u/Argentenuem

Ever since I first started watching Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-kun around 2020, I knew there was something special about it. Although it has an unoriginal demon world isekai premise, the tone and themes take it into a vastly different direction from the cookie-cutter action-packed battle shonens that tend to dominate popular culture. Instead of epic fights and training montages, Welcome To Demon School, Iruma-kun focuses on the daily lives of these cute, lovable characters, the funny slice-of-life situations they find themselves in, and the deep relationships that slowly grow between them. On top of all that, it puts heavy emphasis on found family and friendship, my favorite tropes in all of fiction. I already would have liked this show on that alone, but it’s the main protagonist specifically that made me love this show the way I do now.

I genuinely adore Iruma Suzuki. His silly faces of innocent confusion, his earnest, whimsical wonder when learning more about the netherworld, his infectious excitement when he achieves his goals, his generally guileless approach to life, literally everything about him is endearing, lovable, and especially adorable. Whenever I see him, my mind is consumed with an overwhelming desire to give him a hug or pinch his cheeks. I don’t care if he’s a teenager, he still deserves it. Despite being a teenager, he has a very childlike demeanor, most likely due to the fact that his traumatic time on earth didn’t really allow him to have a childhood. Even though Iruma acts younger than he actually is, it’s never treated as something to be ashamed of, and everybody loves him anyway. How can ANYONE not love him? His smile and laughter are pure enough to warm even the coldest of hearts. His tears are devastating enough to will people into wanting to scoop him up and comfort him. Very few anime characters get me this emotionally attached. Every time Sullivan spoils or dotes on Iruma, it makes me jealous that it’s not me doing the doting. Iruma is a precious, adorable cutie patootie, and he deserves the world. The netherworld, that is. 

Iruma is a beacon of purity and softness. A bona-fide ray of sunshine, whose kindness knows no bounds. Only Iruma would be so kind as to arrange a private meeting with someone he just met, and with patience and empathy, listen to them vent about their life issues for as long as they need, all because he could tell they needed support and love in their life. Iruma may be pretending to be a demon, but he certainly has the heart of an angel. He befriends almost every demon he comes into contact with effortlessly. Iruma introduced the very concept of friendship to the demon world, and it’s because of that friendship that those he meets are inspired to become the best versions of themselves. He improves the lives of everyone around him, just by being himself. Like a bellwether, he is the sheep that will lead his flock, the misfit class, to achieve the highest of heights. Iruma is the ultimate positive force in the demon world, and the most perfect friend anyone can ask for.

Iruma’s arc about gaining agency and ambition is also extremely compelling and heartwarming. Because his needs for survival (and then some) have been met, he can finally have the time to be a normal boy. At long last, Iruma can decide who he is and what he wants to do with his life. Going beyond his needs and delving into his wants becomes intoxicating for him. It's only natural that a child who had nothing, once given a taste of something, would grow to desire everything. The physical and emotional starvation has awakened a well-meaning but bottomless greed, the kind that can only be fully satiated by reaching for the highest throne in the netherworld: The Demon King. Not because he wants power, but because he wants to change the netherworld for the better. Iruma has weaponized his greed and charm into becoming a greater and greater leader. And to think all of that appetite for ambition would not have manifested if not for student council president Ameri Azazel. Her push for Iruma to follow his desires has backfired upon both of them spectacularly. At first it was about achievement, but now, she, as well as Sullivan and Opera, are also trying their best to help Iruma discover and understand for the first time what it means to be in love. 

I may not be a father (yet), but Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun is my closest approximation to what fatherhood feels like. Iruma is my boy, my darling son, and getting to see him mature and discover himself has made me unfathomably proud of him. Iruma is the kindness I want to show someday, as well as the innocence I hope one day to (at least partially) reclaim. I already loved this show a lot after the first season, but after I finished the second, it easily became my favorite anime of all time. I don't know if any anime I watch in the future will ever change that. This anime is so much more than an isekai comedy to me. Watching it legitimately makes me feel like a kid all over again. I don’t know about you, but for me personally, there’s no better way to make me happy than to make me feel like a kid.

When I caught wind that the Broadway musical production of Anastasia was within driving distance, I had mixed emotions. Don Bluth’s 1997 film Anastasia is my favorite animated musical, more than any Disney movie I’ve ever seen. It’s one of my favorite movies of all time, and I have very strong childhood memories because of it. Very few movies I’ve seen have that combination of emotional resonance and nostalgia the same way Anastasia does. That’s exactly why I was slightly hesitant to actually go see the musical. I knew the musical existed for many years, but the only thing I knew about it was that it was very different from the movie. I didn’t know what specifically was changed. The idea of rewriting one of my favorite childhood movies scared me a little. Even so, I was able to recognize that this was an opportunity I would be foolish to squander. I had seen a couple of school musicals and a play or two, but never a full, big-budget Broadway musical production. Musicals are something a lot of people talk about, but I never interacted with, though I was more than open to seeing them. I had to whet my appetite eventually, and what better way to do that than with an adaptation of my favorite animated musical film? I decided to give Anastasia a chance. I invited my friend Ariana with me, we cleared our schedules, and we went to go see it.

It has been a few days since then, and I can confidently say that it was one of the most wonderful things I’ve ever seen. I’m so glad I went into this blind, because I’m not sure I would have gone if I knew what was changed. As expected, there were a few changes I didn’t like. I think Anya not having the music box until she meets Dimitri is lame. I get that it would be unlikely for a soviet citizen to keep something that valuable that long without trading it for food or getting it stolen somewhere, but it’s the only thing that she had from her previous life and therefore her only clue to her true identity, so I think it’s much more powerful that she DID hold onto it for that long. She could have at least kept it buried somewhere to prevent someone else from getting to it. Also, the scene where she turns against Dimitri towards the end after realizing he was using her the whole time is cut drastically short and lacks the action sequence I liked from the movie. Lastly, Anya herself is far less feisty and sassy than I’m used to. I think her softening up over time as she reclaims her identity would be more tangible and rewarding, but having her be mostly gentle from the get-go makes little sense to me.

Other than that, every other change made perfect sense to me, and I actually really loved them. The movie was animated, so they were allowed to be more exaggerated and fantastical, but the musical took a more grounded, realistic approach that really took time to flesh out the main characters and their relationships with each other. The biggest example of this was the removal of Rasputin and Bartok in favor of Gleb. I love Rasputin and Bartok, and I miss Into the Dark of the Night, but the villain being a representative of the oppressive Communist regime the main characters are fleeing from ties into the overall themes of the story so much more, even if I could see Gleb’s arc resolution coming from a mile away. Gleb’s dynamic with Anya is far stronger and deeper than Rasputin’s was, and he’s also personally involved with the plot a lot sooner. Even though “Into the Dark of the Night” was sadly cut, its melody made its way into a new song that’s roughly in the same spot. There are other changes I was appreciative of also. Anya’s full backstory was mostly cut, to leave a sliver of doubt to those in the audience who are unfamiliar with the story. Vlad was given a backstory, as well as a thinner frame, since the USSR was infamous for starving its citizens. Every major character got a song of their own. The songs carried over from the movie are greatly expanded upon and placed in more appropriate locations for the sake of the story’s flow. Almost nothing was lost musically, just shuffled around. It’s crazy to me that the musical was so good that it vastly improved upon something I thought was nearly flawless. Literally the only problem I had from the original movie was that it didn’t portray Communism badly enough, and the musical more than made up for it.

The new songs were nice, though I do think that having a second song named after St. Petersburg is a bit silly. I’m sure they’ll grow on me over time as I listen to them again and again. The returning songs from the movie and their newly-added reprises are what moved me the most, since those melodies are special and nostalgic to me. I got extremely giddy (and teared up) the instant I recognized the melodies to “Rumor in St. Petersburg”, “Once Upon a December”, and “Journey to the Past.” I had to suppress every fibre of my being to prevent myself from clapping and singing along for fear of disturbing those seated next to me. I don't remember the last time I felt this energized and excited over anything. Hell, I could easily imagine an alternate timeline where I was born an extrovert and became a theater kid.

Anastasia: The Musical was a fantastic, whimsical adventure, and if it ever comes near me again, I’m taking my whole family to go see it. I may be an introvert with low energy, but this whole experience really put pep in my step, and had me singing and dancing even after I got home. It made me feel like a kid again in a way very few things do. For my first Broadway musical, I don’t think I could have forged a stronger memory. I love it with all my heart and soul. <3