Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 3

Episode 11

Well, it's official: shoujo manga will save the world. Or at least First Love Memories will; Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun's in-world shoujo manga saga could give the one in Monthly Girls' Nozaki-kun a run for its money in terms of its sheer over-the-top ridiculousness, but that's largely its appeal. It's also a statement of the incredible draw melodrama has on its readership – there's just something addictive about a story that is always dialed up to eleven setting the bar ever higher in its pursuit of new plot twists. In the case of this episode, since that's exactly what Toto the genie is looking for, it's a parody that more than serves its purpose. And even if the ongoing lunacy of First Love Memories every time we see it is starting to wear thin for you, watching Iruma and Naphula reenact it with Iruma doing all the voices breathes new life into this old gag.

Naphula the Silent is a surprise addition to Team Iruma, although given that he's present in the opening theme it was something of an inevitability. (Although Purson's been in all the openings and still hasn't made an official debut, so…) It also turns out that “the silent” is perhaps not the right moniker for the little guy; Naphula the Stinky might have been more accurate, especially since he really isn't silent. He actually has a pretty broad vocabulary of funny little noises; he simply doesn't speak in words. Why he smells so bad is an open question, and it is apparently a testament to Iruma's unfailing charm and kindness that he's willing to bring Naphula along with him on his quest. And as always, Iruma's goodness is rewarded, because it really would have been a lot more difficult to act out First Love Stories without a partner willing to help.

This episode feels like it marks a turning point in the story arc. While we could argue that winning the approval of Keroli's animal followers last week filled that role, it feels fairer to say that Iruma taking the true first steps to finding parts for the Legend Leaf happens this week. Armed with the two halves of the song that each detail a different important step in the process, Iruma and Lead split up, and we see the former making major progress on his half. But with their separation, both Iruma and Lead are very possibly in more dangerous situations than they have been previously. The reason for this is what we learned in the opening portion of the episode: another student is gunning for the members of the Misfit Class specifically.

The student in question is one who has been mentioned before as a favorite to win the entire festival, and he is definitely not above using suspect means in order to do so. Strictly speaking, he's not cheating; he just happens to be in possession of a bloodline ability that allows him to prey on other students. His skill is called “trauma,” which allows him to make his targets hallucinate their past worst experiences. Naturally, he is the reason why Jazz and Alocer are currently out of the competition. He used his power on Jazz to trick him into physically attacking, which as we know is strictly forbidden by the rules of the game. This suggests that there's a very fine line being skirted, because the skill “trauma” inflicts what is arguably a physical attack, given that it specifically acts on the target's brain and eyes. Mind you, using his bloodline ability is simply him acting as a demon, and really he's not doing anything that Elizabetta and Clara didn't do. It still feels more insidious, but that may simply be because he is so clearly after the Misfit Class. He may be rightly assuming that the group will at the end of the day stick together, because there really isn't any reason why Alocer also withdrew from the competition since he was unaffected and it was only Jazz who physically attacked. Either way, it's a complication that they don't need, and one that very much merits keeping an eye on – something I daresay Ameri is going to do.

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Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 3 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.