The following contains spoilers for Season 2, Episode 1 of Classroom of the Elite, now streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.
After five long years, Classroom of the Elite has finally returned for a second season following prodigal genius Ayanokoji Kiyotaka as he navigates (manipulates) Class 1-D of Advanced Nurturing High School. As ANHS’ cruise continued into Season 2, the premiere wasted no time throwing the students into another complex Special Test with 500,000 Private Points (students’ in-school currency) and 50 Class Points (for class-rank advancement) on the line.
Ayanokoji doesn't seem worried about the difficulty of this test but, hopefully, it’ll be enough of an ordeal that the audience might get to learn more about the series’ mysterious protagonist.
Where Did Classroom of the Elite Leave Off?
Season 1 of Classroom of the Elite saw Ayanokoji use his unparalleled intellect to lead Class 1-D to its first major victory in the ultra-competitive academy while seemingly making a friend or two along the way. Ayanokoji appeared to grow especially semi-close with his classmate Horikita Suzune, as the aloof girl admitted in the finale that she could accept him as her ally after he let her take the credit for his masterful manipulation of the Island Special Test -- an enormous win for Class 1-D.
However, the end of Season 1's finale revealed in a dark inner monologue that none of these people mean anything to Ayanokoji -- even Horikita -- and that people are only tools to be used to achieve victory, and he'll do whatever he must to keep his freedom.
The Rules of Season 2’s Special Test, Explained As Simply As Possible
Just as the students settled in for some R&R after Season 1’s Island Special Test, it was announced that a new Special Test was imminent. Each student received an email containing various times and places they were to arrive for a meeting, and tardiness was discouraged. The students will be divided into eight groups, each named after a different planet and whose members aren't known to students in other groups. Every group consists of students from all four classes, from 1-A to 1-D, for a total of 14 members per group.
The Special Test will last four days, with the third being a rest day. The school will secretly assign one member of each group the title of VIP and twice per day, the groups will meet amongst themselves to try to figure out the VIP's identity. After six discussions, the group will submit their individual guesses as to the VIP's identity, but the VIP isn't allowed to guess, and guesses from students who are in the same class as the VIP don’t count. For example, if someone from Class 1-D guesses correctly that the VIP is someone also from Class 1-D, the guess is invalid. This Special Test is an isolated project inside each group, meaning that the eight groups are not competing against one another.
The four outcomes of the Special Test are referred to as Cases 1-4. In Case 1, if everyone (except the VIP and anyone in their Class) correctly guesses the VIP’s identity, each member gets 500,000 Private Points and the VIP gets an extra 500,000. Case 2 is when at least one person – other than the VIP and their Classmates – guesses incorrectly, which lands the VIP 500,000 PP and no one else gets anything.
In Case 3, if someone who isn’t from the VIP’s Class correctly guesses the VIP’s identity before the Day 4 deadline, that student’s Class receives 50 Class Points, the one who guessed correctly gets 500,000 PP, and that group's test ends. Case 4 is when someone submits an incorrect guess before the Day 4 deadline, which means that person’s Class loses 50 CP, the VIP gets 500,000 PP while their class gets 50 CP, and the test ends.
Classroom of the Elite’s Special Test Is Underway
As always, Ayanokoji intends to manipulate his way to victory. Once he’d learned the rules of the Special Test, he commented that processing how he suspects others will act so he can influence them sounds annoying – meaning this complex test is still not overly challenging for him, just mildly tedious. On the morning when the private emails informing the VIPs of their status were to be sent, Ayanokoji sat with Horikita as they awaited the email and discussed how they could use this Special Test for their goal of getting Horikita into Class 1-A.
Ayanokoji offered to help Horikita -- even though they are in separate groups and helping one another is of no benefit to the test. However, it’s hard to take anything he says at face value after he privately acknowledged that he doesn’t consider anyone, even Horikita, an ally because he only sees people as a means to his own ends. There’s a mysterious group of people looking to recapture the equally mysterious Ayanokoji for unknown reasons, and the emotionless genius is only interested in maintaining the freedom that attending ANHS provides him.
Predictably, there was friction in Ayanokoji’s group -- the Class 1-A members decided that not participating in the discussions was the safest, clearest path to benefiting from the Special Test. Ayanokoji noted that they may have ulterior motives and could still be seeking to screw over the other Classes as 1-A is wont to do, but he can’t exactly argue with their logic at this juncture. The Special Test is barely through Day 1 and Ayanokoji has already told Horikita that he’s come up with several preliminary paths to victory, so one can only imagine what diabolical puppet-mastery he will get up to this time around as Classroom of the Elite continues.