In my opinion, there are two types of storytelling that can truly irritate audiences: Either the authors(or anime production teams) have no clue what they are doing, or they try to tell the story in the way they aren't capable of and, predictably, it fail miserably. In the case of spy classroom, It reach both of the "irritation standards" in one single work. Which is kind of impressive (but in the wrong way).
From the beginning of the story, you can already see that the production team have lost their direction. First they try to convince you that this is a serious story about spy girls saving the world. But on the second half of first episode where the plot twist comes out , the story suddenly changes its tone and turns into goofy comedy(Maybe it's because even the crew understood all the plot twist are either illogical or just straight out stupid). After that, the show just keep on trapping In this atrocious cycle (trying to tell you that this is a serious spy action anime -> change their mind and start making comedy ->second attempt on " spy action"-> fail again and turn into complete chaos). And even if you look closely on "spy thriller" and "slice of life( a little bit of love) comedy" part individually, Both of them are still terribly written. None of the spy trickeries shown in this anime are convincing .And each girl's unique ability doesn't make the story interesting, but more like an excuse when author doesn't know how to continue the story. Sometimes the production team don't even bother to explain what's happening on the screen, letting the audience just awkwardly sit there and think "what the hell is going on ". And don't let me start with the comedy sequence, which I think is the worst part of spy classroom. Everything they do is just so cringe, it makes an 24-minute episode feel like one hour. Not to mention that all these "trainings"( if you think saving bakery from closure and cooking competition can be called training) and romance storyline can't let you understand more about the character. Instead , it only makes the story become more boring. All these desperate attempt only turn spy classroom into an absolute trainwreck.
Some people might think this review is way too negative but the truth is that there is nothing positive I can say about spy classroom (character design and visual style are mid but far from good). In the end, I think whoever want to learn how to write a screenplay should watch this show, as it shows all the mistakes you should never make. Though I wouldn't say spy classroom is the worst anime this year(It's only the first season of 2023), watching it is still just like torture. And I don't know where they get the money to make season two, but please stop, just, stop.
