One of the things I enjoy about Mairimashita! Iruma-kun (one among many, obviously) is that it can get agreeably weird.  For a show as genuinely nice as this one is most of the time, that occasional foray into the bizarre makes a nice contrast.  Another key element in its success is the depth of the cast, a common feature in many great anime comedies.  Even if a character you love doesn’t appear for a few weeks there are plenty of good ones to fill the gap.  Of course that doesn’t mean I don’t wish we’d see more of Ali-san because he (and Miki-san) are pretty superb.

This was indeed a very quirky episode, as last week’s suggested it might be.  There’s just a hint of razor-wire satire in this depiction of Walter Park – the degree to which the employees are expected to be programmed and “on” all the time (also true at USJ, I can confirm).  These include the employees at the dress-up shop where Clara is playing mermaid, and the bros at the carnival shooting game where poor Team Kallego tries desperately to up their fun factor.  It even applies to seemingly random passers-by in the park’s bad neighborhood, and to Ronove’s babysitter.

Is it a coincidence that all six of these park employees who turn out to be something much more have direct contact with the party from Babyls?  I don’t see how it possibly can be.  I also don’t quite understand why what was presented as the “Musashino Crew” last week is now “Six Fingers” – I guess a creative translation of Musahino can get that out of it but why change it?  It does seem pretty clear that they’re the same group, so presumably someone associated with the production asked for a correction.

Iruma-kun’s adventures were certainly the highlight of this episode.  He almost seems to have age-regressed here – I mean, he was more childlike from the minute he walked into the park (understandable given his deprived childhood), but after getting lost he was suddenly about seven or eight.  “Kararagi Street” is apparently where all the bad karma that’s suppressed in making Walter Park a happy place goes – Kallego-sensei warns his boys to avoid it but of course Iruma is on Team Balam, and he’s been following Ronove around trying to keep up with his fun overdose.

The girl who finds and rescues Iruma in Kararagi Street is Shiida, who talks in a halting voice and seems quite socially awkward, but acts very motherly towards Iruma.  This interaction is extremely sweet in fact – a reminder that for all Iruma’s life has turned for the better he still has no mother figure in his life, and that he’s still young enough for that to really matter to him.  From the petting zoo to the ferris wheel the two bond, and Shiida keeps saying Iruma should go to the lost children’s center (again – he’s fourteen).  But in the end, there’s more to Shiida than it seems…

Was Shiida simply acting in her cover as an employee, or was her protection of Iruma part of a larger plan?  This is interesting in that we once again have a seemingly kind person (like Kirio) that’s bonded with Iruma-kun turn out to be a baddie.  And there seems no question that Six Fingers is basically a terrorist organization – vibing as an almost Taliban-like movement, since they clearly feel demons have become too gentrified and softened by the modern world.  It’s going to be interesting to see how the series ties all this together – we’re seemingly headed into one of those stretches where Mairimashita! Iruma-kun goes pretty dark.

One other note: Agares-kun finally takes off his mask – or rather Ronove takes is off for him, and much to his horror it’s revealed that Agares is a major bishounen whose glow outshines his own.  This is especially hilarious because Agares has absolutely no interest in dazzling anyone with his beauty, he just wants them to shut up so he can sleep – which kind of makes Ronove his Kryptonite since he never shuts up.  So really, they’re each other’s worst enemies and Agares has no interest whatsoever in why…

Su…ki…ma