Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 2

Episode 3

Incubus ahoy! In a revelation that should surprise absolutely no one, this week we learn that the culprit behind the damselfication of Ameri is none other than Ronove, the leader of the Disciplinary Battler, which, when you consider his perfumed and flowery ways, is either downright bizarre or has some interesting implications about what disciplinary measures he and his battlermates impose. While we don't know for certain that he's an incubus – roughly the male equivalent of a succubus – that seems to be a pretty good fit given his powers and appearance. While we can make winking assumptions about his thicker-than-normal tail, what's more telling is that his family bloodline power is “Charm,” a skill that allows him to enchant people when his eyeballs start spewing glitter. This makes him dangerous, not because he has a tangled grasp of magic (as described by one teacher who analyzed the spell on Ameri), but because he transformed her with one very specific goal in mind: taking over as the leader of the school.

Apparently at this particular educational institution, the student council isn't necessarily the voice of authority. Instead, any battler can challenge them in a special vote, and those who are victorious not only take over the governing of the student body, but also force the losing battler to disband. That means that if Ronove is successful, he'll not only take over, but the student council will be no more. And since Ameri is the face and voice of the council, taking her out makes the most sense – and why not just align her with his preferred aesthetics while he's at it? That he could do this seems to be at least in part due to her shoujo secret.

That Ameri's love of gooey shoujo manga may be gumming up the works comes up in the final moments of the episode, when Ali-san reveals to Iruma that the spell Ronove cast on her has almost worn off. It is, however, snagged on something in her psyche, and that's why she's still in Gentle Ameri (as the show puts it) form. While Iruma is unlikely to guess what this is and Ali's not saying (though I wouldn't put it past him to know), the problem is likely her feelings for Iruma, honed by their shoujo readings. Since this is a piece of Ameri that she can't quite accept herself, it would make sense for her to be reluctant to give up her excuse to express it, even if it might compromise her position at school.

That's all the important, serious stuff this week. The more fun parts are what really help to make this more than the slog the Battler Arc turned into in the first season. Gentle Ameri truly is adorable, and I love watching the student council members struggle to cope with this new, cute version who wants to sip tea and sweetly stamp papers. But the real highlight is seeing how Azz-Azz and Clara are coping with their Iruma-free lives. If you thought Grandpa was having trouble, Asmodeus is on a whole other level, yo-yoing between existential angst and coldly brushing off anyone who dares to talk to him until the magical moment when he gets a phone call from his beloved bestie. Clara, meanwhile, is way more trouble than she's worth in the Game Battler; the poor group has essentially been saddled with an untrained, enthusiastic puppy in a room full of treats. Asmodeus may be making things hard for the group he was forced to join, but Clara is absolutely destroying hers. I'm not entirely sure whether or not that's on purpose on her part or if that's just how she is without Iruma's and Asmodeus' calming influence. It really could go either way. But if there's one thing we can say with absolute certainty, it's that Clara IS the ultimate Force Of Nature. I can't wait to see how she helps to stop Ronove.

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Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.