For the past four months, I’ve been watching Daemons of the Shadow Realm on a weekly basis. I went in blind, I only watched it because I loved Fullmetal Alchemist. Brotherhood had so many moments that blew my mind, and I hoped that Daemons would be the same. Through 17 episodes, it was underwhelming in comparison. But it’s still been amazing in its own right.
I’m not going to spoil much of the story. A lot of crazy stuff happens early on, especially during the first episode. What I will say is that Daemons follows a young man who discovers that he and his sister possess special abilities and are basically part of some prophecy. The story takes place in a world where spirits and monsters known as Daemons exist. They can only be seen and controlled by certain people.
Daemons is basically a mix between fantasy, action, and spy anime. The first episode was one of the most intense first episodes that I have ever seen, and it sets up so much. The rest doesn’t really match the same level of awe and shock value, but it’s continually interesting.
If there’s one thing that Hiromu Arakawa is amazing at, it’s creating characters that can rival the greatest fictional characters of all time. Everything she writes has numerous characters who are likable, relatable, or just straight up cool. Daemons was no exception, with nearly ten characters that I love. This is the main reason I look forward to watching new episodes every week.
The siblings are Yuru and Asa. Yuru is a skilled hunter from from a small village who is searching for his missing parents. He’s very intelligent and strong, but lacks any real understanding of the modern world. Asa is just as strong and very serious. But she loves her brother a bit too much and can be very goofy at times. They’re both super lovable.
Then you have Dera and Jin, who are two of my favorite characters. They’re both cool and mysterious, and I thought they stole the early scenes that they were in. Then you have Gabby and Hana. They’re both have anger issues, but they’re both very interesting and fun to watch. That’s already six characters that I love so much, which is rare for me. But there’s so many more cool characters like Left and Right, the Kagemori Family members, other Daemons, and a bunch of smaller characters.
The characters are amazing, the world building is great so far, and the storyline is compelling. If it had more moments that were emotionally and mentally brutal, it would have been perfect. In Brotherhood, there were lots of those kinds of moments early on, and I thought it would be the same in Daemons. But it’s still great in its own right and can still have those kinds of moments later. So far, I think Daemons is one of the best anime of 2026, and more people need to watch it.
10/10