An arduous 6.5 years and 38 heavily compressed episodes later, the adaptation of novelist Shougo Kinugasa's Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e a.k.a Classroom of the Elite, has finally reached its ending consensus. Not gonna lie, it's sad to see a high-profile and prized series like this come to an end, but Year 2 of the LN has already begun even before the much-anticipated Seasons 2 and 3 came out to complete the entire 1st Year arc. And even then, while this journey has been met with many setbacks and criticism over the years, the reality is this: people are mortal to rush for the good and work for the bad, causing the adaptation to go on a speedrun from resources run dry, and its titular MC Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, is still one of the GOATs of all of AniManga characters to ever exist.
With Season 3 finishing the remainder of the 1st Year arc from Volumes 8 to 11.75 of the LN, I would say that apart from the closeness in terms of tension, Season 3 is not just the final season, but the pinnacle of peak intellectual psychology thrillers in all of anime that I've ever experienced since unironically starting Season 1 all the way back in Summer 2017. The premiere season still remains as one of the best shows that I've watched thus far, with its adaptation's reputation in tatters from that point onward. Since then, the AniManga community has warmed to the idea of the LN being adapted in a lightning blitz as quick as possible, and yet, still can deliver some of the best scenes of the LN as a whole, which IS still the most important thing when it comes to the anime, also as a whole.
Let's deal with the issues methodically:
The Mixed Training Camp where the entire school is targeted from its mix-up from all 1st to 3rd Year students, and this throws Suzune Horikita's older brother, Manabu, into the spotlight as the reigning Student Council President against the one who will succeed him: Class A's Miyabi Nagumo. Clearly, both Manabu and Miyabi lead by different mindsets and ideals, and non-mistakably, Ayanokouji has to be thrown in the wrench to help Manabu through his usual psychological games and come out surviving against a madman who wants to topple the entire school upside down.
Of course, this puts one of the students at a very high risk: Class B's Honami Ichinose, the kind, helpful and selfless class rep who does not want to put her class at risk of the dangers from the school's unforgiving test requirements. Her status as one of the top students of her class, alongside her benevolent nature, makes her very much admired and respected. Her involvement with Ayanokouji comes not just at a much-needed time of between the Mixed Training Camp and the one forced event that is the ultimate plan to scout said intelligent boy out of the school by nefarious means. Throughout the venture, where her being part of the Student Council allows her to interrogate Ayanokouji a lot more, as well as trying to get to know his philosophy when it comes to the never-ending psychological battles between fellow classes and frenemies alike in between the school's notorious exams, and along the way, develops a liking for him since they get along and work so well together.
But in the chad Ayanokouji's mind, he already has his perfect tool for the perfect job (you know who), and this infuriates none other than one of the most prominent characters of Class D: Yousuke Hirata. Being known as the top student of Ayanokouji's class, things take a downturn for him in Season 2 when it was found that his "relationship" with Kei Karuizawa was nothing more than just brute protection for being her shield so that she does not get bullied in school. If that wasn't enough, the In-Class Voting forced exam is the one that puts all of his skills to the test, to which he was blindsided time and time again, not just from said manipulator himself, but also the 3 Idiots "Stooges" of the class: Ken Sudo, Kanji Ike, and Haruki Yamauchi (which LN readers will inevitably know the term "Yamagod", not gonna say much), one which broke his sanity and afterthought about his own class in general.
But none of the above compares to the very enemy of whom Ayanokouji feels that this person's his biggest target yet: Class A's Arisu Sakayanagi. The clear runaway leader of Class A, who appears to be disabled and walking with a cane, she's the progenitor of the rivalry that Ayanokouji has been dutifully waiting for to duke their intelligence at each other, given the backstory that both her and Ayanokouji were in fact from the same White Room in the unknown facility that forces children to participate in an immense battery of tests designed to raise and train them into teens with almost superhuman-like capabilities. The only two people who share a bond for the extremists of human intelligence, their final battle of the alternate inter-class tests proves critical and shows the very reason of their fierce rivalry to begin with within the midst of the entire Season 3, even if they end on an amicable note of each other acknowledging their prowesses.
Even after all this time, I don't really need to re-emphasize the production of the series as a whole. Under the directorial leadership of duo chief directors Seiji Kishi and Horiyuki Hashimoto, with Yoshihito Nishouji coming onboard for the rushed Season 2 and 3, it's safe to say that there's a clear disparity of the sheer downward force when it comes to the animation department, because studio Lerche clearly doesn't care anymore, opting to just adapt the scenarios that truly matter and give the peak moments more grace and finesse to show that their "dedication" still sticks around after the long-run. Be it with the many changes in staff when it comes to producing and scriptwriting the anime, it's a terrible nightmare just to see a different team of staff coming back to helm the series throughout its entire run, which definitely affected both the later Seasons 2 and 3 to a degree where a complete adaptation is the only onset goal/objective of mind. And let's face it, getting a good (or even BETTER) adaptation is rare in this day and age.
The music too, also suffers from much ambience this time, though I do have to set the precedence that Season 2 suffered the same fate as well, with a rather pressing deadline to be completed in 2 years. And within those same 2 years, we've got theme songs, which by your own definition, can be great or bad. At least for ZAQ, she maintained her stance as the series' defining OP artist, with Season 3's "Minor Piece" still being a banger of a song, but not as good as Season 2's "Dance in the Game" nor greater than my absolute favourite OP song of the series, which was Season 1's "Caste Room". The ED songs however were a rather mixed bag, with Yui Ninomiya vouching in for Season 3's ED, which felt like a trippy song at best, though much better than Mai Fuchigami's Season 2 ED song, but none as great and mesmerizing as Minami Kuribayashi's Season 1 ED song "Beautiful Soldier", which is still the melancholic song I still love to this day.
Still though, for a series like Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e a.k.a Classroom of the Elite to finally meet its end on not just the LN back in Septmber 2019, but also now close the chapter on the anime as well, we've come a long way to appreciate the return of one of the most anticipated AniManga series, even if that return necessitated many sacrifices along the way. I have deep respect for novelist Shougo Kinugasa for his commitment of 4 years and 4 months from May 2015 to September 2019 concocting one of the most thought-provoking works in all of AniManga, which even if the anime was explicity bad, it would still be regarded as one of the best series of all time.
So, studio Lerche and directors Seiji Kishi and Horiyuki Hashimoto, better buck up if you're ready to adapt Year 2 of Classroom of the Elite, because the psychological battle will be EVEN more intense, for Kiyotaka Ayanokouji to flex his one-of-a-kind intellect onto more people, from the Board of Chairmans down to both new Year 1 Kouhais and Year 3 Senpais.
That said, please continue the adaptation into Year 2, anime-onlies have only seen the surface of the iceberg yet deep into the lore that is the Classroom of the Elite.
