Is it possible we’ve found a genuinely nice adult?

The web of pretty much everything in Demons of the Shadow Realm is seemingly endless. A cult in eternal struggle with a yakuza gang. Bandits trying to usurp the prize. Divisions within each group, personal ambition. In the broader sense I think the character chart of this series is basically tri-polar. Human adults, human children, and daemons. The latter two tend to be more or less straightforward and trustworthy, though certainly capable of deceit. The human adults are a nasty lot – betrayers, climbers, spies, hired killers. It’s where the lines intersect that the action in this show really happens.

I think Yuru is making a mistake pushing Danji away, but as I noted last week his trust issues – while understandable – are a potential major plot point in Yomi no Tsugai’s future. He needs to gather as many allies as he can because trustworthy people are hen’s teeth here, and Danji is fundamentally on his side. Can he trust Dera aned Hana? Maybe, but if I were him, I would be more inclined to trust in daemons and assume those two are only one change in circumstances away from deciding their interests no longer overlap with his.

It’s while Yuru is chasing solitude – interrupted by the pug, as they have no boundaries – that Danji leaves to go look for his twin. This is unfortunate, as the two of them would have been better off sticking together. At least the two aliens decide to help him, but I don’t get the sense any of them are capable of playing in the league they’re about to enter. Yuru is at least somewhat mollified by pet therapy and accompanies the others back home, including Oshirasama and the horse daemon. That makes quite the sight for Dera when he gets home.

What are the group watching on TV? Fullmetal Alchemist of course. It’s all Bones, why not keep it in the family? The choice of episodes is… interesting. If not ominous. Make of that what you will, but what’s important is that they finish the hot pot before Dera arrives. And does so bearing gifts – photos from Asa to her brother, including both their parents and (filter-applied) ones of herself. Meanwhile back at the (Kagemori) ranch, Asa and Gabu are working as assistants for Hikaru-sensei – though Asa isn’t much good to anybody in her current state.

This was the most interesting scene of the episode for me, as innocuous as it seemed. That’s because the implications surrounding Hikaru are really fascinating. Can we actually take this at face value – is he really just a creator of upbeat manga who rejects all the nastiness his family is eyes-deep in? Does he really have no interest in taking over the clan? I want to believe in Hikaru but scar tissue abounds with YnT, and you have to be skeptical. If on the off chance he really is what he claims to be, he probably shouldn’t be buying any green bananas. And that’s a pretty sad thing.

This all builds up to the ransom letter Ivan left for Yuru, which Dera does come clean about. A plan is hatched to use Right and Left to lure the sword wielder out, but his association with Asuma foils it. We see the other half of Asama’s mothman daemon pair, which is called “Kin’u-Gyokoto”. It has almost no presence, allowing it to sneak up on Yuru without even Migi and Hidari noticing. And it proves almost impervious to their attacks, allowing Ivan to spirit Yuru away to where Asama and Shingou await him. Ivan stays behind to deal with the others.

In a funny sort of way Asama and Shingou may be the most trustworthy adults in the series, because they seem very transparent about what they want. And that’s Seal, which is what luring Yuru out and kidnapping him is all about. Asama may play at wanting Yuru to go along voluntarily, but there’s no way he’s doing that. Where that leaves us is unclear – Yuru is strong but I don’t think he can take these two and their daemons down single-handedly, and who’s in a position to help him? And back at the warehouse district, Ivan – having already slaughtered the bandits – declares that Hidari is incompatible with Seal, and thus an obstacle to be eliminated. On paper, Ivan vs. Left looks like one hell of a fight.