Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun Season 4

Episodes 1-3

You've been looking for him in the background of every episode for three seasons. Now, in the fourth season of Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun, the scavenger hunt is over: Soi Purson is finally in the light. Completely against his will, of course, but I can tell you that no matter how hard you try to blend in with the wallpaper in middle and high school, there's always a moment when you're noticed. And Purson is frankly lucky that the ones who see him are his fellow misfits.

Purson is an interesting addition to the main cast. While all of the demons have remarkably human and relatable aspects, Purson's central conflict feels the most relatable to me personally. He really does want to go through Babylis in the background – he's an introvert and likely shy, and while he doesn't object to talking to people he's comfortable with, it's a lot easier to just avoid that altogether. Adding to his inner turmoil is the fact that he's from a family where hiding in the shadows is de rigeur. The Purson bloodline ability is not being noticed, and his older brother is so good at it that Soi has never actually cast eyes on him – and no one knows where he is. Even his father admits that this might be going a bit too far, but it definitely increases the pressure our new misfit is under. The absolute last thing he needs is his classmates suddenly demanding that he take center stage and advance a rank so that they can keep their cushy classroom.

This puts Iruma in a new position. Purson calls him (and the rest of the class) selfish because they're ignoring his express wishes to remain hidden for their own benefit, but I doubt that Iruma has ever had more than a passing acquaintance with the concept. He needs to balance his genuine desire to help everyone with Purson's conflict. Yes, he's been in awkward situations before, but this one really takes the cake because just participating in the Music Festival goes against everything Purson seems to want…except that Purson does actually love music and uses it as his form of expression when he can't actually talk to people because of his family's directives. So he does want to participate, but he has to do it in a way that's comfortable for him, which is going to put Iruma's diplomatic skills to the test.

That's basically where episodes one and three focus, which makes episode two, which brings us the unlikely duo of Naphula and Ronove, stand out. Ronove, who doesn't know what the word “retiring” means, is basically how the rest of the world appears to Purson: over the top, intimidating, and incredibly annoying. He's the worst group project partner in existence, something Ameri is very aware of when she sends him out to check on the first years with poor Naphula (or “Natasha” as Ronove renames them), and just seeing him sparkle and sing his way through the first year classrooms is enough to make you understand how Purson feels when faced with his classmates. Ameri, of course, has a different goal in mind when she sends him out, but the purpose is served nonetheless, deftly tying episode two to its fellows. (And, of course, giving us another glimpse of the insanity that is in-world shoujo manga First Love Memories.)

One of the best things about Iruma-kun as a series is the way that it's always willing to show us new sides of the characters, and that's on full display here. From the fact that Purson has a motor mouth when he's with people he's comfortable with (so just Iruma right now) and a sneaky sense of humor to the fact that both Sabnock and Kalego are accomplished pianists, the characters are always growing. Honestly, Opera was my bet for someone who could teach Iruma the piano; but Sabnock does make sense; after all kings can't just be strong, they also should be accomplished in the 19th century sense, and that means a Classical education. Keroli, meanwhile, is given leave to dive back into her original character as a secret dem-dol, which ties into her choice of performance piece for the class. Yes, Elizabetta is a succubus, which means that a song about a famously seductive demoness makes sense, but Iruma's and Purson's giggling and blushing reminds us that Keroli's probably the only misfit who can be professional about this. (Well, maybe Allocer, too. He's the one sneaking off on group dates without his pals, after all.) Asmodeus finding out what the song is about isn't going to do much to convince him that Iruma shouldn't be the lead, though, despite Keroli's tart reminders about who needs to rank up.

Azz-Azz and Clara may be the next two to get a surprise side of their characters revealed, although I'm not convinced that their heart-to-heart won't just turn into an Iruma crush session. Either way, the Misfit Class has its work cut out for it – especially Iruma, who needs to keep his piano from turning into a small child's soft, tinkly toy if they're going to succeed.

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