Transcription
There is nothing worse than a villain whose plans make absolutely no sense. You know those scenes where you can see the obvious flaw in what the bad guy is doing and the show just wants you to pretend like it's not there. Nah.
When I think of a smart villain, I think of someone who not only challenges the protagonist, but even us, the audience. And when it comes to Classroom of the Elite, that villain is Icha because she completely changes the game. In previous arcs, Ayakoji, our protagonist, was the mastermind. We saw the game through his eyes as he schemed and destroyed his opponents. But this time, the shoe is on the other foot as Ayakoji goes up against his smartest opponent yet. And while she knows exactly who he is, he has no idea where she's coming from and more importantly what she's planning. Turning a simple conversation into one of the bloodiest encounters we've had yet.
And all starts with Sukushiro who uses his authority as the chairman to smuggle Ichaika in with the other first years. All for the purpose of expelling Inikoji. He also creates a special exam to put Inji at a major disadvantage. The partner exam where second-year students like Ayakoji have to pair up with first years to take a written test and the combined score will determine Ayakoji's fate because even if he scores perfect, if his partner scores a zero, he's done. So the plot takes an interesting twist where we go from logical games to a mystery where we, alongside, have to figure out how his enemies are plotting to expel him.
And the foundation of any good mystery are clues. And the first one we get in this arc is the OA. It's basically a database available to all students where you can find out someone's name and abilities using their face. And we make use of this clue right away because the first time Ayakoji meets Icha is when she's eavesdropping on a conversation between him and Horikita. Icha then asks Horikita for her name and academic ability because she's trying to find a good partner to do well on the exam. And alarm bells go off because of the OA. Ichika could easily look up her academic rating and name. So why is she asking, making her suspicious in Ayakoji's eyes? Horikita declines the offer, hoping Icha would partner with her classmate Sudo instead, who needs one badly.
Surprisingly, Icha accepts the offer but only if they do something for her. And this is where things get weird as Icha expresses her interest in strong guys. Sudo is confident in his strength, but Icha wants a demonstration. So, she makes the outrageous demand that they gather up all the best fighters in the second year and have a showdown. Even though it's ridiculous, Horikita entertains it, dropping another clue that'll be useful later. Because at this school, violence is allowed as long as no one reports it. So, if they have a competition and no one complains, it's okay. And if no one shows up, Sudo wins by default, which was Horikita's plan all along. However, Ayakoji notices that Icha saw through Horikita's plan and rightfully changes her mind because just as they were probing her, she was probing them.
So now Icha is like, "I want a guy who can cook." And since Sudokin barely put together Cup Ramen, Horikita offers Ayakoji as tribute, saying that Ayakoji brags about cooking all the time, which is straight-up slander. Icha is excited and accepts if Ayakoji can cook her a good meal, she will help Sudo. But Icha wants her meal now. And after a bunch of negotiating, they decide on after school tomorrow. And Ayakoji reminds Horikita that he cannot cook. So she has to come up with a plan.
So we fast forward to the next day where Ayakoji waits for Icha at the mall. However, he is wary of Icha. So now is the perfect time to investigate. But Icha's demands get even more ridiculous because on top of cooking for her, he has to buy all the ingredients. And on top of even that, Icha drags him to buy kitchenware, which made no sense because Ayakoji already has everything at home. So to probe her, Ayakoji asks if Icha is interested in the culinary arts. She denies it. She'd rather have somebody cook for her than put in the effort. While looking at the items, Icha debates what they need. And then she just starts putting all the stuff in like cutting boards, whisks, a ladle. However, the one thing Icha confidently grabs is a knife. And each item was top shelf. There is nothing cheap in that cart. Even the knife came with a fancy sheath. But Ayakoji already has all of these things at home. In the White Room, efficiency was beat into his skull. So this goes against every fiber of his being. He made peace with it by imagining all the interesting things he can make with these expensive tools. However, Icha warns that he can only use this stuff when cooking for her, which prompts him to ask if she was some sort of demon. Icha asks Ayakoji if he thinks she's a bad girl, but Ayakoji did not think so. And it was at this moment the two looked into each other's eyes and realized something.
The two then head out while Ayakoji asks her a few more questions like, why does she want a meal made by a guy she barely knows? But Ichika counters comparing it to a restaurant and bragging that if she ever runs out of points, she can always go to him for food, which again Ayakoji found odd because she can go to anyone else for food. Why a guy like him in the second year? The two finally arrive at the dorm and while Icha says that it looks unsettling, she does not look nervous at all.
Back at his place, Icha makes herself at home. But to Ayakoji, it's now a battlefield. The dish Icha wants is Tom Yum Goong, which is a type of Thai hot and sour soup. And she wants him to make it without looking up any instructions. Normally an impossible task, but this is where Horikita's plan comes in. First, Ayakoji offers Ichika a seat, making sure that she can see the kitchen because the plan relied on Icha being able to see the kitchen from one side. In the meantime, Ayakoji keeps her preoccupied with coffee and TV. He kept the remote near her, so she starts flipping through the channels because the TV drowning out the noise is vital for this plan. Icha forbids him from using his phone. So, Ayakoji places it on the bed. But unbeknownst to Icha, Ayakoji had Sudo's phone in his bag and connected to that is an earpiece that he can place in his right ear. And through that earpiece, Horikita would give him instructions. The entire plan relied on giving Icha false information like placing the phone on his bed to give the illusion that he no longer had a phone. He positioned her so she could see the left side of his face but couldn't see the right side where the earpiece was. If Icha tries to check, he can just pretend to scratch his face and put the earpiece in his pocket. And the final test was for him to peel an apple using the knife that they bought earlier. And as for Icha's judgment, well, it was good enough for her to help Sudo.
Afterwards, Icha insisted on cleaning up even though Ayakoji said it was okay. And thinking about it, pairing up with Sudo should eliminate Icha as a threat because she can no longer pair up with Ayakoji to expel him. But Ayakoji felt that it was too early to make that call, hinting that Icha's actions tonight were suspicious. And in reality, Ayakoji would suspect any first-year who approaches him because of his bet with Sukushiro where Sukushiro would smuggle in a White Room student to expel him. But if Ayakoji can figure out who that is, Sukushiro will back off. And because of this bet, Ayakoji is similarly wary of two other first-years who approached him before Ichika: Nanise and Hosen. They both lock eyes with him even though he's a total stranger to them. The two first-years plan to broker a deal with Ayakoji's class so they can both survive the exam since both of them are from Class D and bottom of the barrel. But Hosen stands out in the worst way imaginable, picking a fight and breaking down negotiations. Rather than cooperate, Hosen seemed adamant to extort private points from Horikita. But Nanise is the complete opposite as she keeps Hosen in check by threatening to release important information, framing it as revealing "quote unquote that which Ayakoji finds interesting." Nanise further helps Ayakoji by being the bridge between their classes. And on top of that, she gives Ayakoji other clues about Icha without even realizing it, revealing that this batch of freshmen knew way more than they did, especially the importance of private points.
With all of this in place, Ayakoji starts piecing together Icha's strategy. But there's still one piece missing, and for that, he relies on his girlfriend, Kei. Ayakoji tells Kei to investigate the store where him and Icha went shopping, and she finds another clue. But Ayakoji doesn't reveal the clue to us, hinting that it's an item that isn't sold often and only one first-year has tried to buy that item, and the sale did not go through because another female student stopped the person from buying the item. Kei described the girl to Ayakoji, and from there things escalate because he never expected that person's involvement.
And while we're on the topic of Kei, the next time Ayakoji and Ichika meet is when they're having a study date and things get wild. It was Kei who starts things off by noticing a strand of long red hair in Ayakoji's room, obviously from another girl. Kei gets all jealous and goes, "Oh, is it that one thing, jealousy?" Which has about the same effect as telling someone to calm down. And it's at this point that Icha rings the doorbell, and Kei, noticing her hair, immediately puts two and two together. Ayakoji has no choice but to let Icha in. And Icha, noticing Kei right away, starts questioning Ayakoji about their relationship. And Icha came over because she left her favorite hair tie here, rushing over because she still had her school bag with her. The two girls are like oil and water because Icha mercilessly teases Kei about their relationship. And Icha turns things up by flirting with Ayakoji, calling her her personal chef. Kei's anger is completely maxed out. So while she argues with Ayakoji, Icha goes into the kitchen to look for the hair tie. But all of a sudden, Ayakoji grabs Kei's hand and motions for her to keep quiet because whatever is happening right now needs to play out. Icha finds what she's looking for and is on her merry way, leaving Ayakoji to deal with all the chaos.
However, with this one small moment, all of Ichika's dominoes fall into place. And this becomes apparent when Hosen sits down with Horikita to finalize their agreement. But the meeting was a fake because Hosen refuses to budge, asking for even more points. And when Horikita walks away, Hosen gets desperate. He threatens violence to coerce them into a bad deal and in the process beats up both Horikita and Sudo. And Hosen's actions made no sense to Ayakoji. Why would he turn down this agreement when it's mutually beneficial? Why fly off the handle for no apparent reason? Ayakoji had been analyzing Hosen this entire time, and Hosen was not stupid. None of it made sense until Hosen pulls out a knife and rushes at Ayakoji. Then everything falls into place, and Ayakoji realizes that Icha was the puppet master all along. Ayakoji did what he needed to do. He leaped in with his hand as the knife pierced his palm because getting stabbed is the only way he can survive. But why? How does this all come together?
Okay, so let's take it from the top. Not relying on the OA was the first clue that Icha is suspicious. Given her high score and academic rating, she's not stupid. She should know how to do this. Next is the cooking challenge, which is already suspicious. But Ayakoji's questions and more importantly Icha's answers sealed the deal. Icha had no interest in cooking, and there was no particular reason why Ayakoji had to cook her a meal. So there had to be another motive. The next clue was on the shopping trip, and Ayakoji noticed Ichika's uncertainty when it came to buying items. But when it came to the knife, she not only knew which one to buy, but even where it was. She's new to the school and doesn't cook for herself. Why would she know where they sell knives and, for that matter, which one to buy? Another clue is when they arrive at the dorms. Even though Icha said that she was nervous, she did not look it at all, which means she's been here before. But the clue that tied it all together was Kei's investigation. Kei informs Ayakoji that a first-year tried to buy the knife similar to the one Ichika had him buy, which is already super suspicious because, remember, the knife is one that people don't buy that often, and the reason for that is that it's super expensive, and as Nanase told earlier, the first-years this time around are way more cautious about private points. So it was already strange that a first-year was trying to buy this knife. But the girl who stopped the sale made the whole thing more interesting. Given the girl's description, Ayakoji knew that the girl was Icha. So the one trying to buy the knife had to be Hosen. Hence Ayakoji's shock that Icha is involved with Hosen. Once Ayakoji put those things together, everything else kind of falls into place. Like when Icha insisted on cleaning up after he cooked her dinner, Ayakoji knew that she must have left something behind that would let her come back because her entire plan depended on it. So when Icha arrived, even though Ayakoji pretended like he wanted to turn her away, he didn't. Ayakoji knew that Icha was there to carry out her plan.
This next part relies on a bit of speculation, but it's completely possible that Icha scoped out Kei's identity as Ayakoji's helper. She likely spent her time in the store waiting for Ayakoji or anyone else to come asking about the knife to the store clerk. Since Kei had no idea who Icha is, she wouldn't be wary of her. And then Icha could listen in on the conversation and put everything together. This was actually foreshadowed during Icha's introduction because she listens in on a conversation between Ayakoji and Horikita. Or Icha could do exactly what Kei did. She could question the store clerk if anyone else came in asking about the knife. Then using whatever description the store clerk gave her, she could look through the OA and identify Kei. Then it's a simple matter of stalking Kei and waiting until she goes to Ayakoji's room. This was likely the way she stopped Hosen from buying the knife by stalking him. Because there's no other way Icha would be there at the perfect time to stop the transaction. And even if Kei didn't visit him, Ayakoji knew that Icha had a backup plan. She would just show up and demand food. Icha already planted the seeds for that, telling Ayakoji that she would rely on him for meals. And Icha carefully hides the fact that she waited until Kei was there to make her entrance by still having her school bag with her. Having it implies that she came right after class, not that this was all premeditated.
But why would Icha need the chaos? She needs it to retrieve what is central to her plan: the knife she had Ayakoji buy. That's why Ayakoji held Kei's hand and told her to stay quiet. He knew that whatever plan Icha had, she was going to the kitchen to carry it out. Icha then grabs the knife and gives it to Hosen, who uses it not to stab Ayakoji, but to stab himself. Hosen denied negotiations and orchestrated this entire fight in order to create a situation where he could blame Ayakoji for stabbing him. Since it's on record that Ayakoji bought the knife, it's a compelling case. And whether there's an exam or not, Ayakoji will be expelled if not handed over to the police. By moving his hand in the way of the knife, Ayakoji takes the bullet out of Hosen's chamber. And contrary to what should have happened, he now has leverage on Hosen. Ayakoji then uses the leverage to make Hosen his partner because Hosen, being as self-interested as he is, he would never tank an expulsion to expel anyone else.
From the beginning, we had all the clues to figure this out. But that raises a question. Why did I fumble? Why did she deliberately leave clues about the knife? Why did she leave other clues like not using the OA? If you look at things closely, it's almost like Icha is trying to help Ayakoji instead of expelling him, delivering the perfect partner on a silver platter. And this is the reason why both Icha and Classroom of the Elite are brilliant. It's clear at this point that Icha is from the White Room. Her plan is way too clean for it not to be. And this is all happening because of Ayakoji's bet with Sukushiro at the end of year 1 that Sukushiro will smuggle a White Room student in with all the other freshmen. And if Ayakoji can figure out who that is, Sukushiro will back off. So Icha is handed this task, but she had her own ideas, and Ayakoji is starting to figure out why.
At the beginning of the story, Ayakoji explained that the White Room student wouldn't only try to expel him. They've heard all their life about how great Ayakoji's accomplishments are, and it was instilled in their soul that they have to become someone who can surpass Ayakoji. However, they would be curious about him. They would want to observe him up close. Icha did desire that, but for a completely different reason because even in the White Room, Icha was an anomaly. While everyone else was in awe of his accomplishments, Icha just waved them off as being fake. So when Icha arrived at the Advanced Nurturing High School and was handed this assignment, she would use it to test to see if he lived up to the image sold within the White Room. She devised her plan in such a way that if Ayakoji could figure it out, he would get the best partner for this exam. But if he failed, he would get expelled no matter what.
This is where Hosen comes in because Icha knew of the loophole that Sukushiro could exploit. If Ayakoji partners with someone, but that someone cannot take the exam, Ayakoji is done. And this can be accomplished through violence. If Sukushiro beats up the person Ayakoji partners with, game over again for violence if it can't be proven it can be done. This was foreshadowed in Icha's introduction where she wants to get all the strong second-years to have a showdown. It was to draw our attention to this rule and this loophole because Hosen is a person who is very difficult to take down using violence. However, even this loophole has a loophole, and it draws a beautiful parallel between the first and second years because Ayakoji could use the tactic we learned at the very beginning of the story to overcome this challenge. Even if the partner can't take the exam, Ayakoji could just score a perfect on the test and then use private points to buy one extra point, pushing him into safety. But Icha shut down that hack with her strategy. Because if Ayakoji is caught stabbing someone, exam or not, he's gone. And since he passed Icha's test with flying colors, Icha accomplished what she was trying to do from the very beginning: to prove to Ayakoji that if he is the real deal, Icha is not his enemy, but his ally. Words are cheap, and actions mean much more. And Ayakoji even told us that he realized this was what Icha was doing as early as the shopping scene when the two of them lock eyes and Icha asks Ayakoji if he thinks she's a bad girl. Ayakoji doesn't think so, and the two realize something in that moment, and Icha says, "Then everything should be okay."
Okay. Now that you know the entire context, this moment takes on a completely different meaning: that the villain from the beginning was an ally all along.