No sooner do our heroes finish one test than they are thrust into the next challenge—the annual sports festival. Just like the previous tests, this one pits individual success against the success of the team. The students face a difficult choice: sacrifice their chance at bonus points on the upcoming exam by excelling in athletics, or risk losing points by focusing on academics. While winning would grant them 100 class points, some students will be winners while others will lose big.

However, aside from the immediate challenge, this situation reveals a deeper problem in human psychology. People generally perceive themselves in one of two ways: either as “normal” individuals who assume their views and experiences align with the majority, or as exceptional individuals who believe they are better than everyone else in some way.

Horikita falls into both categories. She sees herself as not only superior to her classmates but also “normal” in the sense that anyone can achieve her level of physical and academic prowess through hard work. She believes it’s the responsibility of her classmates to catch up to her. Unfortunately, this toxic mindset is the reason Ayanokoji refuses to go along with her plan. He understands that her logical and goal-oriented approach will ultimately harm the class’s psychological well-being in the long run.

Ayanokoji’s goal is not simply to win every competition. His true objective is to elevate Class-D to become the new Class-A. He must cultivate a group capable of achieving Class-A status before anything else. This means teaching Horikita that she can’t expect everyone to match her level. Despite her talent and hard work, she cannot keep up with Ayanokoji in the three-legged race. This serves as a wake-up call for her to realize that Ayanokoji supporting and pacing himself with her will yield better results than him running full-out and dragging her along.

Horikita needs to understand that helping her classmates reach their full potential requires her to lower herself. Victory in this situation depends on teamwork, and even the most valuable player cannot win games alone. An above-average player with a strong team can defeat a superior player with a weak team any day. Ultimately, it’s the collective skill of the team that matters.

Random Thoughts:

• Poor Sakura exemplifies the flaw in Horikita’s mindset. Despite her hard work, she will never reach Horikita’s level without guidance from someone with experience.
• Ayanokoji’s arrogance, stemming from seeing himself as superior to others, is his greatest weakness. Sudo is able to exploit this weakness by tricking Ayanokoji into revealing more about his physical strength.
• Karuizawa may not be second-guessing Ayanokoji but rather seeking to understand his goals. She wants to be an invaluable ally, ensuring he would never consider leaving her behind.
• Ayanokoji aims to create a traitor within Class-D, allowing him to manipulate the enemy’s access to information.
• The over-reliance on Sudo in planning their team for the sports festival is concerning. While he may be the most athletic, competing in numerous events may compromise his performance. Additionally, if the opposing team eliminates Sudo (without any backup plans), Class-D will suffer a major defeat.
• It’s important to note that the sports festival involves not only Class 1-D and Class 1-A but all Class-As and all Class-Ds across all three years. We can expect more details on this in the upcoming weeks.

Classroom of the Elite II is currently available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

Richard is an anime and video game journalist with over a decade of experience living and working in Japan. For more of his writings, check out his Twitter and blog.