Daemons of the Shadow Realm gives us some truly fateful meetings between old friends (and family) and new in Ep. 14 “Family and Friends”. All complete with some dark secrets spilling forth out of the shadows, and Yuru’s bond with his old friends and family being tested quite a bit. All in all, I think you will all agree with me that he needs some hugs here.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 14 “Family and Friends”: Details in Brief
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 14 “Family and Friends” is the fourteenth episode (you can read my reviews for Ep. 1, Ep. 2, Ep. 3, Ep. 4, Ep. 5, Ep. 6, Ep. 7, Ep. 8, Ep. 9, Ep. 10, Ep. 11, Ep. 12, and Ep. 13 here) of this dark fantasy action adventure anime series overall, as well as being the first episode of the second cours. Said anime is the anime adaptation of the manga of the same name by Hiromu Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist, Silver Spoon, The Heroic Legend of Arslan).
Bones Film (Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood, Ouran High School Host Club, My Hero Academia) is the animation studio behind this anime. Masahiro Andō is the director behind this anime, with Noboru Takagi as the writer, and Kenichiro Suehiro as the composer for the music.
Speaking of that music, the opening theme song for the second cours of Daemons of the Shadow Realm is “Back Shot” by Masanori Otoda. Meanwhile, “Kujaku” (孔雀; lit. ”Peacock”) by Kei Sugawara is the ending theme song for the same.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 14 “Family and Friends”: The Good
Ep. 14 “Family and Friends” truly lives up to its title, and not in the way you would expect. Well…to be fair, it does actually live up to it in the beginning, with Yuru (voiced by Kensho Ono (JP) and Ben Stegmair (EN)) and (voiced by Natsumi Fujiwara (JP) and Cassie Ewulu (EN)) meeting a pair of random spirits while out looking for a place to practice their archery. That part was amusing, especially since the spirits in question reveal that Right (voiced by Rikiya Koyama (JP) and Bill Butts (EN)) and Left (voiced by Takako Honda (JP) and Colleen Clinkenbeard (EN)) are actually something like celebrity figures in the spirit world. How, you might ask? Well, by acting like the world’s biggest fanboy and fangirl. They’re the kind of whimsical random side characters that Hiromu Arakawa loves putting into her stories, and they make the story fun and engaging because of that.
When the Whimsy Makes Room for Drama
Alas, the whimsy does go away when the drama happens. All due to a plot revelation regarding Yuru’s childhood friend growing up in Higashi Village: Danji (voiced by Ryōta Ōsaka and Momoka Terasawa (JP) and Abi Kumar (EN)). He turns out to be keeping quite a few secrets of a supernatural kind from Yuru, and even though he brings critical information to him, that very information plus the revelation leads to some serious crashing out for Yuru. Quite understandably so, I might add, especially when you realize that Yuru’s whole relationship with his best friend for many years has just been turned completely upside-down.
It really makes you wonder how Yuru is going to process this information in the next episode of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, and what he’s going to do with Danji after that. Fortunately, we only have to wait a week to find that out.
Oh, and one last bit of kudos for Bones Film for the high animation quality of this episode even though there’s nothing animation-taxing here. Especially during one scene with a small waterfall, where the water is very clearly animated in loving detail. Those animators still managed to put their hearts and souls into this episode.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 14 “Family and Friends”: The Bad
Alas, if you’re the type who only enjoys bloody action-packed fight scenes, then Ep. 14 “Family and Friends” will probably be a bit boring to you. There’s absolutely none of that in this episode. It’s all story-focused comedy and drama playing out in the form of conversation both humorous and deadly serious. If you want some action, there almost certainly will be in this anime. Just unfortunately, not in this episode.
Anime Recommendations
Fortunately, there are alternatives if you can’t wait for more bloody action and adventure. You can check out Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Kaiju No. 8, DDDD, DAN DA DAN, Sword Art Online Alternative: Gun Gale Online II, Zenshu, Blue Box, Solo Leveling, Black Butler, Nyaight of the Living Cat, May I Ask for One Final Thing?, TRIGUN STARGAZE, and / or Kagurabachi for that. However, if you desire more story-focused anime series, then you might like watching Spy x Family, Senpai is an Otokonoko, Apocalypse Hotel, Spice and Wolf: Merchant Meets the Wise Wolf, The Ancient Magus’ Bride, My Dress-Up Darling, This Monster Wants to Eat Me, Hana-Kimi, Journal with Witch, Witch Hat Atelier, and / or Jaadugar: A Witch in Mongolia.
What do you think of this week’s episode of Daemons of the Shadow Realm? Tell us your dramatically traumatic thoughts in the comments section below.
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