between Nagumo and Horikita ( the plot armour) was okay. I don't really like that clash much, but it is somewhat enjoyable nonetheless.

7/10

[Donte McNeal · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crazy test

It’s been a while since I’ve read a COTE book, so I was a little overwhelmed with all the names. But, it quickly became like riding a bike. I missed these too smart for their own good high schoolers and this exam pushed them like never before. Well, not all of them.

We get to learn more about so,e of the students in higher grades than our newly minted Class C, and man are there some threats to look out for. Our very own T-Rex, Kiyotaka seems to be on top of things, but you never really know what’s going to happen at this school. I’m looking forward to picking up the next volume!

[Durian Jaykin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I like how the ratings are so low. Because I think I otherwise. The concept of this test was very interesting. In a meritocratic society where we strive to compete with one another from young to stand out, we are then also expected to cooperate with our fellow competitors. Even in the workplace, we compete with others for promotions, yet at the same time we have to cooperate with them.

Many of the characters will go wtf, thats illogical, how to cooperate with your competitor. Its this absurdity that this novel constantly portrays, and best portrays here.

[Viszed (II) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un examen especial en un nuevo escenario y que involucra a los alumnos de todos los grados, asi como un versus entre Horikita Manabu y Nagumo.

Hubieron varias cosas que me gustaron de este volumen, pero el hecho que Ayanokouji siga bajo la sombra y no haya destacado me causo frustración, y asia que me sientiera estancada por momentos, aunque a estas alturas deberia acostumbrarme; aun no comprendo porque Ayanokouji no le conto a Manabu lo que planeaba Nagumo, mas haya de si era algo que no se podia evitar, me abria gustado que se sorprendieran de que él lo calculo todo.

[The Real Gio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Volume carino che fa vedere tutta la genialità del nuovo presidente del concilio studentesco. Sicuramente meno interessante dei precedenti, ma considerato il livello di questi ultimi era difficile far meglio. La possibilità di rivedere Ryuuen tentare qualcosa gasa molto. Kouenji sicuramente personaggio più interessante da seguire nel volume.

[Megane Shiroe · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book did not focus on the main characters but introduced and grew the new enemies our boy Kiyotaka might face in the future.
It's a quicker read than the previous ones for me, but as entertaining as them. One thing I know is as the story progresses more character development will happen and more strategic fights are going to come.

[Barrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The game ends shortly without showing much tactical shots. I'd expect to see Kiyotaka flame up some tricks to make a joke out of Nagumo, but it seems this moment is too soon. Anyway, can't wait to see Nagumo crash and burn.

[Sparsh Singh · Rating 4 out of 5]

For the people who are saying that the vol was useless, it wasnt. It is important because it gives character developement to Nagumo while telling us his modus oprandi. Thats pretty important according to my veiws.