Many parents check to see if a manga is suitable for elementary schoolers before letting their kids dive in. But in a recent story shared on X in Japan, one mother recounted her daughter's experience with "Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun" at her after-school care program, which took an unexpected turn.
She explained that after reading some of the series, her daughter told her, "I'll study hard, so buy me the rest of the series." The mom initially just wanted to vet the content for her child, but after taking a look herself, she fell down the rabbit hole and is now the one determined to collect the entire set, a sentiment that resonated with many other parents online.
Manga artist and author Yuu Aoshika (@buruban) recently shared that her daughter apparently discovered "Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun" at her after-school program. Her daughter came to her and said, "I'll study hard, so please buy me the volumes after this one," explaining that she had already read up to volume 16 at the center and wanted volume 17. Although Aoshika knew that "Iruma-kun" had an anime adaptation, she wasn't sure if the content was appropriate for a young student and wondered, "Is there a lot of sexy, fan-servicey content?"
So, she decided to read it herself first. In addition to buying the requested 17th volume for her daughter, she also picked up the first volume. Little did she know, things were about to take a completely different turn.
(Note: In Japan, "gakudo" is a common term for after-school care programs, either public or private, that look after elementary school students. The official name is "gakudo hoiku.")
Aoshika quickly realized that the series had almost none of the "weirdly sexualized camera angles" she was worried about. Instead, the characters were incredibly charming, leading her to exclaim, "This series is perfect to get into with my daughter ❤️" She then discovered that the manga was already up to 50 volumes, with special editions available.
At this point, her desire to buy them all went into overdrive. "My daughter! She's the one who got into it! Of course I have to buy it for her, right—?? She's the one who wants to read it—!!" she declared before placing a massive order. She also revealed that because she's a fan of the "adult characters" in the series, she bought the spin-off manga as well.
What started as a simple plan to buy volume 17 for her daughter spiraled into her wondering if she should "collect the entire series from volume one." The resulting conversation between mother and daughter was priceless.
Mom: "Is just volume 17 really enough?"
Daughter: "I already read up to volume 16 at the after-school program, and it's a lot of work to collect them all at once. Iruma-kun has a ton of volumes."
Mom, pushing back: "But won't it feel weird if we don't collect them from volume one? Don't you want to re-read the volumes where your favorite characters get to shine? Let's get them all together, okay?"
Daughter, questioning her motives: "Why are you the one who wants to buy it so badly?" In the end, the mom couldn't resist, pleading, "Let's get them all~~!!" and actually bought them.
The whole saga had fellow netizens in stitches. One user commented that it's "truly wonderful" when parents can enjoy the same series as their children. Aoshika replied that she was genuinely thrilled to be able to get into the series with her daughter.
Another parent shared a similar experience, saying their household is in a constant state of vetting manga for excessive sexy or gory content while also having to police their own bookshelves to keep inappropriate material away from their kids.
Aoshika even revealed that the roles between her and her daughter have completely flipped. When she found herself saying, "You're going to read it over and over, right? You want it? We're buying it, right?" her daughter calmly interjected, "It costs a lot of money to buy them all, so let's just get one volume at a time. We have to think about the future." This prompted the mom to lament, "Who's the mother here?"
The incident broadened the discussion from "Welcome to Demon School! Iruma-kun" to the topic of "just what kind of manga are they stocking at these after-school care centers." Many users shared that their kids often come home talking about manga they've read at their programs, which piques their own interest, and before they know it, they're hooked too. Countless parents agreed with this experience, with their kids accidentally becoming the ones to get them into new series XD.
The discussion among Japanese netizens shows that for many families, after-school care programs are not just a place for kids to wait for their parents, do homework, and play. They've also become a primary gateway for children to discover manga. This trend of kids getting their first taste of a series at these centers and then going home to ask their parents for more is naturally creating new, shared topics of conversation between parents and children.