Classroom of the Elite II

Episode 13

And thus the second season of Classroom of the Elite ends with my favorite kind of final episode. I feel that anime all too often end on the climax and relegate the falling action/epilogue to the ending credits scroll (if they even get that). This tends to rob the climax of its impact by skipping over any and all fallout for both the characters and the story. As such, anime that are willing to spend the entirety of their final episode showing the fallout while tying up loose ends and setting up what happens next get some serious brownie points in my book.

As for the direct consequences of the events from the previous episode, Ryuen is a broken man. He has completely lost his will to fight—to the point where he is ready to be kicked out of school—because he knows he can't win against Ayanokoji. Nothing his former lackies say can get him to change his mind. The fear has been put into him and there's no going back. Though, that's not to say Ayanokoji won't have uses for him in the future.

The rest of the episode is spent on the big hanging plot point to come out of the mid-season climax: a girl has a crush on Ayanokoji, and she is willing to act on it. In contrast to the constant intrigue surrounding our heroes, it seems that Sato really is just as she appears—a girl who thought Ayanokoji was cool in the sports festival and wants to date him. She not only asks him out (on Christmas Day), but asks for Karuizawa to be her wingman for the date.

This situation, while lighthearted compared to all that has come before, teaches us a bit more about Ayanokoji and Karuizawa and how their experiences have changed them. Karuizawa, for one, fully realizes she is falling in love with Ayanokoji. However, what's interesting is that, unlike Sato or Sakura, she has come to see him for the person he actually is rather than who he pretends to be. She fully accepts that he has been both her tormentor and savior—and that he sees all people (including her) as nothing more than tools to be used. She knows that he can't love her, and she is okay with just being his confidant and companion.

As for Ayanokoji himself, the date shows that, despite his constant mind games, he can be surprisingly honest at times. When Sato confesses her feelings for him, he tells her the unvarnished truth: that not only does he not have feelings for her, but also that he has never had feelings for anyone. And while she may take it as him making an excuse to try and spare her some pain, we know that it is anything but.

Once again, Ayanokoji's internal monologue closes out the season. In the first season, it serves to reveal that Ayanokoji was a psychopath—that he had no feelings of friendship or empathy towards Horikita. This season's monologue shows that everything he did involving Ryuen and Karuizawa was to make the latter fully dependent on him and secure her unwavering loyalty. Yet rather than simply reinforcing his psychopathic nature, this monologue ends by casting some doubts on it. After all, if a situation can arise to make Ryuen give into fear, perhaps one can arise to make Ayanokoji feel empathy. I mean, from what we have seen, he wasn't born a psychopath but was rather conditioned into being one. It simply remains to be seen how his time at the school will change him—or if it even can.

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• The idea that Ayanokoji's way of honoring his promise to get Hirokita on the student council was simply to say her brother wanted her to join and then had her call him for confirmation got a laugh out of me.

• I wonder who will fill the Class-C power vacuum now that Ryuen isn't ruling it with an iron fist.

• What did Ryuen have on Ibuki that made her loathe him but also be so loyal that she tries to convince him to not give up?

• I wonder if Ayanokoji is right in thinking that the punishment for having a class member expelled is simply that that class drops in rank. It's dangerous to go ahead with getting rid of Kushida when you don't know for sure what will happen.

• We've gotten some hints throughout the series, but it was nice to confirm that the Class-A president knows Ayanokoji's back story.

• It is also a great hook for next season—especially since Ayanokoji's own actions on both the island and boat have solidified Sakayanagi's power over Class-A.

Classroom of the Elite II is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.