‘Classroom Of The Elite’ Season 2 Release Date: ‘Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e’ Manga, Light Novel, Anime Spoilers

The Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 release date is going to be a good time for fans rooting for Class 1-D and Kiyotaka Ayanokoji to take over Advanced Nurturing High School. Classroom Of The Elite Episode 12 ended in a big win, but the class has a long ways to go before they can completely topple the kings of the classroom.

Known as You-Zitsu or just Youkoso Jitsuryoku by some fans, the Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e light novel series by author Shougo Kinugasa and illustrator Shunsaku Tomose began life in 2015. The books are up to Youkoso Jitsuryoku Volume 6 as of this article’s publishing, with Volume 7 set for release in Japan on October 25, 2017. The release date for Volume 8 has yet to be announced.

The Classroom Of The Elite light novel was also adapted into a Youkoso Jitsuryoku manga series in January of 2016. Written by Syohgo Kinugasa and illustrated by Yuyu Ichino, the manga is up to Volume 4.

At this time, neither the You-Zitsu manga or the light novel series have been licensed for an English translation. There are fan translation projects, but the anime’s story has already surpassed the available chapters. Funimation has already been releasing the Youkoso Jitsuryoku English dub episodes.

Classroom Of The Elite Manga/Light Novel Enough Source Material For A Second Season Of You-Zitsu?

This season has seen some anime burn through the source material faster than necessary. Knight’s & Magic was almost a special case since it summarized an entire light novel volume in one episode, but Classroom Of The Elite does a better job of providing a reasonable pacing. Episode 7 was filler content designed to provide fan service, but it was based on Volume 4 of the light novels and changed many significant details (see spoilers below for more information).

Fans of the books otherwise agree that the light novels cover most of the important events. It’s the characterization that’s quite different, so many fans recommend reading the books from the start.

The ending of Youkoso Jitsuryoku Episode 12 corresponded to the end of the third light novel. That’s good news because there’s more than enough source material for another single-cour season to be released in 2018. However, the story of the manga is significantly behind even the anime.

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 2 Release Date

As of this publishing, anime production company Lerche has not announced anything official about the Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 release date, although this article will be updated as soon as the anime sequel’s premiere is confirmed. However, there can be reasonable speculation about when, or if, the Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 2 air date may occur.

The anime was the most popular Crunchyroll series back in August and sales of the light novels spiked from July through September. The series had already exceeded 1 million sales by the second half of 2017, but the August reprint of all six volumes reached the top 30 on the Oricon charts for Japanese sales. By September 3, 2017, the first book was ranked 19 and sold 101,205 copies, with the entire reprint quickly closing in on half a million in sales. That means the combined total of all books sold is around 1.5 million.

Studio Lerche is known for producing second seasons of anime. For example, they finished the popular Assassination Classroom and Danganronpa anime (although Assassination Classroom is arguably a special case since all of the related sales in Japan generated 4.2 billion yen in 2016). As for upcoming projects, Lerche is releasing Konohana Kitan and Kino’s Journey in October of 2017. They’re also planning on adapting the Hakumei to Mikochi manga. No other anime projects have yet been announced for 2018.

If the anime series continues to be popular, then it seems likely that Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 2 will happen. Fans will just have to hope the Blu-Ray sales and streaming rights revenue justify making it a quick turnaround.

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Season 2 Spoilers

[Warning: This section of the article contains anime spoilers for Episode 12 and Volumes 4 through 6.]

In the anime finale, audiences found out that Class C’s leader, Kakeru Ryuuen, made a deal with Class A to hide all of the students inside the cave after pretending to return to the cruise ship. He also sent another spy to Class B. The goal was to learn the identities of the class leaders so they could get even more bonus points.

Ayanokoji pulled off quite the coup by orchestrating both the manual fire and the underwear theft so he could quietly move in the background. He knew that Mio Ibuki of Class C was a spy after he discovered she had a camera and a communications device, although the way he hesitated when they first met indicated that he suspected from the beginning. Because of Ayanokoji’s machinations, Ibuki was forced to steal the card from Suzune Horikita to learn the identity of Class D’s leader.

But what the conspirators did not count on was how Class D legitimately changed the leader because Horikita was sick. In the end, Ayanokoji managed to fool both Class A and C into guessing the wrong leader for Class D, defeating both classes and dropping them to the bottom rankings at the same time.

In Volume 4, the next part of the summer vacation shifts the testing to a new type of warfare between students. This time their minds will be put to the test. All of the students in classes A through D are divided up into 12 groups based on the zodiac signs.

The relationships between Ayanokoji and his female classmates are where the anime diverged the most from the source material. The blonde-haired Kei Karuizawa had student class representative Yosuke Hirata as a “boyfriend” in the anime but it turns out they were just pretending to be in a relationship in order to avoid bullying. What’s more, she begins to develop feelings for Ayanokoji and this character development begins in Volume 4.5.

Some Japanese fans were upset with the anime adaptation because Karuizawa was replaced with Horikita in Episode 7. The light novel did have a swimming pool scene but the cringe-worthy speech by Horikita and the details of the attempted spying on the girl’s bathroom was all unique to the story. Worse, the anime removed a heartfelt talk between Ayanokouji and Karuizawa that is crucial for character progression.

In the original story, the boys drove a remote control car through the air ducts into the girls changing room. Ayanokouji told Karuizawa and she swapped out the camera’s memory cards. He then invites her to go swimming and that’s when she opens up.

Karuizawa wants to know if Ayanokouji is faking his personality or if he’s being sincere. She tells him about her history of being bullied in previous schools and how no one cared. He tells her that if someone attempts to harm her now then he would help her.

Later on, Ayanokouji admits to Karuizawa that he plans on getting people expelled during the future exams, an idea which he has not admitted to anyone else. This admission causes her to question his past and when he claims there’s nothing to say she calls him a liar. She even goes so far as to claim that his blank eyes are that of a killer, which he says is way too dramatic. Despite the seriousness of the discussion, their time at the swimming pool ends in a playful moment that makes her smile.

Will Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 2 have Karuizawa and Ayanokoji develop this close relationship? It’s possible the anime adaptation could have the same character progression without a swimming pool being involved. It just depends on whether Studio Lerche intends on making Horikita the focus regardless of how the light novel was written.

Volume 5 focuses on a sports festival story arc that’s at the end of summer vacation. Once more, the classes are forced to work together, with Class D and A competing against Class B and C. The troublesome yet athletic Ken Sudou becomes the trump card for Class D and Horikita manages to stir up trouble. There’s also yet another traitor lurking in the shadows.

Volume 6 is where Ayanokoji really starts to hit it off with the ladies after gaining notoriety during the sports festival. Classmate Maya Satou confesses to him by asking him if he was dating anyone and whether he’d like to exchange cell phone numbers. It’s also in this book that Ayanokoji’s relationship with Karuizawa develops further.

Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 2 will probably find an ending at this point because of the dreaded final exams. The complicated system often makes students drop out of school every year and Ayanokouji has big plans for the special exams. Anime audiences will just have to wait until the Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 release date to find out what happens!

[Featured Image by Studio Lerche/Classroom Of The Elite Anime TV Promo]