Demons of the Shadow Realm Episode 22 of season 1 of the anime, titled ‘The Kagemori Brothers and the Kuroya Brothers’, and episode 23, titled ‘Emotion and Reason’, continued to introduce new threats to the board as Asa and Yuru tried to take a breather.
TRIGGER WARNING: This post mentions a character attempting suicide. Proceed with caution.
There is simply no rest for the twins. Having eliminated Shingo and survived Ivan in the previous episodes, there is still a lot that Asa and Yuru still have to face. The clans will not rest until they have acquired the twins and used them to further their plans to, more or less, dominate the world. The Kagemori Clan has been taking care of Asa, but it can still be said that they consider Asa and Yuru as essential assets. The only difference is that, unlike some of the other clans, the Kagemoris were a little more “gentle” in their treatment of the twins.
Episode 22 featured a flashback to add more context to Asuma’s past, especially about how Asuma’s mother Iori met Gonzo and became part of the Kagemori Clan. He had assumed that Iori came from a family that already knew about demons. However, that was not the case at all. It turns out that Iori came from a family without demons and grew up under a lot of pressure from his parents for the need to achieve something substantial. Unfortunately, everything Iori did was never enough for her parents, leading to her being ignored by them and the rest of the family. Iori experienced a lot of isolation, which led her to contemplate suicide more than once.
Iori came across his two demonic relics by chance and signed a contract with them. I liked how even possessing two demons didn’t really help Iori’s situation. Her family proceeded to believe she was talking to herself, which later turned into them thinking the devil had cursed her. Only Iori’s brother was interested in learning more about the existence of Demons and how they could be used. And we know what it became over the years.
In a sense, I appreciated the narrative that basically said that someone like Iori urgently needed professional help. Making new friends does not magically eliminate depression and suicidal thoughts.
Young Gonzo offering Iori a (somewhat) safe place was a step in the right direction. And while we don’t know how Iori died, it can be assumed that Gonzo and the Kagemori Clan did what they could to give Iori the help he needed. I say this because his Demons, who passed on Asuma, had no ill will towards Gonzo.
Back to the present, most of episode 22 was about dealing with Akio. As far as Jin was concerned, Akio would have to be executed once Gonzo returned to the mansion. Akio’s betrayal was too serious to be forgiven. Akio’s siblings trying to deal with their mixed feelings made sense. They were loyal to the Kagemori Clan, but they also wanted Akio to be forgiven and live.
The reason behind Akio’s betrayal was revealed to be related to family. Akio was apparently born with some version of Congenital Insensitivity to Pain, which led him to feel like an outsider even when surrounded by his adoptive siblings. Over time, Akio’s search made him connect with other people with the same condition, leading him to find his biological parents.
I mean, I don’t know about you, but I think the fact that Akio managed to find his birth parents online, who then encouraged him to attack Asa, seemed like too much of a coincidence. I think it’s safe to assume that some other sinister member of the clan figured out a way to exploit Akio’s need for a familial connection. The poor one.
Whoever was manipulating Akio wasn’t playing around. They were so against the Kagemori Clan that they did not hesitate to use the defenseless relics of the Akio Demons as mini-bombs.
Episode 23, ‘Emotion and Reason’, revealed that a clan in western Japan was responsible for Akio’s escape and the use of the relics as mini-bombs. But I’m not sure if that particular Clan was the same one Ivan has been working with. From what I could see, the Western Clan wasn’t really interested in capturing Yuru and Asa, hence their initial orders for Akio to kill Asa. I think his mission had more to do with ruining the plans the Kagemori Clan and Higashi Village had for the twins. The Western Clan was more looking to gain power after taking the twins off the board.
One of the Western clansmen seemed to possess a demon that resembled a small, chubby mummy, which was very excited to do violence. I want to see more of that deranged Daemon!
With Akio on the run and Asa and Yuru having lost their last clue to finding their parents, the twins had no choice but to wait for the moment. The scene where Asa tried to joke with Jin about how she was used to being a target… my heart!
As for Yuru, all the fighting and shoulder shots finally caught up with him. After all, we are humans here. Yuru needed to rest and regain strength. You could tell he appreciated being around a bunch of people and demons who wanted him to feel better, which was in stark contrast to the way Higashio’s villagers treated him by feigning kindness.
The scene where Yuru is treated added much-needed comedy to the more serious tone of Akio’s state. Understandably, Hana was concerned about the addition of Azami, another undocumented child from Higashi Village, to the family. I also laughed at how Hana treated the different Demons. I was excited about Zashiki-Warashi’s stay because their tradition was about bringing blessings to homes. Hana wanted the alien-looking duo to leave with her dog. And Oshira couldn’t bother her at all, because they were basically Demon Gods.
As far as I can tell, there is only one more episode left in the first season of Demons of the Shadow Realm lively. And there is still much to tell. That’s why I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this anime gets renewed for a second season. I have enjoyed watching and reviewing it. The world building is interesting. The action is great. The comedy is effective. And I’m a fan of the brotherly dynamic between Yuru and Asa.
Did you see? Demons of the Shadow Realm anime season 1 episodes 22 and 23? 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.
Help support independent journalism. Subscribe to our Patreon.
Copyright © The Geekiary
Please do not copy our content in its entirety to other websites. If you’re reading this anywhere besides TheGeekiary.com, it’s been stolen.
Read our before commenting. Be kind to each other.