Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. Winter break has come and gone for a lot of people and now they’re back in the classroom learning whatever they can. In the Classroom of the Elite however, things are never what they seem. After a successful second season, interest in Classroom of the Elite was restored and Lerche rode the wave and announced a third season. Released in 2024 just two years after the second season, the third season would cover the final semester of the first year. Let’s keep our therapists employed. This is Classroom of the Elite S3.
Opening and Ending Theme
The opening is “Minor Piece” by ZAQ who once again deliver a good opening. Once again the song captures the mind games the characters are playing against each other as well as the dance they’re performing. The characters who were once quiet and worked behind the scenes are finally getting noticed and won’t be able to hide from much longer. Out of the three openings the first one is still my favorite but this one is a strong second.
The ending is “The Great Revolution of this World” by Yui Ninomiya. Hands down my favorite ending of the series so far. I like the way it opens and how upbeat it is. The speed of this song is just perfect. Like the ballet of someone chasing the person they love and working as hard they can to reach them and get their attention the only way they know how.
Episodes 1-5
The season begins with us on the road as the newly dubbed class C is heading to the mountains for a special mixed training camp. The class will be spending the whole week in the mountains interacting with students they don’t normally interact with. These students include upperclassmen and there will be four tests they’ll be graded on as a group. Once they arrive we see Nagumo, the new student council president challenge Manabu to a duel to see who can get the most points during this exam (it’s a power move. He wants to humiliate Manabu in front of everyone). Kiyotaka’s group is full of ruffians and people who don’t trust each other (hey, this is a high school trip). Suzune tries to earn Kushida’s trust swearing she won’t tell anyone about her past, but Kushida isn’t biting saying that they’ll only be friends if one of them leaves the school (or buried six feet under). We see that a majority of what they do is monk training (there’s cleaning, running, meditation, and they have no cellphones. This is essentially monk training). As the trip goes on we see Kiyotaka get summoned by Manabu who calls in that favor he owes him from last season. He wants Kiyotaka’s help in taking down Nagumo who has completely taken over the second years and wants to change the traditions of the school which will lead to multiple expulsions next year if he gets his way.
Episode 2 starts off in the mountains with Kiyotaka and Koenji. Koenji reveals that he knows Kiyotaka’s true nature but says he has no intention of exposing him or following anyone (scene here: https://youtu.be/NZ8HgdJdisc?si=C-V3RR23K1P_3NkV). He will live as freely as he wants but won’t screw over the class (how do you explain the island exam?). After this, Kiyotaka talks to a second-year girl about Nagumo and what he’s got on the second years. From there not much really happens. In the second half the exam begins. The first three parts go well for Kiyotaka’s group, but the final part is where things get serious. It’s a marathon through the mountains (that actually sounds cool. I’m surprised they don’t do this more often) and this is where Kiyotaka’s team pulls together and scores major points. They score enough points where none of them will get expelled and we see Manabu beat Nagumo, but Nagumo still gets one over on him. Nagumo’s true objective was to expel a girl named Tachibana who is loyal to Manabu. Nagumo used girls loyal to his faction to create a group specifically designed to fail and take Tachibana down. Tachibana knew this but didn’t tell Manabu because she didn’t want to be a burden to him (yeah, well look how that turned out? You made him look bad). In order to save Tachibana, Manabu uses a lot of saved up points from the class (20 million) to get her expulsion cancelled dealing a heavy blow to his class.
Nothing much happens in episode 3. Arisu, the leader of class 1-A is targeting Honami in the hopes of destroying her. Arisu has been spreading nasty rumors about her and Honami ignores them (this is a method that could work against you or for you). Suzune wants to help her out, but Kiyotaka says no (let them roast each other alive). Even Honami says not to get involved saying she’ll handle it herself (see, there you go, https://youtu.be/wo7KygCC2Rg?si=zpdeD_6pWDWZiGy7). Despite this everyone keeps asking Kiyotaka to get involved and after talking to a girl from class A he may not have a choice (you know for an elite school there sure are a lot of troublemakers and drama going on. Even by public school standards).
Episodes 4-5 gives us the Honami story as the powers that be seem to be making moves (as usual it’s hard to describe, it’s better to see it). One thing we do know is that Honami is a thief. She grew up in a poor household with a single mom and sister. Her sister wanted this special hairpin that was very expensive for her birthday. It was the first time she ever asked for anything and Honami wanting to be a good sister stole the hairpin. Her mom was pissed and devastated and had her return the hairpin where no charges were pressed against her. Honami fell into depression over what she did, but her mom encouraged her not to give up on school and have a fun school life. Whatever doubts her class had are washed away and they rally behind her. Arisu backs off when the teachers finally step in and say that anymore false rumors will result in punishment. In the end, she got what she wanted, seeing how Kiyotaka would react in this situation and she wasn’t disappointed. Neither was Kiyotaka as he used this opportunity to test out Kushida as his informant and she passed (scene here: https://youtu.be/BL-JQrpwWS4?si=K-ONZoM_gZcR5KTr).
Episodes 6-9
At the start of episode 6 we find out that everyone passed their final exams and no one will get expelled. It’s the first time in the school’s history that everyone has passed and the administration doesn’t like it. The class gets told they’re going to be doing a special exam, which is a class vote. The students will evaluate each other and select three classmates they think are worthy of praise and disapproval. The student with the most positive votes will receive a protection point, which will protect them from expulsion. The lowest-placed student, however, will be expelled, and the protection point can’t be transferred. Everyone tries to find a loophole, but there isn’t any (aside from using a truckload of points that they don’t have). Someone from each class is going to get expelled and they’re the ones pulling the trigger. As everyone forms groups, we see Suzune try and fail to punk out Ryuen (scene here: https://youtu.be/UL45niG1Jhw?si=hgK7ve3jKTnw8tkf) and Honami uses this exam as an excuse to talk to Kiyotaka because she’s fallen for him. However, Nagumo also has his sight set on Honami and is forcing her to be his woman to protect her classmates. Honami knows she needs at least 20 million points to stop expulsion and unfortunately, her class doesn’t have that many points so she went to Nagumo and this was his condition (scum).
In episodes 7-8 we see the air is tense with the final test as everyone tries to keep a low profile and form cliqs to protect each other. Some of the students try to find a loophole and protect everyone but aside from the 20 million points there isn’t one (like I said you’ve got to pull the trigger. Go Old Yeller on someone). Kiyotaka talks to Honami and gets her to stop kissing Nagumo’s ass (you’re better than this) and we find out from Kushida someone is trying to get Kiyotaka expelled from the class (really!? You’re trying to get him expelled? You saw the guy almost be the former president and you want to get rid of them?). The student behind this is Yamauchi who seems to be working for Arisu (expel his ass? He’s a traitor). After finally talking to her brother and getting some encouragement from him, Suzune addresses the class and says they should expel Yamauchi (scene here: https://youtu.be/rgqXWZX_dyI?si=PyltiyeQzBRMdMqX, I second that notion). She exposes his ploy at trying to expel Kiyotaka and the fact that he’s been working as Arisu’s errand boy. This manages to turn everyone against him except for Hirata who for the first time is mad and is against voting out anyone but has no other solutions to offer (then sit down and shut up. Unless you can offer a solution where everybody wins we’re going with Suzune’s plan. I have no sympathy for a traitor, and you need to learn that in life you’ll be forced to make sacrifices). On the day of the exam, Kiyotaka surprisingly wins the top vote and receives the protection point. Meanwhile, Yamauchi receives the lowest vote and gets expelled (scene here: https://youtu.be/bhQbga1uxpw?si=_9WQQwKx68RSR7bS, so long traitor). As for the other classes, Ryuen avoided expulsion and no one from Honami’s class got expelled at all, thanks to Kiyotaka. So what did he do? He made a deal with Ryuen’s lackeys for them to give Honami all their extra points (including the ones Ryuen gave them) and in exchange class B would give their positive votes to Ryuen thus saving him from expulsion. In one move, Kiyotaka protected his pawn, harem member, exposed a new side of Hirata, helped Suzune face her brother and take step toward becoming the leader she can be, and even put Kushida in check. And now he can focus on Arisu.
Episode 9 starts with the class sitting in complete silence as nobody knows what to do next (why, we got rid of the traitor. This is a cause for celebration. Fuck him). Kiyotaka talks with Arisu where she reveals that she used Class A’s votes to protect him as she wants to defeat him personally. As for why she chose Yamauchi, it was because he accidentally tripped her during the school trip to the mountains (okay wow, you’re a sociopath). They then get approached by Tsukishiro, the new chairman of the school and he straight up assaults them (how does this school have so many rules yet no rules at all). He trips Arisu (I’m sure she deserves it) and throws Kiyotaka to the wall (now kabedon him) to deliver a message from his dad. He’s done playing games and wants Kiyotaka to return immediately (tell him I said go to Hell and kiss Satan’s ass). Kiyotaka refuses and Tsukishiro takes his leave, saying that his role will be official come April (scene here: https://youtu.be/JV_LoK9bh48?si=n0U9STTDyvuqOze-). Kiyotaka and Arisu decide to use the final exam of the year to settle their battle, which is the paper shuffle again, only with a few tweaks. This time they’ll be choosing the subjects that they’ll be tested on and they have to appoint a team captain who can’t participate in the subjects the class chooses but is free game for the other subjects. Finally, should the class fail the captain gets expelled. Knowing that the class is suspicious of him, Kiyotaka volunteers to be the captain in order to earn their trust and since he has the protection point he’ll be safe if they fail. Class C will be taking on class A in the exam and we see Hirata continue to unleash his dark side as he distances himself from the rest of the class (well, he’s gonna be useless this exam). As the stage is being set for the exam, Kiyotaka buys Kei a necklace for her birthday (I think he likes her) and gets with Manabu about girlfriends and Suzune.
Episodes 10-13
Not much happens in episode 10. Kiyotaka finally talks to Hirata and tells him he was the one who got Yamauchi expelled from the school (scene here: https://youtu.be/lljDtagq5VU?si=yoNYAkMnl134KUjT). This allows Hirata to make up with the class and they all prepare for the class battles.
Episode 11 gives us the class battles (scene here: https://youtu.be/C5Cj24zQdiU?si=948lur0_swAQl-cn). But who cares about that, all we care about is Kiyotaka vs Arisu who have their chess battle through their classmates. As the two do battle we find out that Arisu knew Kiyotaka as a child. The whole White Room was designed to raise children to be geniuses by removing everything that was considered unnecessary (emotions, friends, a social life). Kiyotaka was the top dog as he excelled at every test and experiment. Arisu visited the facility as a child where she saw Kiyotaka and fell for him (damn, he’s got a girl in every class). Yep, Arisu is secretly in love with Kiyotaka and arranged this whole duel just to spend time with him (https://youtu.be/HUsk12N_mik?si=CVaG2IBGdNZqx2to). In fact, she mastered chess just to be able to face him and even in the light novel it was said she was so excited for their duel that she almost overslept and missed the exam (well out of all the girls gunning for him I say she’s the thirstiest and most psychotic. Seriously, she planned the downfall of a student just to get his attention). The chess game begins with Arisu enjoying every minute of it and wishing this moment could last forever (scene here: https://youtu.be/SFoSOLRohVM?si=25jyDVxzPVWpYJM5) but it unfortunately ends with her beating Kiyotaka through outside interference. It turns out Tsukihiro altered the computer screens and sent Suzune the wrong instructions which led to class C losing. Arisu is not happy about this (the greatest moment of her life tainted). After the credits we do see the two have a private chess match against each other where Kiyotaka wins and Arisu is satisfied with these results. Kiyotaka is also satisfied saying that he went all out and that if they played 10 games it would be five wins each.
So in episode 12 we start with the graduation ceremony as the third years are leaving (https://youtu.be/i57mDFPEtZc?si=jZD8oijy62NX0LyZ). After that, we find out that the class has been demoted back to D for losing (we were cheated!). After this not much really happens. We see Kiyotaka talk to Arisu’s dad and form an alliance with Arisu, his homeroom teacher, and another teacher to get rid of Tsukihiro. On Manabu’s last day at the school, Suzune meets him where she cut her hair (she’s such a brocon) and they hug while saying goodbye to each other (scene here: https://youtu.be/tSlpovmAVR8?si=omtrPeJkiMX9MsRa).
In the final episode, people are challenging Kiyotaka and he’s accepting them (https://youtu.be/ukcS4udjp90?si=z3cx9MTDSubMTRq2&t=5). Tsukihiro tells him a student from the White Room is coming to the school and if Kiyotaka can find him by the end of April he’ll withdraw from the school. Suzune wants Kiyotaka to unleash his full power to help the class so she challenges him on the next written exam and if he wins Suzune has to join the student council. Ryuen wants a rematch but at his current level he knows he’s no match for Kiyotaka (scene here: https://youtu.be/2nCVdDuvQrs?si=2QqCAPGnpvDa-pvG). Finally, Kei and Kiyotaka become a couple after confessing to each other (scene here: https://youtu.be/3HohAFWQb1c?si=d1LAcrRQAGFDNdpx).
Final Thoughts
And that was the third season of Classroom of the Elite. While I enjoyed the second season more I will say this season had it enjoyable moments. At this point, you know what you’re getting yourself into. Some big brain moments, shocking secrets revealed, and long minutes of explanation that’s hard to follow at times. The long minutes of explanation are the parts I dislike, but I do like how the season dives into more characters and their backstory. Seeing the secrets of these characters does help elevate them from just one-note side characters you didn’t care about to characters you want to see play a more active role in the class and story. Kiyotaka continues to shine here. The bigger moves he makes, the more he stands out in the school, and the bigger his harem becomes. The man’s not even trying to fish, and he’s pulling them in like nothing. Kei takes a backseat this season and Suzune takes her spot, where she finally stops trying to be like her brother and becomes her own person, taking on a leadership role in the class and pulling them together when everyone felt lost. While I didn’t care for Honami’s arc or the mountain arc I did enjoy the expulsion and Arisu’s arc and her history with Kiyotaka. She’s the only person who’s come the closest to besting Kiyotaka and I find it cute that she’s had a crush on him since they were just kids and arranged this whole duel just to spend time with him. The new chairman having it out for Kiyotaka is also interesting and I like how he doesn’t hide his goal or objective from Kiyotaka and goes after him from the get-go. The explusion arc did give us the most heart-pounding moment as Yamauchi thinks he’s won, only to have his victory snatched away and lose everything. His reaction and panic are perfect.
Final Score Final score for season 3 is a 6.5/10. Two arcs were good while two arcs were boring. I am excited for the next season, especially with everything they set up at the end. The first year was crazy so I can’t imagine what happens in the second year. Thanks for reading and I’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.