Anime Profile: Classroom of the Elite

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Classroom of the Elite is set at the Advanced Nurturing High School, a prestigious government institution that promises its students near-total freedom and a guaranteed path to university or employment. The catch is hidden in the fine print: students are sorted into four ranked classes, A through D, and everything from privileges to spending money to status is decided by a ruthless, opaque points system that pits the classes against one another.

The story follows Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, a quiet, unremarkable-seeming boy assigned to the bottom-tier Class D. He appears content to coast through school in mediocrity, but beneath the bland exterior lies a calculating mind and a hidden past, and he gradually begins to steer his classmates through the school's psychological battles and social traps.

Equal parts mind game and character study, the series trades action for manipulation, misdirection, and the uncomfortable question of what "merit" really means. Based on the light novels by Shogo Kinugasa and animated by Lerche under director Seiji Kishi, it has continued across multiple seasons since 2017.