The Zodiac Exam Explained

If you thought the Uninhabited Island Exam was crazy, the Tokyo Metropolitan Advanced Nurturing High School was just getting started. Right after surviving a grueling week in the wilderness, the students were invited onto a gorgeous luxury cruise ship. They thought they were finally getting a fun summer vacation.

Instead, they walked right into one of the most intense, psychological mind games in the entire series: The Zodiac Exam (also known as the Cruise Ship Exam).

If the Island Exam was about physical survival, the Zodiac Exam was about pure manipulation, lying, and trust. It was basically a massive, high-stakes game of Among Us. Because the anime moves so fast, a lot of fans got confused by the complex rules of this test.

Today, we are going to break down the exact rules, the massive point rewards, the four possible outcomes, and exactly how Kiyotaka Ayanokoji completely broke the system!

The Setup

When the exam started, the school completely destroyed the normal class teams. Instead of working with their friends, the students were shuffled into 12 brand-new groups.

Here are the basic rules of how the game was set up:

• The Zodiac Names: The 12 groups were named after the Chinese Zodiac animals (Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig).

• Mixed Enemies: Each group contained a mix of students from Class A, B, C, and D. You were forced to sit in a room and work with your biggest rivals.

• The Schedule: The groups were forced to sit in private meeting rooms together and talk for a few hours every single day.

• The VIP: At the exact start of the exam, the school secretly sent an email to one person in each group. That person became the VIP.

The Ultimate Goal: You had to figure out who the VIP was in your group without letting the other classes figure it out.

Possible Outcomes

To make things incredibly stressful, the school created four different ways the exam could end. They called these "Cases." Depending on how a group voted, massive amounts of Class Points and Private Points were on the line.

Here is exactly what would happen in each scenario:

• Case 1 (The Peaceful Ending): At the end of the exam, every single person in the group submits the correct name of the VIP. This requires 100% trust.

• Case 2 (The Timer Runs Out): At the end of the exam, the group cannot agree. People submit different names, or someone guesses wrong. The group stays divided.

• Case 3 (The Traitor Wins): A student doesn't wait for the end. They pull out their phone, send an email to the school early, and correctly guess the VIP's name. (Note: You cannot guess the VIP if they are in your own class).

• Case 4 (The Traitor Fails): A student tries to be a hero, guesses early, but gets the name wrong.

Because of Case 3 and Case 4, nobody could trust anyone. If you revealed you were the VIP to be nice, someone from an enemy class could pull out their phone, guess your name early, and steal all the points for their own class!

Rewards and Penalties Breakdown

To truly understand why this exam was so stressful, you have to look at the money and the points.

Remember, Class Points (CP) determine a class's rank in the school, while Private Points (PP) are the digital money students use to buy food, clothes, and luxuries. Half a million Private Points is basically like winning the lottery for a high school student!

Here is the exact point breakdown for every possible outcome:

Outcome	Private Points (Money)	Class Points (Rank)
Case 1: Peaceful Ending	• Everyone: +500,000 PP • The VIP: +1,000,000 PP	• No Class Points change.
Case 2: Timer Runs Out	• The VIP: +500,000 PP	• No Class Points change.
Case 3: Traitor Wins	• The Guesser: +500,000 PP	• Guesser's Class: Wins 50 CP • VIP's Class: Loses 50 CP
Case 4: Traitor Fails	• The True VIP: +500,000 PP	• Guesser's Class: Loses 50 CP • True VIP's Class: Wins 50 CP

Looking at this chart, you can see exactly why students were betraying each other. The temptation to trigger Case 3 and steal 50 Class Points and 500,000 Private Points for yourself was incredibly high.

The Strategies

Different characters tried completely different strategies to win this crazy game.

• Class B (Peace): Honami Ichinose wanted everyone to go for Case 1. She tried to get her groups to share their emails honestly so everyone could become rich with Private Points together.

• Class A (Silence): Katsuragi ordered his classmates to stay completely silent during the meetings. He wanted to wait the timer out and force Case 2 so nobody would lose any precious Class Points.

• Class C (Dictatorship): Kakeru Ryuen broke the game. He demanded that everyone in Class C show him their cell phones so he knew exactly who the VIPs were. He even figured out a secret mathematical pattern based on the students' ID numbers to predict who the school would choose!

The Rabbit Group

The main story follows the Rabbit Group, which included Ayanokoji, the loud and popular Kei Karuizawa, and a few smart enemies from Class A.

During these meetings, Ayanokoji discovered a massive secret: Kei Karuizawa, the "mean girl" of Class D, was actually a victim of severe, violent bullying in middle school. She acts tough and dates popular guys to protect herself, but inside, she is deeply traumatized and terrified.

Instead of being a classic anime hero, Ayanokoji used this against her. He secretly allowed girls from Class C to corner and bully Kei in the dark bottom of the cruise ship. When she was completely broken, crying, and begging for help, Ayanokoji stepped out of the shadows. He "saved" her and promised to protect her forever—but only if she swore absolute loyalty to him.

This is the exact moment Kei became Ayanokoji's most useful and loyal tool.

Ayanokoji’s Masterpiece

The climax of the Zodiac Exam is a massive brain-melter that perfectly shows off Ayanokoji's genius.

In the Rabbit Group, the secret VIP was actually Kei Karuizawa. Ryuen and the smart kids in Class A had figured this out. A student from Class A confidently pulled out their phone, typed in the VIP's name, and submitted an early guess to trigger Case 3 and steal the points.

But when the school announced the results, Class A got it wrong, and Class D won! (Case 4 was triggered).

How did Ayanokoji do it? It all came down to a brilliant, sneaky cell phone trick.

1. Before the exam ended, Ayanokoji realized that cell phones are not tied to the student's name; they are tied to the SIM card inside them.

2. He secretly traded cell phones with Kei Karuizawa. He put his own SIM card into her phone.

3. When the school sent the VIP confirmation email to Kei, it actually went to Ayanokoji's phone!

4. Ayanokoji then purposely showed his phone screen to the Class A student, tricking them into thinking Ayanokoji was the VIP.

5. When the enemy confidently guessed Ayanokoji's name, they got the answer completely wrong. Class A lost 50 points, and Class D won 50 points.

The Final Results

The Zodiac Exam proved that Ayanokoji operates on a completely different level than everyone else in the school. He didn't just understand the rules—he broke the technology, manipulated a classmate's deep trauma, and stayed completely hidden in the shadows while handing his class a massive victory.

The cruise ship exam ended with Class D pulling ahead, Ryuen realizing there is a hidden, terrifying mastermind in Class D, and Kei Karuizawa becoming Ayanokoji's secret partner in crime.