(Nitsuj): Hello and welcome to Project Nitsuj. I’m here with the wild bunch.
(Yin-Yang): That’s your wolf, Yin-Yang.
(Shizuku): And that girl who delivers knockouts, Shizuku.
(Nitsuj): Which can mean it’s time to review, Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun.
(Yin-Yang): The hit comedy manga may not have developed a following in the west, but in Japan, it has quite the following as a lot of people really like it. While I wouldn’t call it one of my favorite school comedies I have to admit that it is a solid anime with good laughs, fun characters, and a unique setting.
(Shizuku): Following the success of its first season, a second season came after and continued that momentum. It dived more into the underworld, the characters, as well as build up a looming threat in the background. Following the second season, a third season was released in 2023 promising to move the story outside of the classroom but still keep the laughs.
(Yin-Yang): How did the third season do? Let’s find out. This is Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun S3.
Opening and Ending Theme
(Nitsuj): This season’s opening is “Girigiri Ride it Out” by FANTASTICS from EXILE TRIBE. It’s alright. I think out of the three openings this is probably my least favorite. I actually do like the slow build-up and subtlety of the song despite the amount of action that’s going to happen in this season. It’s like the calm before a storm.
(Shizuku): For the ending we have “Nabebugyou” by WEDNESDAY CAMPANELLA. While not my favorite song it is addicting to listen to. The singer is great and the song just gives off happy vibes that only this anime can bring.
Episodes 1-4
(Yin-Yang): The season starts off with a new semester starting. We see Iruma and the rest of the Misfit students are being treated as heroes for saving Walter Park and getting everyone’s attention. This of course makes Ameri jealous as it doesn’t give her a chance to be alone with Iruma (Shizuku: Give the girl her blue cinnamon roll). Once class starts the group finds out there’s going to be a number of festivals happening this semester and since they are special students, they get special assignments and their first one is every student reaching rank 4 before their second year. If they can’t fulfill this request, then they have to leave the Royal One classroom (Nitsuj: No~. I’m not going back to that shitty classroom). They all get special tutors who will help them in specific areas. Iruma and Lead draw the short straw and get stuck with Robin who will help them with their fighting spirit (they’re doomed). Feeling uneasy, Robin took the liberty of calling in his sister, Bachiko, for help (Nitsuj: She’s like the love child between Stocking from Panty and Stocking and Montana Max from Tiny Toons). She turns them into her servants, forcing them to dress up as girls and carry her around the school (scene here: https://youtu.be/RwcYkTasxHg?si=AThlqoEd4UIEvCD8).
The training continues in episode 2 as Iruma and Lead become Bachiko’s servants. Lead finally has enough and leaves to be trained by Robin which doesn’t go much better as Robin forces him to play all his favorite games and beat them in one sitting (Nitsuj: Are you mad man!? You expect me to play Persona 5 seventy hours and then switch over to Expedition 33 and play that for another fifty plus hours in one sitting?). There’s little bit of frustration on Iruma’s part, but he decides to stick with this training as he believes it’ll benefit him in the future. We do find Bachiko’s weakness, Sullivan. That’s right, she has a secret crush on Sullivan (Shizuku: The females of this anime have strange taste in men) and completely forgot about the training and just made Iruma her errand boy (wow, fail on everyone’s part). Bachiko gets serious and says they’re going to create a weapon for Iruma to use. We see her weapon which is a magic bow that hits its target 100% each time (a thousand shots. A thousand hits). Many demons have sought her out in order to train under her tutelage only to quit because demons get bored easily. They lack concentration and are impatient so learning this skill is impossible for them (Nitsuj: But what about a human with the patience of a saint? Scene here: https://youtu.be/HE74FKFZrtI?si=E7KY_7Sgj6Fx6Mu7). Iruma wants to learn the technique but he’ll need a weapon, so she takes him to the Magical Apparatus club to get one (Shizuku: Haha. Funny story).
Not much really happens in episode 3. We see the students pass their trials one by one (Nitsuj: There’s hope for this class after all) and Iruma manages to make his bow by the end of episode after expressing his desire to remain with his classmates and surprising Bachiko (scene here: https://youtu.be/82TSlacfBzc?si=GbUBVlcCWzPnUM1t). In truth, Bachiko expected Iruma to give up just like all the other students she tried to train in the past. She tried to stay positive and believed that the next student would meet her expectations, but they all gave up and left her, so she also stopped getting her hopes up. However, Iruma might just be the one to renew her spirit.
The harvest festival officially begins in episode 4. The first part of the festival is hunting and gathering (something I can get behind. (Shizuku): The rules of nature). The students will be let loose in a forest filled with ingredients/monsters that they have to catch. The points are based on the number of ingredients they catch and how hard they are to get. No handing in counterfeits and directly fighting other students will result in disqualification. There are four paths each student can choose, and all go down different paths. Everyone takes their positions and the festival begins (Nitsuj: May the odds be in your favor).
Episodes 5-8
(Nitsuj): Nothing much happens in episode 5. We just see a few of the misfit students show off their training and that’s it. One thing is clear though, they are becoming OP (scenes here: https://youtu.be/YyTq67QuAfg?si=BOusGaKnfBLPZYJn and https://youtu.be/-QjiGkiBjII?si=QVpfRA1i8uAROEng).
Episode 6 focuses on Iruma and Lead. Rather than scramble like everyone else and look for ingredients they take it easy. This isn’t a sprint it’s a marathon. They’re stuck in that forest for four days and the best thing to do in these situations is to not panic, conserve your energy, and become familiar with your surroundings (Yin-Yang: Agreed). The points will come but for now they survive and ward off other students (scene here: https://youtu.be/eXDISpR_QLw?si=j4oJk_RRmIbDQ9_O). As the two settle in they get approached by Elizabetta and Clara. Clara drags Iruma away leaving Elizabetta with Lead where she uses her new charming powers to steal the ingredients he was hiding (poor kid never stood a chance). To Elizabetta every man is a potential love interest therefore her actions are pure and sincere. She’s really trying to get you to fall for her. And after mastering every seduction technique from her training there’s not a devil alive who could resist her.
It’s the battle between Iruma and Clara in episode 7. Using her family powers combined with illusory magic, Clara transports herself and Iruma into her toy box, a world of illusions which she controls (Shizuku: Sounds like Whacky World Land. (Yin-Yang): Sounds like you). She turns Iruma into a child and the two play (it’s actually nice as Iruma finally gets to act like a child for the first time in his life). Little does Iruma know that Clara’s dream world is slowly sucking the mana out of him (jokes on you, he has no mana). They keep playing until both of them collapsed from exhaustion (Shizuku: He tired out Clara? Not to be perverted, but I always imagined her being an all-night express. (Nitsuj): I guess that title goes to Iruma now). Once they return to reality, it’s nighttime and the girls take their leave with a lot of points (scene here: https://youtu.be/GimRCEqtDmI?si=ykwZux6xNO7mGEu3). In the second half we see how the nighttime is far more dangerous than the day (Yin-Yang: Well freaks do come out at night) as the far more dangerous ingredients go on the hunt and attack students with the teachers having to save them.
(Shizuku): Episode 8 focuses on Agares and Goemon. We see how the two are the complete opposite of each other, but they’re both good friends even if they don’t come across as people who like to be with each other (Nitsuj: It’s sort of like Sanji and Zoro’s relationship but lacks violence and hate against each other). In the second half the tutors drink and brag about their students dominating the harvest festival and get into a competition on who they think will win.
Episodes 9-12
In episode 9 we focus on Asmodeus and Sabro who are in a competition with two other students who claim they stole their master. Only, they didn’t, and we get a case of mistaken identity. The episode does a good job showing just how strong Asmodeus and Sabro have become. So strong that they can take on the king of the forest without breaking a sweat and even take it down single-handedly when they go all out (scene here: https://youtu.be/KEzNKoMt0U0?si=gb37ZltR7Fmbr5yI).
Nothing much happens in episode 10. It’s the second day and in order for Iruma and Lead to make a comeback they set their sights on finding the legendary leaf. The rarest item in the whole forest. Said to be impossible to find. Not even Ameri could find it (Yin-Yang: But Iruma has shown to have the luck of the Irish. If anybody can find it, it’s him). Speaking of Ameri, we see her and another council member saving students from other monsters (Nitsuj: I do hope they get a penalty for this) and the council member talks to Ameri about her crush on Iruma (scene here: https://youtu.be/2d1llVSXrcM?si=oPQyoscUjgNkctud, glad to see people taking notice of this). As the episode ends we see a gambling den being run by Jazz and Allocer who have been disqualified.
In episode 11 we see how Jazz and Allocer got disqualified. The two came across another demon named Orobas who used his bloodline ability called Trauma to show demons their worst fears. Jazz saw his selfish older brother and attacked him when really it was Orobas. Since violence against others is prohibited, Jazz and Allocer got disqualified. Jazz tells Ameri that this was on purpose and Orobas is targeting Misfit students for some reason. Meanwhile, Iruma and Lead split up to search for the seed where Iruma finds the seed with the help of another student named Naphula the Silent (Yin-Yang: More like the smelly. He stinks). However, the seed is being guarded by Toto the Genie. In order to get the seed they must defeat him in battle or tell him something interesting (Nitsuj: I got this one. You’re in an anime). Knowing they can’t beat him, Iruma and Naphula reenact scenes from First Love Memories (you may know everything about the Netherworld. But you don’t know a thing about the human world. (Yin-Yang): Florida alone would drive you insane). Toto becomes obsessed with the manga and awards them the seed demanding Iruma’s phone number so he can know what happens next.
Episode 12 sees Iruma experience his worst fears. Thanks to Toto, Iruma and Naphula manage to safely leave the temple where Iruma’s parents suddenly appear (Yin-Yang: Ironic, I thought they would look more devilish). They’ve come to take Iruma back home and he’s terrified that he loses his footing and falls into a crevasse. Orobas takes his leave not even bothering to attack Naphula because he’s not a misfit. In the crevasse, Iruma injures his leg but can still move. However, he keeps seeing visions of everyone abandoning him. Even though he knows they’re illusions, the fear and pain of being abandoned by the people closest to him haunts him (Nitsuj: I don’t blame him). A vision of Bachiko appears who reminds him of the life-threatening lessons she taught him. This gives him the courage to stand back up and he uses one of his two shots to destroy the visions to move on and continue the festival (scene here: https://youtu.be/pcncpz0ZZfQ?si=PEdgiJOq7wToI_E9).
(Nitsuj): And that’s the first of the third season. This feels like a good place to stop.
(Yin-Yang): Agreed.
(Shizuku): Tune in next week as we continue our look at Iruma-kun S3. Thanks for reading and we’ll see you next time on Project Nitsuj.