Daemons of the Shadow Realm shows off the dangers of letting down your guard in Ep. 22 “The Kagemori Brothers and the Kuroya Siblings”. After all, the most dangerous part of the battle is when you think the battle is over. The Trojans learned that, and so the Kagemoris now learn that same lesson the hard way.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 22 “The Kagemori Brothers and the Kuroya Siblings”: Details in Brief
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 22 “The Kagemori Brothers and the Kuroya Siblings” is the twenty-second 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, Ep. 19, Ep. 20, and Ep. 21 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.
You can watch Daemons of the Shadow Realm exclusively on Crunchyroll.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 22 “The Kagemori Brothers and the Kuroya Siblings”: The Good
Ep. 22 “The Kagemori Brothers and the Kuroya Siblings” teaches us a very important lesson: never let your guard down until you know for certain that the battle is over. Or like the Kagemori family at the manor, you might discover that the battle catches up to you in a very lethal way. It’s a brilliant move by the mysterious enemy that has recruited Akio to be their double agent, and is seemingly employing Ivan Yosano (voiced by Shin-ichiro Miki (JP) and Alejandro Saab (EN)) to be their agent. Although, it could even be that Ivan is one of the leaders of this mysterious enemy. Alas, we know as much as the protagonists here, which is to say, not a whole lot.
But back to that move, it’s basically the timeless tactic of booby trapping a corpse so that it can be later triggered by your unwary enemy. It’s a highly unconventional form of booby trapping in this case, but the tactic is the same. Numerous insurgencies and militaries have used this tactic, and it’s just as effective as this one.
A Heart to Heart While Blood is Being Spilled
All this is happening while Yuru (voiced by Kensho Ono (JP) and Ben Stegmair (EN)) and Asa (voiced by Yume Miyamoto (JP) and Molly Zhang (EN)) continue to have a heart to heart both in Asa’s handy pocket dimension and back outside in reality. This gives the siblings a chance to both bond, and to exchange even more information, and even allow them to draw some very interesting conclusions and establish new goals to work towards. Goals that are currently being defeated by enemy action alas, which also reveals that Hiromu Arakawa has written a very complex story here. Every action the protagonists take is met by counter-action or even a pre-prepared trap as a “just in case” measure by the enemy. Our heroes will soon need to go on the offensive just to keep their enemies on their toes for once.
Oh, and there’s even a little side story from Gonzo Kagemori’s (voiced by Hiroshi Iwasaki (JP) and Kent Williams (EN)) perspective that gives us the origins of Asuma Kagemori (voiced by Akira Ishida (JP) and Austin Tindle (EN)). Specifically: it gives us his origins starting with his mother Iori (voiced by Atsuko Yuya), revealing that she was the past master of Kin’ugyokuto: made up of Yozakura (voiced by Ayumu Murase (JP) and Ethan Gallardo (EN)) and Asagiri (voiced by Ayumu Murase (JP) and Katie Welch (EN)). It’s an interesting bit of lore there, since it implies that Daemons of one master they like will readily allow their contract to be passed down to their master’s children. It’s a bit of lore to keep in mind in future episodes of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, which will hopefully bring the drama to a bit of a conclusion.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 22 “The Kagemori Brothers and the Kuroya Siblings”: The Bad
Alas, Ep. 22 “The Kagemori Brothers and the Kuroya Siblings” does suffer from a bit of a pacing problem due to ending on a cliffhanger. It’s a fairly nasty one too, with the episode ending right at the moment of an explosively dramatic high point. It’s a good way to make people want to watch the next episode of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, even if the wait is a bit agonizing because of that cliffhanger.
The other thing is that this episode is actually relatively devoid of action. The vast majority of this episode is drama with small amounts of comedy to lighten it up. All of the action is relatively contained to the final few minutes of this episode. If you want even more action than that, then you will have to wait for the next episode to get that.
Anime Recommendations
Fortunately, anime fans who want that bloody action can find some by looking up 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. However, if you want more story-focused anime, then you might also 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 thoughts on booby trapping in the comments section below.
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