Daemons of the Shadow Realm ‒ Episode 6

It's funny. Despite her blood-soaked, rage-filled introduction, the vast majority of the time we've spent with Asa, she's been a relatively normal girl—if one obsessing over her reunion with the final remaining member of her family, her long-lost brother. Yet, this episode reminds us that this Asa is not the normal Asa. Oh, sure, her professional relationships with Jin and his team and her friendship with Gabby are no doubt real, but she is also driven enough to murder dozens of people that she was raised around for the sake of her own goals.

Of course, what those goals are remains a mystery, save for one: survival. Asa has been hunted continuously since leaving the mountain village, to the point that the events of this episode aren't all that out of the ordinary for her. Yuru himself speculates that this is why she is so jaded when it comes to things outside of him and her closest friendships.

Yet, what's truly important to Asa's character is the implication that lies beyond this. In this episode, we learn what her greatest fear is and what it isn't. Despite her life constantly being targeted—despite “dying” and losing an eye—she still feels on a deep emotional level that her current life is superior to when she spent every day, locked in a dark cage. Being surrounded by lightlessness—that trauma is so deep that she fears it more than Right, her instinctual enemy, tailor-made to reflect her powers at her.

We have no idea yet how many years she was locked in the cage before her parents escaped with her or why she was kept that way while Yuru was allowed to live a normal life (well, as normal as anyone in a village seemingly lost to time). However, one thing seems clear based on what we saw in the first episode: had she stayed in the village, she'd still be in that cage even now—forever suffering with her brother her only light.

Speaking of Yuru, this episode marks another time he once again puts off thinking about his situation despite having the time for it. While Asa battles with her fears in the dark—and seemingly understands herself on a deep level—Yuru sits in an empty room and gives himself busy work (bow practice) to avoid actually thinking about anything. This is a habit at this point—he focuses only on an immediate goal and heads right for it. But to be clear, while it is avoidance of his own feelings, it's more than that, too. It's how he was trained to handle things. He's a hunter. He blocks everything out that could distract him from his prey. And at this point, it is both his greatest strength and biggest weakness. After all, something that refuses to bend to outside pressures will eventually break.

The last little interesting bit we get in this episode is information about how humans view Daemons. Yuru, for his part, sees Right and Left as local deities and treats them as such. Meanwhile, both Hana and those under the Kagemori's banner treat them as friends or partners. However, the assassins we see this week see the Deamons as pets at best, throw-away tools at worst. This rubs Gabby, in particular, the wrong way, to the point that she's a single step away from outright murder of a helpless prisoner. Why this is, however, will just have to wait until her backstory is revealed at a later date.

As for next week, it looks like we're going to finally delve into Asa's backstory and learn more about her life, escape, and what's happened since. Maybe learning the truth from her perspective will finally force Yuru to redefine how he sees the world.

Daemons of the Shadow Realm is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.