The Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 anime TV sequel was confirmed to be in production on February 21, 2022. But when will Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Season 2 come out?

Despite the controversy surrounding how the first season adapted the source material, the announcement specifically lists the anime production as a TV sequel, not a Classroom Of The Elite reboot or remake.

“To all the fans of Classroom of the Elite in the world, thank you for your patience. A sequel to Classroom of the Elite TV anime is in the works! The time has finally come to announce it!” stated Suzu Sakuragaoka, a promotion assistant.

More information about the the Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 anime project will be presented during a Kadokawa Anime Channel presentation on March 6, 2022.

The Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 release date will make many anime fans happy simply because the TV show will finally answer some of the questions left unanswered in the first season.

The season finale may have ended with a big win for Class 1-D and Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, but the anime still has not revealed why the main character desires to reach Class A at the Advanced Nurturing High School. Thankfully, anime-fans can look to spoilers for the light novel series to read what happens next.

The studio and main staff making the Classroom Of The Elite anime sequel have not been announced yet.

The first season was animated by Studio Lerche, which is best known for producing the Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun anime, Radiant anime (see our Radiant Season 3 anime story), the Astra Lost In Space anime, and the Asobi Asobase anime. In recent times, they also produced Rumble Garanndoll, Idoly Pride, and the Fate/Grand Carnival anime.

This article provides everything that is known about Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 (Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Season 2) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 2 release date predictions: Is 2023 likely?

As of the last update, studio Lerche or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 release date. However, the Classroom Of The Elite sequel was confirmed to be in production on February 21, 2022.

Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.

In the meantime, it’s possible to speculate about when  the Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 2 premiere date will occur in the future.

If the anime adaptation was initially only intended as a glorified advertisement for light novel sales then it did its job. The anime was the most popular Crunchyroll series in the fall of 2017. The first six books were reprinted during that time frame and they reached the top 30 on the Oricon charts for Japanese sales. The combined sales reached into the millions, so it’s certain the light novel series won’t be canceled any time soon.

However, the same can’t be said for the anime due to the Classroom Of The Elite Blu-Ray sales in Japan. They were not great, but it could be argued that the relatively low BD sales in Japan were caused by fan backlash against how the first season changed the story of the source material.

In addition, even back in 2017 physical media sales were no longer the best indicator of success, so it’s possible that streaming rights revenue, and the overall popularity of the series, was enough to justify producing Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 2. After all, the anime was one of the few co-produced directly by Crunchyroll, which may have given the financial justification for a second season considering the popularity of the series on the streaming platform.

The biggest issue is tha we still don’t know which animation studio is making Classroom of the Elite Season 2. Unfortunately, the entire Japanese anime industry is facing growing pains due to a shortage of human resources thanks to low animator wages. Many anime studios are booked to capacity and they simply don’t have enough people to do the work.

Studio Lerche released four anime in 2017, including Classroom Of The Elite. Fast-forward to 2022 and nothing has been announced for their schedule. Their last big project was the Rumble Garanndoll anime that was released in Fall 2021.

Considering that Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Season 2 was first announced in February 2022, it seems reasonable to speculate that the Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 release date will be in Fall 2022 at the absolute earliest, but it’s more likely to be in 2023.

Classroom Of The Elite Manga/Light Novel Series Compared To The You-Zitsu Anime

Author Shougo Kinugasa and illustrator Shunsaku Tomose first began publishing the Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e light novel series back in 2015. Like many light novels with long names, fans have nicknamed the series You-Zitsu or Youkoso Jitsuryoku.

The light novel series is up to Classroom Of The Elite Volume 8 as of May 2018. There are two side stories, Volumes 4.5 and 7.5, so the entire story is technically 10 volumes. Volume 8 was actually delayed by a month due to a hand injury to the author and so far Volume 9 has not been announced.

Historically, new books have been published in January, May, and September/October, so it’s possible Volume 9 will release in the fall of 2018, Volume 10 in the winter of 2019, and so on.

Unfortunately, an official English translation of Classroom Of The Elite has not yet been licensed. There is a fan translation project, but so far it’s up to Volume 3, which puts it behind the events of the anime adaptation by studio Lerche. Funimation has already finished streaming the Youkoso Jitsuryoku English dub episodes.

Starting in January 2016, the Classroom Of The Elite light novel series was adapted into a Youkoso Jitsuryoku manga series. Written by Syohgo Kinugasa and illustrated by Yuyu Ichino, the manga adaptation is up to Volume 6. Similar to the light novels, there are fan translation projects for the manga, but the story is behind the anime (the manga will likely catch up in Volume 7).

Anime adaptations of light novels and manga are infamous for burning through the available source material at a rapid-fire pace. In the worst case scenario, entire books will be summarized in a single episode, which is what happened with Knight’s & Magic Season 1 and Log Horizon Season 2.

In contrast, the Classroom Of The Elite anime was reasonably paced. Light novel fans believe that the anime covered most of the important events. There was some filler content since Episode 7 seemed designed to provide fan service, but the story was loosely based on side story Volume 4.5 since the anime version changed significant details from the light novel (please see the spoilers section below for a detailed explanation).

The one major change in the anime that stood out was how the characterization was handled for Kiyotaka Ayanokouji. The manga version of this character was much more expressive and it could be said the light novel version was comedic in some ways. Some fans preferred the anime version since he’s more aloof and his skills are slowly revealed. In every version, he’s not a pathetic everyman with no special features, but in the manga and light novels, inner monologues also revealed more of the character’s motivations in comparison to the anime.

Regardless of these differences, the ending of Classroom Of The Elite Episode 12 corresponded to Volume 3, although Episode 8 partially used some scenes from Volume 4. The good news is that the light novel now has enough source material for Studio Deen to produce Classroom Of  The Elite Season 2. Hopefully, the second season could be 13 episodes since Volume 6 is probably the best stopping point in the story.

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Season 2 anime spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)

At the end of the first season, Ayanokoji quietly orchestrated events so that Class D would unexpectedly come out on top during the survival test on the deserted island. He even fooled Class A and C into guessing the wrong leader for Class D by changing their leadership when Horikita Suzune became sick. Class A and C had conspired to work together, but their attempts at pushing the other classes down only caused them both to drop to the bottom rankings.

Assuming that Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 follows Volume 4, the next stage shifts the group battles back on to the cruise ship. But this time all of the students are divided by zodiac signs into 12 groups. Instead of survival, this new test challenges their brains and each group must figure out who the VIP is in the other groups. While the test disrupted the competition between classes, the elites realized the goal of the exam and begin their machinations to manipulate the outcome.

It’s a giant question mark for whether or not studio Lerche will choose to adapt Volume 4.5. Technically, they already covered the swimming pool scene, but the characterization was completely different. Therefore, it would make sense to adapt the light novel’s character interactions but use a different setting.

The reason that the intent of Volume 4.5 must be adapted is because the anime diverged greatly from the light novels when it came to Ayanokoji’s relationship with his female classmates. In the anime, blonde-haired Kei Karuizawa was the “girlfriend” to student class representative Yosuke Hirata, but she only maintained the relationship as a pretense to avoid bullying. However, in the original story, Karuizawa began to develop feelings for Ayanokoji.

Essentially, Karuizawa was replaced with Horikita during the swimming pool scene. The cringe-inducing speech by Horikita was also anime original content. In both versions, the boys did attempt to spy on the girls changing room, but the method involved was very different. In the light novels, Ayanokouji told Karuizawa that the guys had planted a remote control car in the air ducts near the changing room, so Karuizawa changed out the camera’s memory cards.

Afterward, Ayanokouji invited Karuizawa to go swimming and that’s when a crucial development for character progression takes place. The girl is curious whether Ayanokouji is faking his personality or if he’s really sincere in his actions. She also opens up about her own history at other schools where she was bullied and no one intervened. In response to this revelation, Ayanokouji tells Karuizawa that he would help her if anyone dared to cause her harm.

Surprisingly, Ayanokouji relaxes enough to admit to some of his own future plans, including his plot to manipulate students into being expelled during the upcoming exams. However, when she asks him about his past, he clams up and claims there is nothing special in his history. In response, she calls him out as a liar and claims his blank expression gives him the look of a killer, which he laughs off as being too dramatic. Although the two are treading deep waters, the overall scene was light-hearted since Ayanokouji does something at the end to make her smile.

So far, studio Lerche seems to be setting up Horikita as a romantic interest, but if they stick to that plan the plot and character development from the light novels would have to be revised extensively. It is possible the studio will retcon that decision, but it would not make sense for the anime to have another swimming pool scene. Instead, it is possible that Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 could set the stage for Karuizawa and Ayanokoji’s relationship in a different manner, but it’s important that Ayanokoji promises to protect her since that promise becomes relevant beginning in Volume 6.

The next part of the story shifts to a sports festival that’s set at the end of their summer vacation. Class D and A are combined together against Class B and C to make things interesting. Ken Sudou becomes a critical figure for Class D since he’s so athletic, but he’s also a troublemaker.

When Ayanokoji entered the Advanced Nurturing High School, he hid his high intellect by purposefully only answering 50 percent of the entrance test questions correctly. But he’s also trying to blend into the background by hiding his true strength, although it’s obvious he has martial arts skills. The sports festival ends up being trouble for Ayanokoji since he can’t help but reveal some of his abilities.

Individual events during the sports festival are determined by measuring grip strength. Sudou accidentally fools Ayanokoji into revealing his true abilities by suggesting that the average grip strength is 60 kilograms instead of a more realistic mid-30s. Ayanokoji does not doublecheck Sudou’s number with anyone else and he ends up lamenting this mistake when he adjusts his grip result yet still ranks second only to Sudou.

What’s more, Student Council President Manabu, who is a monster physically, manages to goad Ayanokoji into a race during the class relays after the latter student replaced someone who sprained his ankle. The resulting conversation causes Ayanokoji to challenge Manabu to a duel on the race track. Everyone is shocked when both students begin overtaking everyone.

Volume 5 is also when the mysterious character Sakayanagi “Alice” Arisu is introduced in the light novel series, although she showed up in the anime all the way back in Episode 2 as a class representative for Class 1-A.

During the deserted island test, Arisu remained on the cruise ship due to a congenital heart defect that requires her to sometimes walk with a cane. Arisu is the only character who knows Ayanokoji’s true past since he saved her life eight years ago, but he has completely forgotten about her since he suffers amnesia.

Arisu strikes to the core of Ayanokoji’s motivations for hiding his true capabilities. He was raised in a so-called White Room to be the perfect creation and he was the only child to survive the special training. His father, Professor Ayanokoji, wants his son to withdraw from the school because he believes the young man will one day rule Japan.

Ayanokoji despises his father for his role in the White Room, and so in order to spite his father, he purposefully downplays himself while trying to stay in the school. Arisu knows that the professor will be hurt by seeing his perfect creation being beaten, so she’s trying to repay the younger Ayanokoji by defeating him publicly.

Volume 6 is probably where Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 will find an ending, especially since the second season will be adapting four books instead of three because of Volume 4.5. This book is where the romance angle really begins to take shape.

Ayanokoji suddenly finds himself popular with the ladies after all of his showmanship during the sports festival. Classmates begin confessing their love to him. Maya Satou tries exchanging cell phone numbers and starts flirting with him, which causes Kei Karuizawa to become jealous.

Regardless, Karuizawa develops their relationship by celebrating his birthday (he does the same in return) and calling him by his first name, Kiyotaka. While Ayanokoji’s calculating mind considers her an efficient pawn, it’s obvious his cold heart is melting slowly because her usefulness to him is secondary to her being by his side.

But the true heart of Volume 6 is still about the cold and calculating game of classroom dominance. The special exams are so complicated that students drop out every year and Ayanokoji is planning to manipulate the outcome.

Unfortunately, anime fans will either need to wait until the Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!