I wouldn’t say it’s rare that Mairmashita! Iruma-kun surprises me.  But predictability at least in terms of tone is a drawing point with this series.  When it changes direction (like in the second episode of this season) it’s thus rather noticeable.  I had a pretty fair degree of confidence in what this episode was going to be – something like the test of courage ep earlier in the season, I figured.  It seemed the ball was teed up perfectly for a classic Iruma-kun fun-fest, but damned if things didn’t take a pretty big left turn.

Walter Park (yeah, the Disney connection is quite intentional) turns out not to be the happiest place under Earth (ahem).  But it looks like it is for a while – certainly for Iruma, who’s entranced by everything he sees at what’s no doubt his first trip to such a destination.  Along for the ride(s) is Ameri, who Iruma-kun has invited along – though not, to her chagrin, for the one-on-one date she’d convinced herself he said it would be.  Iruma didn’t lie to her of course – if he’s even capable of that we’ve never seen him do it.  But it’s a classic case of wishful thinking on her part.

A bit of a fly in the ointment is the presence of Kallego, Balam, and Opera – they having been assigned by Sullivan to act as Iruma’s “bodyguards”.  Naturally Kallego is the farthest from pleased at all this, especially with Opera being around to torment him.  Eventually the kids are split up into three teams, with a contest afoot – the winning team being the one which has the most fun (no mention of how this is going to be measured).  The poor boys assigned to Team Kallego have their work cut out for them in every sense of the word (especially as he’s threatened double end of terminus homework to the last place team).

Wrinkle #1 is that the park was built by none other than Ronove’s father, and he’s on-hand to “observe”.  He’s his usual over the top self, and promises to take Team Balam (Iruma’s team) on a special VIP underground tour.  And in Walter Park, that means a prison – because apparently all the attractions are powered by the Mana of the prisoners held beneath it.  Yikes – things got pretty dark there.  I couldn’t help but think of Alcatraz, where the prisoners often said that the lights and sounds of San Francisco across the bay were torture.  But at least they weren’t being literally sucked dry to keep those people entertained.

The real twist, though, is that one of those prisoners (and I thought of this as soon as I saw the scene shift) is none other than Kirio.  I figured he’d be back sooner or later – and I’m heartily glad of it too, as Ohsaka Ryouta really kills it with this performance.  Even though Kirio did very bad things, I found his exit from the narrative rather sad – especially as I sensed a core of genuine affection in his mentor-protege relationship with Iruma.  But he’s hardly a model prisoner – in fact, he’s at the heart of a plot to break out with the help of the Musashino Crew, a legendary group of nasties Kirio has an “in” with.

I suspect we know who Kiro’s connection with the Musashino Crew is, though this is the first time we’ve heard that name as far as I recall.  And this whole “return to basics” thing has a Chekov’s Gun ring to it – there’s something significant going on here, some kind of terrorist or at least political movement that I imagine Iruma is going to find himself caught up with.  An interesting question for me is how Kirio will react when he finds out Iruma is in the park – that will test my suspicions about their relationship, I suppose…