Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun is a popular isekai anime that recently returned for Season 3 in the packed Fall 2022 lineup. This time around, protagonist Iruma Suzuki and his demon classmates face an all-new challenge: to reach Rank 4, or Dalet, by the end of the year while also completing the Harvest Festival.
Never before have Iruma and his classmates been pushed this hard, but then again, Babyls is a demon school. In many ways, this will be Iruma-kun's own version of Naruto's Chunin Exam, complete with supernaturally gifted young students, potential promotion and even a wilderness survival sequence like the Forest of Death.
Iruma Suzuki Must Face His Own Version of Naruto's Chunin Exam
The expression "Chunin Exam" can be used as a figure of speech for any difficult test, exam, or trial by battle in an anime thanks to Naruto's impact. Some of the exams in My Hero Academia may potentially be categorized as Chunin Exams, such as the one where Class 1-A had to spend hours clearing a forest to get to the training area where the Wild, Wild Pussycats were waiting. Greetings from Demon School! Iruma-kun is finally making its own moves and not just copying MHA or Naruto. This isekai is capable of speaking in its own unique way and producing something fresh.
The aberrant class of Babyls is a collection of outcasts, unlike Naruto's class or even UA's Class 1-A, but they are gradually changing that. Iruma and his classmates have proven they are a force to be reckoned with by fighting their way up from the bottom in true shonen style. Even though they frequently grumble or worry, these kids are prepared for a serious challenge, like the Harvest Festival and the quest to attain Rank 4. They are not simply troublemakers or misfits; they are heroes in the making. The new "Chunin Exam" is just what Iruma and his classmates require to advance and establish themselves.
This is also an opportunity for several students in Welcome to Demon School!'s abnormal class to get a glow-up, some of whom are long overdue. Similarly, several notable Naruto characters experienced an upgrade in the original Chunin Exam or showed off their unique jutsu for the first time. That exam was when Naruto learned to perform truly fearsome taijutsu, and Sakura Haruno vowed to never be weak again and even stood up to her more talented friend Ino Yamanaka, fighting to a draw despite steep odds. Hinata Hyuga's own upgrade in that arc is the stuff of legend.
The same may happen soon in Iruma-kun, with students like Caim Kamui, Andro Jazz and Elizabetta X due to show everyone what they can really do. Iruma, for his part, is about to learn how to use demonic bows and arrows with Bachiko -- his own version of learning the Rasengan or gaining One For All. His Netherworld "Chunin Exam" is the perfect opportunity to show off his new skills.
How the Rank Advancement Exam Sets Iruma-kun Apart as an Isekai
While Season 3's Harvest Festival and the mission to reach Rank 4 makes Welcome to Demon School!'s new story arc similar to the Chunin Exam, that doesn't mean it's a cheap imitator. Instead, this new Rank Advancement Exam helps Iruma-kun feel distinct in its own sector of anime. Unlike Naruto, MHA or even Jujutsu Kaisen, Welcome to Demon School! is an isekai complete with a new supernatural world, no way to get home, and a protagonist who can explore this world at the same pace as the viewer.
The Iruma-kun anime is about half-isekai/half-shonen overall, and combines the best elements of both. The shonen aspects, such as the Chunin Exam and Iruma's underdog status, help refresh the stale isekai formula while also dodging its biggest pitfalls. It gets pretty tiring to see so many isekai series with cheap power trip heroes; thankfully, Iruma Suzuki is more like Naruto Uzumaki and Izuku Midoriya instead.
This makes Iruma more relatable and compelling, and only a hero like that would be satisfying to watch in a Chunin Exam-style story arc. For that reason, upcoming episodes of Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun will surely remind fans why this anime is a standout in its formulaic subgenre, appealing equally to fans of isekai and shonen.
