Daemons of the Shadow Realm

Episode 7

With this episode, we get the final piece of information that allows us to form a likely picture of what's been going on with Asa and Yuru over the course of their lives. While we've known from nearly the start that each child has the potential to awaken special powers (i.e., “Break” and “Seal”), this episode teaches us that they need to die in order to do so. Thus, the general goal of the assassins pursuing Asa (and Yuru, as it turns out) throughout their lives has been to kill them and then use the resurrected twin's powers for their own gain.

With this context, the opening scene of the episode is revealed to be anything but a simple confrontation with a “bandit.” Obviously, there are no feudal-era bandits on the mountain—just a rural town encased within a magic barrier. Thus, this man was obviously an assassin out to kill Yuru and bring out his powers. However, who sent him? Was it the Kagemori's? A random third party? Almost certainly not.

The clues all point to Kyoka, the Higashi Village leader. Until Asa got her powers and broke the barrier at the start of the story, no one from the outside world could get in—at least, not on purpose. An assassin? Dressed in era-appropriate clothing? Who knew when to find Yuru alone and unguarded? This all speaks to it being an inside job. And if you look at the situation overall, it makes sense.

Higashi Village was perfectly set up to control Yuru. Kyoka literally has Asa trapped in a cage—a hostage that doesn't know she was one. If Yuru were to get his Seal powers, Kyoka would have all the leverage needed to force Yuru to do whatever she wanted him to do (if asking nicely wasn't enough).

This situation—one twin being a hostage and the other a tool—also explains Asa and Yuru's parents' actions. Realizing what Kyoka had tried to do, they escaped with Asa. They left Yuru behind because escaping to the Kagemoris with both would have done nothing but change who was holding the leash—one sibling could still be used as a hostage to control the other.

However, with Yuru still in the village, they set up a “mutually assured destruction” situation to protect their children's lives—i.e., “Don't awaken your twin and we won't awaken ours.” Of course, Asa and Yuru's parents had no way of knowing that Kyoka would create a fake Asa to maintain control over Yuru and keep the status quo. Likewise, Kyoka didn't know the stalemate had inadvertently been broken by a third party when Asa was killed, which is why they were so completely unprepared for Asa's attack on the village.

The current issue is that, now that both twins are in the outside world, they've basically announced open season on themselves. People from all sides will be wanting to ideally capture both, using one as a hostage to control the other. Ironically, however, this is not the path the Kagemoris and Higashi Village forces have chosen to go down. When it comes to the Kagemoris, Asa is already a willing accomplice. They don't need Yuru as a hostage—and obviously can see that letting him roam free makes Asa trust them all the more. Meanwhile, Dera's best call is to respect Yuru's wants as well, as not doing so will drive him right into the Kagemori camp.

So once again, the two biggest players are left in a stalemate—perhaps even an uneasy alliance—as all the third-party players have begun making their moves. But before we get to that, we have the world's most awkward breakfast ever to look forward to!

Rating:

Random Thoughts:

• Knowing you have an extra life can indeed make you reckless.

• I have a feeling that the previous twin stayed dead to prevent their sibling from being used as a hostage.

• I wonder if Yuru has died once already and didn't realize it.

• It seems to me that, if Left and Right are a countermeasure to Break and Seal, someone unrelated to the twins was supposed to be their master. With Yuru their master, Seal is completely unchecked.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.