First thoughts after watching Classroom of the Elite Season 4 Episode 16
I am a light novel reader for this series and this note includes a spoiler.
I watched Classroom of the Elite, COTE, season 4, episode 16, which was the final episode in this season. It was a great episode with a lot of fighting scenes and worth watching as anime.
At first, Horikita found the note that Kiyotaka Ayanokoji will be expelled in I-2, and decided to go there. She met Ibuki and then Amasawa in the middle of the way. And Ibuki left in order to get more points than Horikita. Afterward, Horikita started talking to Amasawa, and Amasawa was just trying to provoke her about not knowing Ayanokoji well enough and tried to block her. She felt it was going to fight so she prepared to fight and Amasawa started. Obviously, Horikita couldn't win against Amasawa; she was thrown with Judo, and then Amasawa kicked her and knocked her down. But Amasawa's goal was to buy her time. Afterward, she stood up and Amasawa tried to punch Ibuki, but Ibuki caught her fist. Well, it's a little weird to me that Amasawa couldn't see Ibuki even though she was in front of her. Anyhow, they started fighting against Amasawa together. Time by time they argued with each other about a few things, and each time, Amasawa just watched them without attacking. It was good because obviously, her purpose wasn't to win against them, or at least she underestimated them. Then Horikita learned something from Amasawa and told Ibuki about it, and then Amasawa suddenly froze and took a hit from both of them. Then Horikita and Ibuki found out she had taken damage on the side of her belly. And Amasawa allowed them to pass by, because she had earned enough time. If that hit had come from Tsukishiro, it would defeat her purpose of being able to stop anyone who was trying to reach the place. Or maybe she didn't do what she was told and he didn't care. In terms of animation, Amasawa's fighting was so smooth as she moved against 2 people, and it was patently obvious she was so agile and powerful in that fight.
Second, Ayanokoji fought against Tsukishiro and another teacher. I forgot who he was. He fought against them and tried to avoid their attacks, standing at a place where a wave of the sea reached his foot on the beach. Were they that strong? He couldn't attack them at all, or he was still just trying to learn how they were attacking. But then, Kiryuin came and joined them without knowing why they were fighting. She was the person who just moved by her curiosity, and the 1st year students tried to kick Ayanokoji out, which made her curious, so she stalked him. She also talked as if she is a lady, but exceptionally, she had fighting or martial arts experience. As a result, Ayanokoji fought against Tsukishiro alone. The fighting scene was, unlike Amasawa and Horikita and Ibuki, unrealistic, and Ayanokoji's movement was like an MC with superpowers. Tsukishiro was strong, and also wicked enough that he had an ace up his sleeve. So he tried to create an opening using sand and attacked, but of course, Ayanokoji figured it out and stopped him by pinning his fingers to Tsukishiro's neck. Then other teachers came and Tsukishiro couldn't fight anymore and he failed. Also, Horikita and Ibuki came and ended there.
spoiler comments of light novels.
Well, what's so weird was Horikita didn't figure out anything from this scene in the light novel even after this. That was definitely weird that someone tried to get Ayanokoji expelled and there were only teachers there. She should've been suspicious, especially since she's a smart enough character to be a leader in a class. Also, Kiryuin suddenly came up before this island exam, and came to this very important fighting scene. But if I remember correctly, this was the only scene she was mainly involved with Ayanokoji. She was brought in probably because the author needed a character who moved by her curiosity only, didn't tell secrets to others nor ask anything, and then fought so that Ayanokoji was able to focus on fighting against Tsukishiro. It would've been weird if Tsukishiro had fought against him by himself even though he knew Ayanokoji was a masterpiece in the Whiteroom.Afterward, the exam's results were announced. All of the bottom 5 were from the 3rd year grade, instead of the 1st or 2nd year grades, and Nagumo didn't save them. Well, why were they so bad? Even though they needed to follow Nagumo, some of the 1st years or 2nd years were worse than them. Or simply because the 1st and 2nd year leaders were way better than the 3rd years. Then 3rd place was Sakayanagi, 2nd was Nagumo, and 1st was Koenji. Nagumo was trying to collect the points to that group, so that was the reason why their points were way better than any of the 2nd year or 1st year groups. Still, Sakayanagi's group was good enough to beat other groups despite the fact that she couldn't move. Well, in the ship, Karuizawa thought about the kiss with Ayanokoji and she was like a main heroine here. Also, Ryuen and Sakayanagi talked about some kinds of deals, and Sakayanagi and Ayanokoji talked about similar things. These are the setup for season 5. Horikita just told Ayanokoji that they reached class C and are close to class B now.
Anyway, this is the end of season 4. The island exam was long, and there were a lot of fighting scenes. The animation was good for anyone, like Koenji, Ryuen, Housen, Ayanokoji, and Amasawa. Also, the animation of the island was good enough that we could see how they did it, unlike in the novel where we could just imagine it. Maybe the scene between Ayanokoji and Ichinose was a little over-romanticized, though. And also the leaders battle between Tsubaki and Sakayanagi was a good one. I remember in the light novel, Tsubaki figured out Sakayanagi was behind the scenes, but that scene was cut somehow. Let's wait and see in season 5.
Watched the 2nd time.
I overlooked many things. First, the memo left for Horikita was written by an honest person, because it's not even a code, so everyone can understand what it means. So, very likely Ichinose. But Ichinose didn't show her smile on the ship when she found out something. Maybe there was no scene where she saw him; well, but it was a kind of important scene, so it's going to be included in season 5, I guess.
Second, I overlooked that Amasawa clearly said Horikita was able to take a rest for 5 or 10 minutes while they were fighting.
Also, I didn't notice that when Kiryuin appeared, the BGM changed to hers. This is the kind of character who has her own BGM, which happens in some anime. She might be a favorite character of the production company.
Also, when Horikita came to the beach, Tsukishiro and Shiba had already left, so she couldn't find out and figure out what happened. Ayanokoji's tornado movement to avoid attacks from both Tsukishiro and Shiba, and also doing a front flip, was amazing and unreal.