Classroom of the Elite Season 4 Premieres April 2026

Been waiting forever for Classroom of the Elite Season 4? You are not alone. The anime, officially titled in Japan as Yôkoso jitsuryoku shijô shugi no kyôshitsu e, just locked in an April 2026 premiere date, and honestly, the hype around this one feels different. New students, new threats, and Ayanokoji stepping into his second year with even more people trying to figure him out. Things are about to get messy in the best possible way.

April 2026 Is the Date and Here Is Everything Confirmed So Far

Back in November 2025, Kadokawa dropped a surprise update during the MF Bunko J Autumn School Festival livestream. Not only did they confirm the April 2026 premiere window, but they also unveiled a fresh key visual and a new trailer introducing some unfamiliar faces. Studio Lerche is back handling the animation, though this time Noriyuki Nomata is stepping into the director's chair, marking a change in creative leadership from previous seasons.

The good news for international fans is that Crunchyroll will once again be streaming the season as it airs in Japan, just like it did for the first three. Season 4 will specifically cover Ayanokoji's first semester of second year, which sets up what a lot of people already know is a very different kind of story compared to what came before.

A Quick Catch Up Before the New Season Drops

For anyone jumping back in after a while, here is the short version. Classroom of the Elite follows Kiyotaka Ayanokoji, a student who deliberately plays dumb while secretly being one of the most calculating people in the room. As he himself reflects in the very first episode:

"At any rate, humans change over time based on their actions. Truth be told, at the end of the day, equality is just a fantasy" - Kiyotaka Ayanokoji

He ends up in Class D at Tokyo Koudo Ikusei Senior High School, which is basically where the school dumps its so-called problem students. Over three seasons, he quietly pulls strings from behind the scenes, helping his class climb the school's brutal ranking system while keeping his real abilities completely hidden from almost everyone around him.

Season 3 aired in Winter 2024 and finished off the entire first-year arc on a tense note. By the finale, Ayanokoji had handled every threat thrown at him but the shadow of the White Room, the mysterious facility that raised him, was hanging heavier than ever. Now with a new school year beginning and a fresh wave of students arriving, everything is about to reset and escalate at the same time.

What Season 4 Will Actually Cover from the Light Novel

Season 4 jumps into the Year 2 arc, and based on the source material, here is what the season is expected to bring to the screen:

1. Six brand new first-year students enter the school, each from a different class and each carrying their own secrets and reputations.
2. The first major exam of the year pairs second-year students with these newcomers for a written test, but if their combined score falls below average, only the second-year student gets expelled, not the first-year.
3. Student council president Nagumo rolls out a new app that publicly displays every student's abilities, which immediately changes how everyone interacts with each other.
4. Ayanokoji has to find the right pairing partner for the exam while quietly investigating which one of these new first-years was sent by the White Room specifically to take him out.
5. Characters like Ichika Amasawa, Takuya Yagami, Tsubasa Nanase, Kazuomi Hosen, Sakurako Tsubaki, and Riku Utsunomiya all make their anime debut, each adding a new layer of tension to the story.

The new additions to the voice cast include Minako Sato, Hiroya Egashira, Momoko Seto, Shinnosuke Tokudome, Iori Saeki, and Shogo Sakata, joining returning leads like Shoya Chiba who is back as Ayanokoji.

Watch the Official Season 4 Trailer Before Reading Further

Seriously, if you have not seen this yet, take a minute and watch the official trailer for Classroom of the Elite Season 4 first.

The trailer opens on a hooded figure walking through the school hallways and does not bother explaining who it is. That alone already tells you the tone Season 4 is going for. The new first-year characters get brief moments in the spotlight and every single one of them looks suspicious in their own way, which is honestly exactly the energy this show runs on.

How the Anime Changed the Source Material

The reaction to Season 4 has been genuinely interesting to follow. A solid chunk of the audience is flat out excited, especially those who have read the light novels and know that the Year 2 material, particularly volumes 3 and 4, hits differently compared to the first year. What makes this even more interesting is that the anime itself has directly shaped how Ayanokoji was written in the later light novel volumes. In a verified Newtype interview, series author Shōgo Kinugasa admitted as much himself:

"Ayanokouji wasn't well established as a character at first, but after seeing how well he was done in the anime, I used that 'taste' from volume five onwards to refine the current persona that we all know." - Shōgo Kinugasa, Author

The action is bigger, the conflicts are more layered, and the stakes feel more personal for Ayanokoji in ways the earlier seasons did not quite reach.

The Pacing Problem and What Fans Actually Want

That said, there are real concerns floating around about how the anime will handle the adaptation. One of the biggest criticisms the previous seasons have faced is the tendency to rush through the source material, squeezing multiple volumes into short episode counts and trimming the inner monologue that actually explains why Ayanokoji does what he does. Without that narration, he can come across as cold and edgy rather than the genuinely complex character he is in the novels. The hope with new staff involved this time around is that the pacing might feel a little less compressed.

If you are already getting excited about Spring 2026 anime in general, you might also want to check out what is coming with Wistoria: Wand and Sword Season 2 and The Beginning After the End Season 2 while you wait.

For viewers who have never touched the light novel though, the mood is noticeably more relaxed and optimistic. The anime consistently pulls in strong ratings on both MyAnimeList and Crunchyroll, and its opening and ending tracks have built a reputation as reliable season highlights. Come April 2026, whether you are a longtime novel reader or purely an anime fan, Classroom of the Elite Season 4 is shaping up to be one of the harder titles to ignore this spring.