Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 2

Episode 20

It's the question of the season: was it worth waiting an extra week for Iruma and Ameri's date? Yes, yes it was. This is undoubtedly one of the cutest episodes of the series, and that it mixes that with sweetness makes it pretty darn great. And, as an added bonus, Iruma may even realize that he's on a date, although I suppose that's up for debate. It would take a special kind of Catarina-style density to miss all of Ameri's signals, though, and I don't think Iruma's quite that unobservant.

Ameri, however, is kind of bad at date planning. Not to the degree we more typically see, however, which is yet another point in this episode's favor. Yes, she bases her entire schedule on shoujo manga, which isn't usually a recipe for success, but she's also not choosing anything too ridiculous, even by human standards. If anything, the Netherworld actually makes things easier for her, because where else are you going to find a venue that's both a pool/beach and an aquarium? Not just one of those “swim with dolphins” places, either – when Iruma first walks in, he thinks it's just a plain old aquarium until Ameri tells him otherwise. It's really taking “swimming with the fishes” to a completely different (and less threatening) level, even pairing its waterslides with a fishback ride. “Awesome” doesn't begin to describe it.

So if Ameri picked the right place, what didn't she take into account? This is actually one of my favorite pieces of the episode: it never occurred to her that there's anything odd about her size compared to Iruma's. This is, of course, where the whole shoujo manga thing comes back to bite her, because it's based on the human assumption that the guy will always be taller than the girl. As we know, that's not the case for Ameri and Iruma (or for all humans in real life), but that it never even crossed Ameri's mind says a lot about both the diversity of the Netherworld and about how comfortable she is in her own body. It isn't until she goes to grab Iruma's hand that she realizes the difference in their statures, and while she has a brief moment of panic (“Am I too big?!”), she quickly forgets about it and moves on. It does come up again a few times, such as when she's in the back on the fishback slide or when she's daydreaming about being carried, but for the most part she's too busy focusing on having fun – and following her ludicrously detailed plan – to think about it. It's refreshing and also very affirming, because it's not about looks or builds or anything like that. For Ameri and Iruma, it's about enjoying being with each other, and that comes across very clearly.

In some ways, their date is a distillation of the series' themes. In the Netherworld, Iruma, the only human, finds an acceptance and a happiness that he never did when he was living among members of his own species. It doesn't matter that he doesn't have horns, wings, or claws; he's got friends who love him for who he is, a doting family, and at least three girls and one guy crushing on him. Yes, there are moments when human vs. demon becomes a factor, but for the most part it just isn't important – and it feels like it wouldn't be with his friends even if they found out; just look at Balam's easy acceptance. (We'll leave Kalego out of this discussion.) Just like no one bats an eye at seeing Ameri and Iruma out together – and it feels very telling that the park worker at the fishslide doesn't make any assumptions or statements based on Ameri and Iruma's relative sizes – no one cares that Iruma looks different or thinks differently than most of the others. Who, not what he is, is where the focus lies.

While the episode can't fully escape from clichés (which mostly means Ameri's dad having a little freakout), it also works well with a lot of the typical first date tropes. Ameri and Iruma really are a cute couple, and seeing her relax until a fortune-telling dragon tries to snack on Iruma is a lovely change of pace for her. It's a shame that this season is about to end, but if the finale is even half as good as this episode, at least it'll end on a high note.

And at least Ameri got to live out most of her date dreams, including getting carried like a princess.

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Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.