A Heckin' Surprise of a Series
- Episodes : 23
- Genre : Comedy, School, Fantasy
- Airing Date : October 2019 – March 2020
- Producers : Bandai Namco Pictures
Contains Spoilers
Mairimashita! Iruma-kun (Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun) Introduction and Story
Directly following the setup of the first cours, as per usual, Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun continues the adventures of the titular Iruma-kun, our 14-year-old protagonist who finds himself isekai'd into the underworld after his terrible deadbeat parents literally sell his soul to the devil—in this case, a surprisingly nice, albeit eccentric, fellow called Sullivan who adopts Iruma as his grandson. As the title suggests, Iruma has been sent to demon school Babyls, which at first was a terrifying experience as he was surrounded by demons ready to eat him (as per their school song) but, like life in the underworld as a whole, has actually grown to be the most pleasant time in Iruma's life!
In the second cours, we see Iruma and others continue to develop with conclusion of the series' first real dramatic arc involving Ami Kirio and the Magical Apparatus Battler and the following Akudol/Dem-dol Kuromu-chan arc that focuses on the secret idol life of Iruma's bespectacled cutie classmate Crocell Kerori.
1. Interesting Setting & Story
Although it's arguably lost a little bit of its novelty into the second cours, we'd still say that Babyls makes for a fun and compelling backdrop for the cast and story to explore and stands out enough from the plethora of other supernatural + school settings littering anime to feel unique. This cours, we also saw some more serious elements brought into the series, particularly with Kirio and his backstory, that added a bit of depth and darkness to the world. We also enjoyed the Akudol/Dem-dol concept and how it fit into demon society, which also offers bonus points for idol fans of course!
2. Enjoyable Characters
Like we said in the first cours review, one of the biggest strengths Mairimashita! Iruma-kun has are its characters which continue to be well-utilized. Iruma sees some more development, further coming out of his shell from being a total pushover into a more brave and heroic figure which we say was handled pretty well, if a bit cliché, and gives him a bit more dimension while still staying true to the comedic core of the series.
Probably more importantly, though, we get more fun moments like the main trio improvising an opening act for Kuromu-chan, complete with cutesy idol costumes and personas, and Asmodeus overcoming his fear of fish to make a dish for Iruma in an Iron Chef-like duel with Clara, who continues to be a wellspring of lovable random madness.
1. It Gets Serious Sometimes
This, like most criticisms, honestly, comes down to personal taste but the decision to mix more serious elements into the story in the second cours might feel out of place to some in a wacky comedy series like Mairimashita! Iruma-kun. Kirio's arc is the only real place where it became super noticeable to us, especially since there wasn't a happy resolution like we got with Kerori/Kuromu's arc with her family. However, as we mentioned above, this did add some depth and variety to the world and story as a whole that others will likely appreciate or at least tolerate. However, if you're looking for pure silliness, some bits of Iruma-kun might make you want to consider another series.
2. Teaser Ending
Another criticism, that could be a plus to others, is a teaser scene at the very ending of the cours which introduces Iruma undergoing some sort of evil transformation into a rough-spoken, more edgy version of himself, (complete with extra spikiness!) right after some more traditional “and he will continue to live happily in the underworld...”-type scenes. Thankfully, a second season has been announced for Spring 2021 but that kind of aggressive teasing isn't always the best way to end a season.
3. Lackluster Production Values
As we mentioned in our 1st cours review, Mairimashita! Iruma-kun is not in any way an inspiring sakuga series; in fact, the animation is sometimes hilariously limited. It does have its moments of competence like some of the finale action scenes of the Kirio arc with Sullivan and Iruma unleashing some powerful spells, but nothing really that spectacular. Overall, it is by no means an ugly show and we'd argue that it doesn't really detract too much from the experience anyway, especially for this type of show, but is nevertheless a valid criticism. We also mentioned liking the sound work in the first cours and, while we'd still say the voice acting is solid, the somewhat of lack of variety in the OST was more noticeable in this second half.
Final Thoughts
All that being said, when taken as a whole, Mairimashita! Iruma-kun is a show that overall surprised and delighted us this season and deserves a ton of praise for what it does right, especially in a genre that some might say has been done to death at this point. Heck, it might be one of the most enjoyable isekai series in recent years. We're glad you're down here Iruma-kun, see you in season two!
We hope you got something out of our review! Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below and be sure to stick around Honey's for more of all things awesome, enjoyable anime that are technically isekai and otherwise! Until next time, keep on babibabibabibabibabibabibabibabiru!
Author: Oskar O.K. Strom
