Daemons of the Shadow Realm 1×24 Review – “Higashi Village and Nishino Village”

Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime season 1 episode 24, titled ‘Higashi Village and Nishino Village’, continued to focus on the narrative themes of family and loyalty as our leads became aware of a dangerous threat targeting them all.

The finale of Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime season 1 took a very surprising turn. I was expecting a lot of action and twists building towards an exciting cliffhanger. And while we did get an intense moment making up the cliffhanger, the writing team decided to keep exploring certain emotions instead of pushing Yuru, Asa, and the others into another battle for the rest of the episode.

With Akio having escaped from the Kagemori Mansion in the previous episode, I liked how we got a scene between Hikaru, Gonzo, and Gabby after the staff recovered the body of the gardener who tried to stop Akio. Staying true to his character, Hikaru wanted Gonzo to forgive Akio instead of ordering his execution upon capture.

I get where Hikaru was coming from. However, as Gabby put it, Akio had made his choice. Thus, Akio had to face the consequences. The real world wasn’t as kind as Hikaru liked portraying in his popular manga series, especially not for Daemon Weilders like Gabby and the rest. The Clans were at constant war. It was kill or be killed. That’s why it was essential for Clan members to stay loyal.

As far as Gabby was concerned, no matter what Akio’s so-called biological parents had told him, the fact that he succumbed to their opinions and proceeded to try and murder Asa and betray the Kagemori Clan was unforgivable. Because, again, the Kagemori Clan had given people like Gabby a safe place. The least someone like her could do was not betray the Clan’s trust.

The writing team did a good job of allowing both sides to make their arguments. Hikaru even brought up how Akio’s betrayal could have been avoided if Gonzo had allowed his staff to be more open about their feelings. Apparently, Gonzo’s strictness played a role in Akio wanting to connect with people outside the Clan.

I mean, I get why Hikaru would make such a statement. But let’s be real. Hikaru’s a bit too lenient. There’s a difference between kindness and being so unrealistically kind that it could lead to the extermination of an entire Clan by those looking to exploit said kindness. It would do Hikaru some good if he accepted reality. Not to the extent that he changes his soft personality, but at least for him to become aware of what’s actually at stake here and the gravity of the decisions people like Gonzo have to make to keep the Clan alive.

In contrast to Hiraku, Akio’s foster siblings (Haruo, Natsuki, and Fuyuki) were more accepting of Akio’s fate. They didn’t like it. But they were mature enough to realize the severity of the situation. Similar to Gabby, their loyalty to the Kagemori Clan was unwavering. It will be interesting to see how they will interact with Akio when their paths cross down the line.

As for Asa, I liked how she continued to find the inner strength not to blame herself for everything occurring around her. Asa’s not to blame for Akio’s betrayal. Nor was she to be blamed for the Clans fighting each other. I appreciated Gabby giving Asa some tough love about her feelings. It made for an enjoyable comedic moment while also respecting the emotional weight of Asa’s conflicted emotions.

I laughed out loud at the scene where Asa contemplated the power of Break to “break down” the tough mathematical equations during her study session with Gabby.

Coming to Yuru, we got a flashback to a young Yuru needing to dispose of the dead bodies of his assassins himself while growing up in Higashi Village. That poor child. No wonder he’s quite self-sufficient. Also, kudos to Yuru for holding onto his humanity through his bonds with Fake Asa and Danji, even if those two were later revealed to be Daemons. It’s nice that Yuru now has an entire group of Daemons and humans he can rely on. He’s deserving of such support.

The finale seemed to drive home the need for Clans to have people responsible for cleaning up dead bodies. Jin served such a role for the Kagemori Clan. The Nishino Village had the weird girl wielding the dungbeetle-like Daemons. And Higashi Village had Hana. And while we have seen how Jin and the weird girl handled business, we are yet to witness how Hana buried dead bodies. Her M.O. could just be as simple as manual labor, but I would like to still see her work.

Talking about Hana, a major turn of events involved high-ranking Higashi Village operatives in the city being called for a meeting with their President. Understandably, Dera didn’t show up, especially because he’s linked very closely to Yuru, whom the President wanted. I was a bit worried the President would see through Hana’s lies about being unaware of Dera or Yuru’s location, but she handled herself well.

The cliffhanger involved the Higashio Village operatives being attacked while inside their usual warehouse HQ. I highly doubt that Hana’s going to die during the attack, which used the same tactic of making Daemon relics explode. But I am interested in seeing how she will survive such a close-range attack.

I had been wondering if the mysterious Clan from the West was connected to Nishino Village. Well, I might have received an answer in the finale. Gonzo was skeptical that Nishino Village was responsible for the recent attack inside the manor, because said village had been destroyed long ago. But then again, a Clan can regroup and continue operating even if a single member survived. The location might have changed, but I feel that the West Clan is a new iteration of Nishino Village, out to enact revenge against the Kagemori Clan and Higashi Village.

It wasn’t the action-packed season one finale I had been expecting, but it did a good job of setting things up for what’s to come. There’s so much story to tell.

Fortunately, Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime has been renewed for a second season. So, I’m very excited to return to this story ASAP.

Did you watch the finale of Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime season 1? Are you excited about season two?

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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