Yomi no Tsugai

Sigh. This is another one of those anime that starts extremely strong and then completely fades and nosedives not even five or six episodes into it. I'm getting really tired of this, and I know a lot of you are as well. The rugpull. The disappointment. A BELOW AVERAGE COMEDY SHOUNEN that masqueraded as a Mature SEINEN earlier to hook you in and then they completely turned into a lame Shounen you've seen 1000 times. When the author can't think of an actual plot point he just shoves a joke or cringe comedy bit in there which kills tension and does nothing to move the story forward. That's not writing. You're just destroying your anime because you can't write a coherent plot. Yoshihiro Togashi the writer of HunterXHunter is seen as the GOAT because he doesn't do this. His series doesn't lack ANY intensity from start to finish. It's peak writing and peak action at the same time. And he doesn't try to force comedy in there where it's not needed, but when he does he knows exactly where to put it to lighten the mood. It's a shame how much further he is than the entire rest of his peers. Maybe the industry could start to take some notes? Even the Main character's demons Left and Right become jokes to the author. They start out themselves start out really cool. When they're first introduced, they have these distinct personalities and actually feel like powerful, dangerous creatures. But eventually they start doing increasingly stupid things and acting completely out of character for beings that are supposed to be extremely powerful. One minute their "ancient all knowing warriors" and the next they can't chew gum and run at the same time and are turned into idiots for the plot. And that's where the anime really loses me. When this first started, it had much more of a seinen vibe. It was going for a mix of the two. I never expected it to be Monster or anything, but it was mature, bloody, and willing to actually go somewhere dark. You had an entire village getting ruthlessly attacked and slaughtered, and I remember thinking, "Oh, wow. This is finally something that's willing to go there." But it never really goes there again. Instead, it gradually turns into a generic shonen. The comedy gets pushed harder, the demons become increasingly goofy, the fights remain mediocre, and the serious atmosphere that initially made the series interesting starts disappearing. It almost feels like the brutal opening was designed to shock you into thinking the entire series was going to operate at that level. I think that's also why the ratings are inflated. If you judged the first three or four episodes by themselves, I'd probably give them around an 8. But the rest of the series is more like a 3. If you average those experiences together, you get something that looks much better than what the show actually becomes. I foresee the score coming WAY down in the future. It shouldn't be anywhere near as high as it is. It's coasting off that strong start and early high ratings. That's ultimately my biggest problem with Demons of the Shadow Realm: it doesn't seem to know what it wants to be. One minute it's trying to be a serious, dark violent series. Then it turns into a shounen comedy for fifteen minutes. Then you get a mediocre fight, followed by a bunch of monologuing, and then it jumps back into something serious again. There's no consistency to the tone, the action, or even the identity of the series. I'm just tired and fed up with the rug pulling in modern anime and manga. If you want to make a lighthearted cute Shounen then do that. If you want to make something dark and badass then do that. But please stop with the bait and switch. If I had known this going into it I wouldn't have wasted mine so I'm writing this here so you won't waste yours either.

AN INTERESTING WORLDBUILDING CONCEPT WITH STORYTELLING ON THE VERGE OF BECOMING GENERIC What I Liked: - Great opening and ending songs, especially the first ED. They’re both easy to vibe with. - I like the concept of Daemons being a pair and being invisible to most people except Daemon wielders. I also like the idea that not everyone can possess a large number of Daemons because of compatibility limitations between different pairs of Daemons. - I loved the reference to FMAB. It was funny and nostalgic at the same time. - The show accurately portrays how someone born and isolated on a mountain would behave if they were suddenly introduced to modern civilization and technology. What I Disliked: - First of all, I hated Aya-chan’s severe brother complex. It’s seriously alarming and, honestly, quite bothersome. - There’s way too much comic relief that takes me out of serious moments and conversations. The visual gags are unfunny and clichéd. - I can’t tell whether the show wants to be a comedy or a supernatural fantasy. They should stick to one, because apparently they're not capable of doing both. - I fail to understand why Higashi Village and the Kagemori Clan have been trying to kill each other for centuries. I don’t see them having a strong enough personal grudge to justify such a long-lasting generational feud. - I can’t quite explain why, but the storytelling failed to engage me. The premise and worldbuilding have a lot of potential, but the execution feels inadequate and ultimately unsatisfying. - The show never stops reminding us that Left and Right are legendary Daemons, but I honestly don’t see it. They’re constantly struggling against the enemies they face, and they don’t seem to have enough combat experience to effortlessly overwhelm their opponents. They can’t even scratch Ivan.

Whenever you write one of the most iconic stories of all time, it’s always going to be difficult to follow it up. While this is the first Arakawa work I’ve seen since FMA 03, I think this is a really good story on its own merits. Right off the bat I’ll tell you that it’s not as good as full metal alchemist, but that was lighting in a bottle which will always be hard to recreate. Instead, this is a very good battle shonen that gets progressively better as it goes on. It did start a bit slow for me and it wasn’t until episode 6-7 when I really started to get invested in the plot and the characters, but once I did, it became one of my anticipated watches of the week. I absolutely loved this entire cast, the lore, world building, action and everything else. It’s not the best story ever told, but it feels like one you’ll take with and cherish forever which is all that matters. Like I said, for me this started out a bit slow, the opening episode is kind of all over the place in terms of pace and it expects you to care about some events when you’ve only been with the characters a short while. However, stick with it and I promise you actually will start to care about those characters and the events because the author does a great job of characterizing and endearing them to the audience. You’ve seen FMA, you know what I’m talking about. There’s always a strong sibling bond, there’s always some trauma and heartbreak and lots of people dying, twists and turns and some emotional moments with a nice blend of comedy. This show’s got it all. Yuru is a flawed, but lovable protagonist who really has a nice amount of character development as the show goes on. I enjoyed seeing his bond with Asa develop after all the twists and turns, Asa herself, while a brocon, is also a great character who I really enjoyed watching every week. She’s a sweetheart. Their sibling relationship is the core of the show both emotionally and narratively and I think Bones managed to nail it here. You really become attached to both of them and want to see they and their family get a happy ending. I think the central conflict of the story is being handled very well so far. Slowly, every week we were fed a little more information about the people out to get Asa and Yuru, learned about the daemons, the organizations and factions in this world.. it’s actually such a well fleshed out world, I have to give my praise to Arakawa sensei and Bones because for only 24 episodes, it feels like we’ve been in this world for way longer and I mean that in the best way possible. It just feels like such a vast interesting setting that makes me want more immediately. I need another season! We really started getting going at the end in terms of introducing new factions out to get the twins and expanding the world of Daemons. The show looks really solid, there’s some great animation when need be, solid soundtrack and good voice acting throughout. I know some people had problems with some of the fight scenes, but I liked them all. For a 24 episode show, I think this was really well done. To sum everything up, it’s not as good as full metal alchemist, but it doesn’t need to be because it’s a good story in its own right with a great MC, interesting story, mystery, twists, mechanics and a nice sibling dynamic. Starts off a bit slow, but if you give it a chance, I think you’ll find this to be a really fun watch and almost unlike anything else airing right now. I’m definitely going to miss this show. Yomi no Tsugai gets 8 out of 10.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm is sloppy; not in a good way like messy food but in a bad way like a 1st grader's handwriting. The show's vibe, characters, logic, events, fights, and everything else I forgot have NO consistency. I have way too large a list of gripes to fit here, but I'll do my best to do them all justice. Yuru and Asa are not great MCs. Calling Asa an MC is generous; she is reduced to a gimmick character that fawns over her brother. Yuru is capable, but everything else about him screams cliché 2010s anime MC (shouts a lot, tough guy, shoddy writing). Pretty much every other character is lame. The daemon gimmick is cool, but they don't properly utilize it. There are practically no good fights because nobody ever strategizes around the 'pairs' gimmick. I seriously don't understand how they made the few fights this show has shallow and not at all in touch with the pairs gimmick. Going back to all the lame characters, they have a bunch of lame demons. This completely desensitizes the viewer to demons because literally everyone has these things. In terms of tone, this show has no clue what to do. The intro has this sort of eerie, psychedelic vibe which is NOT AT ALL PRESENT in the show. Instead, we open with an episode involving brutal murder. Who could have guessed that all 23 episodes after consists of victimizing said brutal murder group (even though they are STILL doing horrible things)? Speaking of the brutal murder group/clan, the clan warfare is so bad in this show. Between all these different clans, there are a bunch of subsections with different motives. It feels like introducing these subsections with 'varying opinions’ is just an excuse to make tension without creating new factions/characters. The underlying plot is also pretty bad. Let me read this out to you: we have multiple groups vying for a legendary power that the MC doesn't even have. Does that sound fun to watch? Not for me. Finally, a few miscellaneous complaints: the show is not funny at all (and it is REALLY trying), and the pacing is pretty bad (not much has really happened). I didn't enjoy any part of this show. I put the last 7-8 episodes on 1.5x speed just to get it over with. I came into this hoping that I could see why everyone adores FMAB and its author. Im coming out questioning if the author knows how to write (bad comparison, I know, but still...). It was a nice try, and maybe it's some people's cup of tea, but I can't possibly see their POV with how sloppy the show came off to me. I probably wouldn't recommend this and I definitely will not be back.

For me and my friends who watched this, this is the most disappointing anime of 2026, without a doubt. The reviews are mostly from the first couple episodes, which have artificially inflated the score beyond what it deserves. This is a 6 anime at best. It's mid, and I'm rather shocked that people forgive this anime for things that people normally criticize other animes for, which gets them a lower score. So I'm here to even the scales a bit. First - Main character is beyond generic. A main character is important and they need to be extremely well done in order to have a good show. At first he starts off pretty interesting, but midway through he just becomes a caricature of himself. A bland tool simply to move the plot forward. He has nothing on strong main characters like Ed from FMA, Yusuke Urameshi, Gon Freecs, or Light Yagami. He doesn't even have 1/4 of the depth of Izuku Midoriya from My Hero Academia. Which for the amount of time he's on screen is insane. For the most part, he's just kind of going along with the plot, the way it sets it up for him, and I'm not really into main characters like that. Unless there is just a tremendous amount of amazing animation and the plot itself is good enough to make up for that makes the anime below a 7 automatically. Examples of this would be something like Hellsing, where Alucard does not have a super strong motivation, but is absolutely a 9 out of 10 anime if there ever was one, just because of the peak fights, and just how cool the rest of the plot is around Alucard, so you don't need there to be a strong will from the character. You could also say that for a show like Drifters as well, which is another show from the same author. Or a show like Black Lagoon. All shows that actually deserve a high rating. With Demons of the Shadow Realm, you get a weak main character who does not inspire any sort of confidence in his actions, although he's given a ton of power from having two gods. He doesn't really know how to use it properly, and nor does it ever really matter that much for the plot anyways. You get faked out that this is some type of mature, high-level show in the beginning, first episode or two, but then it quickly devolves into the most generic shounen plot ever, which is on brand at this point for modern anime. They throw a bunch of non funny jokes in there as well to top it off. I enjoy humor in some animes and they can do it right. This was not funny. Felt like boomer humor from the author. But just know what you're getting into with this show. This show is not what it portrays itself to be that first episode or two. It will get worse and worse as you continue to watch, and most people dropped it later on, but the rating remains high due to those early reviews. The show is getting torn up on social media, largely for its generic plot and characters, but people had to wait till the entire thing came out to see just how bad it really is, and it just kept getting worse and worse.

7.5/10 Daemons of the Shadow Realm feels hallow and incomplete. On the surface it has a compelling setup, fun characters, and drops hints of colorful lore and the life or death battle to come. One also can’t deny its high production values, consisting of crisp animation, score and direction. The problem? The viewer is pulled on the string too much and barely given any breadcrumbs of story. It feels as though we are watching a series of events instead of experiencing compelling characters and themes. Yuru, while extremely likeable, is essentially passionless and directionless as the plot tugs him from point A to point B. Arakawa-sensei’s world-building leaves also much to be desired and the show continually throws us more questions than answers. By the end it’s very unclear why the twins are struggling. Stories about survival and overcoming impossible odds need clear direction. Without compelling stakes, strong setup for our hero, or a clear understanding of the antagonistic force, there’s no reason to care. Daemons of the Shadow Realm shoots high, but the end result is a boring, tedious action adventure. +Likeable protagonists; fun lore and world building +High production values: great animation, score, and direction -Poor setup of antagonist and stakes for heroes; slow and tedious pacing -No clear themes established

It’s fine. Honestly, there isn't much more to say about it. Naturally, expectations for the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist are set extremely high, but the mediocrity of Daemons of the Shadow Realm isn't strictly tied to that. Watching the first episode, the setup caught my interest. I thought I was in for a fairly gritty, mature narrative, but after just a few episodes, cliché and average moments started flooding the series, making it rather boring to watch. That doesn't mean the anime is bad - as I mentioned, it’s just okay. It will find its audience and take its place, but in my opinion, the era for this kind of shonen has already passed. The anime offers nothing new, falling back on overused tropes and "eternal" conflicts. None of these elements are inherently bad on their own, but when the author has nothing else to offer on top of them, those flaws are what stand out the most. The characters didn't particularly move me, though they didn't annoy me either. Maybe they'll be developed better in the future, but after 24 episodes, I didn't feel any real connection to them. I do like the author's visual style, and the music choice is solid. But unfortunately, though, this season marks the end of my journey with this title.

It's not Fullmetal Alchemist, but why is everyone dogging on this show? All the top reviews I see on MAL are complaining about Daemons, but it's bucking modern shounen trends that I'm completely sick of. It's got slower pacing than its contemporaries, but that gives time for its characters to breathe. Daemons has set up an intriguing world where characters don't know who to trust and slowly build out relationships. These are trademark qualities that made Fullmetal Alchemist an all-time great story with some of the most memorable characters in anime. Hiromu Arakawa hasn't missed. I love Daemons so far. As I write this, the top reviews for Yomi no Tsugai on MAL insist that the show has no themes, that it believes in nothing, it does nothing consistently. These reviews cite how the show's action and drama are undercut by humor, how the characters are uninteresting and robotic, how they seem fundamentally uninterested in the world or conflict at hand, how the pacing starts breakneck and then halts itself. I cannot imagine spending the time to watch this show and to so fundamentally disconnect with it entirely, to so consistently miss what's there. I can only assume that the negativity people are expressing for this show stems from not wanting to engage with it, and wanting a Jujutsu-Kaisen-esque onslaught of aura farming battles, irrespective of any substance or narrative. I enjoyed Jujutsu Kaisen, but it is the fast food of shounen. Let's talk about Daemons' pacing briefly. The show begins with what I personally believe to be an incredible hook, an explosive opening to a world that upends your expectations for what the show will be if you've seen none of the marketing material or the trailers, upending it from a low-fantasy feudal era japanese mountain village to a pseudo-reverse-isekai modern world setting with supernatural forces at work. It is then natural that, with the hook established, the author will take a moment to slow down and allow the readers to understand what's going on, what's happened, who the major players are, and what their motivation was to the dramatic event that's just unfolded. In any other medium, this would be the logical next step. It's only in shounen anime that somehow the choice to split time between action and characters is somehow an illogical one. The time spent with these characters -- understanding their fears, understanding what kind of people they are, and yes, lightening the mood with silly moments where characters who've never had running water or electricity suddenly need to act natural in a public restroom and go on a long road trip -- that's how you grow attached to characters. Hype moments like the critics of this show's pacing seem to crave don't last the test of time unless they're earned. This is why shows like Dragon Ball and Naruto and One Piece continue to permeate the cultural consciousness even past their heyday -- people still care about these characters because they're given time to develop. They're presented with situations and allowed to react to them, with actions, yes, but with emotions and words on top of that. Their audiences understand them and feel for them, empathize with them. This trend in modern shounen of skipping the backstory to get to "the good part" where characters fight is the short-form video equivalent of the medium. Daemons hits a much more organic pace, and one I think is strikingly similar to FMA Brotherhood, where the action continues to progress at a steady clip and you're fed more information about the world as you go. This review is already really long, so I won't spend as much time picking apart the other complaints the top reviewers on MAL have right now as I did with the concern about pacing, but I disagree with basically all of them. First -- the characters are "robotic"? Arakawa has some of the most dynamic characters in shounen, allowing almost all of her characters to be both lighthearted when it suits them and dramatic when it suits them. The twin protagonists in particular are great examples of this. These are kids with the weight of the world on the shoulders -- they should be crushed by the burden other people have put on them, but they regularly allow themselves to be silly and lighthearted. This isn't undercutting a theme that the show isn't "brave" enough to focus on -- it's a theme of its own. People can't resolutely shoulder burdens like theirs forever, you need time to relax and to feel joy or you will snap. I will grant that some of the writing in the show uses Arakawa's trademark lighthearted, over-the-top reactions as a shortcut to cut tension and get cheap laughs, but cheap laughs are endearing in their own right. You aren't friends with real people because they're philosophically relevant -- you like your friends because they're funny. Second -- the characters are somehow uninterested in their own world or story. This is, by far, the most insane take I've ever seen about any show. Everything in Daemons is underscored by the power the twins wield, every interaction is either concerned or driven by what the characters feel about the twins and their power, or that weight is notably absent in a striking way, a rare reprieve for Asa or Yuru from tension that they've been carrying and still are carrying. Arakawa lends so much time to minor characters coordinating efforts to let the twins seek each other out when they're separated BECAUSE the twins don't know who they can trust, and want to be able to trust each other. Even minor decisions are underscored by this tension. At one point, Yuru gets sick, and instead of sleeping on the nice tatami mats Hana has in her home to rest, he bundles up and makes a den in the closet like a wild animal, because he's spent his entire childhood being hounded by assassins, and wants to make sure he only needs to cover a single point of attack. The characters are so invested and rooted in their story that it feels oppressive, but Arakawa still manages to let them escape it, to have reprieves from conflict and tension. She does this not because she's uninterested in the conflict, but because the show would actually be really boring if all it did was linearly start tense and continue to get more and more tense until it ended. Tension and conflict are not a static feature of narrative, they're dynamic and relative. For conflict to have stakes, the conflicting parties need to have something to lose. For a narrative to be tense, it has to have also been relaxed. This is another big reason why, in my opinion, modern shounen like Jujutsu Kaisen that skip these steps are ultimately unfulfilling -- they don't allow themselves the dynamism of character or narrative to be memorable. Third -- that the story somehow doesn't have any themes, or greater narrative work to do. I have already touched on this a bit, but I'll spell it out. Daemons is positively fixated on the ideas of trust and kinship, of family, of choosing the people around you, of personal choice and the impetus to be able to choose how you life your life. To be honest, Arakawa kind of beats you over the head with these themes. As she did with FMA, Arakawa has set up a world where none of the characters are sure about who they want to trust -- and for good reason. The main characters are extremely polarizing, powerful people, and everyone who knows about them has an opinion on how that power should be used -- and most don't think it should be left up to two teenagers to decide. Yes, many of the characters only paired up initially because they were the ones who know where one of the twins are, and they're not sure about what to do about it but stick together. But life is about making the best of the situation you're in -- finding moments of brevity and joy in spite of the hardships you face, with the people you are with, the people you trust to have around you. And it's about how important it is to get to choose those people yourself, about not letting other peopl…

Carefully Crafted, Entirely Forgettable: Why Tsugai of the Underworld Misses the Mark: Tsugai of the Underworld is a textbook example of a 7/10 anime: it features solid production from Studio Bones, consistent pacing, zero narrative collapse, and the prestigious name of Hiromu Arakawa. Yet, unlike Fullmetal Alchemist, it leaves almost zero emotional resonance or memorable peaks. The issue isn’t bad writing—it is an absence of friction, pain, and stakes. - Consequence-free Power & Zero Stakes: In FMA, power always carries an agonizing price tag (Equivalent Exchange, missing limbs, human sacrifice). Here, claiming supreme divine spirits takes little more than dropping some blood on it. There is no training, no physical toll, and virtually no backlash. When power is handed out effortlessly, battles devolve into low-risk puzzle-solving rather than desperate struggles. - Passive Motives Without Urgency: The Elric brothers were driven by intense guilt and a ticking clock to restore Al’s hollow body. Yuru’s goal—tracking down his long-lost parents—carries almost no urgency. He takes things day by day, calmly eating fried shrimp and shopping in the modern world while casually gathering clues. The protagonist himself is never pushed to a breaking point. - Death Without Weight: Countless background characters die, but none that the audience actually cares about. Across 24 episodes, the core cast remains completely unscathed. Unlike Hughes, whose brief presence was unforgettable because of how his death shattered those left behind, losses in Tsugai are treated like routine operational hazards. The characters react with cool-headed pragmatism, and without grief on screen, viewers feel nothing. - Lack of Moral Dilemmas: FMA sparked endless debates over state military atrocities, science ethics, and human hubris. Tsugai replaces philosophical conflict with mere information gaps. Everyone acts rationally, disputes feel like corporate negotiations, and there are no real ideological clashes. - Uniformly Safe Direction: Bones delivers reliable consistency, but consistency without peaks equals monotony. There are no stylistic sakuga blowouts like modern action hits (Jujutsu Kaisen), nor any visceral psychological breakdowns (Made in Abyss, Re:Zero). It plays out identically from start to finish. Arakawa’s intricate plotting still works like clockwork, but the raw cruelty and burning passion of her earlier work are entirely missing. It is a competent, well-behaved series—and that lack of visceral bite is precisely why no one will remember it once the season ends.

Well would you look at that, a Hiromi Arakawa show that was initially kinda hyped based on its author and didn’t exactly meet its expectations. Some people were expecting the next Fullmetal Alchemist based on name and studio, but the story is quite different and the series never really tried to be the successor of that colossi of a manga. Plus, it’s not like Gin no Saji, Arslan Senki, Hyakusho Kizoku or Moonrise released since…but ok, I get it, the mangaka only designed the characters for two of them, a medieval epic and a failed sci-fi epic, and the other two are slices of life in farms, nothing like the next fighting shounen coming from her. But is Yomi no Tsugai even a fighting shounen? It is a shounen and there is fighting so it’s definitely an action adventure shounen, but it otherwise doesn’t follow any of the core elements of the genre to be labeled as such, Akane-banashi from its season was more of a shounen than it. Regardless of that, the few people that were reading the manga before the anime knew how different, and inferior, it was to Fullmetal Alchemist. But anyways let’s move from Brotherhood to the siblinghood of this title, because once again Arakawa focused primarily on the relationship between two siblings, this time a guy and a girl instead of two brothers, and their search for their parents, only this time around it happens in the context of a war between a village in the mountains with a whole net of assassins and cleaners at disposal, and a kind of rich mafia family, each group with several supernatural creatures at disposal, or rather through deals and connections between humans and those creatures. The contracts and the human-supernatural connection is part of the character dynamics and themes. Oh, the siblings are chased because they possess big powers capable of ruling the world or something, according to a prophecy, and chances are they awake said abilities after they have died once. With all that setup, the beginning confused a lot of people because the twins are seemingly initially enemies and a lot of apparently innocent civilians are killed off mercilessly and why does the girl have such an adoration for her brother almost to the point of brocon. It’s the classic contrast between comedy and action of plenty of shounen stories, and many people didn’t like that, even if the violence was toned down considerably from the manga. Personally I found it initially more tolerable than the source material because over there the art style gets deformed completely in classic Arakawa fashion, and the anime wasn’t as loud and childish as I expected it to be during those moments. Still, the humour wasn’t exactly good, and I wished it was removed or at least toned down somewhat. The actual comedy though, I’m in favor of, as most of it involves a fish out of water type of concept, premise and character, of which I’m fond of. In this case, the protagonist who has lived his whole life in a village atop of a mountain, goes down to the city below and is confused by contemporary Japan, as he is about everything else really. This aspect is not limited to that alone, as his hunter in the wild-like mentality clashes with what’s legal or not in our world with our rules, so the side characters are constantly trying to keep him out of trouble and keep him underground and without being seen by the common people all around them. I’m not saying it’s amazingly implemented within the plot, as there is no real dealing with real consequences in the real world, and even if there were, the characters have an underground network capable of dealing with that kind of mishaps. It’s not Dai-Guard, but it’s nonetheless a little more elaborated than simply lol look at this clueless guy. Anyways, past the comedy, the actual story is quite good, as it has all these groups trying to get the siblings to their side by either trust or force, clashing with each other with all kinds of abilities, and even internal differences within their own, hinting at possible traitors amongst them, and there’s even a third antagonistic group that appears near the end of the season to complicate the conflict even more, and as someone that reads the manga, let me tell you that things will get even more complicated from there. Plus there is some effort put into trying to maintain coherence among everything, from the battles being unnoticed by the common people due to the supernatural entities, the Tsugai as they are called, being able to suppress their presence from normal civilians, and even cleaners of all kinds in charge of erasing evidence of all the fighting and killing, and having all the parties involved being such big groups that can keep the events hidden and unnoticed. The anime even shows the process and how a normal policeman is thought of as being hallucinating due to fatigue and stress when no one believes all the crazy shit he has been witnessing all night long, because there is no trail of it. Hear that Samidare? Fate? And many more. There are traitor plots within the story and even though I wouldn’t say Yomi no Tsugai is a masterpiece of foreshadowing, it does a good job at building and anticipating reveals, and having the characters prepare some kind of countermeasure. This expands even to the fight choreography, as the cast uses the combined abilities of their Tsugai to capture said traitors, it’s a case of good planning and effective use of abilities in fights making up for otherwise basic abilities and powers. Still, Arakawa once again made good use of martial arts, old weapons, and basic supernatural powers combined, without the need for flashiness and overcomplicated powers nor power ups, so far at least. With those nice things said, it has to be clarified that not everything makes sense, as there are common people with no fighting ability whatsoever commanding Tsugais, somehow not being killed instantly nor hurt permanently in ways that would make their close ones bombard them with questions. And guns are seemingly useless in this setting, as the gun users either don’t shoot on target as soon as they can or when they do they are less effective than…arrows? Look at Tadera and Yuru attacking Ivan around during the last quarter of the anime, for example. Speaking of the latter, the protagonist of the show, we already established that he is in a similar case as Lara although far riskier and wilder, and here we have a case similar to Akane Osaki in Akane-banashi, in that he carries the rest of the cast on his shoulders. Initially it’s funny to see him as lost as the audience with what the hell is even going on, but there is some drama around his closest people lying to him his whole life, and the whole of it being fabricated. Plus his hunter-like mentality adds a lot to his fighting style, his interrogation of people, and his distrust of most people around him, instead of the usual naive shounen protagonists that treat any random recently encountered character as trustworthy and a friend. Honestly, I think of him as one of the best recent shounen protagonists. But it’s not like he is amazing or anything and like I said, he carries all the rest of the cast, who are mostly plot devices throughout most of the series, with only some of them having their backdrops revealed through brief flashbacks and nothing resembling a character arc whatsoever. Not even Asa, the seemingly initial mass murderer with an almost brocon like adoration for her brother, is as interesting and fleshed out as her brother, and that gimmick of hers can be quite annoying with time. The worst offender is Gabby, a character that seemingly does kill lots of people just because and with no remorse. Eventually it is made clear that she takes it out on them because of what they did to Asa in the past and due to the desire to protect her group, but since her connection with her and them is not explored in the season, nor even in the manga in the 55 chapters I’ve read so far, she comes off…

Daemons of the Shadow Realm was one of the two anime that started airing this spring that had a very heavy weight of expectations on their shoulders because of the previous works of their creators. Because of that, they naturally experienced many different comparisons, and sometimes those comparisons were pretty unfair. In the case of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, the creator of the series is Hiromu Arakawa, the creator of one of the most well known anime and manga series in history, Fullmetal Alchemist. And when it comes to expectations, the common way people usually look at something like this is that if a new work is expected to be good because of its creator's previous work, then it should either be better than the previous work, be around the same level, or be somewhat below it and still be considered acceptable. Otherwise, the new anime is considered disappointing. There are two problems I have with this way of thinking. The first is that the independent identity of the anime being discussed is completely put into question, whether that is its story, characters, or other aspects. The second is that the third part of this common way of thinking, the idea that a new work can still be acceptable even if it is somewhat below the creator's previous work, is often just something people say. There are countless examples where, in practice, this part is not actually considered acceptable at all. The first two parts are what really affect this mindset. This kind of expectation and comparison, as I mentioned, ignores the independent identity of different works. Many works that have suffered from this are similar in certain elements because of the writing style and design choices of their authors and manga creators, but they can still have many fundamental differences. Those differences are often ignored because the independent identity of the work, especially the newer one, is not taken into consideration. For me, when I have expectations for a work because of its author, it means that I have already experienced at least two works from that author that had a huge impact on me. After that, whenever I read or watch another work from that creator, my expectation is actually very different. From the very first moment I start watching that work until the very last moment, I look deeply for every positive aspect it has, and I try to find answers to every criticism that is made against it, unless the work has some serious ethical problem, which has never happened to me in this situation. I do this because of the trust I have in that author. But with Hiromu Arakawa, I did not have that kind of expectation for Daemons of the Shadow Realm. Of course, Fullmetal Alchemist is a masterpiece for me, and I was actually rewatching it before Daemons of the Shadow Realm started airing. But having one work alone does not make me examine an anime with the mindset I described above. The reason I explained all of this is because when I say that Daemons of the Shadow Realm is an incredibly great anime in terms of writing and many other aspects that I will talk about later, it is not because I was looking for greatness in it from the very beginning. The anime itself showed me its greatness. And that not only makes me value the anime much more, but it also made Hiromu Arakawa an author whose future and previous works I will now look at with the kind of expectations I described earlier. I feel like I have explained everything I wanted to say about this part, but while writing it, I kept thinking about this reference in my head. Is Hiromu Arakawa an amazing mangaka because she is Hiromu Arakawa, or is she Hiromu Arakawa because she is an amazing mangaka? I did not get the chance to properly fit that thought into the earlier part, so I wanted to add it here at the end. In my opinion, Daemons of the Shadow Realm could genuinely be used as a reference for how to write a story and its characters. The way this anime uses different story elements as a foundation is incredible. Watching Daemons of the Shadow Realm gave me three main feelings. The first is that whenever something happens, or whenever the anime explains something to the audience, I can comfortably say, "Wow, this actually makes sense. This really fits the world of the story." And I know this might sound like a small thing, but with many stories today, instead of immediately being able to say that something makes sense, I sometimes find myself saying that something makes sense because of this particular reason. The difference here is that when Daemons of the Shadow Realm examines something and explains it to the audience, even when that explanation is something specific to the world of the anime itself, it is presented in a way that gives it a very strong sense of believability and meaning. In many other works, when something about their own world is explained to the audience, sometimes even the reason the anime gives for something needs another reason behind it before it can feel completely believable. The second feeling comes from the way the story introduces, kills, keeps alive, or explores the mindset of its characters. None of these things ever feel like they were forced into the story just so the story could have more aspects to explore about its characters and world. Everything feels like a natural part of the world of the story, while also adding more aspects to the anime. They are not simply added because the story needs something new. Sometimes the anime explores one character's mindset toward another character, and when the anime tells us something like, "Because I spent so much time with this character, my view of them changed from what I previously thought to something completely different," it does much more than simply give us another aspect of that character. Because the amount of time that character talks about is something the anime has already shown us before this explanation, it also increases the value of those previous moments. The decision to keep a particular character alive or to kill them can also create an enormous number of different possibilities for the continuation of the story, because of how strong the foundation of the story is and how clearly the author understands the overall direction of the work. And the third feeling comes from the way the anime handles twists. When a particular story twist happens in an anime, the previous events often exist mainly as buildup toward reaching that twist. Those aspects are usually more about the story itself than about the personal effect that twist has on the different characters. And even when the twist has a major effect on the characters, the character aspect of the twist is sometimes not explored very deeply because of the way the story is structured. But in Daemons of the Shadow Realm, whether a twist has a comedic or serious nature, the effects it has on the other characters can sometimes be the most important part of the twist itself. It is very clear that the narrative wants to show the effect of that twist on the characters in the story. And just like the examples I mentioned earlier, these twists also increase the value of the previous events in the story, as well as the fights and conversations between the characters. Beyond all of that, I found the themes of Daemons of the Shadow Realm and its characters extremely interesting and enjoyable. The pacing is something I know will not be to everyone's taste because of its slower nature, but throughout the entire anime, every single moment had its own purpose within the narrative. Even if we completely ignore the comedic aspects, the slice of life sections did not feel pointless at all. Everything either had its own atmosphere or served some purpose within the story. The only exception was that in one or two episodes, the anime used recaps because it wanted to end the episode on a cliffhanger. Even though I found that decision a little evil, I could still understand why they did it. I al…

I'm shocked by the fact that this sits below 8.5 I generally don't do reviews, this is probably my first in 10 years of being on this site. I think it's an amazing anime with great world building, characters, fights and even has some really funny moments. Definetly better than most shounen's which have come out recently. I can't believe the rating on this honestly. The story is good, The pacing is on point, every episode keeps you waiting for more. The animation and art style is great as well, have no complaints with that. The daemons are unique and some have really standout designs. Anyone who like battle shounen's should enjoy this one thoroughly. Probably watch this once the season ends, it might be a better watch when you binge it.

I enjoyed Daemons, but the slow pacing and messy tone drag this show down. I can't name many interesting characters either. I was only amused by cute mascot pets and tiny daemon chibis. Hard to relate to Kagemori members and laugh at their quirky jokes when they casually murder innocent people. 24 episodes in, we still haven't learned why Higashi deserves this much smoke(which is why Kagemori's emotional moments and quirky jokes fall flat). Hard to care about political games when every faction is filled with the same type of scumbag. So far, Yuru's quest to find patents is most relatable by default. The animation is one of the best parts, especially in later action scenes. Decent show overall, but I expected something more compelling from the author who gave us Fullmetal Alchemist.

"(...) And it’s dangerous for everyone within a clan to be in total agreement." Went into this with a fair bit of hesitation, mostly because of my lingering gripes with «Fullmetal Alchemist»: the humour here initially gave me the same impression, even if it's better timed and far less disruptive, so I wasn't sure whether I wanted to commit to it. Glad I stuck with it, though. Somewhere around the halfway point it won me over little by little. The cast settled into their roles, the sibling dynamics and Hana & Dera's refreshingly professional relationship became easy highlights, and the soundtrack and animation are pretty good too. Considering how many recent action shounen I've dropped, it’s nice to have found one that genuinely keeps me engaged. That said, Arakawa's particular brand of humour still occasionally leaves me baffled. «YomiTsugai» is perfectly comfortable letting its characters and conflicts remain morally complicated, and I appreciate that enormously in a genre where protagonists and antagonists alike can so often be reduced to straightforward moral archetypes. What sometimes gets me is when that same complexity is flattened into a gag, particularly when the joke is built around something the story itself has otherwise gone out of its way to establish as complicated. It's not that every serious situation needs to be treated solemnly, nor that I need the story to hand out straightforward moral judgements; it's more that some of the things it chooses to make light of — episode 19's Zashiki-Warashi gratitude scene, for instance, where their gratitude towards Asa and Yuru is turned into a chibi gag about the former now being allowed to wipe out the village as much as she wants — leave me wondering what exactly I’m supposed to find funny. Still, this has been a surprisingly enjoyable watch, and perhaps more importantly, it's made me reconsider some assumptions I'd carried into it. If anything, it's making me wonder whether I should give «FMA» another chance.

It was genuinely good compared to recent anime releases; even though there were clichés, they were handled well enough that they didn't become an issue. The pacing is a bit slow, but what’s the rush? :D To be honest, the season finale wasn't really my style; I prefer stories with a clear beginning and end. It tries to build mystery, but I don't know—it just didn't quite appeal to me. I couldn't decide if 24 episodes were too short or if the execution was just a bit scattered—it felt like things were happening, yet nothing was happening at the same time. Anyway, despite everything, it was a good anime; you should give it a chance.

Comparisons are odious. So, let’s forget for a moment that *FMAB* exists. A new work by Hiromu Arakawa. Expectations were as high as they could possibly be. For some, they were met; for others, the series fell short. With that in mind, let’s discuss the anime without considering the reputation of the creator behind it. To get this out of the way quickly: the worst parts of the anime are the first episode and the finale. The first episode relies too heavily on shock value by completely upending the premise we had envisioned. The whole village massacre sequence catches you off guard. Suddenly, you realize that what appeared to be a medieval story is actually set in the modern era. Many viewers might have felt betrayed or misled by such a radical shift—a completely valid reaction. For others, however, that was the hook that kept them watching. Even so, the shock value leans more toward the negative than the positive. As for the ending, there is one aspect I will always question. You can't give me such an open-ended finale—as if a new episode were dropping next week. It lacks proper closure; the cliffhanger feels like a cheap tactic to force you to go read the manga. You might be willing to wait patiently for the confirmed second season, but that cliffhanger tests that patience. Now, setting aside those two episodes—which I consider the show's weak points—everything else shines brightly. Let’s start with the face of the anime: Yuru, our protagonist. Yuru is a lead character we can empathize with almost immediately. He is someone thrust into a brand-new world, vastly different from the life he knows. He gets dragged into a conflict he knows nothing about—one that demands he sacrifice his life. As Yuru discovers things along the way, he helps us understand where the story is heading, too. Watching Yuru clash with the modern era provides a healthy dose of comedy. Yuru isn't a protagonist who was simply handed his power or who is incapable of fending for himself. From the very beginning, he is established as a hunter—someone observant and patient who waits for the right moment to strike a lethal blow. This characterization carries over into how he handles conflict, whether it’s a physical fight against others or a clash of ideas. Yuru is a well-rounded character, so the story isn't afraid to let everything revolve around him. A strong protagonist alone isn't enough to carry a series; you need a solid supporting cast, and *Yomi no Tsugai* delivers just that. It starts with the deuteragonist, Asa. She is introduced in a rather cruel manner, but as you get to know her, you begin to understand the depth and complexity of her character. She fosters a sibling dynamic with Yuru that grows stronger as their bond deepens. Ultimately, Asa becomes one of the most charismatic and vulnerable characters in the series. Then there are characters like Migi and Hidari, who make an excellent team with Yuru, and Dera, who acts as a sort of mentor and guide. The Kagemori family offers insight into the politics of the underworld. Every supporting character has a clear purpose, so no one feels out of place. Finally, the magic system is fascinating, to say the least. It isn't based on who can amass the most raw power; instead, it hinges on the relationship between a master and their *Tsugai*. Compatibility varies; they can understand and communicate with each other, and even devise strategies together. They aren't mere weapons but thinking, conscious beings. *Tsugai* allow for a wide variety of combat styles, ensuring that every fight feels unique. On top of that, strategy and terrain play crucial roles. As a hunter, Yuru is accustomed to studying his surroundings to set traps or corner his prey. This translates directly into combat, rewarding him for using his wits—even when fighting at a disadvantage. The fights feature strong storytelling; even amidst an exchange of blows, they can convey important information—whether about the world itself or the magic system. *Yomi no Tsugai* is an outstanding work in its own right. You don't need to compare it to its "older sibling" to appreciate it—or to judge it.

What happens when a young man discovers that the life he has been living till now has been a lie, and something far bigger is brewing behind the scenes for him, because of him. If I had to sum up Daemons of the Shadow realm, this would be it. So let me just preface it by saying that I loved it a lot, and from the ratings on MAL and the general consensus, it seems like I am kind of the minority, which to be fair isn't surprising when the writer of the story also happens to be the writer of freaking Fullmetal Alchemist. Hiromu Arakawa is one of the few mangakas who feels like she is still in love with the work she does, and that shows here. This premise, while not exactly unique, is an intriguing one, and the world the Arakawa builds around it is even more fascinating. The first episode of this is absolutely incredible, just defines the stakes very quickly and very impactfully. And from then on it builds on as we discover this world more and who the players in this giant sized cat and mouse game are. The strongest part about this show is its characters, and there are A LOT. So many that you might lose track, but that's the great part, you don't. Arakawa's writing absolutely shines there. Her ability to create a cast of characters that you can't help but care for irrespective of what their importance to the story is commendable. It was on display in FMA, it was on display in Silver Spoon and this show is no different. Every character has a personality, every single one of them have an identity, like who on earth would have thought early on that Akio would be such a fascinating character? The animation is great, Bones does a superb job as usual. Some of the fight sequences are absolutely amazing, not on par with your JJK and Demon Slayer but they don't really have to be, they are effective. I also love the path that the story follows, I love the sense of mystery it embodies throughout. We know at all times what the purpose is but you don't know what may happen while trying to reach that. There is one issue that I have with it and that's the tonality. Sometimes it just feels like some stuff happens way too conveniently and the characters' response to it is way too laidback than what the circumstances demand, and that did throw me off a couple times. It is not a glaring flaw however in my opinion, because I genuinely enjoyed my time with this show. The OPs and EDs slap, love every single one of those songs and they really do set the tone which shows like this need to do. I really am excited for the story going forward, I really like where we are going with this and it definitely feels like a lot of of the story is left to tell and if Arakawa's previous works have set any precedent, it's only gonna get better. The second season can't come soon enough!

Daemons of the Shadow Realm is an exceptionally engaging action/thriller drawing on many of Hiromu Arakawa’s best strengths as a mangaka, as well as being dogged by her occasional weaknesses as well. Its brisk pacing and constant introduction of new elements to make more standard situations a bit more complex and engaging make this a compelling watch that rarely leaves you bored, especially with the massive web of characters that it weaves. The complicated nature of Yuru and Asa’s relationships with both each other and the many factions they interact with in this struggle over their legendary powers adds several levels of moral ambiguity to many of their thoughts and actions. That said, for as much as the show likes to emphasize this point, there is very clearly a “good side” and “bad side” to align with or against, and realizing that does undercut these moments of emphasis more than a tad. The prospect of “Jojo power system but you get two stands” also makes for a deep well of creativity to pull from, and while I’m sure there are more to come in the future, a good bulk of the powers we’ve seen so far fall squarely within standard expectations. Likewise, I am similarly impressed and disappointed by many aspects of the overall production. Arakawa’s iconic art style is ever present and exceptionally well-realized, evoking many features that fans of her work are familiar with while still retaining qualities that make the characters in this particular series unique, and the action itself is weighty and exciting. On the other hand, it seems that, like many other modern studios specializing in action, Bones has also traveled further down the road of throwing strong compositing out the window, with some unbelievably jarring CG assets marring the overall experience. While there are definitely some disappointing elements, and this introductory season also falls into the unnerving trend of high-value projects ending on what could be charitably described as a cliffhanger, but feels more like the story simply ended abruptly, there is more than enough here to keep me satisfied as far as solid action series go, and I’m hoping the next season will further expound upon what we have so far.

Good aspects Characters and their companions are well-written and interesting. Relationships between the characters are well-written and intriguing as well. Especially I like the sibling relationship between Yuru and Asa. It's realistically written. Also some of the companions are adorable, like the bunny and Zashiki-Warashi. I love fast-paced series. Sometimes hilarious. I wasn't bored even for one second. The mysteries are intriguing. It just has one bad aspect... I like fast-paced series like this, but sometimes pacing is confusing. I can't make heads and tails of it. It could have been better if it had a more structured pacing. It's a tiny flaw, though. I'm looking forward to the second season.

I really like how the story is built and how everything in the world works. The whole plot and the way the different pieces connect are really interesting, even though I'm still pretty confused about some things. The biggest question I have right now is what actually started this whole war against the villages. 😂 I feel like there are still a lot of things that haven't been explained yet, so I'm hoping the future episodes slowly reveal what's really going on. I also like that the anime doesn't just throw every answer at you immediately. There's clearly something bigger happening behind everything, and that makes me curious about where the story is going. The characters and their abilities are also pretty interesting, especially with how the whole Daemon system works.