Here is another series that I wanted to initially watch both seasons at one go: Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi No Kyoushitsu E S2. Yes, looks like it is another one of those series I never expected to have another season. Not at least 5 years later! So when they announced it was going to have both a second and third season, I was then happy to wait for it all to come out before happily watching them at my leisure. And then of course, recently with so many anime series ‘suitable’ too my taste and soon I will be having too many on my hands to watch, that’s when the panic button was pressed. Yup, just like how it was and started with a certain shield hero sequel. After all, I thought it would take a cour break before resuming but I guess after coming close to a year later and the third season has not come out yet (I believe it is scheduled to be in the later half of this year), this was another factor that accelerated the panicky anxiety. Yeah. Not that I can remember what happened 5 years ago nor this season when the next arrive. So just clear my backlog first. Think later.
Episode 1
Our students are on a luxury liner on their way back after that deserted island test. But soon an announcement for students for the next special test and to follow the instructions in their email. Ayanokouji enters the room to see other than instructor Tomoya Majima, his other fellow 1-D classmates are Sotomura, Karuizawa and Teruhiko Yukimura. Long story short on this next test, with various scenarios and rules, THIS IS ONE HECK OF A CONFUSING GAME OF IDENTIFYING THE CULPRIT!!!! Okay, gotta try my best… All students are grouped into groups based on the planets of the Solar System. In Ayanokouji’s group, Mars. Each group will have 3 students from 1-A, 3 from 1-B, 4 from 1-C and 4 from 1-D. One of them will be anonymously chosen as VIP. Now, the confusing part is identifying this VIP because right or wrong, there will be personal and class points awarded. Of course the VIP will stand to gain the most points in various situations, right or wrong. So you bet the VIP will not want to reveal himself/herself so easily. Certain situations like guessing wrongly before the allotted time will end the test for the group. Later as Ayanokouji and Horikita meet up to discuss, neither seems to be the VIP. However they are approached by Ryuuen who is targeting Horikita and is hell bent in exposing how she achieved such outstanding result on the deserted island test. The test begins as we see Mars group in a room discussing. Others in this group are from 1-A: Kouji Machida, Takuro Morishige and Shigeru Takemoto; 1-B: Ichinose, Ryouta Beppu and Tetsuya Hamaguchi; 1-C: Ibuki, Shiho Manabe, Nanami Yabu and Saki Yamashita. Ayanokouji analyses Ichinose’s smooth operator as she takes control of the discussion by suggesting she becomes the moderator. Because anybody who opposes will have to take that role and might expose more than they should. As they discuss, however Machida suggests 1-A will abstain from any discussion. They discuss the pros and cons especially the fairness among the classes distributed here and as usual, I DON’T REALLY GET IT! Anyhow, Machida claims 1-A will continue to abstain. During the break, Manabe and her friends confront Karuizawa about fighting with Riko Morofuji before summer break. Karuizawa is unsure what they’re talking about and they might have got the wrong person. Manabe thinks she is playing dumb and wants to take a picture of her for assurance in which Karuizawa resists and causes a fuss. This is only stopped when Machida tells them to stop picking on her. During the second discussion, 1-A stays out and the discussion continues to be in deadlock.
Episode 2
Hirata approaches Ayanokouji because there’s this SMS rumour going around saying that Kushida is the VIP. Kouenji will not participate in this farce so he sends his answer whether wrong or right, and thus Jupiter group’s test ends. Horikita calls Ayanokouji to talk. But Ayanokouji wants to know more about Karuizawa because she is acting unnaturally. She wonders if he wants to bring her into the fold. Whatever it is, Ayanokouji needs unity from 1-D if they’re going to go forward. They are interrupted by Ryuuen who wants to know if they have figured out the VIP. Of course they won’t tell so he brags he is already closing in on it. Something about how he’ll forcefully have everyone give their handphones and he’ll check their emails. And he won’t let this word get out to the school. Then he suggests that 1-B, 1-C and 1-D join hands to pool their info on VIP to crush 1-A. Obviously still not going to accept. As Ayanokouji leaves, he bumps into Kushida. WTF she hugs him because she’s lonely? Then he overhears Karuizawa arguing with Hirata. Although he agrees to protect her, however he will not hurt others. She gets upset about that although he remains consistent with what he said. This includes them being a couple is fake. Because of that, she doesn’t need him if he won’t do as she says. After she leaves, Ayanokouji shows his face. He isn’t surprised at this revelation because they’ve been dating for months and yet they aren’t close. He deduces Karuizawa like a parasite who is trying to protect herself. Hirata admits he agreed to play as her boyfriend to protect her from everything. You see, Karuizawa has been a victim of horrific bullying since young. As the test discussions continue, despite Ichinose taking the lead, 1-A continues to sit out. Karuizawa is now seen warming up to Machida. With the discussions ending at a deadlock, Ayanokouji notices Manabe and co tailing Karuizawa. With Yukimura, they follow just in case. Manabe and co confront Karuizawa again over Rika’s case. After getting a little rough, Karuizawa admits somewhat to shoving Rika. Though, she won’t apologize since it’s not like they’re going to let her go. And hence the bullying starts as Karuizawa is reduced to a helpless girl. Yukimura needs to go help but Ayanokouji wants to wait it out.
Episode 3
Yukimura won’t allow this further and against Ayanokouji’s advice, goes to stop the bullying. Although Manabe’s side leaves, the thanks he gets from Karuizawa is nothing. Nobody asked for your help! Karuizawa then gets a message from Hirata to meet at the engine room. Turns out it is Manabe’s groupie instead and they have brought Rika with them. As they start bullying her, they can tell she is a veteran bully victim as they try to get her to beg for mercy. When that doesn’t happen, Manabe teaches Rika how to slap! Meek girl tries out a few times but the more she slaps, the more she enjoys! OMG! Karuizawa’s cheeks so red! Ayanokouji has been watching all this and it seems he was the one who sent the fake message. He confronts Karuizawa after the bullies left. He claims he knows all about her from her fake dating and bully victim. He can blackmail her and wants her to do as she is told by spreading her legs. Uhm, isn’t this also bullying? Because she is willing to do it, he talks about the greater darkness that exists in this world and that she must be hiding something far more darker to allow herself to offer her body like that. He will protect her better than Hirata or Machida. Next time the bullies bully her again, show them this clip that he recorded of them bullying her. Of course he needs her help and they’ll act in each other’s interest. First up, is to win this test. Before the final discussion, Ayanokouji sees Ichinose sleeping in the discussion room. They talk about graduating from class A and one way is to save up 20 million private points! Ayanokouji knows she has about 2 million from the last time he pried and promises that won’t happen again.
As the discussion begins, Hamaguchi has this suggestion that everyone show their handphones. Although this might risk the first person betraying the group to identify the VIP to get all the points, this is better than the deadlock. With Machida still against this, they think he is the VIP. After all, 1-A will lose nothing if this ends in deadlock. Soon many start to show their phones. It is then Yukimura starts to apologize. He is the VIP. He hopes everyone won’t betray him. As narrated by Ayanokouji, Yukimura isn’t the VIP. It is Ayanokouji and they switched phones prior. However Ichinose calls Ayanokouji’s phone to make sure. Oh dear. Now everyone knows Ayanokouji is the VIP and blames 1-D for being dirty cheaters, leaving Yukimura in despair. But Ayanokouji isn’t panicking. Further truth reveals he isn’t the VIP but Karuizawa. They switched phones then and he will switched his with Yukimura (who will be unaware of their pact) to set this double trap. But what if someone calls them? Because they cannot switch SIM cards. Don’t worry. Ayanokouji has met up with Chabashira to use his points to allow for that. Apparently Ichinose seems to know about this plan too because it doesn’t matter where the false identification comes from, 1-B will still benefit. Thus the reason she stalled discussions was to pull this stunt in the end. As results come out, 1-A comes out as the biggest losers as they lost a lot of points. While 1-B has no change and 1-D added a few points, 1-C comes out tops as the winners with the most points. Ryuuen comes to brag to a frustrated Horikita that he knew Kushida was the VIP on the second day. He will make her his next target. All Ayanokouji knows is that 1-D is now placed in a difficult position.
Episode 4
Class 1-D talks about the logic behind the VIP game. Basically if you arrange all the members of the group alphabetically and line it up against the planet sequence of that group, voila! You get your VIP. Of course it was hard to determine that logic during the discussion. With the second term starting, Chabashira hands out materials to her class about the upcoming sports festival which is of course an important event that will impact their scores. There are mandatory and voluntary events (obviously with higher points) in which the top 3 will get bonuses but the bottom 10 will receive penalty in the sense that they will have points from their next exam deducted. Tough. Furthermore, 1-D will pair with 1-A as red team against the white team of 1-B and 1-C. Later Ayanokouji and Horikita talk about this. The former believes sneaky tricks won’t have bearing as it will depend much on stamina, endurance and athleticism. He knows she wants to find quick fixes and loopholes like having someone absent or dropout halfway. Whether it can work or not depends on her. As 1-D decide on who to participate in which event, Sudou volunteers to do them all and bring in the glory to 1-D. But Horikita suggests instead of putting best participants for each event, they should pair a weaker one to guarantee higher placements. However some disagree because this reduces the chances of non-athletic people of winning everything. Horikita claims this is for long term benefit. Karuizawa then voices her opposition because it’s hard to understand before asking Kushida about her opinion. As Horikita continue to berate her as dumb, some start to agree with Karuizawa. Hirata then has the class take a vote. It seems more people agree to Horikita to Karuizawa while others like Ayanokouji abstained.
Later Karuizawa confronts Ayanokouji about his message because she actually was in favour of Horikita’s proposal. It seems he told her to think up of some excuse to oppose Horikita and then ask Kushida’s opinion. He can’t tell her the details so she asks about his goal. He claims he now believes he can bring 1-D closer to 1-A and has laid the groundwork to create a framework that will make her see and believe so. Because he intends to produce a traitor during the sports festival who will spill all info on 1-D to others. As 1-D practice for the big day, it seems some girls are not happy with Horikita. The b*tch is telling off others for being slow in the 3-legged race and the slow ones should be matching her pace! Ayanokouji talks to her about the need to compromise or she’ll lose trust in others. In order to prove it, he has her practice with him. Shockingly, she finds it hard to keep up with him who is faster. The lesson is, it is not about individual speed. Horikita needs to learn to look at her partner and giving them a degree of initiative. Then he wants her along with Kushida to come with him to go do some recon on the enemy. Why Kushida? Because in the last test, she was the traitor in Earth group!
Episode 5
Ayanokouji believes it was Kushida who leaked it herself to Ryuuen. She might have done so to receive points from other class. He advises Horikita that a class with a traitor cannot win and that if she wants to lead, she must rethink her strategy. So as a lively Kushida is happy Ayanokouji calls her out on this ‘date’, he claims it was Horikita’s idea. Horikita wastes no time in asking her as Earth group’s traitor in which of course she denies of such sort. Sports day is here. Sudou is giving his class the great moral booster as red team takes the lead. However all that starts to change when Ryuuen and his guys start targeting Sudou and even getting a bit physical. It might be against the rules but the school will see it as a minor accident. Then Horikita gets her feet injured after colliding with Minori Kinoshita. Red team continues their downfall with Sudou falling to Ryuuen’s provocation and losing the lead. Sudou then descends into a tyrant. Karuizawa confides in Ayanokouji who reveals the traitor leaked their participation list to Ryuuen. He believes he is trying to achieve 2 things: Pit weaker players against Sudou and everyone else up against someone slightly superior to rack up overall wins. The other is to crush Horikita. Ayanokouji further reveals his tactic is not to do anything and in fact 1-D must lose as much as possible as this will empower them later. Sudou is about to go beat up Ryuuen but Hirata tries to stop him. Other students claim about his tyranny and ultimately Hirata gets punched. Sudou quits and won’t do this anymore. Ayanokouji then approaches Horikita to talk to Sudou to get him back or they’re done for. Since she thinks it’s futile, he calls her useless. She might be alone now but a future ally might prove useful. Hence she must learn to use Sudou like how he uses her. Kushida later calls Horikita because Kinoshita’s injuries has worsened. They go to see her but looks like Ryuuen is there too. They claim Horikita did this on purpose and they will file a report. Horikita rubbishes their lies but what prove does she have? Ryuuen is happy to see her in ‘court’. Ryuuen offers to let this slide if she gives him a million points. She won’t at first so he’ll let her have it her way it. Because troubling her brother weighs heavily on her mind, she will reconsider. Too late, that is off the table now. Because if she really wants it, not only a million points but also beg for forgiveness. He’ll hear her answer after the sports festival. Horikita realizes she has fallen into his trap. She passes by Manabu and assures she will not trouble him. Whether or not he cares, she thinks for now it is sufficient he at least stopped to listen to her.
Episode 6
Horikita goes to talk to Sudou. He is not in the mood for some lecture. Meanwhile Ayanokouji talks to Kushida and reveals she was the one who revealed their participation list to the enemy. At first she denies because if he knew about it, why didn’t he change up the list? Even if he did, the traitor will still find a way. Ayanokouji can go to confirm it with Chabashira if there are still doubts. This is when Kushida admits she is the traitor. Ayanokouji knows her intention to get Horikita expelled but is unsure of the source of that grudge. She admits to that and is willing to sell out 1-D for it. That has been her only goal. Oh, now she adds a new one: To get Ayanokouji expelled too. Of course she knows he cannot expose this as she too has some dirt on him (that molestation thingy). With Sudou cooled down, Horikita continues to talk that they are very alike. She reveals Manabu as her older brother and how she is so focused in trying to catch up with him. She never thought the class was her priority until this festival proved she had her priorities wrong. She realizes she can’t do this alone and needs his help. Somehow her words resonates with him so he agrees to go back and help. First, he apologizes to everyone and takes the blame for the failures. Everyone rally behinds him for the final relay event. As the event starts, Manabu approaches Ayanokouji and asks what changed 1-D because they were hopeless at first but now that’s no longer the case. Ayanokouji credits Horikita for it but Manabu has interest in hypothetical futures. So Ayanokouji wonders if he is interested to learn who he is.
When Manabu’s teammate passes the baton, he doesn’t run. He waits for Ayanokouji’s teammate to do so and only then both start running with all their might. Damn, they just zoom past everyone! In the end, Ayanokouji lost. While red team wins overall, class 1-D still ranks bottom. Horikita learns a valuable lesson that she saw hope in this failure and will continue to grow. Then she goes confront Ryuuen since she won’t run away. But first she calls out to Kushida and wants her to drop the act. Now that she recognizes who she is, Kushida shows her true colours. She is hell bent in expelling Horikita and is willing to sell her soul to the devil to do it. She won’t ignore her because everyone in her past who knows it must be eliminated. When Horikita claims Kushida sold out the list to Ryuuen who then planned on all this, Ryuuen will play along with this fantasy of hers and admits all that. Including beating up and threatening Kinoshita to make her injury look worse. Horikita has got recorded evidence of this conversation if they ever so want to blackmail her. However Ryuuen also got this whole thing recorded in case she tried to edit the real footage. After all, Ryuuen did not actually admit to all that wrongdoing. Now he wants her to prostrate herself but a well-timed call catches him by surprise. He plays out a clear recording of him making detailed plans with Kushida on what to do during the festival. He realizes there was also a traitor amidst their team. This means Kushida has been used and her betrayal was anticipated in advance. Ryuuen calls this off but promises to find the person behind this.
Episode 7
Manabu gives her final speech as student council president and his post will soon be handed over to Miyabi Nagumo of 2-A. Later Katsuragi approaches Ayanokouji to warn him that Ryuuen is targeting Horikita. He regrets working with him because he is their enemy. Busy day for Ayanokouji because fellow classmate, Maya Satou approaches him to ask he has a girlfriend. Nope. Impressed with his run at the sports festival, she wants to start out as his friend and exchange contacts. Chabashira announces that with the recent results for once there will be no one from 1-D expelled. But wary of the next special test called Paper Shuffle. Basically, they will be paired up and their total scores will determine if the pair get expelled or not. To determine that pair, a mini test next week will be held although it has no bearing on their standings whatsoever. For Paper Shuffle, the classes themselves will do the questions and they can request from which class they want to get their questions from. Of course it must be within the syllabus as the teachers will scrutinize it so no cheating happens. Later as Horikita wants to discuss with her friends about this, Kushida wants to join in. No grounds to reject, right? While the rest go ahead, Horikita talks with Ayanokouji to tell more about her past with Kushida. In the same middle school but in different class, it seems days before their graduation, somebody greatly trashed the classroom. Rumours said it was Kushida. Anyhow Horikita became her target. Ayanokouji wonders if she can bring Kushida to her side and Horikita is confident she can. Meanwhile tyrant Ryuuen interrogates his class about a traitor. He’ll forgive whoever if the culprit confesses. But then beats up Manabe first and knows she’s the mole. She and her lackeys reveal the whole truth so Ryuuen starts to believe the plausibility that Ayanokouji could be the mastermind. Time to make use of Kushida. Horikita talks about the mini tests and from what Chabashira said, the low number of expelled indicates the highest is paired with the lowest score to average it out. As for whom they want to get their questions from, because 1-A and 1-B are too academically smart, 1-C is their only choice. That night Karuizawa calls Ayanokouji wanting to know if he is really dating Satou. Just exchanged contacts. As he confirms Manabe has not bullied her since, he assures if that happens, call him because he’ll definitely resolve it for her. After the mini tests, here are some of the notable pairings for 1-D: Horikita-Sudou and Ayanokouji-Satou.
Episode 8
1-D makes arrangements for study groups and on rotation basis. When Akito Miyake and Haruka Hasebe confront Hirata as they are bad matchups for each other, Horikita is hinting Ayanokouji should help be their tutor but surprisingly Yukimura would take that task to make up for his inability during the sports festival. However Horikita still wants Ayanokouji to observe them. Later Ayanokouji asks Horikita for any updates on Kushida. For now it seems she isn’t leaking anything to 1-C although that won’t solve the root of the problem. It couldn’t get any worse for Ayanokouji as he gets a message from Ryuuen hinting he knows he is the mastermind. Horikita realizes that had she not enrolled in this school, Kushida’s life would’ve been much different. That doesn’t mean she is at fault and hence goes to confront Kushida and wants to make a bet. She lets her pick a subject for the finals in which if Horikita scores higher than her, Kushida will stop sabotaging her. Otherwise she will leave school on her own accord. What if the loser reneges on her promise? Horikita has brought someone reliable as witness: Manabu. He doesn’t care whatever dispute they have or what happens to his sister. He is merely called as a witness. With him as a trustworthy person, Kushida agrees to the bet and the subject in focus will be maths. Kushida also knows Ayanokouji is listening to this live recording and also calls him out to meet. She thinks of adding another condition and that is for him to leave if Horikita scores lower. Horikita disagrees as it has nothing to do with him but Ayanokouji agrees to that on one condition: She must tell everything about her past. Because if he claims he doesn’t know anything, will she let him off the hook? And so it begins. Kushida from young got praised for the littlest of accomplishment. She became hooked on it. But as she grew older and the praises getting lesser, she needed to do something to gain attention. That is, she started volunteering to help others. Despite getting the praise she wants, being a gopher was a pain. The only way to vent that all out was via her blog. But despite not naming names, her classmates soon found out and accused her of everything. After all that she has done for them. That was when she revealed everyone’s dark secrets. Everyone got so mad and turned on each other, causing the classroom to be destroyed! So now Kushida vents all her stresses verbally. Her whole life’s purpose is to get praised but she gets a new sort of kick when people reveals their darkest secrets to her. She might not know 1-D well enough but has enough info to take some of them down. So now that the truth is out, time to live up to your promises.
Episode 9
Kushida and Ryuuen make a deal to trade their class’ questions for the Paper Shuffle. As Ayanokouji’s study group gets underway, Ryuuen pays a visit. He asks if any of them got his message. None answered so he has Hiyori Shiina remembers if anyone strikes her in particular. None. With that, Ryuuen leaves. Later Hasebe suggests to form their own group. The guys agree and even call each other on first name basis. However Yukimura hates his first name because it was given by his mother who is a bad person. Instead he wants to be called as Keisei, the name his father would have given him. Surprisingly Sakura wants to join this group too so they allow her. Ayanokouji then calls Karuizawa for their next plan during Horikita’s big study group. As they gather, Karuizawa picks a fight with Kushida, blaming her for wanting to see her fail and hence to drop the nice act. It goes as far as Karuizawa splashing water over her clothes. After Hirata manages to calm her down, Karuizawa feels sorry and as apology will help clean her uniform. Kushida then hands in the questions to Chabashira and tells her if anyone from her class comes to give them, it is fake and to pretend to accept it before destroying it. Then she gets the copy of 1-C’s questions from Ryuuen. As Paper Shuffle begins, Kushida realizes she has been tricked because the questions are not from 1-C. When it is over, she confronts Ryuuen but he tells her that Horikita outmanoeuvred her instead. This is also explained by Ayanokouji to Karuizawa. Horikita foresaw this so on the day Paper Shuffle was announced, she went to see Chabashira to have her accept only questions handed in by her. If from others, to pretend to accept and then destroy it. This plan worked well so Ayanokouji’s backup plan of Karuizawa having a fight with Kushida to plant a cheat sheet in her clothes wasn’t needed. Kushida calls out to Ryuuen for betraying her but he reminds her that their relationship is that of convenience. With Horikita winning, obviously Kushida is forced to keep her promise. Horikita would love to be friends with her but it isn’t over for Kushida yet. The only agreement was to stop sabotaging Horikita. Get what she meant? Ayanokouji also weaved his magic by sending a message to Ryuuen to give him 1-C’s papers or alter the sheet he gave to Kushida. He chose the latter after being told how Horikita saw through Kushida’s plan. Ryuuen now plans to unmask Ayanokouji for using him. He wants him to identify himself or he’ll destroy Karuizawa. Ayanokouji is up for that challenge. Bring it on.
Episode 10
Karuizawa notices a guy from 1-C following home. Back home, she calls Ayanokouji about this. He tells her to just ignore them. Then he asks about the task he gave her about a stalker stalking their study group. She has a picture of a girl but it turns out she isn’t from 1-C but 1-A. This has Ayanokouji believe it’s an initiative from Sakayanagi. Guys from 1-C try to pick a fight with Sudou but he just ignores them. This has Horikita believe 1-C is targeting them since they lost many points from Paper Shuffle to them and there were no expulsion from Paper Shuffle this year. It is also their plan to uncover 1-D’s mastermind and she believes Ryuuen has seen through the ruse that it is not her as he has not be in contact with her. She then gives Ayanokouji to return some book to the library. Doing so, he stumbles into Shiina trying to get a book on the top shelf. He does so and they talk about books. Apparently Shiina is a book lover and no one in her class shares this interest. She isn’t interested with all that fighting and hopes everyone to get along. Soon, Chabashira calls Ayanokouji because there is someone here to see him in the reception room. It is his father. First, he blames his son that their ex-butler, Matsuo is dead. Last month he set himself on fire. The butler was the one who recommended Ayanokouji this school and hence ‘escaping’ from his father’s clutches. Matsuo was fired for that. Father believes that path he created for his son is perfect but Ayanokouji will choose his own path. Without wasting any time, he wants his son to sign on this form to voluntarily quit school. Of course he won’t. Ayanokouji reminds him that he is not obliged to obey his orders. This is not White Room. Speaking of which, it is back in operation. So why need him? Because no other talents could come close to him as he is his most prized possession. Gee, that’s a weird way to say it’s because he is his son. Or is he actually not?!
Last chance to sign or else. This is when the chairman comes in. He is Sakayanagi’s father and was once working for him as his secretary many years ago. The chairman cannot agree to Ayanokouji’s father’s request because the school places priority on students’ independence. Father believes that all those entrance exams are just formalities and knew his son cannot enter without a recommendation. It is the chairman who recommended Ayanokouji. Therefore it is his duty to protect Ayanokouji until he desires to quit school himself. Ayanokouji’s father leaves him in his care for now and out of respect for him. Ayanokouji then talks to the chairman, confirming he is Sakayanagi’s father as well as he will not give his own daughter special treatment. This means he is still bound by the rules of the school and that is as far as the protection can go. When he leaves, Chabashira asks about the meeting so Ayanokouji believes she has been lying to him. Based on the talk with the chairman, Ayanokouji now knows she has no ties with his father. He knows she is obsessed with her class becoming 1-A and rued she didn’t have any gifted students. Until Ayanokouji came along. Because he could never get expelled, this means there is no reason for him to follow her orders. He hints he is not interested in helping 1-D become 1-A anymore. Later Karuizawa is surprised Ayanokouji calls her. She thinks he should be more proactive like Hirata and that would make him more famous. However he is calling to apologize all that has happened. He says his is no longer motivated to help 1-D to become 1-A and will leave it to Horikita and Hirata. This will be the last time they will be in contact so be sure to erase all evidence. This comes to her as a shock because it is so sudden. He reminds her that their relationship is only transactional.
Episode 11
Ryuuen visits 1-D. But as Kouenji leaves, he and his goons follow. This has some of 1-D racing out to see if anything will happen to their classmate. Ryuuen wants to talk to Kouenji and the situation is further complicated with Sakayanagi and her groupie wanting to join in. Ryuuen warns her not to interfere. Kouenji knows Ryuuen’s ploy to sniff out the mastermind but he assures that he isn’t the one he is looking for. For Kouenji has no interest in doing all the special exams and has not put in any effort. Ryuuen believes he could’ve participated in others and he might be the one secretly controlling 1-D. Kouenji thinks he is dumb for thinking like that so Ryuuen hints of using violence to dominate him. Kouenji dares him and even believes he can take them all down. Ryuuen is then irked when Sakayanagi teases him and unheeding his warning to stop, he attacks her but is blocked by Hashimoto. With this farce ending, Horikita is confused over Ryuuen’s erratic behaviour. He claims he is weeding out the mastermind and has an idea who the culprit is. Ryuuen will continue his hunt as we hear his plan of having his lackeys watch and stalk 1-D to sow uneasiness among them. Now it’s the time to end it as he has called out the bait to come and hopefully the mastermind would show up. That bait is of course Karuizawa and she shows up after receiving his text. In short, he knows her past as bully victim and threatens to expose it unless she tells the name of the mastermind. He has proof from Manabe’s mouth that because of the mastermind’s threats, her groupie stopped bullying her. Karuizawa insists she knows nothing so Ryuuen has his lackeys start pouring water over her. Note, in this construction area, the temperature is almost freezing. As she continues to insist and suffer over it, Ryuuen notes that this school might look like it follows the rules. However there are circumstances that forceful methods to a degree are permitted like behind the scene trading with other classes. Hence those smart enough will want to test those boundaries and this is part of it. Karuizawa remains resilient so Ryuuen is going to take this slow torture to the next level for his own amusement.
Episode 12
Ryuuen claims the mastermind has abandoned her because he has not come to her rescue. This has Karuizawa starting to doubt. All she needs to do is give a name and Ryuuen will no longer touch her. However Karuizawa is willing to get destroyed just to protect the mastermind. Well, it’s been fun being around Ayanokouji. She doesn’t mind going out this way. Suit yourself. Ryuuen will destroy her now. Ayanokouji talks to Chabashira about Ryuuen putting up one of his shows with Karuizawa. He hints if he breaks her, the chances of 1-D advancing will be forever gone. So he wants her help to stop this? Ayanokouji has also brought Manabu into the fold. However his role is to clean up the aftermath and testify against 1-C with things go awry. In exchange, Ayanokouji will assist Horikita’s entry into the student council. Ayanokouji arrives just in time before Ryuuen begins his finale. Ayanokouji reveals he is the mastermind he is looking for and is only here to save Karuizawa as she initially send a text to save her. Ibuki can’t believe he is the mastermind so he reveals some of the things he did on the deserted island. Ryuuen is interested in his plan but Ayanokouji claims he has none. After all, if Ayanokouji wanted to keep his identity hidden, he wouldn’t have used Manabe as a tool. Hence everything was planned from the start to make Ryuuen think he was in control. Ryuuen’s lackeys start to assault but damn, Ayanokouji is good fighter! He knocks them all out! Even Ibuki goes down with a single chop! Now it’s time for the boss fight. Ayanokouji still better in fighting against the violent brute. Ryuuen telling his formation years of his ideals revolving around violence. That is what the world runs on. The only thing that overcomes it is death. As they continue to brawl, Ryuuen claims he has no fear as he tries to make Ayanokouji feel some sort of feelings. But as Ayanokouji beats his face to a bloody pulp, Ryuuen then puts up that fearful face that this guy has no feelings at all! Eventually Ryuuen gets KO. Ayanokouji tends to Karuizawa who of course is disappointed in him for using her. But she didn’t rat him out and doing this for herself. She cries in his arms as the whole experience was scary. Ayanokouji assures he will come to save her if anything like this happens again.
Episode 13
Ibuki can’t find Ryuuen. When she does, looks like he is wandering around aimlessly. She wonders if he is quitting. He throws her his phone and tells her to take all his points. That’s your answer. However she won’t accept it and even beats him up. Since he didn’t even fight back, she goes away angrily. Ayanokouji spying on those notes Ryuuen still can be of use. Meanwhile Karuizawa is starting to have thoughts that she might be in love with Ayanokouji! YOU THINK SO?! But soon Satou calls her for advice because she wants to date Ayanokouji on Christmas! I mean, who else is a pro in dating, right?! Even better, she wants to double date! Back in her room, Karuizawa gets a call from Ayanokouji, giving her a mission to find out more about Satou. From her personality to her likes and dislikes. I thought he was done with Karuizawa? She is confused if he is asking because he is interested in Satou or wants to use her as a pawn. Ayanokouji talks to Horikita to tell her Manabu recommends her joining the student council. Untrusting at first, he lets her call him to confirm he is not lying.
Busy day for Ayanokouji because he goes to talk to Ryuuen. Because 1-D claims part responsibility in destroying the surveillance cameras, it saved Ryuuen from expulsion. Ryuuen also didn’t expose his abuse on Karuizawa because that would make his lackeys get expelled and as their leader that is not a cool thing to do. Ayanokouji notes that Ryuuen put up a nice show before surrendering. Because if he was there alone, the fight could’ve lasted longer. Ryuuen believes Ayanokouji wants to use him to get other classes, the reason why he didn’t get expelled. Ayanokouji claims he has no interest in raising 1-D’s standards and wants to observe. However there is a more pressing issue: Kushida. He has already formed a conclusion that 1-D will take over 1-C by the third term. However they will likely fall back down because of Kushida’s expulsion. That is his goal.
The double date begins. Nothing extraordinary happens. The end of the day as both couples part ways, Satou wonders if Ayanokouji had fun because he never smiled. He claims he did have fun but she is unworthy of his smile. Then she goes for the kill by asking to be her boyfriend only to be rejected. He cannot be the kind of man she wants him and has never felt romantic feelings before. He is not mature enough to fall in love. A heartbroken Satou runs home in tears. Ayanokouji then calls out to Karuizawa hiding. He explains his rejection is partly he has concluded Satou is not close a good substitution for Karuizawa. She really wonders if he only sees others as tools. Then they both exchange presents before heading back. Ayanokouji noting this situation for now will do. All part of his plan to make Karuizawa totally dependent on him. From the ‘threat’ to cutting contact with her to make her have lingering regret as well as his delayed appearance to rescue her, she is now a reliable pawn who will not betray him so easily. But he too wonders if he himself can move on from seeing others as pawns. After they part, Sakayanagi confronts him. She knows about his past and the greatest masterpiece created from the White Room. She hints her goal is to destroy him. You think Ayanokouji will get intimidated by that?
Deception Inception: Walking With A Friend In The Dark Is Better Than Walking Alone In The Light
As of course, everything is not over by a long shot. There is next season to cover and I’ll cross the bridge when I get there. But as far as this season is concerned, I am generally surprised that I found my quite interested in what is going on even if there were at many times, stuffs that I do not comprehend or connect the dots (because of my failing memories, what else?). So yeah, despite not getting the bigger picture, somehow I find this series entertaining in its own right rather than downright boring or crappy as I initially jumped the gun and concluded before I started watching this second season! My, oh my. Such prejudice, am I?
Now, despite my interest in the series, of course not everything went smoothly as the biggest stumbling block has been my ability to understand things that are slightly a bit complicated. Hence the same kind of dilemma and feelings watching series like Kakegurui. For instance when this sequel started off with one of those weird games AKA special exams, I somehow found it interesting but the problem was the slightly confusing mechanics was the main factor in hindering my overall enjoyment of that said mini plot. Heck, I even went online to do some reading on it and I still couldn’t actually grasp the whole concept! AM I THAT DUMB???!!! Thus this weird feeling that the plot for this particular mini arc was quite interesting and intriguing however my brain being unable to comprehend such mechanics became the biggest hindrance for me to enjoy and make total sense of what was going on. Sighs.
But after the first quarter of this second season, the rest of the sequel descended into some political outmanoeuvring game or something. Hence it wasn’t so much on the games itself. Be it the sports festival or the Paper Shuffle, there was nothing that intriguing to these events (pretty normal and very much uneventful, if I should say) as the plot now tends to focus more on the backstabbing, betraying, backhanded strategies and whatever outmanoeuvring tactics our main characters are playing. Even this part was quite interesting for me. Alas, once more I have to blame my sluggish brain being unable to process all those mind games they were playing. Yeah, I guess I will be the best pawn or the worst tool ever! So, did I watch this anime at the wrong time when my brain isn’t functioning well?!
Therefore I believe a big chunk of this second season was probably to resolve the case with Ryuuen because you have to know that he isn’t the only ‘bad guy’ around whom Ayanokouji ‘must defeat’. That’s right. Ryuuen is only one of the sub-bosses in a pool with other big fish bosses to deal with. Remember, there is Ichinose and eventually Sakayanagi who are very different individuals. Unlike Ryuuen using violence and his tyranny. Now that Ryuuen is one obstacle out of the way (even bringing him under Ayanokouji’s fold), Ayanokouji has now less one problem (technically) and he is now freer to concentrate on the other problems at hand. After all, Ichinose and Sakayanagi make only a small cameo here and my guts tell me they might come to the fore next season now that Ryuuen is ‘done’. Of course there is the imminent threat of Kushida because it is not yet game over for that girl too.
Ayanokouji as the main character, this season reveals a lot about him. Of course, I believe there are more secrets and hidden stuffs, things that are more than meets the eye to this guy. But now I can safely say that his poker face that is devoid of any emotion is for real. Unless of course he is once more pulling the wool over our eyes and is concealing it very tightly, tricking us to think that he is a machine without feelings. But I’m going to give him the benefit of the doubt that he is so because of that experiment thingy. After all, I did once suspected Ayanokouji could be the main villain himself! Uh huh. If there is one thing about him that I have learnt, it is to doubt this guy from head to toe! Too bad I won’t be smart enough to outmanoeuvre him, that’s for sure! So whatever his beef and his intentions with other students as well as his own goals, hopefully we’ll find out more as the pieces start rolling in next season. Damn, Ayanokouji is so smart that he concocted plans and scenarios from the start in which everyone in the end is actually dancing right in his palm, it got me thinking that this guy himself might have written the script for this anime! How else do you explain why everything falls into place according to his plan 100%!!!! HOW?! Oh right. Someone once said, the best way to predict the future is to create it!
The other character in focus this season is of course Karuizawa. This season brings to light the trauma of her past but at the same time, turning her into Ayanokouji’s reliable lackey. Or pawn. Or tool. Whatever you want to call it. Unless she too is trolling us. Just because she showed us her weak side and that her ‘acting’ to make us believe that she has become reliant on Ayanokouji especially that clincher she has feelings for him, all could be a ploy to let our guard down! Yeah, I know. I might be overthinking and at this point I’m just highly sceptical of everyone and everything in this series. Doubt everyone and everything at first go! Uh huh. That’s my philosophy now when I approach this series! Unless the biggest plot twist of Karuizawa has been leading Ayanokouji around, I doubt that would highly happen and even in the most remote chances it did, I’m sure Ayanokouji has foreseen and predicted it, has even taken countermeasures for it. Oh, I can imagine his deadpan expression when he doubles down with this plot over plot twist thingy! I mean, he is the one who wrote the script for this anime, RIGHT???!!! Just kidding. But you get what I mean.
Ryuuen as the antagonist of this season, he is shown in a way to be a scumbag and something for us to pile our hate on him because of his tyranny and dictatorship over 1-C. Especially how he tortured cutie pie Karuizawa just to make us want to not forgive him, right? It was like a big chunk of this series has him playing this game of cat and mouse with the mastermind in his bit to unveil that culprit’s identity. He is not stupid either and has his own ways. He could be the same like Ayanokouji in terms of controlling others but only their methods differ. Ryuuen is more physical and upfront brash in showing his authority while Ayanokouji is more subdued and pulls strings from behind the shadows. Eventually still waters run deep because we have seen shocking things that Ayanokouji we never thought was capable of (like being a good fighter) and Ryuuen’s cockiness and arrogance led to his own downfall. He is still respectable and takes responsibility as his class’ leader and thus this prevents him from turning him into a 100% unredeemable jerk. He might have sounded defeated and allowing himself to become Ayanokouji’s pawn but I wonder if he is just lying low and waiting for a chance of weakness to strike back. I can see that potential in Ryuuen. Of course I believe Ayanokouji will not allow that if that ever happens. Yup, I bet he foresee such outcomes already.
Don’t even mention the students but looks like even the teachers themselves have their own agenda, namely Chabashira. Don’t really remember the deal about her with Ayanokouji but it seems her obsession for her class to rise to the top is her main priority and she is using Ayanokouji for that. Yes, that guy can use others at tools but now the other way round. So it begs the question if only meritocracy and talent are just on the surface, just there to look nice and proper. Because deep down in our darkest human hearts, we all have that selfish and greedy ulterior motive. So much about being elite, huh? No wonder this series continues to have its trademark that at the opening of every episode (which also serves as the episode’s title), an excerpt taken from some European philosopher’s literature generally about mankind’s behaviour. However for this season, the mid-intermission no longer has those detailed info like the last. Just a picture of a random character, that’s all. I guess there are no rules when it comes to political manoeuvring, huh?
The rest of the other characters aren’t so prominent for example, Horikita. Her small moment to shine was during the sports festival in getting Sudou to work on her side as well as throwing away her inferiority complex against her brother. Surprisingly, we always thought Manabu hated her but could it be that it was all just from Horikita’s perception? Or is it because now he isn’t the student council president, he is now freer to support his sister? Either way, Horikita plays a smaller role this season and this one probably sets up whatever for the next season. Though, Kushida’s beef with her has been revealed, I still cannot put my finger on why Kushida blames Horikita for it. How the f*ck was she related to her case? Am I missing something? If Kushida wants all those in her past to disappear, Horikita is not the only one. Sakura felt even more negligible this season and if she doesn’t even appear, the story will still progress and we would have even forgotten all about her. Kouenji, sorry this guy hasn’t turn out to be a villain as I thought he would the last time. Not yet. Maybe. Hirata, still putting up that nice guy act, though…
A few new characters introduced here (not an accurate term since they were around in last season but were not prominently featured) but the more noticeable one would be Satou since she truly has feelings for Ayanokouji but such heart breaking moment for her to be rejected. I wonder if this was all just a side distraction and Satou will serve nothing more in the future or will there be another antagonist in the making. Because there is nothing more fearful than a girl who gets jilted by her first love! Oh the horror! And yes, I bet Ayanokouji won’t be losing sleep about it.
Last season was animated by Lerche and they continued to do so for this season. Nice to see that they maintained their consistency of the art style and quality. Though, there were some scenes that were too dark for me to see. My hardware problem? Nah! All of the seiyuus from the first season were retained and some of the new ones are Rie Takahashi as Shiina and Souma Saitou as Nagumo. ZAQ who sang last season’s opener is retained to sing this season’s opening theme, Dance In The Game. It maintains that hip hop rock theme like the last time so it’s not entirely that bad. The ending theme too isn’t that bad. Hito Shibai by Mai Fuchigami has some nice hip hop beat to it.
Overall, I find this season is still interesting as it partly advances the plot and some of the characters despite not being able to understand some of the stuffs. Of course this series has a lot of dialogue (Ryuuen’s outburst of violence doesn’t make this series count it as action) and uses some grey matter power so if you’re not into that sort of category, you’re going to be confused and most likely to stay far away from. All that’s left for me is to look forward to the next season and then perhaps I could form a more conclusive conclusion about this series. Hopefully when that happens, I won’t have forgotten mostly what happened in previous seasons! After all, there is this saying: People are machines of forgetfulness. Also: One of the keys to happiness is a bad memory!
Chua Tek Ming~*Anime Power*~ !LiVe FoR AnImE, aNiMe FoR LiFe! 