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Thursday, July 02, 2020

One Shot Posts: Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun

Anime 


   
         Welcome to another Joshuaonline "One Shot Post" here on Joshuaonline, part of our posts that we don't think fit in any of our other segments on this blog.  Sometimes, I have used this segment to write about Anime, in this case , we've done it again.

             Here's an interesting premise  for a show:  A 14 year old boy is sold to a demon by his parents and his life is better than it was before he was sold.  You read that right.  "Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-Kun" is a 2019-2020 anime series, that also will be getting a season 2 in 2021 (also the series is called "Marimashita! Iruma-Kun) with this premise.



             Our main blue haired main character  is 14-year-old Iruma Suzuki, who was just minding his business working on a fishing boat when he is grabbed by a demon named Sullivan and brought to the netherworld.  Iruma's not dead or anything (that'd be a bad twist) and he demon gives him a way to understand Demon talk and words.  So why did  a demon buy our main character? (plot reasons?)  This old man demon wants one thing... loading.... a grandson.  This show about a boy who is sold to a demon is about a boy sold to a demon who is lonely and just wants a grandson because he wants to brag about having a grandson to other demons who have grand children. That's the sweetest thing I've never thought would be written.



            We learn about them through the series that Iruma's parents in our world (slightly) are awful people.  You would at least get the grasp of that from the fact that they willingly sold their son to a demon.   Iruma even figures that yeah the would  really sell him to a demon.  Iruma has this thing about him where he can't refuse if someone asks him for help or makes a request of him. So when Sullivan begs him to let him be his grandfather, Iruma can't  refuse. This will play into his character as the series progresses on.


More after the Jump


        Our blue-haired sweet hero has also never really been to school because have we mentioned that Iruma's parents were awful people?  Sullivan is also a headmaster at Babyls school for demons.  This series does mention a school in it's English title so, here you go. Sullivan gives our Iruma a nice room in his fancy home, nice stuff, and enrolls him into school.   There's one thing, Sullivan makes sure that no one knows that Iruma is a human went a perfume and tells him that demons would eat him if they were to find out.(oops)  This also makes Iruma have a goal to not stick out in school.



     Will Iruma not stick out and have peaceful life?  Well it's a comedy series so, what do you think?  Well the school song is fun with Humans only exist to be our food and suck them dry type of song. I'm making my opening line about Iruma having a better life with the demons than with the humans a lie so,I need to back that up. (Yes, you do)

anything better than this



        Through the series run you'll Iruma start to adjust.  In the first episode, he impresses the school with Sullivan slipping in a spell  slipped in that will also make sure that Iruma can' t fall or stumble. The spell also causes the other demons to fear him a little because he chanted the forbidden spell.  This relates to a character named Asmodeus Alice (or as he shall be called Azz-Azz)  at first, Asmodeus is unhappy with Iruma for replacing him in the speech and challenges him to a duel. (This is a strange first day of  school)   Asmodeus is a specialist in fire magic, because as I said, magic exists in this world.  Iruma, being an average, (we use that term lightly) human has no powers ,but he does have one thing: he can dodge anything thrown at him.  Azz Azz can't hit him, because due his Iruma's life experience he has a away to dodge all dangerous things.  If you don't remember this in episode they will repeat this a lot, more on that later.



        The students think Iruma is amazing and read it as thinking he doesn't think Azz Azz is worth fighting.  When it looks like a girl is in danger he runs over to help and German suplex's Azz Azz by mistake.  Again, that whole trying to blend in thing isn't working.  Asmodeus was so impressed he decides to make himself devoted to Iruma.  They eventually become really good friends  as the series progresses.  He won't be the last friend Iruma makes either.


      Through the series, you'll see how our blue haired cinnamon roll progresses and thrives.  He'll (ha) be doing more than just try to not be noticed, and survive. He'll make friends, figure out goals for himself; something he never had to consider before, since his life's goal in the human world was just to survive.  He also gets to have a supportive parent with Sullivan, and in away with Oprea, Sullivan's assistant.  His life is better than it was on Earth.  At school, you'll see how other students seem to geinually like him. His character is a nice guy, but it feels genuine,  he's had a hard life but doesn't hold a bitterness and strives to not be.  When he meets the stand out character in this series, Clara, he genuinely enjoys her company and  gives her something she hasn't had before, a true friendship. (Along with Asmodeus , even if he somewhat is annoyed). 


      I also like the humor of Iruma having dumb luck powers to help him along the way. He also finds ways to work out things like in episode 2 but I don't want to spoil things.   Characters in the show are great!  They gave all these background characters identities and quirks where you learn somethings about them just by watching the episodes.  It give an authentic feel and charm.  Also, the series rewards you for noticing  a character in the background, again no spoilers.
   
   

      Let's talk about Clara.  Clara Valac is pure energy. This green haired demon girl with a cute heart tail is high energy, slightly odd, and great character.  She's this without being too scenery chewing or annoying. Iruma meets her when she runs into him and Asmodeus in episode 3,  as much as  Azz Azz (that's what she calls Asmodeus) really doesn't want,  Iruma being his sweet-natured  self decides to play with her at her request.   He ends up giving her, her first real friendship,  to be not spoiling, I say it's rather sad what Clara was doing versus being with Iruma and Azz Azz.  The three of them become a great trio and they are all enjoyable.  Iruma introduces the concept of friendship to the demons. We'll also meet Clara's family who are just as pure as she is.



      There's Ameri who's the president of the student council  and she's interested in human culture and may have figured out Iruma is human.  Bending to the will of this show being the way it is,  most of the demons actually don't think humans are real.  She has a large collection of manga, or as it's called "The Forbidden text"and she can't read it, but finds that Iruma can and she asks him to read it to her , periodically.  They become friends in the process.  I like her character as much as the others she's does a great job at being  a leader and dignified with the balance of going loopy around Iruma.


         I also have to mention Sublo.  So he wants to be the demon king (more on this, soon) he has a high energy about himself  and likes a good challenge.  Iruma helps out in a situation and they become rivals. They are like friendly rivals though.  Clara and Sublo are also fun to see together as he pretty much doesn't mind her climbing on him or gabbing his tail.





           Kalego is best teacher. At first, he doesn't really like Iruma because of Iruma being Sullivan's Grandson and Sullivan annoys him, especially doing things like docking his pay.  I'll keep some part of this spoiler free, but he does come to respect Iruma over time. I like his presence and  some of the running gags with him are fun.  



        If you don't know that this is a show about 14-year-old Iruma being brought into the demon world , attending school, being worried about being eaten if they find out. Well, then the show will remind you almost every episode. By the time episode 22 hits and you don't know this, then what have you been doing?   There's a slight charm to this being in the episodes, it reminds of an old style of  cartoon where they would tell you the premise of the show at the start of the episodes.  Kind of like how "Powerpuff Girls" always started with that as part of it's intro.  


            The OP is dang catchy , you will either love it or hate it,  I personally love it, it has it's own charm and really fits the tone of show.   The style of the world in the show is also wonderful. They use a lot of purples and blues  and they give a nice Halloween feel to the series.   The school featured also has it's own unique feel and style  where you really want to visit it yourself.  The characters, as I said before, have their own distinct looks, this goes beyond main and secondary characters.  They pretty much gave any character we see their own look and design.  Some are human looking, some look like lizards, and other things.  It's  a nice touch and really shows the appreciation.   



      The show has  lore about their being a Demon Lord and they aren't foreshadowing anything they are essentially telling us who will be, unless it was all a trick.  I mean, that'd be the  trolliest thing to do.  The humor of the show is great and knows how to keep things from being the expected all the time.  It subverts things you'd might expect in  a school life anime.    I also wasn't expecting the use of the Hebrew alphabet  for the ranking system.  ( I wasn't expecting ranks but still)  Iruma, for example starts that lowest rank , Alef, because he wasn't able to get an official rank.  You'll see demons ranked as Bet, Gimel, and further.  They also do hints to the 6 thing , there's a lot of that carrying through the series.  



        It's a pretty wholesome series, I think a family can watch together, as of this writing it also has a dub.  In speaking of the voices,  in the original (subbed) the voices really do match the characters personalities well.  Iruma is a sweet, kind hearted boy, and the voice he has fits this well and showing that. (Fun Fact, if you liked Doctor Stone and watched in sub; it's the same VA as Ginro,) Clara's VA sells her character well and fits her off the wall energy.  The English voice for Iruma, is Laura Shal, who also is the voice for Aiger in Beybalde Burst Turbo, she brings a lot of Iruma's character out in English. 


      I really enjoyed this series and think it brings a great mixture of charm, comedy, and engagement to make it great series.  There might be somethings not liked , such as the repeating things the show does to tell you  that Iruma can't  refuse a request, or other things, but I think it adds to the humor, but I can see how some might not like that.  Anyway, do check it out , you may enjoy it. 


 That's it for now , tune in next time when we wonder where we can get a nice grandfather like Sullivan. 
        

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