The obvious word that springs to mind after that episode is “sasuga”.

There’s really only one way to look at Yomi no Tsugai going in. It’s royalty, plain and simple. Bones. Andou Masahiro. Arakawa Hiromu. Whether you’ve read the manga or not (I haven’t) your expectations should calibrate to “very high”. It was my #1 pick of the spring for a reason, and this is a season with its fair share of royalty – not one but two Watanabe Ayumu shows, Rumiko adaptation et al. But all the elements (you can add Takagi Noboru handling series composition for good measure) you see coming together with Demons of the Shadow Realm make it stand out even in that group.

I’ve had feedback from some manga readers that Yomi no Tsugai isn’t Arakawa’s finest work – I guess we’ll judge that down the line. For now this premiere was everything I expected it to be. When you go into a series expecting elite performance and get exactly that, you know a production has really delivered. The premise is intriguing, the sakuga is sasuga, the vocal cast is on point. This is Bones, Andou, and Takagi – whatever there is to get out of the source material you get bet they will.

The bait and switch element – and the promo art does nothing to discourage it – is that this is a historical fantasy. We see two twins being born in some pre-industrial setting, with an old lady declaring that they’ll be masters of “Daemons”. One is born at night, the other not until day breaks – an evil augur, it seems. Fittingly the boy is called Yuru and the girl Asa. We fast forward 16 years, and Yuru (Ono Kenshou) is now a vigorous hunter well-liked by the villagers. His best friend is Danji (Ohsaka Ryouta). And Asa seems to be a prisoner for some reason, doted on by her brother but unable to leave her cell.

The first sign that something anachronous is going on here is the sight of jet contrails, which Yuru and Danji ascribe to dragons. There’s talk of “outside” – and mention that those who leave the village never come back. The one exception to that seems to be Dera (Nakamura Yuuichi), a trader who passes back and forth. The relative idyll of the village is shattered when a different kind of dragon appears – helicopters instead of distant jets. And an invasion begins, with the villagers being cut down ruthlessly by camouflaged soldiers who are clearly looking for Yuru.

One can start to put some pieces together here, though the first episode is appropriately light on firm answers. Obviously a barrier was erected around the village, and done so to hide Yuru (and perhaps Asa) from the outside world. He has power and the power behind the soldiers wants it. Working with them is a girl (Misaki Kuno) who says “Gobble!” and graphically bites people (though not kids – she has standards) in half with a pair of giant magical jaws. But there are two outside forces in play here, and they’re in opposition to the other. Dera is part of the other, and he’s obviously in league with those who were running the village. Grandma orders him to get Yuru to safety and hide in the outside world.

Another crucial bit here is that “Asa” as we know her may not bee Yuru’s sister at all. One of the invaders (Miyamoto Yume) introduces herself as Yuru’s sister, and proceeds to kill (or maybe not) the Asa in the cell. Then that Asa’s blood comes to love and attacks the “new” Asa, allowing Dera and Yuru to escape. Dera instructs Yuru in how to enlist the aid of Hidari (Honda Takako) and Migi (Koyama Rikiya), the two guardian youkai of the village, who come to life in human form after Yuru follows Dera’s orders. They’re the ultimate tsugai (daemons) it seems, and their role is to serve Yuru in any way he needs them.

That’s how you intro a long series. Again, sasuga – Andou and Takagi are at the top of the industry and have decades of experience between them. There’s a lot we don’t yet know but this is the first of 24 episodes of an ongoing manga – it’s better that way. Patience in letting a big story play out is a luxury not every series has, and writers and directors aren’t always confident enough to exercise it anyway. Yomi no Tsugai can take as much time as it needs, I’m in it for the long haul with this one and couldn’t be more pleased about that.