The following contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 11 of Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun!, "Toto the Genie," now streaming on Crunchyroll.
Welcome to Demon School, Iruma-kun! continues to challenge the famed abnormal class in the Fall 2022 anime season, and not just in mortal combat to capture jungle ingredients. Asmodeus Alice and Sabro formed a rivalry with Ichiro and Nichiro as fellow warriors, but other challenges call for creativity and brainpower instead.
Iruma Suzuki, for example, used his wits and built up his stamina to survive the jungle while other, more reckless demons wore themselves out and had to quit. In Episode 11, Iruma's wits are challenged once again as he and his new friend face Toto the genie, who demands knowledge that he's never heard before.
How Iruma Suzuki Can Bargain for the Seed of Beginnings
In Episode 11, Iruma and Lead temporarily part ways, with Iruma following Caim's animals' riddle song to find his way into an underground dungeon. Iruma can tell that hardly anyone ever visits this place, but he does run into one fellow student, the mysterious newcomer Naphula the Silent. Iruma frees Naphula from a plant trap, then the two new friends venture into the dungeon's cavernous main chamber, where they meet a titanic golem-genie named Toto.
Like Wan Shi Tong in Avatar: The Last Airbender, the mighty Toto demands to hear any piece of knowledge that he has never heard before, but that's easier said than done. Toto knows practically everything, from school textbooks to riddles and folk tales, and Iruma's and Naphula's offerings aren't enough. It's an option to simply fight Toto to claim the Seed of Beginnings by force, but Iruma's not too keen on that, even with his new demon bow. For Iruma, fighting is always a last resort.
Instead, Iruma takes a moment to think things through. He admits he barely knows any Netherworld lore, being an isekai guest and human who didn't grow up here, so he's at an even bigger disadvantage with local lore and history. Then Iruma realizes that Toto knows everything in the Netherworld, and only that. Iruma has the advantage of being an otherworlder, so he and Naphula act out the first volume of the popular in-universe shojo manga series First Love Memories.
It's an all-new, breathtaking tale to behold for Toto, and the great genie is reduced to tears by the end. He gladly hands over the Seed of Beginnings, stating that new knowledge is the seed of friendship. Now Iruma and Naphula can go and plant this seed so that it may grow into the Legendary Leaf, but that's a whole new challenge in its own right. Iruma must do more than claim a treasure in the dungeon like Indiana Jones. Now he must nurture a new life and create something while his classmates merely destroy things.
How Iruma Outwits Demons as an Innocent Human
At a glance, Iruma's dramatic re-enactment of the shojo manga First Love Memories is just a gag, as Iruma-kun! is a light-hearted isekai anime with plenty of comedy. However, there's more to it, and it all reflects well on Iruma himself. Iruma is not just an isekai guest who ended up in the Netherworld -- he's also a good-hearted, innocent kid with the spirit of a hero, almost like a gentler Izuku Midoriya. Just like Izuku, Iruma is used to being an underdog who must be resourceful and think in unconventional ways to survive a sea of sharks. He lacks demon wings and a bloodline trait, but he does have the ring of gluttony on his side, along with a unique perspective on everything. When Iruma fights on his own terms, he always wins.
Iruma doesn't "fight" other characters in the conventional sense. Instead, he uses his wits and ideas to change the entire game, competing with powerhouses like Toto on an intellectual level instead of a physical one. Only Iruma could have re-enacted a shojo manga series to impress Toto, drawing on knowledge that no other demon, not even an elder, would have. He takes full advantage of his isekai status in Episode 11, and it pays off. He did something similar when the Iruma-kun! anime first started, impressing the lofty himedere Azazel Ameri with dazzling, exotic tales straight out of shojo manga. All that, combined with his clever use of the ring of gluttony and his stamina-based survival strategy, proves that Iruma's brain is his best weapon. Not even his new bow can compare.