Daemons of the Shadow Realm 1×20 and 1×21 Review – “The Hunted and the Hunter”

Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime season 1 episode 20, titled ‘The Hunter and the Hunted’, and episode 21, titled ‘Zashiki-Warashi and Higashi Village’, featured a bunch of twists as well as a whole lot of dynamic-building conversations.

‘The Hunted and the Hunter’ continued the action from the previous episode with Ivan vs Yuru, Left, Right, Dera, and Danji. After tapping into a power-up via his demonic swords, I liked how Ivan held his own during a 1vs5 battle. Now, don’t get me wrong. Even though I was impressed by Ivan’s swordsmanship, I still want him dead. And the fact that the writers haven’t been exploring giving Ivan’s personality some “gray” to set up a redemption arc, I do think his death is likely, whenever that might be. Hopefully, soon. Ha!

From what I could understand, Ivan’s swords allowed him to become some kind of an energy vampire. Stabbing Left allowed Ivan to absorb her energy. Hence, the boost in his speed and attacks. However, the drawback was that Ivan’s human body wasn’t suited for sucking up and utilizing lots of Daemon energy, especially the amount of energy he got from an OP Daemon like Left. Apparantly, all of that paranormal energy was messing with Ivan’s heart. He described the feeling as having consumed a whole lot of energy drinks at once.

Ivan using one of his swords to deflect Dera’s sniper bullet at Yuru made for a very cool moment. Ivan continued to be a dangerous threat. However, now that the good guys have theorized how his abilities might operate, I’m looking forward to seeing how they will counter Ivan. They have to make sure Ivan’s incapable of siphoning any Daemon energy during their next battle to keep him at a disadvantage.

A major twist in the story involved Asuma finally confronting Shingo. I liked how Asuma took the opportunity to have Daemon Yozakura pin Shingo to the ground while Fujin and Raijin were distracted. According to what Asuma could tell, even though Shingo was indeed ambitious, there was likely someone else egging him on to confront the Kagemori Clan and kidnap Yuru and Asa. But before Asuma could interrogate Shingo about the mysterious entity hidden in the shadows, Ivan arrived and made quick work of Shingo along with Fuijn and Raijin.

While I’m not a fan of Asuma, I did worry about his life when Ivan turned his attention to him. Yes, Asuma had powerful Daemons, but Ivan was operating on a whole different level after absorbing Left’s energy. It’s a good thing that Gonzo, Asa, and the rest appeared on the scene when they did. I say this because even though Ivan’s body was failing him, I think he would have had enough strength in him to kill Asuma if he really wanted to.

Talking about who might be operating from behind the scenes, we got to learn about the Nishino Village. Not a lot of information was shared about them, but it’s clear they had been orchestrating most of the drama being experienced by Higashi Village, the Kagemori Clan, and related factions. One of the Daemon-weilders being a young woman whose Daemons could help clear away dead bodies was a convenient, yet fun, addition to the ever-growing cast. The scene where the young woman’s dung beetle-like Daemon rolled the dead bodies into a ball… nicely done, animation team!

‘Zashiki-Warashi and Higashi Village’ gave our leads a bit of a breather after the handful of action-heavy episodes. It was time for Yuru and Asa to get a bit of a history lesson as well as have some much-needed conversations.

I had been looking forward to Yuru confronting Fake Asa about lying to him for years. I knew Yuru was going to forgive Fake Asa, but a conversation still needed to be had, and I think the writers handled it well. Yuru talking with Fake Asa was also important to help Asa ease up on her annoyance and anger towards Fake Asa.

As Yuru put it, even though Danji and Fake Asa (now going by the name Kiri) had lied to Yuru, our heroic lead needed that duo in his life as a source of hope while growing up in Higashi Village. Danji was Yuru’s best friend, and Kiri had still been Yuru’s “sister”, even if they both were Daemons tasked to play certain roles while keeping an eye on Yuru. In the end, those bonds had helped shape Yuru into the young man he was.

Talking about the history lesson, we had Danji and Kiri talk about events that took place around 400 years ago and how they found their way to Higashi Village. Turns out, it was Dera’s father who had found Danji and Kiri (in their relic forms) after their previous Master lost his life during a war. Danji and Kiri formed a pact with Kyoka (who had lost her children), and from there everything linked to how Yamaha Ono had Kyoka use Danji and Kiri to keep Yuru inside the village. Even though Danji and Kiri knew what they were doing was wrong, they didn’t have much choice in the matter.

The conversation between Yuru and Asa allowed Asa to share about her ideal life. Asa wanted to reunite with her parents. She wanted to live a normal life by going to school, finding a boyfriend, visiting Disneyland, etc. However, that was out of the question due to the reality she was in. But Yuru, being Yuru, wasn’t going to allow Asa to give up on her dream.

I liked how he encouraged Asa to make her dream a reality. It wasn’t going to be easy, but according to Yuru, it was possible. They just needed to find their parents, first. And that meant luring out and interrogating Ivan.

Yuru helping Asa calm down and telling her not to believe someone like Ivan mirrored how Yuru used his father’s lessons and Asa’s hopefulness to help regain focus during his fight against Ivan. It was nice to see the siblings helping each other out by simply being in each other’s presence.

I do think Yuru’s theory about their parents having somehow contacted Dera’s father and living off the grid holds water. The question is whether they are being held in captivity as prisoners or being forced to stay hidden due to certain circumstances.

With three more episodes to go, I’m excited about what’s coming next.

Did you watch Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime season 1 episodes 20 and 21? What did you think of them?

Let us know.

Author: Farid-ul-Haq

Farid has a Double Masters in Psychology and Biotechnology as well as an M.Phil in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books including Missing in Somerville, and The Game Master of Somerville. He gives us insight into comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.

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