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ようこそ実力至上主義の教室へ 2年生編 [Youkoso Jitsuryoku Shijou Shugi no Kyoushitsu e 2nd Year] (Novel) #8
Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 (Light Novel) Vol. 8
The cutthroat school drama light novels that inspired a manga adaptation and a spin-off series starring fan-favorite character Horikita Suzune (both also from Seven Seas)—and don’t miss the anime!
As Ayanokouji and his classmates begin their second year at the Advanced Nurturing High School, they’re greeted by a fresh gauntlet of exams and a fresh batch of rather unique first-year students. They’ll have to get to know each other quickly, because the first special exam pairs the first-years with the second-years on a written test—with only the second-years facing expulsion if their team performs poorly! Worse yet? It seems one of the new first-years is also from the White Room. Can Ayanokouji avoid expulsion while sussing out the identity of this hidden foe?
As Ayanokouji and his classmates begin their second year at the Advanced Nurturing High School, they’re greeted by a fresh gauntlet of exams and a fresh batch of rather unique first-year students. They’ll have to get to know each other quickly, because the first special exam pairs the first-years with the second-years on a written test—with only the second-years facing expulsion if their team performs poorly! Worse yet? It seems one of the new first-years is also from the White Room. Can Ayanokouji avoid expulsion while sussing out the identity of this hidden foe?
440 pages, Paperback
First published October 25, 2022
32 people are currently reading
268 people want to read
About the author
Syougo Kinugasa
67 books297 followersAssociated Names:
* Syougo Kinugasa / Shōgo Kinugasa (English)
* 衣笠彰梧 (Japanese)
* Syougo Kinugasa / Shōgo Kinugasa (English)
* 衣笠彰梧 (Japanese)
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
June 29, 2025
First time that the cover is showing characters that have no relevance for the volume.
This time the 'special exam' (if one even can call it one) was a bit unusual. I honestly felt like there was more to it and that it was purposely a bit mysterious or something like that, but in the end everything that was said about it was also how it turned out to be — Getting to know eachother better. Nothing more, nothing less. Wouldn't really say it was anyhow bad or boring, but it was just nothing I expected. The pace being more medium paced also didn't help the rating as it felt like these extra volumes in-between the others (for example, volume 4.5 or 9.5 and so on). Just like Ayanokouji but also Sakayanagi said, this school trip might not have been that tense and didn't feel like a special exam at all, but the data that was used for their groups will probably play a big role in the future, at least that's what I hope as I really can't imagine that students from this school would just be on a school trip like any other school.
What I actually enjoyed the most in the end was probably how clueless Ayanokouji was once more when it came to things everyone know except him. By that I mean stuff that one usually experiences sooner or later in life, but since Ayanokouji was isolated from the outside world while being in the white room he doesn't know anything concerning everyday life. It reminded me once more that Ayanokouji isn't completely flawless and how layered his character actually is. Many unfortunately think that Ayanokouji is standing above everyone else as he is outsmarting and manipulating everyone for his own advantages, but he is still a human like everyone else who has emotions (which are never shown in the anime adaption which is why I significantly enjoy the light novel way more) and also weaknesses.
I disliked the most in the end how repetitive the whole plot for this volume was. One could summarise this volume almost entirely by just mentioning that Ryueen and Kitou were rivals and had competitions against eachother on the school trip 'cause that's almost everything that happened. I think it just took too much pages up. Which makes it even worse was how Horikita and Kushida had a competition as well as Horikita and Ibuki, which made the volume full of competitions against one another which weren't hosted or even intended by the school. I wouldn't say that I didn't enjoy seeing them compete against one another, but I just felt that this volume was too heavy with that topic.
I did appreciate being able to meet new characters as I also mentioned in my previous review that there is a possibility that there will be new characters introduced soon, but at the moment I still see no great value in them which is a bit disappointing. Besides that I'm glad that it was explained more precisely why Yagami acted the way he did. At first I thought he was obsessed with Ayanokouji as he screamed around that he wanted to fight him and seemed all excited to see him only for it to be turning out to be Ryueen and other people, but in the end Yagami's outburst had a completely different reasoning, showing me that I interpreted the whole character wrongly. Now that this misunderstanding is out of the way, I feel more relieved continuing reading.
I want to see Ishigami, I want to see him compete against Ayanokouji. At the same time though I want to see Ayanokouji's rematch with Sakayanagi so Ishigami should wait a little longer as it would be a shame to not see the rematch of Ayanokouji and Sakayanagi.
StoryGraph review
This time the 'special exam' (if one even can call it one) was a bit unusual. I honestly felt like there was more to it and that it was purposely a bit mysterious or something like that, but in the end everything that was said about it was also how it turned out to be — Getting to know eachother better. Nothing more, nothing less. Wouldn't really say it was anyhow bad or boring, but it was just nothing I expected. The pace being more medium paced also didn't help the rating as it felt like these extra volumes in-between the others (for example, volume 4.5 or 9.5 and so on). Just like Ayanokouji but also Sakayanagi said, this school trip might not have been that tense and didn't feel like a special exam at all, but the data that was used for their groups will probably play a big role in the future, at least that's what I hope as I really can't imagine that students from this school would just be on a school trip like any other school.
What I actually enjoyed the most in the end was probably how clueless Ayanokouji was once more when it came to things everyone know except him. By that I mean stuff that one usually experiences sooner or later in life, but since Ayanokouji was isolated from the outside world while being in the white room he doesn't know anything concerning everyday life. It reminded me once more that Ayanokouji isn't completely flawless and how layered his character actually is. Many unfortunately think that Ayanokouji is standing above everyone else as he is outsmarting and manipulating everyone for his own advantages, but he is still a human like everyone else who has emotions (which are never shown in the anime adaption which is why I significantly enjoy the light novel way more) and also weaknesses.
I disliked the most in the end how repetitive the whole plot for this volume was. One could summarise this volume almost entirely by just mentioning that Ryueen and Kitou were rivals and had competitions against eachother on the school trip 'cause that's almost everything that happened. I think it just took too much pages up. Which makes it even worse was how Horikita and Kushida had a competition as well as Horikita and Ibuki, which made the volume full of competitions against one another which weren't hosted or even intended by the school. I wouldn't say that I didn't enjoy seeing them compete against one another, but I just felt that this volume was too heavy with that topic.
I did appreciate being able to meet new characters as I also mentioned in my previous review that there is a possibility that there will be new characters introduced soon, but at the moment I still see no great value in them which is a bit disappointing. Besides that I'm glad that it was explained more precisely why Yagami acted the way he did. At first I thought he was obsessed with Ayanokouji as he screamed around that he wanted to fight him and seemed all excited to see him only for it to be turning out to be Ryueen and other people, but in the end Yagami's outburst had a completely different reasoning, showing me that I interpreted the whole character wrongly. Now that this misunderstanding is out of the way, I feel more relieved continuing reading.
I want to see Ishigami, I want to see him compete against Ayanokouji. At the same time though I want to see Ayanokouji's rematch with Sakayanagi so Ishigami should wait a little longer as it would be a shame to not see the rematch of Ayanokouji and Sakayanagi.
StoryGraph review
January 4, 2023
مجلد ممل من جميع النواحي.
لاحظت مؤخرا أن الكاتب أميل للتحكم في الشخصيات بدلا من جعلها تتحرك بنفسها وتقود الأحداث، تبدو كبيادق لا شخصيات لأناس يمكن تخيل وجودهم في الحياة الحقيقية؛ يدفعني للتساؤل إن كان الكاتب قد تأثر بشخصية أيانوكوجي، أم أن أيانوكوجي يجسد هذا الجزء من الكاتب منذ البداية.
أستخلص أني بالغت في تقييم هذه السلسلة ورفعت توقعاتي بما لا يتناسب مع إمكانيات الكاتب.
لاحظت مؤخرا أن الكاتب أميل للتحكم في الشخصيات بدلا من جعلها تتحرك بنفسها وتقود الأحداث، تبدو كبيادق لا شخصيات لأناس يمكن تخيل وجودهم في الحياة الحقيقية؛ يدفعني للتساؤل إن كان الكاتب قد تأثر بشخصية أيانوكوجي، أم أن أيانوكوجي يجسد هذا الجزء من الكاتب منذ البداية.
أستخلص أني بالغت في تقييم هذه السلسلة ورفعت توقعاتي بما لا يتناسب مع إمكانيات الكاتب.
January 7, 2023
Damn, now I gotta wait a few months for a next volume...
September 8, 2024
"If you were classmates, you could share dreams. But if you were rivals, you couldn’t. That was how this school worked. Some students would be smiling, while others would weep. "
Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 Vol. 8
By Syougo Kinugasa.
Well, this volume was rather slow and not that great. The whole school trip was okay. I didn't find myself super invested in this volume, unlike the ones before volume 6. Tbh, volume 6 to 8 has been rather slow and boring to some extent.
The trip of Hokkaido is on! The whole year, two students have been placed in different groups, with two people from each class. This group part of the volume was okay. It was funny at times, and sometimes, it was just boring. This volume was much like the volume 8 of the first year, but it was better in some aspects.
"Oh, pillow, I wished so strongly for you to be returned safely to me, and yet you weren’t, were you…? I would like to express my deepest condolences to the victim that was cruelly cut down on this battlefield."
The best part of the volume was probably the beginning and the ending. The new theory was genuinely interesting. The new arrival of Ishigami and the connection to Ayanokoji's father was interesting, to say the least. I'm excited to see what happens next.
7/10
Classroom of the Elite: Year 2 Vol. 8
By Syougo Kinugasa.
Well, this volume was rather slow and not that great. The whole school trip was okay. I didn't find myself super invested in this volume, unlike the ones before volume 6. Tbh, volume 6 to 8 has been rather slow and boring to some extent.
The trip of Hokkaido is on! The whole year, two students have been placed in different groups, with two people from each class. This group part of the volume was okay. It was funny at times, and sometimes, it was just boring. This volume was much like the volume 8 of the first year, but it was better in some aspects.
"Oh, pillow, I wished so strongly for you to be returned safely to me, and yet you weren’t, were you…? I would like to express my deepest condolences to the victim that was cruelly cut down on this battlefield."
The best part of the volume was probably the beginning and the ending. The new theory was genuinely interesting. The new arrival of Ishigami and the connection to Ayanokoji's father was interesting, to say the least. I'm excited to see what happens next.
7/10
February 8, 2023
Lets see in the future how the Story with Ichinose Honami develops. Can't wait for the new volume. This was really enjoyable read.
August 1, 2023
Está bien, ojalá los traductores supieran leer.
November 11, 2023
The anticipation built in this for the second semester finale is just amazing. Can’t wait to see the class battles begin again.
December 25, 2024
This is another sort of low point in the series, not so much because it's just the classes getting to go on a fairly "normal" class trip for once as much as it feels like it undoes a lot of the tension in the book by , among other specific negations of past conflicts. Like, one of the worst conflicts is Kitou and Ryuuen .
It just feels slightly frustrating that this starts out feeling like there's a secret scheme here that will pop out when it's least expected—like that the ranking "test" they do at the beginning will bite them in the behinds later on, but if so, it's not in THIS volume. The clever tactics that I like about this series don't show up here, despite the setup suggesting they might.
I don't know. I expect the ".5" volumes to be fluff like this, not a "whole number" volume. It might prove important later, but I felt a bit disappointed by pretty much everything but Haha.
Also, just aggravated by the "requisite onsen bath scene" where they apparently only soak up to their waists—what kind of bath is THAT? (One that shows off the girls' bare-but-censored breasts, of course.) Not selling me on onsens, here.
It just feels slightly frustrating that this starts out feeling like there's a secret scheme here that will pop out when it's least expected—like that the ranking "test" they do at the beginning will bite them in the behinds later on, but if so, it's not in THIS volume. The clever tactics that I like about this series don't show up here, despite the setup suggesting they might.
I don't know. I expect the ".5" volumes to be fluff like this, not a "whole number" volume. It might prove important later, but I felt a bit disappointed by pretty much everything but Haha.
Also, just aggravated by the "requisite onsen bath scene" where they apparently only soak up to their waists—what kind of bath is THAT? (One that shows off the girls' bare-but-censored breasts, of course.) Not selling me on onsens, here.
June 28, 2024
Este volumen se sintio más como un volumen extra, todo giro en torno al viaje escolar, aunque fue emocionante ver que Ayanokouji estaba en el mismo grupo que Ryuuen, esto no se exploro como me imaginaba, su interacción fue por las ramas, eran Ayanokouji y Ryuuen compartiendo la misma habitación, pero no se aprovecho como deberia.
La confesion de Sudou a Horikita resulto como lo esperaba, no puedo creer aun que Ayanokouji haya apostado a que Horikita aceptaba, aunque es cierto que ella dijo que lo considero.
Algo inesperado fue el repentino enamoramiento de Kushida hacia Ayanokouji, no convence pero no me disgustanta tanto tampoco, todos quieran a Ayanokouji.
Lo que me gusto de este viaje fue ver como Ayanokouji experimentava varias cosas por primera vez, aunque me hubiera gustado más que los demas lo supieran, aunque Ryueen lo intuyo un poco con lo de la bolsa del bus.
Al fin se supo quien era la persona misteriosa que llamo a Ayanokouji y le hablo el día del Festival Deportivo, Ishigami, un alumno de primer año que admira profundamente al padre de Ayanokouji.
Me sorprendio y salvo el final del volumen la revelación de que Kanzaki y Sakayanagi se conocen de antes y Kanzaki conoce y admira al padre de Ayanokouji; ahí puedo ver un contraste interesante, de como Kanzaki y Sakayanagi por tener padres influyentes han interactuado en el pasado, a diferencia de Ayanokouji cuyo padre también se mueve en las mismas esferas del poder, pero todo ese tiempo estubo encerrado en la Habitación Blanca.
La confesion de Sudou a Horikita resulto como lo esperaba, no puedo creer aun que Ayanokouji haya apostado a que Horikita aceptaba, aunque es cierto que ella dijo que lo considero.
Algo inesperado fue el repentino enamoramiento de Kushida hacia Ayanokouji, no convence pero no me disgustanta tanto tampoco, todos quieran a Ayanokouji.
Lo que me gusto de este viaje fue ver como Ayanokouji experimentava varias cosas por primera vez, aunque me hubiera gustado más que los demas lo supieran, aunque Ryueen lo intuyo un poco con lo de la bolsa del bus.
Al fin se supo quien era la persona misteriosa que llamo a Ayanokouji y le hablo el día del Festival Deportivo, Ishigami, un alumno de primer año que admira profundamente al padre de Ayanokouji.
Me sorprendio y salvo el final del volumen la revelación de que Kanzaki y Sakayanagi se conocen de antes y Kanzaki conoce y admira al padre de Ayanokouji; ahí puedo ver un contraste interesante, de como Kanzaki y Sakayanagi por tener padres influyentes han interactuado en el pasado, a diferencia de Ayanokouji cuyo padre también se mueve en las mismas esferas del poder, pero todo ese tiempo estubo encerrado en la Habitación Blanca.
August 22, 2025
It was a chill volume but there were some interesting developements again. It was interesting to see how ayanokoji learned to ski in like a day. But its because he is skilled in many martial arts and kinestetic practices but its still impressive. I quite liked yamamura as a character and how ayanokoji included her in the snowball competition. And Sudou was pretty courageous to ask horikita out like that and horikita did reject him but i felt like her response was quite warm which i enjoyed. We discovered that the mystery student who contacts ayanokoji is Ishigami and thst kanzaki's father is somewhat powerful. And then towards the end we had a deep Ayanokoji and Ichinose interaction which honestly are my favorite and i Love them. So I really enjoyed it. Instead of moving to volume 9 immediately i will read volume 0 but I looked and it looks like its not on good reads which is a shame.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 27, 2024
A little bit more of a slower pace in this volume but you see the students developing their relationships during the trip to Hokkaido. A lot of character development and important conversations happened. And the identity of who visited Ayan during the festival is finally revealed. Excited for him to play a bigger part later on. Can't wait to see the class battles in the later volumes. It's all building up to something amazing.
November 19, 2024
3.5 - Achei a leitura bem legal, não me deixou entediado que nem o vol 3. Ayanokoji traidor fdp
Bom, se for pra falar sobre o real problema, é que o romance do anime tá tirando espaço de personagens que podiam gerar combates épicos com Ayanokoji como Nagumo, Yagami (buxa) e Ishigami (que querendo ou não tá demorando pra agir). Ou sei lá porra faz finalmente o Koenji entrar em ação kkkkk
Bom, se for pra falar sobre o real problema, é que o romance do anime tá tirando espaço de personagens que podiam gerar combates épicos com Ayanokoji como Nagumo, Yagami (buxa) e Ishigami (que querendo ou não tá demorando pra agir). Ou sei lá porra faz finalmente o Koenji entrar em ação kkkkk
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 1, 2024
Ottimo volume che tratta la vacanza in Hokkaido. Volume divertente in cui non succede più di tanto, serve a presentare vari personaggi che diventeranno rilevanti nella storia e a hyppare il duello fra Ryuen e Arisu. Comunque un volume piacevole nel complesso.
June 3, 2024
Time for the 4-day class trip to Hokkaido. No exams this time but I thought this was a really fun volume. Ayanokouji has to navigate his time as a member of mixed-class group, and seems to by drawing some unexpected romantic interests. I’m looking forward to the final exam.
January 19, 2025
Remember when Classroom of the Elite used to have a plot, mystery, intrigue, and battle of wills? And didn't waste time on dragging things out, fillers, and interpersonal drama?
Well, I think the author's forgotten.
Well, I think the author's forgotten.
January 6, 2026
Un volumen centrado más en las interacciones de Ayano con personajes con los cuales normalmente no se relacionaría lo que lo hace interesante y enriquecedor al universo. Aún siendo este volumen uno parecido más a un .5, es uno realmente entretenido.
February 19, 2024
Fight with girlfriend arc is so real
January 6, 2025
Probably one of the most boring volumes till now.
Read
June 2, 2025fun read, 3.5
March 26, 2025
2.5
Probably the weakest volume in the series. Felt like it hasn't been slow like this since year one. I know we are building something and I will let it cook a little longer but still.
I can't with the romantic developments here. I like Kei and I wish her only all the best.
The best scen is Sudo confessing to Horikta. It truly shows his growth. I couldn't see it turn out differently but still sweet if him.
Probably the weakest volume in the series. Felt like it hasn't been slow like this since year one. I know we are building something and I will let it cook a little longer but still.
I can't with the romantic developments here. I like Kei and I wish her only all the best.
The best scen is Sudo confessing to Horikta. It truly shows his growth. I couldn't see it turn out differently but still sweet if him.
June 2, 2025
After a break from reading this light novel, I realized how much I missed its captivating charm—I’m back!
Literally reading the winter holiday volume during my winter holiday—I love these fun coincidences!
In this volume, the second-year students went to Hokkaido for a four-day winter trip. You could say most of the volume felt like a normal trip with casual conversations. At first, it was a bit slow, and some events were boring, except for Ryuen and Kitou's pillow fight—it was absolutely hilarious!
“The pillow… I strongly wished for its safety, but it didn’t come back intact…
I would like to express my condolences to the victims who were scattered so cruelly on the battlefield.”
Aside from that, we were introduced to new characters like Amikura, Nishino, Amamura, and Watanabe, though their development wasn’t particularly deep, to be honest.
The essence of the trip itself is beautifully encapsulated in this line:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you will not be in danger in a hundred battles. That's the theme of this school trip.”
It’s true there wasn’t much competition in this volume, but some interesting events did happen. caught me off guard. Ayanokouji also started suspecting Nanase and sensing something was off. He pieced together a new scenario, realizing that . I found this deduction intriguing since it seemed like expelling him would’ve been so easy. However, we didn’t get many details about this development.
Finally, Sudo’s confession to Horikita! Seriously, finally! It was such a nice moment and so beautifully done.
As always, though, the author saves all the exciting twists for the last pages. The last 30 pages saw things escalate quickly, especially when Sakayanagi called Ayanokouji to meet. A lot of intriguing information was revealed here, such as . We also got a peek at the mysterious man who keeps calling Ayanokouji and the one who spoke to him during the sports festival. It turns out he’s a , who is supposedly a genius—at least according to Kanzaki. However, who knows? More importantly, —but that’s not confirmed yet. Seriously, Sakayanagi is the GOAT for helping so much!
Other highlights included the snowball fight, which was fun, especially with Ibuki and Horikita going at it. Another funny moment was . I could sense it from a mile away, judging by her awkward behavior! I’m curious how that will affect future events in the story.
Lastly, there was the scene between . It gave us some sneak peeks into . We’re also left wondering about the promise he made to her—it seems too soon to reveal everything. I’m still trying to figure out his plans and what he meant when he said:
“This wasn’t the time for her class’s downfall. That would be a problem for my plan.”
PS: The drawings in this volume were underwhelming. I don’t know why, but I didn’t like them at all, especially how the boys were drawn.
It seems like this volume was upgraded from 7.5 to 8 due to its importance in setting up future developments. I’m really excited to see what’s next in the final chapter of the semester, but before that, I can’t wait to dive into Volume 0!
June 19, 2024
Sometimes I wish the author would make the MC even more cool, but maybe that would require him to be more evil. I think that would be awesome but at this point I’m just going to read the whole thing even if it’s a bit cringe.
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