English Dub Review: Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun “The One Who Rules Over the Netherworld”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Iruma finishes the remainder of his summer homework before the break is over, and so gets to go shopping with Sullivan for the remaining time left. He then asks Sullivan about how one becomes the Demon King, so he is told about the previous king, who is responsible for why demon society is the way it is now, as well as the Thirteen Houses that must all support a candidate for the throne if they wish to get it. The new school term begins, with Kalego telling the Misfit Class that they’ll all need to reach the fourth rank, Daleth, if they want to keep the Royal Classroom.

OUR TAKE

Another completed season in the books for Iruma, with another on the way soon enough. Like with the last two episodes, this one has been a pretty low stakes and character building focused story centered around Iruma and one aspect of his relationships. We had one about how much he cares about his closest friends, then one about his potential love interest, and now finally one about his particular connection and goals with being the adopted grandson of one of the most powerful demons in the realm, as well as him considering pursuing becoming the Demon King himself. Now, in the world of shonen stories, main characters seeking to hold the most powerful position in the land is nothing new, with the most notable examples being Naruto’s eventually successful quest to become Hokage and Asta in Black Clover’s dream of becoming Wizard Hokage, both for the reasons of wanting to prove wrong those who mocked them in childhood. But Iruma hasn’t really faced that much mockery, or at the very least not that much that has really gotten to him, so his motivations for wanting to become Demon King are likely coming from a different place. As much as he’s faced opposition and harassment along his journey, he’s proven to be able to hold things together and even rally many people around him rather easily to do surprising things, such as obtaining access to that royal classroom.

So, this is probably way this acts as a fitting episode topic for a season finale, even if having only twenty one episodes in a season is a bit weirder than having twenty three. It works to show how far Iruma has come as a character overall, as well as giving some major hints as to what lies ahead for him in the next season and beyond. He started the series as someone who went out of his way to help everyone who asked, no matter how hard or strenuous the tasks were, something that humbled him enough and built his integrity and empathy, which would in turn help to garner him respect and strong bonds with others around him. That obviously leads to the inherent irony in an undercover human becoming the ruler of all Demons, but if there’s anyone I could see that happening to in this story, it would definitely be Iruma. But now let’s look back on this season and see what has worked and what hasn’t.