Classroom of the Elite

Kiyotaka Ayanokouji enrolls at the prestigious Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Academy, but is assigned to Class 1-D, where students with behavioral problems are housed. The school awards points equivalent to 100,000 yen per month and allows unusual freedom in classes, masking a more complex system.

Classroom of the Elite (2017-present) is a Japanese animated psychological school drama produced by Lerche and broadcast on AT-X, adapted from the light novel series and running across four seasons with 54 episodes. Shoya Chiba voices Kiyotaka Ayanokouji, a quietly brilliant transfer student who is placed in Class 1-D, a dumping ground for students with behavioral problems at the prestigious Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Academy. Suzune Horikita (voiced by Akari Kito), Kei Karuizawa (voiced by Ayana Taketatsu) and Yosuke Hirata (voiced by Ryota Osaka) round out the principal cast. The engine of the show is Ayanokouji's concealed ambition: he hides his true abilities while the school dangles monthly points worth 100,000 yen and unusually free classes, and every classroom exercise, exam and social alliance becomes a calculated contest of bargaining, bluffing and betrayal. Episodes are built around these point-driven trials and the shifting loyalties they expose. The school itself is a meritocracy with a hidden machinery, and the atmosphere is cold, tense and cutthroat, with simmering bullying and rivalry sitting beneath polished institutional surfaces. Fans of Death Note, Battle Royale and Liar Game will find resonance in its mind games and social hierarchy.

Audiences rate the series positively, praising its psychological mind games and the way its class-based survival system unfolds across seasons.

• Death Noteshared psychological school setting, strategic manipulation and social hierarchy as core engine
• Battle Royaleshared elite school competition, survival stakes and cutthroat social maneuvering
• Liar Gameshared mind game tone with calculated schemes and hidden agendas beneath a polished institution

Release Date

2017-07-12

Episode runtime

24 min

Rating

7.7 / 10 (867)

What is Classroom of the Elite about?

A gifted but enigmatic transfer student is placed in the school's lowest class, where he quietly plays a deadly game of status and strategy against a rigged meritocracy.

What is Classroom of the Elite like to watch?

Ember's analysis rates the pacing of Classroom of the Elite as measured, its intensity as moderate and its storytelling as layered.

Is Classroom of the Elite violent?

Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in Classroom of the Elite as mild.

What did critics think of Classroom of the Elite?

Audiences rate the series positively, praising its psychological mind games and the way its class-based survival system unfolds across seasons.

Which shows are like Classroom of the Elite?

Shows with a similar feel include Death Note, Battle Royale, and Liar Game.

How long is Classroom of the Elite?

Classroom of the Elite: 5 seasons, 54 episodes.

Is Classroom of the Elite still running?

Yes, Classroom of the Elite is still running.