Classroom of the Elite Season 2 First Impressions

“‘All human behavior is goal-oriented,’ indeed…”

This season has several pleasant surprises sprinkled throughout the lineup, such as Made in Abyss’ long awaited second season or the Shaft produced adaptation of RWBY, but no show made me go, “Wait, what!? That’s coming back?” like Classroom of the Elite did. Just shy of 5 years since the original season aired, and nearly 3 years since the light novels wrapped up, we’re getting a second season. I should clarify that this isn’t some pure unbridled enthusiasm, as I found the original series to be fine, but nothing groundbreaking. It was built around rather standard school hierarchy competition, with a few twists and turns to make it stand out a bit more. However, there was one twist in particular that popped up towards the end and stuck in my memory. Whenever the subject of shows that would never get their second season came up, I would always think back to this show and that twist. However, it’s hard to say whether I’m the appropriate audience for this show now that it’s back. I watched the first season not long after it aired, but I remember little of the characters and only the basics of the premise. Despite taking a half-decade hiatus, Classroom of the Elite isn’t interested in reintroducing any of these elements, instead jumping back into the thick of it, which makes this a very troublesome viewing for anyone who hasn’t rewatched the first season in the last year (i.e., everyone).

The series follows the events at the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing School, where classes are divided up based upon the testing performance of the students. The guiding principle of the school is, “All human behavior is goal oriented,” so a class of inferior students, called Class-D, is maintained to serve as a goal for the superior students to avoid. The concept isn’t exceptionally original, as Baka and Test had basically the same premise a couple years prior, but used it more for comedic purposes. Our main character is Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, an aloof and calculating student, who tailored his score to get himself placed into Class-D. He partners up with another member of the class, Suzune Horikita, who… Look, I don’t remember what her backstory was. I don’t remember any of these protagonists or antagonists, but the show certainly expects me to. No one looks at a show and says, “Oh, yay! A recap episode! Those are my favorites,” but sometimes they’re necessary. People have literally gone to high school and graduated in the time since this show last aired. Chihayafuru may have been able to pull off the trick of slipping right back in where it left off, but Classroom of the Elite wasn’t a casual slice-of-life or sports series where you can just casually drop in and get reacquainted. This was a series of mind games, tests, and manipulations, so to jump back into things like no time has passed is frankly impractical and places some unreasonable expectations on viewers. The obvious caveat is, for audiences who go directly from season 1 to season 2, this transition will be fluid with no disruptions.

I’ve been mixed on Lerche productions in the past, but they’ve been steadily improving over the years. The production here looks good, and they employ some creative graphics to assist viewers in following along with the convoluted game this season kicks off with. I wouldn’t go so far as to say they make it thoroughly clear, but I understood the game better on my first viewing than I would without the visual aids. It’s hard to compare the visuals to the original season without going back and rewatching it, but this premiere looks good and the OP hits hard, even if it has a weird few seconds of fanservice that completely threw me for a loop. Ultimately, the biggest hurdle the show faces is the decision to jump immediately back into the story. This proves to be a significant dilemma for me, as I’m not fully comfortable detracting from the rating based on my struggles to remember the events of the prior season. By the same token, it seems unfair that the series expects viewers to review a whole season after such a lengthy time away. I mean, this episode literally kicks off on a cruise ship. The set-up is right there to incorporate a My Hero Academia-style pool episode to get everyone refreshed on who is whom.

Before I wrap up, a few Notes and Nitpicks:

• Lerche has actually had quite a role in the market of high school class-competition series. With Classroom of the Elite, Assassination Classroom, and arguably Danganronpa 3, they’ve been responsible for many of the major entries in that subgenre. Of those three, I think Classroom of the Elite probably holds up the best. It’s not great, but Danganronpa 3 was a mess, and I could never be bothered to check out Assassination Classroom’s second season.
• They have confirmed that Classroom of the Elite will be returning for a third season to wrap up the story next year, so thankfully the franchise won’t be going back into cryostasis for another bout.
• I didn’t go into the specifics of the competition they set up in this episode, but, given that they’ve only just introduced its parameters, it really is just all setup. Also, I’d need to read over the rules a few more times.
• Part of me wants to follow this show, but another part of me feels I’ll be lost if I don’t go back and rewatch the previous season. It’ll really come down to how full my schedule is.