A poster for the series.
- "EleStra is more than a mere game. 'Tis a veritable tome of truths about the nature of human communication. One that teaches us serenity in the face of an overzealous opponent, or perseverance in the face of an onslaught of abandonment..."
- — Nagi, about the game
Elegant Strategy, abbreviated by players as ES and EleStra, is a fictitious otome game in NEO: The World Ends with You. Fans call themselves EleStraniacs. Nagi Usui is obsessed with this dating sim, especially with the sword-wielding general character Tomonami. Yuika Kaga, Marino Orihara and Sayoko Morohoshi are also fans of the game.
The series started off as a mobile game which expanded to include animated adaptations, novelizations and live-action films. Fan sees its growing popularity as a double-edged sword as while it has grown, this also means a shortage of merchandise due to high demand. Even Eiji Oji voices a popular character in the game, although the collaboration is yet to be announced.
By the time of the second week in NEO: The World Ends with You a new chapter of Elegant Strategy has been released. This is reflected in one of Nagi's voice lines when winning a battle in Week 2, "The new chapter of EleStra awaits!". Several RG inhabitants also think about the newly released chapter. Not much more is known about the new chapter, other than Marino Orihara's Dive during 🡐stabbed (Week 3, Day 6) that mentions a debuting character is a sergeant.
In the third week, Nagi recommends Elegant Strategy to Shoka Sakurane in the hopes that it might take her mind off of the emotionally taxing events she is struggling with. Shoka responds that she will consider playing Elegant Strategy in the future. Later in Week 3 when Fret and Nagi reconciles, Fret tells Nagi that he might try out Elegant Strategy. After the events of NEO, Fret begins playing Elegant Strategy at Nagi's request, sending her "progress reports". He mentions being invested in Tomonami.