Daemons of the Shadow Realm

Episode 5

I was so afraid during the first half of this episode that it was going to turn out to be a giant tease—that Yuru and Asa would almost meet, but a battle or misunderstanding would prevent it at the last moment. This would, as a result, make these last two episodes a little more than a waste of time that got our hopes up for no reason. Luckily, this show is less about exploiting cheap drama and more about progressing the various, layered mysteries it has already set up.

The meeting between Yuru and Asa is simply fantastic. On a story level, it adds another layer onto the mystery of Yuru and Asa's parents—derailing Yuru's plans to ask his parents why he was left behind while Asa wasn't. Having the two, along with their bodyguard, disappear mid-flight to Okinawa is perfect in its ambiguity. Are they dead or alive? Was the bodyguard in on it? Was it an inside job? The work of village spies? Or was it due to some yet-unknown third party?

This, of course, leads us directly into the world-expanding revaluation of this episode: there are more than just the two factions we've heard about so far. While the Higashi Village and the Kagemori clan are no doubt antagonistic towards each other, they seem to be far from the only ones interested in controlling Yuru and Asa—and now that both are off the mountain, these other mysterious Daemon users are eager to strike when given the chance.

This not only gives us our action scene for the episode (which will also likely be the focus next week as well), but it also puts Yuru in the position of having to fight alongside the people responsible for massacring the adults of his village. This is doubly baffling to him as none of the Kagemori he's encountered have any animosity towards him—even after their fight in the parking garage.

However, while the story development and world-building are important, what really steals the show is the character interaction between Asa and Yuru. Asa has been without family since the disappearance of her parents. Now, her long-lost brother is in front of her, and she is of two minds on how to act. Logically, everything she does in this episode is to attempt to sustain the tenuous connection between them. She wants to do whatever he asks—tell him everything with no lies included. She knows that building trust is the only way she'll ever get him back. But at the same time, she is a lonely girl who has been dreaming of seeing Yuru again for years. She wants the physical connection she has long been denied—to hug her brother like when they were little—and can't help herself from asking repeatedly.

Of course, for Yuru, while his parents have long been absent, he's never been alone. He's always had his sister, the “False Asa.” Yet, only a few days before, the sister that had been the center of his world for years was not only revealed as a fake but was murdered by his real sister—nearly right in front of his eyes. And as we talked about at length last week, Yuru has dealt with nothing that has happened emotionally—he's simply pushed it all down until the time he can hear the truth from his parents. Because of this, he can't really respond to Asa as she wants him to.

That said, she does inadvertently connect with him on a different level. Yuru is a stranger in a strange land. He can't fully understand the modern world, nor does he fully trust what Dera and Hana are teaching him. However, Asa has already been through the extreme culture shock that Yuru is facing. She sees how they grew up as “normal,” but also knows how the outside world works. She, far more than Dera (who was little more than a regular visitor to the village), can commiserate with Yuru—understand how he thinks and make sense of this strange new world. She can often answer his questions before he even asks them, which naturally makes him rely on her and view her positively.

Of course, we'll have to see how this all turns out in the long run. At some point, the action's going to stop, and Yuru, without any direct lead on his parents, is going to have to sit down and sort his shit out. The longer he waits, the more foolish and unstable he is likely to become.

Rating:

Daemons of the Shadow Realm is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.