Daemons of the Shadow Realm Volumes 3 and 4 Review
Hiromu Arakawa’s latest series Daemons of the Shadow Realm is still going strong, having been nominated for and won several awards over the last year. And here in the West, we’re lucky enough to have a further two volumes available to read, so let’s dig in and see what’s awaiting our protagonist now!
Volume 2 of the series saw Yuru rush off in search of his sister, Asa. Naturally, our protagonist found himself walking straight into a trap set by her co-conspirators: The Kagemori Clan, leading to him being taken back to their hideaway. Volume 3 begins with Yuru and Asa having a heart-to-heart in which she reveals she’s been searching for their parents who went missing after leaving Higashi Village with Asa several years ago.
Yuru is also alarmed to learn that Asa has already died, which leads to her accepting the power of Break. It’s said that twins born as “the children who sunder day and night” can control Break and Seal, provided they’re killed and lucky enough to come face-to-face with the mysterious beings that grant these powers in a land between life and death.
It’s because of this ability that Asa has been hunted down by the Higashi ever since and has been forced to stay hidden in the manor the Kagemori Clan own (except for her attack on the village back at the beginning of the series). Since Yuru is likely to inherit the power of Seal, his life is now also in danger but in true shonen protagonist fashion, Yuru simply proclaims that he’ll take on anyone who comes after him and grill them for information on his parents.
While the Kagemori Clan expresses concern for Yuru and encourages him to stay in safety with them and Asa, he refuses. After the attack on the manor, Yuru doesn’t feel being cooped up there is any better than being on the outside in Tokyo. Plus he has no interest in siding with the faction that attacked his home, even if he’s opposed to the side of the Higashi who want to use him and Asa for their powers.
Of course, as soon as Yuru leaves he encounters enemies lurking and hoping to catch him and Dera (one of the two people who helped Yuru escape the village) off-guard. With the fearsome Daemons The Divine Right and Left on his side, their enemies are going to have a tough time capturing Yuru that’s for sure. It’s not all bad, though, as they soon encounter a relative of Dera’s who is searching for his dad…
Daemons of the Shadow Realm Volume 3 and 4 are fairly interconnected as they take it upon themselves to give us a deeper grasp of the world our cast inhabits and the political side of things going on behind the scenes. Although there are some action scenes to break things up, there’s still a lot to take in here between the different factions, the two powers Asa and Yuru can control (well, in Yuru’s case they assume he can, since Asa has Break) and the many reasons these clans want to control the two siblings.
However, it comes as somewhat of a relief when Yuru determinedly refuses to work with either side and hones in on his desire to find his parents. Asa, too, isn’t particularly interested in taking a side and simply wants to reunite her family. Much like Fullmetal Alchemist before it, Arakawa’s story has a lot of depth but you don’t have to worry about the nitty-gritty of it all too much as the overall main focus is on these two twins, torn apart and now trying to piece their lives together, step by step.
I also appreciated that although the siblings were briefly reunited at the Kagemori hideout, they decide to continue their investigation separately (not least to keep Asa safe) which means we readers get a much wider view of the story as we flip between the different perspectives of the two characters. I wouldn’t have been opposed to them travelling together, but I think this works better on the whole.
These two instalments of Daemons of the Shadow Realm come to the West thanks to Square Enix Manga and are translated by Amanda Haley and lettered by Phil Christie (and Arbash Mughal as additionally credited on Volume 4). Both books read well with no problems. There are no colour pages to speak of this time, but there are some 4-koma and sketches included as extras which are always nice to have.
Volume 5 of the series is due for an English release in August with #6 following shortly behind in November. If you’re eager to read more of this sooner then it is being simulpub’d on Square Enix manga app Manga UP.
Overall, while these two volumes of Daemons of the Shadow Realm do get bogged down to a degree in world-building, they still prove an interesting read. The series is developing at a steady pace with twists and turns that remind us why Hiromu Arakawa is such a beloved creator.
Our review copy from Square Enix Manga was supplied by Turnaround Comics (Turnaround Publisher Services).
