Introduction

We begin with our protagonist Iruma-kun who has been sold off to a high ranking demon by his parents because that's the kind of parents he has but as a twist of fate, the demon wants nothing more than to adopt him as his grandchild and send Iruma to a demon school Babyls in the netherworld where he's the principal. Iruma must constantly hide his identity as a human while attending school, lest he may get eaten.

Setup

Now reading all that, you might suspect this is some dark show, I thought so too for the first 6 minutes of the anime (Yes, I watched the anime first before picking up the manga, that's fantastic too). But this is where I was hit by the curveball and you discover the charm of the netherworld written by Nishi. The demons other than being able to use magic and having some special tricks are not all that different from humans, in fact their ambitions/desires helps them be even more colourful.

Art style

The artstyle is very fitting for this type of manga and compliments well with the kind of story and environment. Each of the character designs are memorable and compliment their colourful personality. Overall it serves well to potray the light hearted tone of this manga.

Cast

Iruma is ofcourse just a bundle of positive energy and wholesome vibes, and everyone in his vicinity is susceptible to this influence. Other main characters are well written and charming too especially Azz-kun and Clara. As the story progresses, the ensemble cast grows and we get to learn more details about the rest of his class as well as the teachers and slowly the whole school and beyond. It's commendable how Nishi has handled such a large ensemble cast and managed to flesh out everyone so well without running into serious pacing issues with the narrative. I like nearly every character put on a panel and it was intended this way.

The cast is the main draw for this series. It's hard to describe what this manga does so well or uniquely compared to others who have experimented with similar themes but I think it's the vibes. Sorry if I don't have a deep academic or literary word for it, but it's just the vibe of this manga which differentiates it from others. Iruma being a human offers a unique perspective into the netherworld, to one which viewers can relate but also his outlook and feelings are what get through the other demons in the netherworld and this comes off as Charisma. This effect is what shapes many arcs and relationships. At the same time because of how ambitious demons are, they also affect Iruma into becoming more ambitious himself and raising his self esteem. The character growth and development of everyone in his class is endearing to watch.

Narrative

The Babyls school as portrayed by the manga serves as excellent escapism from whatever conceptions one has of a human school. From the wonderful scenery, the fun classes where you learn magic and to the teachers who are giving their all for the growth of their students. They even go so far as to say that the students are the treasures of the school. All this serves to create an excellent environment which shapes all the demons to grow and fulfill their ambitions. It's hard to imagine wanting to go to school if you go into another world but this one's an exception. Iruma himself ends up liking the school so much that he grows attached to it. A big part of the school experience is focused on "rank ups" which involve a student achieving an extraordinary result like winning a competition, doing well in a tournament, etc to achieve a rank up. These serve as challenges to help students grow and as their rank rises to high enough levels, the scope gradually increases from just within the school to outside the school as well.

The netherworld isn't just Babyls school after all, nor is everything as well and dandy in the netherworld. As we learn more about the outside world we get a broader idea of it's inhabitants and places, learn what kind of society netherworld is and what will Iruma's place be in such a society. It also circles back into what Iruma and his friends have to learn in school in order to thrive and possibly change the political landscape. The juxtaposition of Slice of School Life elements and the Political world building aspects which shape the netherworld is done brilliantly.

Conclusion

As of this review, Iruma is in 2nd year of his high school, so I reckon the manga is around halfway complete. Given what we have seen so far and the shift in focus from Babyls to all of netherworld, I am very excited to see how this series continues. Until now it's been a really fun and heartening ride. I look forward for the rest and hope more people would give this anime/manga a shot.