Daemons of the Shadow Realm ends the season with a promise of more intrigue in Ep. 24 “Higashi Village and Nishino Village”. Yes, this season finale goes out with a bang. However, the bang only leads to more questions that makes this finale one of the worst in terms of cliffhanger agony. Oh well, at least we have some nice character exploration before we get the cliffhanger dropped on us.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 24 “Higashi Village and Nishino Village”: Details in Brief
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 24 “Higashi Village and Nishino Village” is the twenty-fourth and final 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, Ep. 21, Ep. 22, and Ep. 23 here) of the first season 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. 24 “Higashi Village and Nishino Village”: The Good
As with the previous few episodes, there’s little doubt that the best part of Ep. 24 “Higashi Village and Nishino Village” is the intrigue. There’s certainly plenty of that going around here, with a dark meeting between the “bandits” of Higashi Village being the highlight of this episode in regards to that intrigue. That meeting is replete with the introduction of new bandit characters and Hana (voiced by Miyuri Shimabukuro (JP) and Meggie-Elise (EN)) hamming it up to keep the secret alliance of her, Dera (voiced by Yuichi Nakamura (JP) and Jarrod Greene (EN)), and Yuru (voiced by Kensho Ono (JP) and Ben Stegmair (EN)) under wraps.
Oh, and don’t forget Hana’s dog daemon Jiro literally sniffing out a cleverly placed explosive surprise. It was actually quite amusing to see what Jiro was doing in the background of the tense meeting right before the bomb reveal. It was like watching an amusing background event suddenly turn deadly serious in the blink of an eye as it was brought to the foreground.
Don’t Forget the Slice of Life (and the Yuri)
The drama isn’t the only great part about this episode. In fact, it’s not even the majority of this episode. That honor goes to the slice of life elements of this episode. Now I know what you may be thinking: but isn’t it boring? I will reply: it’s the furthest thing from boring. In fact, the slice of life sets up the drama quite well.
We get some very interesting character exploration of many characters, including the aforementioned ones. However, we also get a glimpse into other characters as well, such as young Azami (voiced by Yukari Anzai (JP) and Caitlin Martelle (EN)) and how lost she is with all of the modern stuff after living her whole life in what was effectively a medieval Japanese village. Much like Yuru, which gives them much points of similarities to discuss. You can already tell that there’s a burgeoning friendship between the two in spite of their age gap, not only because of their shared fish out of water feeling, but also their shared trauma. Both of them know what it’s like to lose their parents, thus creating the potential for them to help each other out of that trauma.
Speaking of trauma though, it’s also clear that Asa (voiced by Yume Miyamoto (JP) and Molly Zhang (EN)) is getting her own share of trauma to pile onto her previous trauma. She clearly cares about people, especially the ones she hangs around with the most at the Kagemori manor. Even a lowly gardener dying shakes her to her core. Fortunately, Gabby (voiced by Misaki Kuno (JP) and Mikaela Krantz (EN)) is there to snap her out of it. Sure, it may be in a somewhat violent manner, but it was clearly done out of (tough) love. Heck, the fact that they sleep together in the same futon afterwards is fueling my yuri ship for them, but that’s just me. Even if I’m wrong about the potential romance there, at least there’s no denying that they’re very close friends with each other.
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Ep. 24 “Higashi Village and Nishino Village”: The Bad
As you might be able to tell from the title alone, it’s the fact that Ep. 24 “Higashi Village and Nishino Village” ends on a cliffhanger that’s the worst part of this episode. It fact, this is one of the worst cliffhangers I’ve seen in any recent anime series. It basically ends the episode right after a literal bombing that involved Hana and Higashi Village, and right as Gonzo Kagemori (voiced by Hiroshi Iwasaki (JP) and Kent Williams (EN)) is about to explain Nishino Village. A village which was apparently sunken into a reservoir? Alas, we won’t know what that’s all about until we get to see that upcoming second season. We know that it’s currently in production. Now we just have to wait for Bones Film to tell us when we can actually see it.
There’s also a distinct lack of action or violence in this episode. Yes, there was that bomb explosion and a literal corpse. However, those scenes last for a very short period of time, and the corpse is presented as part of a drama scene rather than an action scene. If you want bloody shonen action, then you will have to wait for the next season of Daemons of the Shadow Realm, or look elsewhere for now.
Anime Recommendations
Fortunately, there’s many alternatives for action junkies looking for their next anime action kick. 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 want more story-focused anime, then you might also like 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 did you think of this season finale for Daemons of the Shadow Realm? Are you too gnashing your teeth at the cliffhanger as you wait for that second season? Tell us your daemonic thoughts in the comments section below.
For more on Anime, make sure to check back to That Hollywood Show.
Reviews