Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 3

Episode 7

Maybe I'm overthinking this, but it doesn't seem like a great plan for Team Charm (Elizabetta and Clara) to steal points from Team Feral (Iruma and Lead) if the end goal for the Misfit Class is all of them ranking up enough together. Iruma may not be in as much trouble as Lead if their points are taken, but both boys still need to reach dalet alongside the girls, so wouldn't you think that Clara and Elizabetta would work their wiles on students who aren't members of their own class? Although that may be giving Clara too much credit; I very much doubt she's got any interest in dragging someone who isn't Iruma into her clothes.

Yes, I do believe that the double-entendre this week was at least a little on purpose, although I'm not sure that “box” can have the same sexual connotation in Japanese as it can in English. (And if it doesn't, well, it works out for us at least, assuming you don't mind off-color humor.) Besides, there are only so many ways to interpret Clara's power-up – she was training with Raim, a succubus, and her power activates when she brings someone inside her garments, which is the equivalent of pulling them into her pocket, and…yeah, I don't think I have to explain this, do I? It works because Clara herself seems to be totally oblivious to the implications – in her mind, it's just a new way to play games in a fun world. She says she “likes” Iruma, but whether she really understands what that could mean isn't clear, and that's what makes her such a good character: she has no motivations beyond what makes her happy, and seeing her be happy is delightful. (Especially if she sings.) Iruma may have slightly more of a clue, but it isn't something he's going to waste time thinking about when he could be having a water gun fight. There's a charming innocence to the whole thing that doesn't take away from the more adult humor that surrounds it.

All of that said, I admit that I'm kind of hoping that this story arc ends before the season does. It feels as if it's dragging compared to previous seasons, and I can't quite put my finger on why. Breaking up the Dynamic Trio may be part of it, but I suspect it's more that despite knowing everyone was training and seeing some of the fruits of that training, it doesn't feel like we've had enough payoff for the threat of losing Royal One. Certainly, we can see that Asmodeus is even more awesomely powerful and that Clara's childishness has a purpose beyond being the defining characteristic of her role, but it's too little payoff for this many episodes. We'll be seeing Goemon and Agares' new skills next week (and throwing Dosa-chan in there is almost enough to make anything worth it; she's my favorite semi-background character), and hopefully after that, the plot can move on.

Part of what makes the Misfit Class so great is the way that they work together. We've been seeing that in this arc, but not as much as you'd expect when the stakes are their opulent classroom. I'm still enjoying the show enough that I was upset when this episode was days late in airing, but I'm also very much ready for this arc to get back to the character dynamics that help to make the series so fun.

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