Audience reviews
20 · Sample from the first available page, separate from the total number of ratings.
Amaterasu803
Genuinely a good anime. I haven't felt excited by an anime in months and therefore haven't watch any in months. I decided to open up crunchyroll and stumbled upon this anime. The first episode had me hooked. The pacing by episode 4 did slow down a bit but I felt it picked up again, I can't tell you which episode it did because before I knew it, it was 4 am and I was on episode 21. I do enjoy the characters and the amazing Daemon designs, they are so cool. The animation waivers a bit, but I moreso dislike 3d. The story was compelling. I'm shocked the rating on MAL is as low as it is bc I havent seen a well rounded anime in what feels like so long. Overall, it was a super enjoyable watch that I am looking forward to watching more of.
Read at the sourcethe_fool_of_her
It's okay. It was enjoyable. Waited for it every week for the next episode. The story takes time to set up the story properly. Still there are a lot of questions left to answer. I hope season 2 will answer those questions.
As for the art style I think it was okay. The characters were good and the daemon designs were also good. No complain in animation.
The power system is okay. The problem is that the main power that the story is based on is not properly explained I feel. Like what can break and seal do. It should have been properly explained.
Now lets talk about one of the main character of the story Asa. She is twin sister of other main character Yuru. So Asa is extremely annoying.
I think it's an enjoyable anime. So if you have time to spare you can give it a try
As there is nothing…
Read at the sourceBasherj
Everyone has a secret.
That is essentially the underlying theme of this anime. Everyone has SOMETHING that they are not explaining to someone in order to protect what they think is best for the MCs.
I like the concept of this entire anime though. It actually feels really thought out and prepared well. I hope it continues to feel that way in the seasons to come.
I really like how the Yuru has his head firmly on his shoulders and isn't some damsel or aloof about everything. Instead, he is cool headed most of the time, direct, and only confused with new things because he basically teleported 100 years into the future by coming down a mountain lol.
The way "daemons" work in the world is clever as well. There are always pairs of them and they are loyal to a fault, and each set is generally di…
Read at the sourceCrookedDesk
Most modern Shounen releases fall into one of two categories, in my opinion:
1) Minimal filler, (usually) fast-pacing, and constant plot advancement. (i.e. JJK or Mushoku Tensei)
2) Slow, seemingly endless, and (often) includes filler. (i.e. Black Clover or Tensei Slime)
Whereas I feel like a lot of somewhat *older* Shounen releases were able to strike a healthy middle ground. Their pacing was moderate and left room to breathe, but you never felt like you were sat watching pointless filler episodes back-to-back. One example of this would be Fullmetal Alchemist, which I bring up for good reason, as this show is actually written by the very same author: Hiromu Arakawa.
You can tell this was written by the author of FMA, because the atmosphere, tone, and pacing all felt very reminiscent of…
Read at the sourceIvan_Khudoy
I enjoyed Daemons, but the slow pacing and messy tone drag this show down. I can't name many interesting characters either. I was only amused by cute mascot pets and tiny daemon chibis. Hard to relate to Kagemori members and laugh at their quirky jokes when they casually murder innocent people. 24 episodes in, we still haven't learned why Higashi deserves this much smoke(which is why Kagemori's emotional moments and quirky jokes fall flat). Hard to care about political games when every faction is filled with the same type of scumbag. So far, Yuru's quest to find patents is most relatable by default. The animation is one of the best parts, especially in later action scenes. Decent show overall, but I expected something more compelling from the author who gave us Fullmetal Alchemist.
Read at the sourceemberreviews
Daemons of the Shadow Realm is an exceptionally engaging action/thriller drawing on many of Hiromu Arakawa’s best strengths as a mangaka, as well as being dogged by her occasional weaknesses as well. Its brisk pacing and constant introduction of new elements to make more standard situations a bit more complex and engaging make this a compelling watch that rarely leaves you bored, especially with the massive web of characters that it weaves. The complicated nature of Yuru and Asa’s relationships with both each other and the many factions they interact with in this struggle over their legendary powers adds several levels of moral ambiguity to many of their thoughts and actions. That said, for as much as the show likes to emphasize this point, there is very clearly a “good side” and “bad side…
Read at the sourcemarvinarviin
Daemons of the Shadow Realm is a pretty enjoyable series with a cool world and lots of action. The twins being constantly hunted for their powers is a great setup, and I enjoyed how the story keeps you guessing about everyone's motives. Unfortunately, it starts off incredibly strong but gradually becomes borderline generic as it goes on. The mystery surrounding their parents also never really grabbed me. Aside from abandoning Yuru, there's barely any emotional connection to them, so the obsession with finding them never felt fully justified. The Left and Right Daemons also made a strong first impression, but they ultimately ended up being pretty underwhelming. By the end, I found myself feeling unsatisfied with most of the character stories.
Read at the sourceTacoTruck10
For me and my friends who watched this, this is the most disappointing anime of 2026, without a doubt.
The reviews are mostly from the first couple episodes, which have artificially inflated the score beyond what it deserves. This is a 6 anime at best. It's mid, and I'm rather shocked that people forgive this anime for things that people normally criticize other animes for, which gets them a lower score. So I'm here to even the scales a bit.
First - Main character is beyond generic. A main character is important and they need to be extremely well done in order to have a good show. At first he starts off pretty interesting, but midway through he just becomes a caricature of himself. A bland tool simply to move the plot forward. He has nothing on strong main characters like Ed from FMA, Y…
Read at the sourceHvar
"(...) And it’s dangerous for everyone within a clan to be in total agreement."
Went into this with a fair bit of hesitation, mostly because of my lingering gripes with «Fullmetal Alchemist»: the humour here initially gave me the same impression, even if it's better timed and far less disruptive, so I wasn't sure whether I wanted to commit to it.
Glad I stuck with it, though. Somewhere around the halfway point it won me over little by little. The cast settled into their roles, the sibling dynamics and Hana & Dera's refreshingly professional relationship became easy highlights, and the soundtrack and animation are pretty good too. Considering how many recent action shounen I've dropped, it’s nice to have found one that genuinely keeps me engaged.
That said, Arakawa's particular brand of…
Read at the sourceKyonia12
Good aspects
Characters and their companions are well-written and interesting.
Relationships between the characters are well-written and intriguing as well. Especially I like the sibling relationship between Yuru and Asa. It's realistically written. Also some of the companions are adorable, like the bunny and Zashiki-Warashi. I love fast-paced series.
Sometimes hilarious. I wasn't bored even for one second.
The mysteries are intriguing.
It just has one bad aspect... I like fast-paced series like this, but sometimes pacing is confusing. I can't make heads and tails of it. It could have been better if it had a more structured pacing. It's a tiny flaw, though. I'm looking forward to the second season.
Read at the sourceMelunn
It was genuinely good compared to recent anime releases; even though there were clichés, they were handled well enough that they didn't become an issue.
The pacing is a bit slow, but what’s the rush? :D To be honest, the season finale wasn't really my style; I prefer stories with a clear beginning and end. It tries to build mystery, but I don't know—it just didn't quite appeal to me.
I couldn't decide if 24 episodes were too short or if the execution was just a bit scattered—it felt like things were happening, yet nothing was happening at the same time.
Anyway, despite everything, it was a good anime; you should give it a chance.
Read at the sourceajinkya_reddy
I'm shocked by the fact that this sits below 8.5
I generally don't do reviews, this is probably my first in 10 years of being on this site.
I think it's an amazing anime with great world building, characters, fights and even has some really funny moments. Definetly better than most shounen's which have come out recently. I can't believe the rating on this honestly.
The story is good, The pacing is on point, every episode keeps you waiting for more.
The animation and art style is great as well, have no complaints with that. The daemons are unique and some have really standout designs.
Anyone who like battle shounen's should enjoy this one thoroughly. Probably watch this once the season ends, it might be a better watch when you binge it.
Read at the sourceSpike_Spiegel06
This was honestly really good. I enjoyed watching this a lot. Studio bones do a really good job with the animation, the premise and story were really interesting and I really liked the character dynamics in this show. Whether it’s hanna and dera, asa and yoru, or even the side characters, everyone has very good chemistry with each other. The power system is definitely the best part of this imo, i really liked the aspect of supernatural entities that represent complementary or opposing concepts to each other, it’s one of the most unique power systems i’ve seen in a while. Overall, this anime is really good. I Definitely recommend it.
Read at the sourceSSJester
It’s fine. Honestly, there isn't much more to say about it. Naturally, expectations for the creator of Fullmetal Alchemist are set extremely high, but the mediocrity of Daemons of the Shadow Realm isn't strictly tied to that.
Watching the first episode, the setup caught my interest. I thought I was in for a fairly gritty, mature narrative, but after just a few episodes, cliché and average moments started flooding the series, making it rather boring to watch. That doesn't mean the anime is bad - as I mentioned, it’s just okay. It will find its audience and take its place, but in my opinion, the era for this kind of shonen has already passed. The anime offers nothing new, falling back on overused tropes and "eternal" conflicts. None of these elements are inherently bad on their own, but whe…
Read at the sourceGrapeGoose
Daemons of the Shadow Realm is sloppy; not in a good way like messy food but in a bad way like a 1st grader's handwriting.
The show's vibe, characters, logic, events, fights, and everything else I forgot have NO consistency. I have way too large a list of gripes to fit here, but I'll do my best to do them all justice.
Yuru and Asa are not great MCs. Calling Asa an MC is generous; she is reduced to a gimmick character that fawns over her brother. Yuru is capable, but everything else about him screams cliché 2010s anime MC (shouts a lot, tough guy, shoddy writing). Pretty much every other character is lame.
The daemon gimmick is cool, but they don't properly utilize it. There are practically no good fights because nobody ever strategizes around the 'pairs' gimmick. I seriously don't un…
Read at the sourcebrwhyan
It's not Fullmetal Alchemist, but why is everyone dogging on this show? All the top reviews I see on MAL are complaining about Daemons, but it's bucking modern shounen trends that I'm completely sick of. It's got slower pacing than its contemporaries, but that gives time for its characters to breathe. Daemons has set up an intriguing world where characters don't know who to trust and slowly build out relationships. These are trademark qualities that made Fullmetal Alchemist an all-time great story with some of the most memorable characters in anime. Hiromu Arakawa hasn't missed. I love Daemons so far.
As I write this, the top reviews for Yomi no Tsugai on MAL insist that the show has no themes, that it believes in nothing, it does nothing consistently. These reviews cite how the show's ac…
Read at the sourceChuy_diazz
Comparisons are odious. So, let’s forget for a moment that *FMAB* exists.
A new work by Hiromu Arakawa. Expectations were as high as they could possibly be. For some, they were met; for others, the series fell short. With that in mind, let’s discuss the anime without considering the reputation of the creator behind it. To get this out of the way quickly: the worst parts of the anime are the first episode and the finale. The first episode relies too heavily on shock value by completely upending the premise we had envisioned. The whole village massacre sequence catches you off guard. Suddenly, you realize that what appeared to be a medieval story is actually set in the modern era. Many viewers might have felt betrayed or misled by such a radical shift—a completely valid reaction. For others…
Read at the sourceuchu_no_otaku
I really like how the story is built and how everything in the world works. The whole plot and the way the different pieces connect are really interesting, even though I'm still pretty confused about some things.
The biggest question I have right now is what actually started this whole war against the villages. 😂 I feel like there are still a lot of things that haven't been explained yet, so I'm hoping the future episodes slowly reveal what's really going on.
I also like that the anime doesn't just throw every answer at you immediately. There's clearly something bigger happening behind everything, and that makes me curious about where the story is going. The characters and their abilities are also pretty interesting, especially with how the whole Daemon system works.
Read at the sourcexShiningxMoonx
7.5/10
Daemons of the Shadow Realm feels hallow and incomplete. On the surface it has a compelling setup, fun characters, and drops hints of colorful lore and the life or death battle to come. One also can’t deny its high production values, consisting of crisp animation, score and direction.
The problem? The viewer is pulled on the string too much and barely given any breadcrumbs of story. It feels as though we are watching a series of events instead of experiencing compelling characters and themes. Yuru, while extremely likeable, is essentially passionless and directionless as the plot tugs him from point A to point B. Arakawa-sensei’s world-building leaves also much to be desired and the show continually throws us more questions than answers. By the end it’s very unclear why the twins…
Read at the sourceHotDoggoneit
Sigh. This is another one of those anime that starts extremely strong and then completely fades and nosedives not even five or six episodes into it. I'm getting really tired of this, and I know a lot of you are as well. The rugpull. The disappointment. A BELOW AVERAGE COMEDY SHOUNEN that masqueraded as a Mature SEINEN earlier to hook you in and then they completely turned into a lame Shounen you've seen 1000 times. When the author can't think of an actual plot point he just shoves a joke or cringe comedy bit in there which kills tension and does nothing to move the story forward. That's not writing. You're just destroying your anime because you can't write a coherent plot.
Yoshihiro Togashi the writer of HunterXHunter is seen as the GOAT because he doesn't do this. His series doesn't lac…
Read at the source
