In a remote mountain village under the watchful eyes of two stone guardians, the young Yuru contentedly lives off the land while staying close to the only family he has left, his precious twin sister Asa. Asa, meanwhile, carries out a mysterious "duty" on behalf of the village. Their world is one where certain humans can control a duo of supernatural creatures called Daemons. Yuru and Asa, who turn out to have been separated from a young age, must make their way back to each other, learn of their prophesized ability to control all Daemons, and eventually discover that they must unite to save the world from destruction.

To borrow a phrase from the legendary wordsmith Dick Kickem, Daemons of the Shadow Realm has decided it's time to kick gum and chew ass, and it's all out of ass. With a title like that, a healthy dose of ass kickage is not just a suggestion, but a signed-and-sealed contract between viewer and anime. You can take the very fact that you're reading this as a sign that Daemons of the Shadow Realm has made good on its word.

What if the world you knew was a lie? It's not a particularly original starting point, but Daemons of the Shadow Realm does a good job with it, because Yuru's world isn't so much a lie as a place that exists outside of time. It's obvious from the moment he looks up at what are clearly airplane trails and remarks on them being "dragon gas". The truth is that Yuru lives in a simulated past, a version of Japan that no longer exists for reasons that have yet to be revealed. Does it have to do with he and his sister Asa being twins born between night and day? Given that the military has stormed his village looking specifically for him, that feels very likely. And what's especially interesting is that the twist is used to cover the much more interesting and personal twist: Asa isn't the real Asa. This revelation is what gives the story its stakes and direction.

As we learn by the end of the third episode, Yuru's overarching goal for the story is to find the real Asa, force her to take him to see their parents, and get an explanation--not only for the deeper meaning of his birth, but also why he was left behind while Asa wasn't. Of course, this is far easier said than done, as he has no idea what's going on. Just a day before, he was working on becoming a hunter for the village, to make it so they weren't as reliant on food from the outside world. Now there's Daemons, modern technology, enemy soldiers and a whole lot of people dying. At least we the viewers understand modern technology and have a bit more of an omniscient viewpoint (as we're able to follow Asa in some scenes as well). He's just totally lost. On top of that, Yuru is surrounded by people who are either nearly as ignorant of what's going on as he is or deliberately withholding vital information for their own purposes. There's even a good chance that Asa's massacre of the villagers was completely justifiable. After all, from the time we spend with her, she clearly sees the whole attack as a rescue operation, her coming back to save her brother after years apart. Getting revenge on those who, in her eyes, harmed her and Yuru is just a bonus.

But while the central mysteries are solid and the characters interesting (especially Asa), there is one major oddity about this show. Although I'd previously watched the premiere when it first aired, I decided to watch it again, along with the second and third episodes, before writing this review. Seeing them all in a row highlighted the issue: The tone.

The first episode is largely an ultraviolent slaughterfest as the villagers are either killed by modern weapons or bitten in half by Daemon teeth they can't even see. In contrast, a large portion of episodes 2 and 3 are a fish-out-of-water comedy as Yuru and his two Daemon pals Left and Right react to a world 400 years more advanced than what they're used to. To say it's a bit jarring is an understatement. And then there's Yuru's reaction to the whole incident. The vast majority of the time, he seems nonplussed at best. His entire worldview has been proven to be a colossal exercise in long-term deception. Everyone was hiding things from him, using his love for his sister to control him. And now, many of these people, those he spent time with every day, are dead, with only their children spared. So far, he's barely reacted to the horror of what he's witnessed, much less the emotional trauma of learning that his entire life was a lie and he never actually knew his beloved sister.

Thankfully, the anime at least shows us that Yuru is smart enough to know he can really trust no one beyond Left and Right. The fact that Dera and Hana are on the side of those who deceived him isn't lost on him. However, they're the best chance he has at not only finding Asa, but also acclimating to the strange new world he finds himself in.

Even going in knowing nothing about this series' source material, I was able to immediately identify it as the latest work of Hiromu Arakawa. Her distinctive character designs shine through, undimmed by the translation from manga to anime. And why would they try to dim them? Her name is a selling point even 20+ years after Fullmetal Alchemist made its debut, and the genre space has become crowded as studios try to capitalize on the trends set by shows like Jujutsu Kaisen, Demon Slayer, Chainsaw Man, and so on. Add in Masahiro Ando helming a production at Bones, ie. the same studio that did FMA, and you've got something guaranteed beautiful on your hands.

Overall, these three episodes make for a captivating, if a bit tonally uneven, introduction to the world of Daemons of the Shadow Realm. The worldbuilding and mystery catch the imagination, and the supporting cast members already stand out nicely. Now if Yuru can manage to start gaining more of a personality with some agency in the story, things can get really good.