Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e 2nd Season

The title of this show is very misleading. I thought this school was for “elite students”, but instead, we had 4 classes of bozos participating in Among Us tests and school festivals. I’m not 14 anymore, so this isn’t as deep as I thought Season 1 was. After I finished Season 1 a few years ago, I was convinced that this was the smartest show ever with the best plot twists and the best protagonist in Ayanokouji, but now that I’m older, my views have changed. That said, as an anime-only for this show, I still found Season 1 much better than Season 2, in basicallyevery way. The story for Season 2 was quite boring, with events that felt very dry. The characters weren’t nearly as good as Season 1, because it seemed like everyone’s IQ except for Ayanokouji declined so much, and I questioned some of their decisions in the story. I’m sure that some of you have seen the bad animation frames posted on MAL and on social media as well, so the production was quite messy at times. The OST was nothing compared to Season 1, which I loved. Nothing felt as well done as Season 1, and save for some cheap enjoyment and satisfaction, this was quite the disappointing season. My grading criteria: Story: /25 Art: /10 Music: /10 Characters: /20 Enjoyment /15 Thematic Execution /20 STORY: 11.5/25 The story felt quite un-psychological this season. Last season, at least the focus was on studying, and the point system, while this season, the plot material felt very dry, and the point system felt very insignificant. All the activities were built on these overly complex rules that was dumped on us all at once, and that’s never really enjoyable for the viewer. There are better ways to get us to think instead of thinking of rules all the time. It’s really the wrong way of being thought-provoking. The character drama felt very dry as well, as some of the backstories were very surface level. Perhaps this was the product of a rushed series, nothing really felt fleshed out enough to be interesting. ART: 7/10 A downgrade from Season 1, which would be expected given the amount of episodes that Studio Lerche outsourced to other studios. It got better towards the end though. MUSIC: 8.5/10 Also a downgrade from Season 1, which had quite the OST. There wasn’t a whole lot of stand out music in this season, other than the OP and ED, which I enjoyed a ton. CHARACTERS: 8.5/20 The character personalities in this show are rather blank, and with how rushed the show was, they weren’t fleshed out enough. There were a few characters that had rather awkward and out of place interactions this season, such as Sakayanagi and Katsuragi from Class A. They just showed up with not much build up, which was a bit awkward (perhaps a few skipped LN parts?). The biggest problem however, is that in a school for “elites”, how much the intelligence of the characters dropped this season compared to the last. Horikita for example, being the top of Class D, fell into obvious traps, which was so uncharacteristic of her character. Ryuuen as well, while being an extremely violent person, didn’t seem like the dumbest person out there, but as a villain, he wasn’t that good. It seemed like he knew who the mastermind of Class D was, but then he didn’t know? That was quite disappointing. Now, I’ll also talk about the fan favourites, Karuizawa and Ayanokouji. Karuizawa in Season 1 felt like a lazy, spoiled girl who mindlessly spent her points on unimportant things, and fell off my radar real early. In this season, she works with Ayanokouji in the hope of defeating other classes. She has a bunch of secrets in her past, which I wished they fleshed out more. The romance between her and Ayanokouji feels somewhat rushed as well, since there isn’t much of a key reason for her to love someone, apart from getting protection. Ayanokouji is still a good character for the most part, as he creates most of the satisfying moments in the show. His character doesn’t change much, and that’s unfortunately a bit of disappointment. He’s probably the only reason this show is still watchable. ENJOYMENT: 11/15 With all my criticism, I still enjoyed this show, because the payoffs were quite satisfying, and who doesn’t like seeing Ayanokouji destroying everyone he meets? THEMATIC EXECUTION: 10.5/20 For whatever this show was trying to do, they execute everything decently, but with the show being rushed the way it was, the psychological factor of the show was not up to par, and felt very surface level. The violence and the romance, while not being the main focus of this season, felt better executed than the mind games to be honest. OVERALL: 57/100 Just comparatively blander in every single way compared to Season 1. It only felt satisfying to watch Ayanokouji mentally and physically destroy people who opposed him, but in the end, it just felt like everything could have been done much better, if the season had more episodes. Whatever Season 3 brings next year, I hope Studio Lerche learn from their shortcomings from this season.

His games and manipulations are very clear throughout the show, which doesn't leave me confused. And I was glued to the screen for every episode. Especially when Kushida's lore started, that was an 11/10 episode. Kushida is a monster created by the expectations everyone had towards her. She went insane trying to be perfect and liked. But in reality, it made her a bipolar toxic individual. Hooked on attention and praise, she poisoned herself. And once it became too much and crushed her completely, she revealed it to everyone. Turning her 'fake' friends into weapons against her. Ryuen was very close to identifying the mastermind, which was absolutelyterrifying as a viewer. But, you know, the goat is always five steps ahead. Kei sacrificing herself and breaking down was a heartbreaking moment. But her trust in Kyotaka has kept her in check. And so, the curtain rises on the mastermind: Ayanokoji Kyotaka, the "perfect human" with no connection or emotions towards others. After defeating Ryuen, he met him. And if I understand correctly, he even played with him. This guy is a remarkable beast. "Can I change? When can I look at people without using them as tools?" And so, the curtain rises again on a new tale. How does the principal's daughter know about the white room? And how does she think she can challenge and defeat the one in control? Final thoughts: This season was much more complex, entertaining, and interesting than before. The mind games are more visible, making it accessible even for those who may not be as sharp. However, there are some elements that remain in the shadows until the end. Definitely better than the first season, for sure. Even though it's a bit more "in your face," there were still secrets kept until the end of the season. And the reveals in the last three episodes were mind-bending. One of my favorite moments, other than the ending, was how Ayanokoji played with Kushida. When Suzune set up a game to defeat her, Kushida thought she had the upper hand. The twist with the exam papers left me speechless. Kushida believed she could outsmart the one in control. Conclusion: I will definitely read the novel; I've heard they butchered it in the anime. If the anime was this good, I can't even imagine how great the novel must be. I am eagerly awaiting Season 3.

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e (You-Zitsu) a.k.a Classroom of the Elite, is literally one sweet-ass heck of a LN written by Shougo Kinugasa that even 3 years after the 1st Year ended, it's still the cult classic that has cemented amongst readers as one of (if not) the GOAT LNs ever written thanks to its typical school premise, but involving high stakes of a psychological brain-inducing mess that when all comes together, makes for one masterpiece source material worthy of a read. Say what you will about Season 1, but I LOVE this show when it aired exactly 5 years ago in Summer2017, thinking that as a newcomer into seasonal anime (back when Re:Zero had already finished airing, that single-handedly brought me back to anime), I would experience something very new and unique. And while You-Zitsu does deliver just that, even with LN readers lambasting the heck outta how both directors Seiji Kishi and Hiroyuki Hashimoto destroyed the anime adaptation by choosing to adapt later volumes in the literal 2nd half of Season 1, I still found it to be a great watch thanks in part to the GOAT character that is Kiyotaka Ayanokouji (literally Best Boy)'s way of circumventing through all of the psychological rules that Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School has to offer, Lerche's great animation (that back then was unlike anything I've ever seen before) and most certainly ZAQ's OP "Caste Room" which is still to this day, the perfect complement and a GOAT banger of a song (easily one of (if not) the best OP of the season at the time, together with Made In Abyss's OP). Of course, without the prior information that the anime heavily butchered the LN and as an anime-only at the time, I wished there was more to see of Ayanokouji's further psychological exploits. And lo and behold, in the beginning of this year, it was announced that You-Zitsu is coming back in the Maou Gakuin fashion of not just Season 2, but also Season 3 as well, that's set to complete the entirety of the 1st Year arc. Well...how much we have grown over 5 years to finally get a shot to roast and ridicule the anime adaptation more than just being long and much-awaited sequels. TL;DR: The production staff team NEVER learnt anything about Season 1's pitfalls and proceeds to ham the anime down even further. Season 2's continuation onto the adaptation of Volumes 4 (adapting the remainder) to 7, Ayanokouji, Horikita and the rest of Class 1-D evolves from test to test, most specifically Volume 4's VIP brain game, Volumes 5 and 6's sports festival, Volume 6's final exam, and to conclude with the biggest event of all: Ayanokouji vs. Kakeru Ryuen, the infamous head honcho-cum-hooligan of Class 1-C in Volume 7. Everyone has remained the exact same, though at the test level with the incorporation of non-important side characters that only add more fuel to the fire. Sure, like Season 1, those tests' rules are complicated as hell and don't give the audience enough time to take in what's happening only to then lose the plot altogether, but don't give the crap excuse that it can't be done due to time constraints (which they can only do so much in 20 mins, exclude OP and ED). To make matters worse, it's not a bad thing that the rest of the character cast stays the same and delivers on their aspects, but somehow the interpretation seems even worse than what I remember, despite having the same VA cast, to the point of being void characters with monotone personality (the worst offender being Ayanokouji himself, his voice seems darker and more bass now). Shougo Kinugasa's story plot is already amazing on its own, but now realizing the pain that plot pointers are even more lost in translation, it just derives the fact that the anime as a whole, even for Season 3 next year, is the "so good, it's bad" inferior version as a whole, with the manga version being the absolute worst. The absolute sin of You-Zitsu's anime adaptation will always lie in the production team. Despite both Seiji Kishi and Hiroyuki Hashimoto still within the team as chief directors, they got someone else instead to do their favour: Lerche's in-house director Yoshihito Nishoji, who directed the abomination of an SAO rip-off that is Shichisei no Subaru, and a fair few assistant directorial roles involving in Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun and Gyakuten Sekai no Denchi Shoujo. Needless to say, both chief directors were looking for another scapegoat because deep in their hearts, they knew that You-Zitsu's hardcore fans have thoroughly denounced the anime adaptation outright since its initial release. And the purpose of bringing it back 5 years later just to say "Oh, so yeah...eff it, we're going for quantity over quality by covering more material than our work would allow. And with some new staff members, hopefully our inequalities aren't just covered by us alone." HELLO??? Who do you think we are? Are anime fans to you, stupid and/or idiotic enough to not realize this? We are more knowledgeable and can sniff out your BS, y'know. It's unsurprising to say that Lerche didn't put an effort into Season 2, NONE AT ALL. Everything just looks drabber, even the darker undertones which are more than just "brightness" complaints of the audience not being able to properly see what's going on (especially during the cruise underbelly segments). Along with its fans, I should expect better given the gap of 5 years between Season 1 and now, but with the announcement that foreshadows the Maou Gakuin multi-season format, it's obscenely clear that production took a big hit, and at the very least, this move was definitely a mistake without healthy production schedules. The OST feels just right about at home, except for the OP and ED which I'm thinking: "How are you gonna top 2 brilliant songs that at the time, were bangers in their own right?" And I'm right to speculate that ZAQ would most probably come back for another OP, which don't get me wrong, "Dance In The Game" is a good OP, but it fits more akin to something like Kakegurui instead. And don't get started on the OP visuals, which are notches down as well for having song lyrics pop up on screen (Yofukashi no Uta did this as well, but at least it has creativity as a backup) and nothing more with imagery for what's about to come for the season. A nice foreshadowing, but ultimately an awful lazy effort. The exact same goes with Mai Fuchigami's ED...and nothing else to say about that. At this point, while You-Zitsu fans have completely given up on its anime adaptation, anime-onlys will most certainly have mixed receptions about the sequel and beyond into Season 3 next year, with no more hopes left that Shougo Kinugasa's work would ever be adapted to perfection. At least to me, right now, I'll see through it all with Season 3 to come and finish the remainder of the LN's 1st Year arc, but the original LN will always be the superior version, no qualms at all. TL;DR: Masterpiece story, worse-than-subpar animation, go read the LN.

(Reposted because MAL can't tell Non-Preliminary reviews from Prelim ones) Tens of thousands of years ago, an underwater volcano poked its head out from the ocean for the first time. As the volcano erupted over and over, the lava cooled to create swaths of basalt, and the volcanic ash and fallout gradually condensed to form tuff. Birds, weary of the long flight over the ocean, used the island as a resting spot and brought plant seeds along. The island grew rich in foliage and fledglings, and one day, a small community of traveling humans set foot. Cut off from the rest of the world, they developedtheir own culture and religion, carving massive stone statues out from the tuff. These statues depicted a stoic, emotionless head, and their purpose is unknown, but the current consensus is that they served as symbols of power and authority. Hundreds of years passed on this island, and generations came and went. But the status quo could not last forever. One day, outsiders invaded the island, saw the statues, and took them to the great big world. Outsiders, fascinated by this puzzling sculpture, deemed it a curiosity and showcased them in museums. And sometime, somewhere, and for some reason, a Japanese passerby saw one of these historical legacies and thought, "Wouldn't it be amazing if the main character for our popular upcoming anime had a face that permanently looked like this cool rock?" And thus Lerche presents Classroom of the Elite II to the world! Starring our favorite moai Ayanokoji and his harem of calcite cutouts, it has everything you could possibly expect in a garbage anime. Ayanokoji is your everyday hyper-gigachad high-schooler, capable of beating up all the baddies, wooing all the girls by simply existing, and showing everyone around him who’s the biggest alpha in town with his sheer intellect. I kid you not: I literally saw a YouTube video titled “How to be emotionless like Ayanokoji” the other day with tens of thousands of views. How does one possibly watch someone manipulate everyone around him and conceal everything with lies and end up thinking “Damn, I wanna be like him when I grow up” or something? This show feeds on those with an immature mindset: that they can get anything they want as long as they can know or control everything. Reality check: you can’t. Escapism is fun and all, but it should not be confused with reality. Everything else is not that great either. The story is jarringly rushed, and plenty of important details are missing. Characters exist for the sole purpose of existing, never developing in any shape or form, just patching their problems with shoddy solutions that are convenient beyond practicality. Character designs are awfully plain. The music seems like it was created in pre-production instead of post-production. Ayanokoji’s presence blocks out all emotional outlets of the show. Pacing is consistent(ly bad). This anime is basically a power-fantasy in a school setting, with nothing interesting besides the premise. Come to think of it, what is Ayanokoji even trying to do? What message does the show try to say? What makes this even remotely worth watching? For me, the answer for all these is “nothing”. I’m sure some smart aleck can explain the hidden reasoning behind everything and anything in this show, but I can’t be bothered trying to squeeze water from an obviously dry stone. Classroom of the Elite II is just another waste of time better spent elsewhere.

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