Classroom of the Elite 4th Season: Second Year, First Semester
Synopsis
As soon as Kiyotaka Ayanokouji and the rest of Class D officially enter their second year at Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School, they face their next special test: each second-year student will have to team up with a first-year student to take a written exam. Although the test seems simple enough, every pair must achieve a specific number of points to avoid a harsh penalty, raising the demand for academically proficient individuals. Without a break, Class D scouts for potential partners. However, Ayanokouji also faces a serious threat since the secret first-rate institution called White Room has enrolled another prodigy at the school to get him expelled. As Ayanokouji begins his masterful schemes once more, he must stay vigilant for new and old enemies alike. [Written by MAL Rewrite]
Audience Consensus
The audience is significantly divided on the quality of the fourth season, with a notable split between those who see it as a marked improvement and a step closer to the light novel's quality, and those who view it as a disappointing decline with poor writing, pacing, and character development. While some praise the new direction and animation, many critics lament the loss of the series' core psychological focus in favor of underdeveloped characters and predictable plotlines.
Strengths
- Improved pacing compared to previous seasons
- Enhanced fight choreography and fluid animation during action sequences
- Great opening and ending themes, solid OST
- More attention to newer characters like Hosen and Nanase
- Anime adaptation finally feels closer to the light novel's quality and pacing
Weaknesses
- Plot progression and character development suffer from an overly large cast
- Dialogue often explains intelligence rather than showing competence
- Pacing issues, with the story feeling dragged out or rushed in parts
- Ayanokouji's role feels sidelined in favor of other characters
- Animation and art style changes are divisive and disliked by some
- Shift from psychological battles to an overemphasis on violence
- New characters, particularly the White Room student, are poorly developed or uncompelling
- Plot twists are predictable
- Writing is considered robotic, amateurish, and illogical by some viewers
- The island exam rehashes previous concepts with little impact