Daemons of the Shadow Realm 1×3 and 1×4 Review – “Dera and Hana” and “Jin and Yuru”

Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime season 1 episode 3, titled ‘Dera and Hana’, and episode 4, titled ‘Jin and Yuru’, continued to expand the demon-laden world while Yuru searched for Asa.

One of the most enjoyable things about the narrative in Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime is how proactive Yuru is as a protagonist. A bunch of stories out there have their leads wait for something to happen to them, especially when they find themselves in an unfamiliar world. And while that’s not a bad thing, there are instances where such a creative decision in certain tales feels a bit odd and takes away from the protagonist’s hero’s journey. Frankly, I’m all for lead characters who try to get things done, even if they result in failure, instead of waiting around for plot points to come a-knockin’.

Yuru’s the kind of main character who is on a mission to track down Asa to learn why his village was brutally attacked and what actually happened to his parents and sister around 10 years ago. Yes, he’s never been in modern society before, and common things like automobiles, cellphones, electricity, etc., were foreign concepts to him. Yuru’s even shocked by the sheer number of people living in a single location. However, instead of walking around sightseeing or waiting in the new hideout with Dera and Hana, Yuru’s focused on searching for Asa and the organization she’s involved with. Sightseeing can wait.

The dual daemons Right and Left were also in the same boat. They were mesmerized by humanity’s progress since they last left the village, but their curiosity was temporary. Their main mission was to do Yuru’s bidding as their new Master.

Seeing Yuru ask Left and Right to find a place emanating high daemon energy, as well as the scent of his family’s blood, was such a smart move. It did a lot to cement Yuru as a lead his enemies shouldn’t take lightly. This young man was going to come after what he wanted. Whether doing so was the smartest move or not was a different topic.

Before I share my opinions about the fight sequence that occurred in episode 4, I have to talk about ‘Dera and Hana’ doing a good job of establishing the dynamic between Yuru’s two human guardians. From my understanding, some people from the Higashi Village ventured down the mountain hundreds of years ago. A bunch of those folks continued staying loyal to the village, operating as traders and info collectors for generations. Hana and Dera were descended from said families. While some of the other families separated themselves from the village due to disagreements over ancestral goals. The group that broke away from the village established the Kagemori, the organization Asa was linked to.

The Higashi Village has had a long-standing relationship with the legend that prophesied twins would have the power to change the world. Apparantly, such twins had been born 400 years ago, and their powers were responsible for changing the course of history. This time around, Yuru and Asa would change the world again, with certain groups wanting to harness the twins’ powers for themselves.

I think it’s clear that the Kagemori might not be the kind of bad guys that Yuru believed them to be. In a sense, the Higashi Village might not be entirely evil either. From what I could gather from the information shared across episodes 3 and 4, there’s likely another sinister organization or two wanting to capture Yuru and Asa.

I liked how the narrative didn’t drag out the mystery behind Yuru and Asa’s relationship. Even though Yuru was yet to fully accept Asa being his actual twin sister, I’m okay with the viewers not being kept in the dark. It’s revealed that Left and Right had seen Yuru’s parents running away from the village with a little girl about 10 years ago. Also, the two daemons had mentioned how the scent of Asa’s blood was similar to Yuru’s blood. Not only that, but Asa had unlocked the special ability to break through things. So, yeah, those two were definitely siblings.

I’m quite intrigued by what led to Yuru’s parents running away with Asa and leaving Yuru behind as a child. I think it’s safe to assume that the actual Asa was also being treated the same way as fake Asa, and the parents have had enough of what the village elder had planned for the real Asa. Being poorly treated and not knowing if Yuru was still alive could explain the real Asa having a vendetta against the villagers during the recent attack.

Coming back to Dera and Hana, their interactions brought a lot of comedy, especially the moment when Dera suggested posing as a fake married couple with Yuru as their child to secure a new apartment to hide away from the Kagemori. I don’t necessarily ship those two, but I’m here for Hana losing her temper over Dera’s ideas.

Also, the scene where Hana was concerned about Yuru’s well-being because the expense of treating any injury or health issue would come out of Hana and Dera’s pockets, due to Yuru not being a registered citizen, made me laugh out loud.

With Yuru, Left, and Right needing to live with Dera and Hana, we also got to see Asa’s life with the Kagemori. She was treated well, with everyone around her realizing her importance as one of the prohesized twins.

I also liked how Asa still had more training to do to hone her Break Ability. Targeting larger objects was easy. What she needed to work on was precision. With her current training involving using her Break Ability to peel an apple.

The Seal Ability was supposed to be the twin of the Break Ability. Knowing what I know about such narrativies, Yuru might be the one to unlock the Seal Ability.

When not actively searching for Yuru, the Kagemori were shown to fulfill certain requests. I really enjoyed the horror vibe of the sequence where Jin’s Anglerfish daemon lured a stalker to his death by posing as the stalker’s female victim-to-be.

And the fact that a similar move was used to make Yuru run into a trap later on in episode 4… such good writing!

I really enjoy seeing antagonists being as smart, if not smarter than, the protagonists.

The fight between Yuru and Jin was well-choreographed, with everybody getting to showcase their battle prowess. Again, yay to Yuru being the kind of daemon user who didn’t hesitate to participate in the fight and play an active role alongside his daemons. Asa mentioning how Yuru had the heart of a killer was showcased again when he caught Jin by surprise. The Kagemori agents weren’t ready for such an unconventional daemon user.

With Yuru taking Jin hostage and demanding the real Asa be called to the battlefield, I’m very excited to see what the two siblings will talk about while emotions run high.

Did you watch Daemons of the Shadow Realm anime season 1 episodes 3 and 4? 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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