OP: “Tobu Toki (飛ぶ時)” by Vaundy

Episode 2 of Demons of the Shadow Realm is more of the same, pretty much – except with an OP and ED (interestingly, it has the same OP and ED performers as Ousama Ranking). It wears the quality of workmanship on its sleeve. There are no pedestrian talents anywhere in the key roles, from source material on up. There are certain things we won’t know until later in the story, mainly as regards where Yomi no Tsugai fits on Arakawa Hiromu’s hierarchy. Even great mangaka write series that aren’t great. But as a product of quality at every stage of the process, its pedigree is unmistakable.

What’s also obvious is that this a big and complicated premise with a lot of moving parts. A less-experienced (or successful) mangaka might be tempted to try and reveal too much too soon. But Arakawa knows better. Bits and pieces and learning by watching and paying attention is the exposition secret recipe. The village on the mountain is a castle. The passage beneath it was built by its former lord. Yuru saw that passage when he was a small boy. He was in the company of his father, and his parents have been conspicuous in their absence so far.

Migi and Hidari make it clear – they take orders from Yuru and Yuru only. But Dera is clearly important. A “Daemon Retainer” yes – though that precise definition is withheld for now. But as we’ll learn later also a Tadera, which presumably means he’s an elite among that group. Yuru for his part makes it clear he has no intentions of giving orders to what he sees as Gods. He requests that they protect the survivors of the village. And that they leave Gabu – the denture-daemon chibi – to him, as he confirms she’s responsible for many of the deaths in the village.

Yuru ruthlessly disables Gabu with an arrow through the leg and right shoulder while Hidari takes down her daemon (technically within Yuru’s request). Only Asa’s arrival stops him from presumably finishing her off. He’s loathe to believe Asa’s claims of being his sister but Migi confirms it – as well as confirming that Gabu and the soldiers have left the children alive. According to Asa – and we have no reason to disbelieve her – Grandma created a fake Asa in order to keep Yuru tethered to the village after their parents fled with the real one. But why did they leave Yuru behind – was it out of choice, or necessity?

This is a standoff, in effect. Dera persuades Yuru to let Gabu go for the moment and flee, in order to draw attention away from the now-helpless village. With Gabu wounded Asa is in no position to refuse. Obviously the good and evil divide is being intentionally obfuscated here. But the fact remains that Asa and Gabu and their military friends slaughtered a bunch of seemingly defenseless villagers in cold blood. No matter what their reasons that strikes me as pretty evil. But unexplored for now is the reason why the twins’ parents felt the need to flee – and what was so important for Grandma to create a fake Asa in order to keep Yuru where he was.

In the aftermath the opposing forces both return to the “real” world, although the invaders seem to have callously left some comrades behind (these just don’t seem like nice people) – trapped in the mayoiga when the barrier goes back up. Gabu and Asa are scooped up by Jin (Suwabe Junichi) and there’s talk of the Kagemoris and an “old man” who won’t be happy when he hears about lost choppers (and soldiers) and no boy. As for the “good” guys they’re picked up by Hana (Shimabukuro Miyuri), who does a lot better job than Dera explaining what an automobile is. On the way down the mountain they get a visit from Oshirasama (Hayami Saori), who Dera and the others describe as a Kami – on a different level from normal daemons. She’s friendly but clearly, this matter is not for her to dirty her very-white hands on.

As tempting as it is to try and extrapolate too much, a ton of questions remain. Obviously the daemon mythology is closely tied to Shinto, but why is Yuru’s role in “dividing day and night” so crucial? For now it seems the story will mainly settle in the modern world, with Yuru and Dera hiding in plain sight among regular humans in a “lively village”. Whatever is happening here this struggle has been going on for a while – Hidari and Migi haven’t been down the mountain in 400 years.

ED: “Tobou yo” (Let’s Fly) by yama