Finished Classroom of the Elite? Watch these next.
Schools run like battlefields, protagonists who hide how smart they are, and games where the real test is the people.
Classroom of the Elite works because it turns a school into a strategy game: classes ranked against each other, points that buy privilege, and a protagonist who wins by making sure nobody notices him. If that is what you are chasing, these eight anime scratch the same itch.
8 anime like Classroom of the Elite
1. Kakegurui (2017)
At Hyakkaou Private Academy, your rank is decided by gambling, and losers become the school's servants. Then Yumeko Jabami transfers in and wants to gamble for the thrill of it. Like COTE because: one rigid ranking system rules every relationship in the school.
2. Tomodachi Game (2022)
Yuichi Katagiri and his friends are dragged into a series of games built to make them betray each other over a debt. Yuichi is much less innocent than he looks. Like COTE because: the hero is quietly playing everyone, and the games are about trust, not luck.
3. Death Note (2006)
Light Yagami finds a notebook that kills anyone whose name is written in it, and the detective L sets out to catch him. A duel of two geniuses, each a step ahead. Like COTE because: it is the definitive calculating-protagonist anime.
4. Code Geass: Lelouch of the Rebellion (2006)
Lelouch, an exiled prince hiding as an ordinary student at Ashford Academy, gains the power to command anyone once and starts a rebellion in secret. Like COTE because: a student with a double life who treats people as pieces on a board.
5. Assassination Classroom (2015)
Class 3-E, the school's rejects, are told to kill their new teacher, a tentacled creature called Koro-sensei, before he destroys the Earth. It is funnier and warmer than COTE. Like COTE because: the lowest-ranked class fighting a school built to keep it down, a lot like Class D.
6. The Irregular at Magic High School (2014)
Tatsuya Shiba is placed in his magic high school's looked-down-on second course while hiding that he is far more powerful than anyone knows. Like COTE because: the closest thing to Ayanokoji with magic.
7. My Teen Romantic Comedy SNAFU (2013)
Hachiman Hikigaya, a cynical loner who sees through everyone, is forced into a school club that solves other students' problems. Like COTE because: a detached, observant protagonist who reads people better than they read themselves.
8. Kaguya-sama: Love Is War (2019)
The student council president and vice president of Shuchiin Academy are in love, and each schemes to make the other confess first. Pure comedy, but every episode is a strategy battle. Like COTE because: elite school, nonstop mind games.
Pick by what you liked
| Feature | If you liked | Watch |
|---|---|---|
| Ranked school | Classes and points deciding everything | Kakegurui |
| Betrayal | Classmates turning on each other | Tomodachi Game |
| Ayanokoji | The hidden genius in the low class | The Irregular at Magic High School |
| Manipulation | Watching a genius play everyone | Death Note, Code Geass |
| Lighter | The school, without the despair | Kaguya-sama: Love Is War |
Where to watch
Licences move between services often, so check a legal one before you start; here is where to watch anime free and legally. If you like stories where the quiet one is secretly the most powerful person in the room, that is also one of the biggest genres in short dramas (the secret heir, the hidden billionaire), told in one-minute episodes. See short dramas for anime fans.