The idea of politics being a dirty game abused by those on top to maintain their power is hardly a new idea, in the real world or in fiction. Politicians, and by extension the businessman who control the politicians through their own political games, are rarely looked upon in the most favorable of lights. Anime doesn’t directly touch on this very often though, as while anime is quite political in its themes, it rarely deals with politics as such. Classroom Crisis is one of the few shows which does touch on these things, and it does so fairly well.
Contrary to what its title may suggest, Classroom Crisis tells a story of political sabotage and domination. Initially the show’s protagonist, Kiryu Nagisa, is a cold hearted businessman despite his young age. He shows little care for anything other than his work, and that includes those who would be hurt by his actions. Nagisa is the very image of the uncaring capitalist who exploits people as much as possible in order to extract the most profit he’s capable of.
Of course, as he spends more time with the rest of the cast, he grows to care about them. He tries not to show it, but he does have a heart he’s hidden within him in able to keep going in his mission. His desire for revenge against the family who killed his pushes him to eventually betray his classmates, but it’s not something he does while smiling. His plan works and he gets some small measure of revenge, but the victory brings him no joy. He tries to look like a villain some that he can be chastised, because he feels guilty, but everyone knows he’s not truly a villain and so he does not get his reprieve.
As soon as he sets his sights higher, looking to complete his revenge plan, he is immediately pushed down. He isn’t a true villain, and for this reason he couldn’t cut it once he made it into the major leagues. Only those who are truly merciless and lacking in empathy for those who aren’t a direct benefit can actually survive in this vile political world. Once Nagisa realizes this he concedes to the fact that he isn’t a villain, and backs off from the political scene, as he simply no longer could pretend that he was truly enjoying what he did.
Nagisa’s class is willing to accept him back after his realization, and it is within his class that Nagisa truly belongs. It’s with his classmates that he has fun and can open up even a small amount, because it’s free of the forced stoicism and paranoia of the political world.
I don’t agree with everything Classroom Crisis says, but it does do a very good job at showing how relentlessly vile the political world is. Nagisa only evolves as a character and is happy outside of the world of boardroom politics makes it pretty clear the effect that it has on him. A lot of shows could do this better, but as one of the few that’s even tried Classroom Crisis is pretty good.
Floating into Bliss 