Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 4

Episode 4

One of the hardest things about being a teenager is that it's a sort of no-man's-land between childhood and adulthood. You're still under your parents' aegis, but maybe you're starting to figure out that what they want for you and what you want for yourself aren't the same thing. Legally, they still have control over you, and maybe a piece of you doesn't mind that. But then they want you to do something that goes against your every inclination. What do – or what can – you do?

That's where Purson ends up this week. It's been brewing since his first official appearance, when we learned what his father expects of him versus how his mother helps him cope. To say he's conflicted might be a bit of an understatement, although Purson himself might not phrase it that way. But he truly is: he's been living the way his father wants him to for most of his life, hiding in the shadows and keeping himself and his love of music a secret. He's also consistently been uncomfortable admitting that he might want something different for himself, as we saw when Iruma and the rest of the Misfit Class tried to convince him that he wanted to be in the music festival. It wasn't really a case of “wanting” versus “not wanting,” it was a question of feeling comfortable defying his father.

It's hard to do that to your dad's face, metaphorical as that may be in Purson's case. It's one thing to quietly participate in the festival at school, well away from his family's watchful eye, but when he's actually confronted with his rebellion, it's entirely another. Nice as it would have been to see Purson stand up to his dad on the phone, realistically, that wasn't going to happen. And, I know, it's a little weird to talk about realism in a show about a human attending demon school where everyone has wacky magic powers, but part of what makes Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun so good is that it's grounded in some solid truth. Iruma's trauma was dealt with in the last season, and he's clearly in a better place now, even if he can't shake some of his old knee-jerk reactions. Clara's frustration with Asmodeus never calling her by her given name is very real – it shows how Azz keeps her at a distance compared to Iruma and makes her feel like they're not real friends. (And her calling him by a Valac family version of his given name seems like some solid Clara-style tit-for-tat.) Elizabetta's discomfort with who she's “supposed” to be as a succubus mirrors Purson's current journey. This story works because it has that sort of solid foundation – and that makes Purson's actions this week make a lot of sense.

All of this is very nicely foreshadowed in Iruma's interpretation of Lilith's story. When Kalego, an adult (possibly the adultiest adult in the series), plays her song, it's sexy. He attributes to Lilith a love of her own power over men. But when Iruma interprets it on his disappointingly normal piano, he makes Lilith uncomfortable with the attention. It's a burden for her to have men flock to her because of her looks or her succubus heritage. His Lilith isn't a stereotype; she's a person like Elizabetta, someone who wants to be seen as more than her bloodline. While it might horrify the class that he makes it a whole performance complete with a love letter (probably about food), he's doing for Elizabetta what he did for Clara and Purson and tried to do for Kiriwo: he's seeing her. Not only does that allow Elizabetta to make the role of Lilith her own, but it also shows everyone that misfits will not be pigeonholed. Even Kalego has to be a little proud.

Purson wants that for himself, but he's afraid to take it. That he ran away – in plain sight, presumably – is him trying to reconcile what he wants with his father's expectations. He can't be Keroli, hiding her light until she puts on the Kuromu wig (although she's getting worse and worse at that, which is also supportive of Purson's arc), but he also won't be Kiriwo, going too far to make a point. It's a good thing that the Misfit Class has his back and that his grumpy teacher does, too. With enough support, maybe Purson can find a way to be himself and not his father's perfect son.

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