Anime Review: Daemons of the Shadow Realm
English Title: Daemons of the Shadow Realm
Japanese Title: 黄泉のツガイ[lit. underworld’s pair]
Director(s): Ando Masahiro
Screenwriter(s): Takagi Noboru
Studio: Bones, Aniplex, Square Enix
Released: 2026
Runtime: 24 episodes, ~24m each.
Starring: Ono Kensho, Nakamura Yuuich, Shimabukuro Miyuri, Koyama Rikiya, Honda Takako, Miyamoto Yume
Based on the ongoing manga of the same name by Arakawa Hiromu that started in 2021, this is, like Full Metal Alchemist, a fantasy-adventure that follows two siblings.
Yuru and Asa are boy-girl twins born at a time that “splits night and day”, the first of such an occurrence in four hundred years. They are supposed to have certain powers regarding the control of “daemons”.
The plot begins with Yuru hunting outside his village when it is attacked by individuals and the so-called daemons they partner with.
Whilst I am not a fan of trivializing let alone glorifying positive relationships with so-called daemons, the story, to be fair, is not occultic in nature. As is common, part of this is the poor translation of Japanese terms used that are vague and can refer to things other than “daemon”.
In this fictional universe, “daemons” are entities who partner with and are under the command of humans. In the first episode, whilst under attack and trying to defend his village, Yuru awakens his two daemons, Hidari (“Left”) and Migi (“Right”), who he always thought of as local deities. Many of the other daemons basically come across as some version of local deities.
To those who know nothing about this work, it is cool that Yuru and the audience find that his world is not what it seems. Although it is appreciated that this twist is not dragged out for half a season, it need not be revealed in the first episode even though it is executed well. The impact would be even better if this is done in the second or even third episode.
[Minor Spoiler] From that point on, Yuru operates in the world more or less as we know it, fighting against those trying to make use of his unique position and powers. Those with daemons work quietly such that normal people continue to have no idea.
Yuru operates under the care of Tadera Ryu, referred to as “Dera”, and a young lady named Danno Hana. They act as his guardians and both in effect work for Higashi Village. Meanwhile, the Kagemori Clan is also after Yuru.
Although Higashi Village and Kagemori Clan consider each other as adversaries and both have their selfish agenda regarding the twins, both are willing to be somewhat honorable and play nice. This is one of the strong points of the story: many characters cannot clearly be categorized as good guys or bad guys. There are all types in both camps.
One of the weaker points is that the basics of the mythology are not sufficiently clear early on. For example, Yuru and Asa are important, that is clear enough, but the specifics regarding their abilities need to be more clearly explained earlier. One does not want to spell out everything and take away the mystery, especially if this is done by chunky expositions, but it needs to be better.
The other apparent weakness is that when the Kagemori Clan initially attacked the village, they used excessive force. If you are trying to get Yuru to join your side, the last thing you do is slaughter his fellow villagers. There may be more going on which Yuru does not yet know and can learn later, but some lines you don’t cross just yet. In other words, this part of the conflict is too forced.
Another problem is that the daemons are too varied. Granted, they are meant to be individuals and the narrative tries to avoid the “monster of the week” approach, but the designs come across as too random and therefore unfocused.
As a crude comparison, this is similar to Jujutsu Kaisen where each sorcerer’s individual abilities and the curse monsters are too unique. Fullmetal Alchemist felt a little like that too but at least the villains were part of the homunculi hierarchy. The characters in Demon Slayer are unique but each follows a system: the demon slayers may have different styles but these are limited and are still human; the demons are under Muzan and are basically vampires with their associated powers and limitations so they have those commonalities.
Visually, the style is similar to Fullmetal Alchemist as expected, and Bones produce this anime as well. It is nicely done with clean linework and polished rendering; it mostly looks good if nothing else even if the designs of the daemons are too varied. Overall, whilst it is consistent, the visual tone can be darker and grittier given the nature of the story.
There is enough action as Yuru deals with those who are after him and, as already mentioned, there are good and bad elements within each camp. And those who are after him do not reveal themselves so this adds to the intrigue.
The season ends on a sort of cliffhanger with the revelation of another player, which is the expected and necessary progression. This has the potential to be a good story but so far, the worldbuilding is not particularly great and the narrative lacks focus and direction as the pacing and plotting can use improvement.
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