Demons of the Shadow Realm The anime’s season 1 episode 20, titled ‘The Hunter and the Hunt’, and episode 21, titled ‘Zashiki-Warashi and Higashi Village’, featured plenty of twists as well as a lot of dynamic conversations.
‘The Hunted and the Hunter’ continued the action from the previous episode with Ivan vs Yuru, Left, Right, Dera and Danji. After taking advantage of a power-up through his demon swords, I liked how Ivan stood his ground during a 1v5 battle. Now, don’t get me wrong. Although I was impressed with 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 think his death is likely, whenever that may be. Hopefully soon. Ha!
From what I could understand, Ivan’s swords allowed him to become some sort of energy vampire. Stabbing Left allowed Ivan to absorb his energy. Hence the increase in his speed and attacks. However, the drawback was that Ivan’s human body was not suitable for absorbing and utilizing much demonic energy, especially the amount of energy he was getting from an OP demon like Left. Apparently, all that paranormal energy was affecting Ivan’s heart. He described the feeling as if he had consumed a large amount of energy drinks at once.
Ivan using one of his swords to deflect Dera’s sniper bullet towards Yuru was a cool moment. Ivan remained a dangerous threat. However, now that the good guys have theorized how their abilities might work, I’m looking forward to seeing how they’ll counter Ivan. They have to ensure that Ivan is unable to divert demonic 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. From what Asuma could tell, although Shingo was really ambitious, there was probably someone else egging him on to take on 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 care for his life when Ivan turned his attention to him. Yes, Asuma had powerful Demons, but Ivan was operating on a completely different level after absorbing Left’s energy. It’s a good thing Gonzo, Asa and the rest showed up 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 could be operating behind the scenes, we learned about Nishino Village. Not much information was shared about them, but it is clear that they had been orchestrating most of the drama experienced by the Higashi Village, the Kagemori Clan, and related factions. One of the Daemon-weilders was a young woman whose Daemons could help clean up the corpses and was a convenient, but fun addition to the ever-growing cast. The scene where the young woman’s dung beetle-like demon rolled the corpses into a ball… well done, animation team!
‘Zashiki-Warashi and Higashi Village’ gave our protagonists a break after a handful of action-packed episodes. It was time for Yuru and Asa to get a history lesson and have some much needed conversations.
He had been looking forward to Yuru confronting Fake Asa for lying to him for years. I knew Yuru was going to forgive the fake Asa, but a conversation still needed to be had and I think the writers handled it well. Yuru talking to Fake Asa was also important in helping Asa ease his annoyance and anger towards Fake Asa.
As Yuru said, even though Danji and Fake Asa (now called Kiri) had lied to Yuru, our heroic protagonist 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 were both demons tasked with playing certain roles while keeping an eye on Yuru. In the end, those bonds had helped shape Yuru into the young man he was.
Speaking of the history lesson, Danji and Kiri talked about events that took place about 400 years ago and how they came to Higashi Village. It turns out that it was Dera’s father who 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 tied into how Yamaha Ono had Kyoka use Danji and Kiri to keep Yuru inside the village. Although Danji and Kiri knew that 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 his ideal life. Asa wanted to reunite with his 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 he found himself in. But Yuru, being Yuru, was not going to let Asa give up on his dream.
I liked how he encouraged Asa to make his dream come true. It wasn’t going to be easy, but according to Yuru, it was possible. First they just needed to find their parents. And that meant attracting and interrogating Ivan.
Yuru helping Asa calm down and telling him not to believe someone like Ivan reflected how Yuru used his father’s lessons and Asa’s hope to help him regain focus during his fight against Ivan. It was nice to see the brothers helping each other simply by being in each other’s presence.
I think Yuru’s theory about her parents somehow getting in contact with Dera’s father and living off the grid holds up. The question is whether they are in captivity as prisoners or whether they are forced to remain hidden due to certain circumstances.
With three more episodes to go, I’m excited for what’s coming next.
Did you see? Demons 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 master’s degree in Psychology and Biotechnology, as well as a master’s degree in Molecular Genetics. He is the author of numerous books, including Missing in Somerville and The Game Master of Somerville. It gives us information about comics, books, TV shows, anime/manga, video games, and movies.
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