Daemons of the Shadow Realm

Episode 16

The first is the talk between Yuru and the pair of Hayato and Asuma. Basically, they are doing a bit of good cop, bad cop on him. Their goal is to make Yuru a willing collaborator. Sure, once they get word that Left has been removed from the equation, they could simply kill Yuru and wait for him to come back to life with Seal in hand. The problem is what comes after. How do you get Yuru to do what you want—and not turn the Seal power on you? Oh sure, they can try blackmail, hostages, or torture, but reluctant cooperation is a liability that could screw you over at any moment.

Because of this, Asuma talks about making the world better for those with Daemons—freedom under minimal supervision. Yuru would be able to do anything he wanted—obtain even his heart's desire. But It's not the fact that Asuma himself would actually be the one in control (and that any freedom would be an illusion) that turns Yuru off of the idea. Rather, it's that Yuru's wants are so unbelievably humble that such promises are irrelevant—if not outright counter to his wishes. He wants nothing more than to live a simple life—and for his sister to have the ability to live a normal life as well. Having him and Asa have to live a life of power but with no actual freedom—basically acting as walking WMDs to be used on the unruly—is the furthest thing possible from what he desires.

Meanwhile, Hayato focuses on how Yuru has been betrayed—how everything he knows is a lie. And while this may have worked on Yuru if he had escaped Higashi Village alone, he is anything but a person lacking in allies. While he may not 100% trust anyone, Left, Right, Dera, Hana, and Ken have stood by his side when it counted—and Asa is clearly giving her all to be completely transparent with her brother. To trust the people who kidnapped him and tried to kill one of his Daemons would be beyond foolish. Hell, even believing a single word they say would be crazy.

The good news is that Yuru seems to be playing along only insofar as it takes to keep buying time. He knows that Right, Left, and Dera are looking for him. Every second he keeps Hayato and Asuma talking only raises the odds of him being rescued.

And speaking of Dera, he's the focal point of the other interesting scene this episode. While searching for Yuru, he runs into one of the Higashi Village Bandits. In the conversation, Dera makes it clear that while he's not betraying anyone actively, he just cares more about Yuru as a person than as a tool for world domination. He doesn't want to live in a world where a child was sacrificed for his happiness.

While it's easy enough to take this at face value—especially in an episode where Yuru is being assaulted by doubts about who he can trust—this could still be a red herring. Dera may be using the opportunity to spread a largely non-threatening and believable motive for his actions regarding Yuru while obscuring his true objectives. After all, if everyone believes that Dera is acting in Yuru's best interests, it's likely that Yuru will as well—and that's the perfect way to manipulate the fish-out-of-water teen into doing what Dera wants.

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