Daemons Of The Shadow Realm Ep. 20 “The Hunted And The Hunter”: The Depths Of Ivan [Review]

Daemons of the Shadow Realm reveals the depths a certain hunter named Ivan has in Ep. 20 “The Hunted and the Hunter”. It’s very bloody and dark depths, but it does show that Ivan will likely be a major recurring villain in the story, and will play a major role in that story somehow. As well as leaving as many bodies and blood as he does in this episode.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 20 “The Hunted and the Hunter”: Details in Brief

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 20 “The Hunted and the Hunter” is the twentieth 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, Ep. 13, Ep. 14, Ep. 15, Ep. 16, Ep. 17, Ep. 18, and Ep. 19 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. 20 “The Hunted and the Hunter”: The Good

We all know by now that the stars of Daemons of the Shadow Realm are Yuru (voiced by Kensho Ono (JP) and Ben Stegmair (EN)) and Asa (voiced by Yume Miyamoto (JP) and Molly Zhang (EN)). However, I think you all might agree with me that in Ep. 20 “The Hunted and the Hunter”, Ivan Yosano (voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki (JP) and Alejandro Saab (EN)) shares in the spotlight as well. However, unlike our twin sibling heroes, Ivan the sword Daemon-wielding mercenary is very much a villain in this story.

Not just that, but in this episode, he shows himself to be a very skilled and resourceful villain to boot. Any good story needs a good villain to be an effective counterbalance to the heroes. Ivan definitely meets that criteria with not only his knowledge of the overall plot and his implied manipulation of Hayato Shingo (voiced by Setsuji Satō (JP) and Eric Vale (EN)), but also the fact that he’s skilled enough to fight Left (voiced by Takako Honda (JP) and Colleen Clinkenbeard (EN)) and Right (voiced by Rikiya Koyama (JP) and Bill Butts (EN)) on equal footing, on top of being fast enough to deflect bullets fired by Dera (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura (JP) and Jarrod Greene (EN)).

The Ivan Yosano Show

In fact, Ivan makes such a show in this episode that I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up being one of the masterminds behind the plot to kidnap Yuru and Asa’s parents. Or at least, one of the top soldiers behind that plan. The fact that he has his own cleaner cleaning up after his kills to avoid attracting the attention of the authorities only makes him even more interesting as a character. Since, you know, he basically has his own organization either working for / with him to accomplish that. That cleaner also showcases more of the gruesome side of the story since she has a Daemon that is literally able to compress bodies into a compact meatball that can be picked up by hand. It’s a nice bit of blood and gore for fans of that bloody violence. Even if this time, it’s against corpses.

All with Bones Film’s animation team behind the animation making the fight with Ivan so good-looking. The fluid animation of the rifle bullet spinning in-flight followed by the equally as smooth animation of Ivan swinging his katana Daemon to deflect it is a scene I’ll give particular attention to as an example of that.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 20 “The Hunted and the Hunter”: The Bad

Alas, for fans of bloody violence, you might not get enough of it in Ep. 20 “The Hunted and the Hunter”. True, the bloody violence in this episode makes up over half of the episode. With a nice bit of dark conpiracy to boot. If that’s not enough for you though, then you might need to look elsewhere for your action. Or at least, just wait a week for the next episode of Daemons of the Shadow Realm to make its debut.

Now as for the story though, I do have one complaint. Asa literally sees Ivan making a break for it, but doesn’t even try to stop him. Girl, you could’ve obtained even more of the story and found out what happened to you and your brother’s parents, and you just let him slip away. My only guess as to what had happened is that she assumed that Ivan was a low-level thug working for Shingo, and that it wouldn’t matter if he got away or not because she thought he wouldn’t know anything. Alas, that’s one fish you let slip away when you shouldn’t have, Asa.

Anime Recommendations

If you can’t wait that long for more episodes of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, then you have some good alternatives. You can watch  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 more bloody action. However, if you want more story-focused anime, then you might have a blast with 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 Ivan Yosano thoughts in the comments section below.

For more on Anime, make sure to check back to That Hollywood Show.