Whatever small (by its high standard) slump Mairimashita Iruma-kun was in, it seems to have broken out of it now.  Some common threads can be found – plenty of Iruma himself, Ali-san and Ameri making appearances et al(i).  But essentially the good-great divide with Iruma-kun comes down to one variable – the less it acts like a conventional shounen the better it is.  It can do that quite well – but why?  This series has carved out a singular identity for itself, and it’s utterly charming and vastly entertaining.  There are many series that can be good conventional shounen, but only one that can be Mairimashita! Iruma-kun.  As such, I really never want it to be anything else.

I can attach all sorts of words to what that “itself” is – quirky, cheeky, irreverent, even iconoclastic.  But in the end, it’s hard to quantify what makes Iruma-kun great – you just know it when you see it.  And this was it.  The whole “Seed of Beginnings” thread was this show at its most itself.  There’s some cleaning up to do first on why Andro and Allocer are out.  Namely, a bunch of clones of Andro’s brother goaded him into a physical attack.  This is the work of Orobas Coco, whose bloodline ability “Trauma” is to make you see what you most fear.

AllocAndro dropping out isn’t necessarily that big a deal (they weren’t going to win anyway) but the key takeaway here is that Coco is targeting Misfit Class members, and it seems very likely Iruma is going to be next on his list.  Just why we don’t know – maybe just because he sees them as dangerous rivals, or maybe for some more pointed reason.  In any event Team Shota is off in pursuit of clues from last week’s cryptic song about the Leaf of Legend, which leads them to a literal and symbolic crossroads.  Iruma makes an executive decision to split the clues in half and take opposite paths, which soon leads him on an Indiana Jones-styled adventure to an underground temple.

It must be noted that Murase Ayumu is having great fun in this episode, and as usual doing phenomenal work – a reminder of how important the cast is to this show’s success.  Which is reinforced when Ali-san finally pops his head out.  There are very few characters whose appeal is as seiyuu-dependent is as Ali-san, and as such it’s a good thing his is literally about as good as it gets.  His concerns (and not just his) about Iruma taking on this sort of quest alone are not unfounded, but of course he’s not alone with Ali at his side.

Soon enough Iruma is even more not alone, as he and Ali find someone trapped by what Ali says is a “Nigi Nigi” plant.  Iruma-kun recognizes them as first-year student Naphula – “Naphula the Silent”.  Naphula looks like a Jawa and their primary trait seems to be not speaking a human tongue – that, and a very foul reek.  Nevertheless Iruma is who he is and (much to Ali-san’s irritation) isn’t going to leave Naphula unrescued even if they are a rival for the Leaf.  Eventually they find what looks like the Seed of Beginnings from the song, in an extremely “Raiders” setting – and as you’d expect, it’s not as simple as just a grab-and-go.

The Seed has a guardian as it turns out – no, not an Arthurian knight but a genie named Toto, and speaking of seiyuu the series adds one of anime’s great character actors here in Kawada Shinji.  Yes, it’s a genie story with a character named Ali – how fitting.  Toto isn’t a bad sort – he complements Iruma (after failing to squash him) for getting this far, and clearly explains the rules.  You can win the Seed either by defeating him physically (yeah, no) or telling him something interesting.  A lot harder than it sounds, as Toto is extremely old and wise and (again, literally) knows every joke in the book.  It makes sense that curing boredom would be a priority for a creature like that.

Once more, Iruma’s human origins play to his benefit here – they’re really his secret weapon.  Breaking out “First Love Memories” was a great idea, and this is Murase at his best – Ali and Naphula may be assisting but Iruma is doing all the heavy lifting.  This manga re-creation is wonderfully Mairmmashita! Iruma-kun at its best, and nets Iruma a new cellphone contact (he may regret that).  Oh, and the Seed of Beginnings too.  But I can’t help but wonder if Ameri will be less than pleased at Iruma sharing what was their exclusive pleasure with Toto and Naphula (whose gender is not expressly made clear).

Su…ki…ma