Thoughts on 黄泉のツガイ | Yomi no Tsugai | Daemons of the Shadow Realm, Episode 15: Yuru and Danji (it was wonderfulll XD)
New art for Asuma and his tsugai!!
This will be spoilery for the manga. Volume 11 comes out in English on August 11, 2026, so that's soon!
Yuru shounen protagonist angst tiime XD But it's okay, he's got a pug to squish (very intensely alkdjalj)
I really love when animators can just go, "hey, the place we live is really pretty, come see". Obviously fantasy landscapes can be neat, but when Japanese animators go ham on animating how pretty Japan is, is fun. There's a kind of sense of that in the manga, with the immortal daemons and these groups associated with territory they fight over. Clan relationships in Japan are complex but the series creates this reminder that places remain long after the people there pass away, and human conflict feels so small in comparison. This might just be partially because I was rewatching Dan Olsen's video essay on Ralph Bakshi's animated adaptation of The Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien, where Olsen goes on about how LOTR is as much about the land as it is the people in it. A similar Japanese story with natural landscape is probably Princess Mononoke. Ghibli tends to do a lot of environmentalist works, but that's probably the most environmental work they have? Like Spirited Away is somewhat similar, though it's as much focused on the Bathhouse as anything else. And then Howl's Moving Castle focuses a lot on the castle itself, though it does take time to appreciate the beauty of the world to emphasize the evils of warfare. The Deer King by Nahoko Uehashi also emphasizes this a bit (better than the anime adaptation, though I do love the movie and you should watch it and pretend it isn't trying really hard to be Princess Mononoke).
I love the way Bones animated Danji scooching closer to Yuru while Yuru is crying. It's so sweet. Danji, being a daemon and already part of the fake "Asa" scheme, trying his best to offer what comfort he can, while likely conflicted about that and having to sort of help keep Yuru in the village. And Poor Yuru, alone in the world. All of his anchors being torn away one by one. People are shocked Yuru is as strong as he is, but he's had to be, for so long. Someone else pointed this out about the OP, where Yuru is talking until Dera yawns, and then Yuru is frustrated and stops talking, and then Hana lectures Dera for it. Yuru is a survivor and does his best to get by. Getting support from people who allow him to be sort of a child and to make his own way in the world matters.
I always found the femme pug daemon's comment/scene, "Dogs aren't people" to be funny, and I'm glad it was kept for the anime. I wasn't expecting it to be dropped, but well...
Left thinking, I imagine, about the limitations of being trapped in stone and unable to help comfort Yuru. Even Danji did more than she could when Yuru needed help most. Left is very distant a lot, but she still cares for him. I'm also wondering if there's some significance to the fact Yuru hid by her statue, but not Right's. Considering she's Yuru's opposite and meant to deal with him. Maybe something about halves feeling whole with other halves or something, especially since Asa was actually gone, even if Yuru didn't know.
The femme pug daemon's little chuckle as they acknowledge Left's appreciation for the pug XD Both of them chuckle in the manga. Also interesting, in the manga, it's the masc pug daemon who says the line about daemons and humans not being able to survive on their own.
I get why the change, but I'm just saying, in the manga, the pug was facing the other direction when he rolled onto his back, so his lower half was visible. Entirely.
This was one of my favorite manga moments and it's animated so well. The seiyu for the pug daemons do such a good job.
It's so cute to see how much the pug, despite being a dog, clearly cares for people, particularly his daemons. Obviously he probably treats them as his owners, but well. Cute. Trying to imagine these daemons learning dog training and how that process went, especially with the awkwardness of their situation. Like I don't think they named the pug (although maybe they did? To get him vaccinated?), but he does seem well trained. In the little we see of him, anyway. He's fine in his kennel, anyway. Maybe he's just naturally well-tempered.
Yuru not having any feelings for Danji at all. None whatsoever.
Poor Ken, so traumatized T-T There are normal people out there, bebe!
The pug daemons being otaku never stops being wonderful.
Poor Danji alkdjalj so overwhelmed and upset with everything. Sad about Yuru, worried about Kiri and Kyoka... Everything's a mess.
That moment you walk home and there's a horse in your living room aldkjalja
So in the manga, the daemons are actually also watching Fullmetal Alchemist, albeit with largely different shots of it (e.g., Nina is not in the footage shown, though Ed is).
But the joke with Shou Tucker talking in the background while Dera winces is from the manga.
They also seem to be using Brotherhood/ for reference footage. This is a wider shot of what's in Episode 4 - An Alchemist's Anguish, which better mimics what's in the manga (and the dialogue is from the original English manga translation in Volume 2, Chapter 5: The Alchemist's Suffering). Maybe it's from the DVD/blu-ray? It would make sense why the Nina shot is also a match for the episode but she looks a bit shinier and Alexander's eyes aren't closed in that sequence in the anime (but in the manga, his eyes are closed). DVD/blu-rays often get redone footage. Or Bones made entirely new shots for it using the footage they had, which would be a bit odd but neat.
A part of me wonders about the copyright side of this because obviously both of these series are Arakawa's works, and Bones made the anime adaptations for both of these manga (including both FMA anime). But the FMA manga has had a complex publication history in English. Square Enix published/s both FMA and YNT in Japanese (and YNT in English). But Viz originally published FMA in English, and the digital rights later went to Yen Press. And at least the English sub for YNT's anime is using FMA's manga's English wording, not the anime's (not sure what the English dub will use since I don't have access to it). Both the English sub for the Japanese dub and the English dub of Brotherhood do not say what Tucker is saying. That's a manga thing. I'm not sure if it's fine because it's all Arakawa, or Viz and/or Yen Press had to get paid for this episode specifically. Additionally, did Arakawa/Square Enix have to ask Viz and/or Yen Press, specifically, if it was okay if she included the joke in her own work when the manga was being translated to English? Neither Viz nor Yen Press are credited in Volume 5's English release and I didn't spot them in the episode credits but I could have missed that. Copyright messes. Maybe. Who knows?
Arrest them!!! For cuteness crimes!!! And also traffic violations!!
Right and Left see right through Yuru's stoicism. He aint' foolin them!!! He cares for Danji still! Yuru has a heart, even as he tries to bury it!
I love Dera's team choosing to work in the dark for no reason aldkjalj Like it's not secret or anything alkjdlaj Though Yuru works better in the dark so maybe he likes it.
Hikaru is a wonderful example of how you truly do not know anything about an author/artist based purely on the art they produce. There are a variety of reasons people make what they make in the way they make it. Insisting that, "oh they depicted this so they must believe that" is silly.
My friend, @freyadragonlord pointed out this shot and how it's probably foreshadowing what's going to happen with Akio. It's also in the manga, so it would imply Arakawa meant something specifically by having three of the four birds grouped up and the fourth so specifically far from the others.
Akio do be turning away from them all.
I'm curious what "Natsuki" is talking to Gabby about on the phone. Maybe a picture of Yuru. For no particular reason.
Bones made Yozakura as truly creepy as they should be. I was truly spooked the first time we saw Yozakura on-page.
I may be an appreciator of Ivan, Asuma, and Yuru specifically, but we also appreciate Dera in this house.
It's moments like this I remember that Asuma's daemons were also Iori's daemons once upon a time. How scary was it to let one of his biggest mementos of her be in the hands of someone like Ivan (for the teleportation)? Obviously he's willing to risk it all to take down his uncle, but this had to be worrisome.
ASUMAAAAA :3 Bebe :3
Poor Yuru, feeling so motion sick T-T I love Yozakura's worried turn alkdjalj
Hanthum danger boi and his scary daemon.
Again, this moment where Yozakura puts its chin in Asuma's palm is actually in the manga, but it's still very cute, especially because Asuma seems to pet/scratch Yozakura:
His little pleased chuckle aldkjlaj
Danger hanthum mothman.
Right calling Yozakura a "moth blob" aldkjaldjalj
The terrible handsome night prowler man returns :3
We're closer and closer to Ivan v Yuru. I am not ready for it. Ahh I'm so excited. Been waiting for so long, back when we prayed for it to get an anime adaptation. It's going to be fascinating given how many fucking weirdos there are in this fandom who can't separate fiction from reality and are probably going to have tantrums over it. Especially Ivan already you know... being a kind of way about Yuru.
That being said, if you want a less messy attractive Bones-animated swordsman, seriously watch Sword of the Stranger. Nanashi is wonderful.
Right saying he called Left out alkdjlaj He loves and supports her and her violent tendencies. You love to see it.
Overall, it was a great episode XD This arc is so fun! Looking forward to Episode 16: Kagemori and Shingo! More Asuma :3 More fighting! And dramatic reveals!!
Other thoughts:
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5, Episode 6, Episode 7, Episodes 8-9, Episode 10, Episode 11, Episode 12, Episode 13, Episode 14, Episode 15 (you are here)
An Ivan/Asuma fanfic
Read the manga by Hiromu Arakawa as tankobon, individual chapters are on Manga Up
Website for the series
Official series twitter account
Hiromu Arakawa's other works
