I’ll be honest – this was really only the second episode this season (#3 was the other) where I’ve truly had unabashed fun with Mairimashita! Iruma-kun.  All six eps have been good for sure, but only those two captured whatever that magic quality is that makes this series so utterly irresistible.  I do think the show misses Iruma-kun’s grounding presence when he’s largely absent but it goes deeper than that.  Partly to other characters being absent too, but also something in the tone of cheeky irreverence this ep flashed.

Things were narrowly-focused this week, and I think the better for it.  Iruma and Lied are at the heart of it, and Iruma proves he’s very much not the pampered bochama Lied has been assuming.  This is a boy who knows something about surviving – his ingrate parents made sure of that.  And while he hasn’t always had opportunity (or need) to flash the survival skills he learned thanks to their negligence and malevolence, he does here – veritably putting Baram’s suggested strategy for winning the Harvest Festival into practice.

All this makes good sense – acclimate and see to your survival before you start worrying about points.  As the boys make themselves totally at home in the jungle, Lied notes that it could only be better if some girls came along.  That flashback to the mixer was hilarious on so many levels – Sabrock winning attention by being the strong and silent type, Iruma by being adorable, Jazz by being mysterious and a general ikemen.  Poor Lied is left on the outside looking in as the advice he gave to sabotage the others winds up winning the day, despite being the only one who arrived with the intention of trying to hook up.

That was all a setup of course, as a couple of girls do arrive – Clara still in her cosplay, though Iruma recognizes her anyway, and Elizabetta.  This is part of a coordinated attack of course, the girls using this stage to put their charm training to the test.  Elizabetta doesn’t even have to use her bloodline magic on Lied, as he’s totally overmatched just by her feminine wiles (honestly, I don’t think Elizabetta even needed any special training to win this battle).  It’s all about stealing ingredients, which she does with rather audacious directness, leaving Lied penniless but happy.

As for Clara, we still don’t know what she’s really up to but honestly, any Clara is good for the soul so it’s all good with me.  She’s still not saying anything, which Iruma finds a little unsettling.  Eventually she too pulls rather an audacious move, unzipping and pulling Iruma inside there with her.  There’s something obviously strange (rather TARDIS-like) about that costume, and Clara’s behavior too – but she finally starts talking now, telling Iruma that this is her “toy box” (leave your double entendres at the door).

Maybe this is all just part of Elizabetta and Clara’s master plan to steal the boys’ ingredients (leave your double entendres at the door) and win the competition.  But I don’t think you’d have had to twist Clara’s arm too much – I’m sure she sees this as a great opportunity, and why shouldn’t she?  In a season with zero Clara-Iruma interaction for six weeks it’s long past time we finally get some, so I’m looking forward to next week’s episode in a big way.  If it’s as much of a blast as this one was you’ll get no complaints from me.

Su…ki…ma