Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun Season 2 – You CAN Go Home Again

Production

I don’t know if it registered the first time around but I made a point to see who the studio was behind Iruma-kun this season. It’s Bandai and for some reason, that surprised me. I actually went to look into their recent releases. They have some decent stuff just not much that I have seen. I also saw that they plan on releasing BIRDIE WING: Golf Girls’ Story and I added it straight away to my planning list. A female lead Sports! anime about golf. It sounds so unusual.

Anyways, back to Iruma-kun and Bandai. I noticed a trend in their titles that also apply to Iruma-kun. They don’t have super impressive animation or hyper-detailed art but they do have a knack for injecting fun into their production., The voice actors sound relaxed and playful, the designs are often simple and easy to reproduce but with a lot of eccentric charm. And the colours are so bright!

Iruma-kun just looks like a show that’s trying to make you smile. Does that make any sense? It makes some sense in my head. I guess I mean the production is not heavy or overly serious but it puts the emphasis on the right elements for this type of story. All the characters look very different and their designs either betray or subvert their personalities. The backgrounds are equally bright and varied with little eccentric details to bring the world to life. It’s not exactly technically impressive but it is well crafted and just fun to look at.

Story & Characters

Let me give you the ultra-short version of my experience. About 6 episodes in, I went straight to AniList to see if there was another season so I could put it on my plan to watch list! There is a season 3 planned by the way, and it was already on my list. Go me! Such good foresight!

When I mentioned in my first paragraph that the first season of Iruma-kun was a bit of lightning in a bottle, I mean that the show is an unusual balancing act. I still think that at its core, Iruma-kun is written to be enjoyed by all audiences. It is definitely kid-friendly but it doesn’t talk down to the audience. Moreover, it’s dripping with charm.

Iruma, and his friends and family are all really nice people…well demons. Really nice demons! But they aren’t cloyingly sweet or completely one-dimensional. They manage to remain individuals with depth and layers and faults, even if those faults are pg.

Heck, even evil Iruma was a pretty nice guy when it came right down to it. Speaking of which, one of my few complaints this season was that I wish there had been more evil Iruma. His arc was my favourite and I think it would have been fun for him to come out now and then, like a Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde sort of thing… But maybe at a random trigger, like every time Iruma sneezed or maybe every time someone said please, to go with Iruma’s inability to say no!

–Side note, My autocorrect suggests that I change Iruma’s to Trump’s….

This may not sound like a big deal. A cast full of nice people seems pretty standard. But it’s not that easy to create a good dynamic, storyline conflicts and ongoing chemistry without some antagonists. And there are some in Iruma but they’re hardly present. A lot of Slice of Life anime do have generally even casts but then again, a lot of Slice of Life anime don’t have great characters.

Don’t come for me. I love Slice of Life and I definitely don’t mean the genre doesn’t have some great casts. However, there are thousands of titles out there and underdeveloped characters do happen a lot even in a genre that is entirely based on character appeal. Not the case for Iruma, that’s all I meant.

Iruma-kun is sort of a mix of slice of life and adventure. I think this season had a bit more action but then again, it might just be because I watched it more recently. And I have to say, I think I liked all the arcs. I already mentioned that I really enjoyed evil Iruma and how nice he actually was.

I thought shy Ameri was adorable. In fact, I actually was shipping Ameri and Iruma by the end of the season. Guys, I don’t ship. This is a big deal. I really like these two together. I think they are just the cutest! Also, new professor Balam was super fun (he makes it to my list of favourite characters) as was his introduction and special relationship with Iruma.

The season has a little bit for everyone. Silly school-based shenanigans, actual exciting fight scenes with monsters, even a little romantic b plot that takes over in the last arc. I guess I did miss the dynamic between Clara, As and Iruma a bit. Although the two are still very present throughout the season. the show does diversify a bit and focuses more on Iruma’s relationships with others this time around.

Finally, we have the setup for what is likely going to be the main intrigue next season. The Demon realm is without a king and it’s causing a bit of unease throughout the land. The search for a new leader has been going on for some time. It seems the Demon realm is a reflection of the kind, therefore whoever becomes the leader will have a huge impact on, everything! It sounds like there’s the potential for slightly higher stakes and a grand adventure. I’m really looking forward to it.

At the end of the day, Iruma-kun is, and always was, a feel-good anime for me. It’s something I can put on to wash away the day and it just puts me in a good mood. Consistently now for 40+ episodes. It’s the sort of thing you don’t really think about in the moment, but that’s impressive! And I’m certainly all in for more.

You might like this anime if:

You liked the first season. You like light supernatural comedies and feeling good.

I save all my screencaps on my Pinterest and you can find more there if you are interested. But I still like to show you a few in the post. If you’re like me, screencaps are something that really helps you decide to watch an anime or not.