TL;DR The Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 release date was delayed to Winter 2024 due to “various reasons”. Read more below for a much deeper dive!
The Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 release date is confirmed for January 2023, the Winter 2024 anime season.
The year of the Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Season 3 release date was initially confirmed for 2023 during a Kadokawa Anime Channel presentation on March 6, 2022.
Unfortunately, while at one time it seemed like the the third season would be handled like a split-cour anime season, the actual wait was much longer since the production was apparently greatly delayed by “various circumstances”.
Japanese voice actors Shouya Chiba (who plays Kiyotaka Ayanokouji) and Yurika Kubo (who plays Kikyou Kushida) attended the Kadokawa event, so they are confirmed to be reprising their roles in the anime sequel.
More importantly, the official Twitter account and the cast both confirmed during the presentation that the anime’s second season and COTE Season 3 will finish adapting the entire Classroom Of The Elite: Year 1 story arc of the light novel book series!
(Yes, that does mean no Classroom Of The Elite Season 4.)
The main staff making the Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 anime sequel hasn’t been confirmed. However, considering that the second season and COTE Season 3 are being produced back-to-back it’s unlikely that there will be any major changes.
The Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 anime TV series will be animated by returning Studio Lerche, which in recent times is best known for producing the Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun anime, Radiant anime (see our Radiant Season 3 anime story), the Astra Lost In Space anime, and the Asobi Asobase anime. In recent times, they also produced Rumble Garanndoll, Idoly Pride, and the Fate/Grand Carnival anime.
Season 1 directors Seiji Kishi and Iroyuki Hashimoto returned for the second season as chief directors. In addition, there was a new director, Yoshihito Nishouji.
Writer Hayato Kazano (Killing Bites) also returned to handle the series scripts for the second season after doing the episode scripts for the first season. Character designer Kazuaki Morita and composer Ryou Takahashi also returned. The composer was joined by Kana Hashiguchi.
The Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 OP (opening) and ED (ending) theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
The Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 OP was performed by singer ZAQ, while the ED “Human Theater” was performed by Mai Fuchigami. The title for the second season’s OP theme song music hasn’t been announced yet.
For the first season, the Classroom Of The Elite OP “Caste Room” was performed by ZAQ, while the ED “Beautiful Soldier” was performed by Minami.
The first season of the Classroom Of The Elite anime TV series was streaming on Crunchyroll and FUNimation back in Summer 2017. The finale, Classroom Of The Elite Season 1 Episode 12, was released on September 27, 2017.
The Classroom Of The Season 2 release date was on July 4, 2022. The second season had a total of 13 episodes released as four Blu-Ray/DVD volumes.
The second season’s finale, Classroom Of The Season 2 Episode 13, was released on September 26, 2022.
This article provides everything that is known about Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 (Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Season 3 / You-Zitsu Season 3 / Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 3) and all related news. As such, this article will be updated over time with news, rumors, and analysis. Meanwhile, let’s delve down into what is known for certain.
Why was the Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 3 release date delayed to 2024?
As of the last update, studio Lerche or any company related to the production of the anime has not officially confirmed the exact Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 release date. However, it’s been confirmed that Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 3 is coming out in January 2024.
Once the news is officially confirmed this article will be updated with the relevant information.
As previously mentioned, the Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e Season 3 release date was delayed. On June 22, 2023, Kadokawa announced the delay through the light novel cover of 2nd Year Volume 9.5.
If the anime adaptation was initially only intended as a glorified advertisement for light novel sales back in 2017 then it did its job. The anime was the most popular Crunchyroll series in the fall of 2017. The first six books were reprinted during that time frame and they reached the top 30 on the Oricon charts for Japanese sales. The combined sales reached into the millions, so it’s certain the light novel series won’t be canceled any time soon (it’s already released multiple parts).
However, the same can’t be said for the anime due to the Classroom Of The Elite Blu-Ray sales in Japan. They were not great, but it could be argued that the relatively low BD sales in Japan were caused by fan backlash against how the first season changed the story of the source material.
In addition, even back in 2017 physical media sales were no longer the best indicator of success, so it’s possible that streaming rights revenue, and the overall popularity of the series, was enough to justify producing Youkoso Jitsuryoku Season 2 and 3. After all, the anime was one of the few co-produced directly by Crunchyroll, which may have given the financial justification for a second season considering the popularity of the series on the streaming platform.
Hopefully, the anime production committee learned from this backlash and ensures that COTE Season 2 and 3 remain faithful to the source material rather than emphasizing a different character as “best girl”.
Now that we know which animation studio is making You-Zitsu Season 3 it’s possible to make predictions based on their production schedule. Unfortunately, the entire Japanese anime industry is facing growing pains due to a shortage of human resources thanks to low animator wages. Many anime studios are booked to capacity and they simply don’t have enough people to do the work.
Studio Lerche released four anime in 2017, including Classroom Of The Elite. Fast-forward to 2022 and nothing has been announced for their 2022 schedule besides COTE Season 2. Their last big projects were the Idoly Pride anime and the Rumble Garanndoll anime that were released in Fall 2021.
Since the production of the two seasons is being handled back-to-back it’s possible that the original intention for COTE Season 3 was essentially to treat it more like a split-cour anime season.
What’s a “cour,” you might ask? For those unfamiliar with the lingo, a “cour” is a three-month block of TV broadcasting based on the physical seasons usually composed of 10 to 13 episodes.
A “split-cour” is where a single anime season takes a multi-month break before resuming TV broadcasting.
Back when the announcement was made it seemed reasonable to predict that the Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 release date would be in the second half of 2023 to give adequate time for the production schedule. It’s possible it was originally slated for Fall 2023 but got pushed back by 1 cour.
The publisher or the producers never provided a detailed explanation for the delay. Japan experienced one of its worst COVID surges during 2023 so it’s possible that health issues played a role. Or it could have been a domino effect from delays in other Studio Lerche projects or outsourcing issues.
Crunchyroll’s Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 english dub release date
Funimation was streaming the Classroom Of The Elite English dub episodes back on June 29, 2017. Here is the Classroom Of The Elite dub cast:
- Justin Briner as Kiyotaka Ayanokoji
- Felecia Angelle as Suzune Horikita
- Sarah Wiedenheft as Kikyo Kushida
- David Matranga as Manabu Horikita
- Brandon McInnis as Ken Sudo
- Travis Mullenix as Haruki Yamauchi
- Aaron Dismuke as Kanji Ike
- Christopher Wehkamp as Rokusuke Koenji
- Dallas Reid as Yosuke Hirata
- Bryn Apprill as Kei Karuizawa
- Matt Shipman as Hideo Sotomura
- Michelle Rojas as Maya Sato
- Brittney Karbowski as Chiaki Matsushita
- Jennifer Alyx as Sae Chabashira
The Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 English dub release date hasn’t been announced yet, nor has the COTE Season 2 dub. Considering the popularity of the series it’s likely to be a Simuldub on Crunchyroll.
In early March 2022, Sony announced that Funimation was being merged into the Crunchyroll streaming app. As such, any previously dubbed episodes should be shifted over. Future projects should also be moved over there.
Classroom Of The Elite: Year 2 is the direct book sequel to the third season
Author Shougo Kinugasa and illustrator Shunsaku Tomose first began publishing the Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e light novel series back in 2015. Like many light novels with long names, fans have nicknamed the series You-Zitsu or Youkoso Jitsuryoku.
The first light novel series for Classroom Of The Elite ended with Volume 11 on May 25, 2019. There were multiple side stories, including Volumes 4.5, 7.5, and 11.5, so the entire story was technically 14 volumes. Volume 8 was actually delayed by a month due to a hand injury to the author.
Starting in January 2020, the author began releasing the Classroom Of The Elite: Year 2 light novel series which, as the name implies, was a direct Classroom Of The Elite sequel. The Year 2 novels were up to Volume 7 as of June 24, 2022.
Starting in January 2016, the Classroom Of The Elite light novel series was adapted into a Youkoso Jitsuryoku manga series. Written by Syohgo Kinugasa and illustrated by Yuyu Ichino, the manga adaptation is up to Volume 12 of February 2022. The Classroom Of The Elite: Year 2 manga began serializing on December 25, 2021, and the first volume came out on June 22, 2022.
Unfortunately, an official English translation of Classroom Of The Elite took many years to be licensed by North American publisher Seven Seas Entertainment. Only started in 2019, the English books did not finish Year 1 until June 28, 2022, when the English Volume 11.5 released.
The official Classroom Of The Elite: Year 2 English translation didn’t begin releasing until July 19, 2022.
The English Classroom Of The Elite manga began releasing on February 22, 2022.
Classroom Of The Elite: Year 1 manga, light novel series compared to the anime
The Classroom Of The Elite Season 1 anime was reasonably paced and light novel fans believe that the anime covered most of the important events. There was some filler content since Episode 7 seemed designed to provide fan service, but the story was loosely based on a side story from Volume 4.5. Episode 8 also partially jumped ahead in the timeline by using some scenes from Volume 4.
The issue with Episode 7 is that the anime version changed significant characterization details from the light novel. Blonde-haired Kei Karuizawa was replaced by black-haired Suzune Horikita during the swimming pool scene. For many light novel purists, this was an outrage since it seemed like Studio Lerche was emphasizing Suzune despite the fact that Kei would take on a more important role later in the story.
While some believe the anime’s first season broke the continuity of the series, certain scenes involving Kei should have the same amount of context considering that Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 began adapting Volume 4.
The good news is that the review scores for the second season were noticeably higher since the continuation stuck closer to the source material. Certainly, concessions needed to be made in order to condense the story down into the episodic TV format, which in some cases negatively impacted the characters’ actions and motivations and thus the dramatic gravitas.
The bad news is that there were valid complaints about the animation quality. There were bizarre animation errors in certain errors where sprinters clipped over each other among other oddities. But only the quick-eyed would ever notice and the production quality never reached the tipping point where it negatively influenced the overall viewing experience.
All in all, since COTE Season 2 was only a single cour with 13 episodes the second season’s finale found a stopping point corresponding to light novel Volume 7.
Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 will then pick up the story again in Volume 8. And then it’s onto the finish line!
Presumably, the anime will need to skip side story Volume 7.5 in order to maintain a good adaptation pacing that does not overly condense the dialogue and major plot points. Keep in mind that these two seasons will be adapting 8 light novels.
Anime fans who wish to read ahead of the anime TV series can jump to Volume 8. Or, they can wait until the Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 release date and then read ahead in the Year 2 book series.
You-Zitsu Season 3 anime TV spoilers (plot summary/synopsis)
Note: This article was initially published before the Classroom Of The Elite Season 2 Episode 13 release date and will be updated with more detailed spoilers over time. In the meantime, here are spoilers based on light novel Volume 8.
The third term has begun and all the students from the Advanced Nurturing High School are taken to a school building deep in the mountains. The name of the special exam that will be carried out is “Mixed Training Camp” and it will be a special boot camp.
Forcibly separating the first years based on gender into six groups. They will have to rendezvous with the second-year and third-year groups. In order to survive, they will need to work together with the other grades, as well.
Finally, the students from the three groups with the highest average points will be allocated bonus points. But the leader of the group that comes in at last place will be expelled! Can Class D make it back to campus intact, or is this where they finally say goodbye to one of their own?
Everyone is terrified of the special exam where expulsion is on the table. And it’s up to the students to decide how they will divide themselves up into groups. It’s a stormy situation where mutual enemies will have to join hands despite any emotional entanglements!
Furthermore, the new Student Council president Nagumo and ‘that’ Kouenji will also be making their move?!
Unfortunately, anime fans will have to wait until the Classroom Of The Elite Season 3 release date to watch what happens next. Stay tuned!
- Updated October 27, 2023: Added updated premiere time frame and key visual.
- Updated June 24, 2022: Added S2 episode count and BD/DVD info.