Yomi no Tsugai Episode 5 "The Rabbit and the Tortoise" - Japanese Fans Split Over the Massacre-to-Comedy Whiplash but Fall Hard for Asa's Brother Obsession
Yomi no Tsugai is the latest series from Hiromu Arakawa, the author behind Fullmetal Alchemist and Silver Spoon, and that pedigree shapes almost every reaction Japanese viewers post. They reach for Fullmetal Alchemist constantly - comparing Yuru and Asa to the Elric brothers, weighing whether the show earns its darker premise the way Ishval once did.
A quick note for English viewers: the official subtitles render Tsugai - the paired spirit-familiars at the heart of the story - as "Daemons," a choice Japanese fans themselves spent a good chunk of the thread picking apart (more on that below). Throughout this piece we keep the original term, Tsugai.
The premise is the source of all the friction. Episode 1 opened with Kagemori forces slaughtering a defenceless village; by Episode 5, Yuru has reached the opulent Kagemori mansion, is trading words with the people who attacked his home, and the show keeps undercutting the bloodshed with comedy and Asa's clingy affection. To some viewers that whiplash is unforgivable; to others it's exactly Arakawa's register. Episode 5 - titled "The Rabbit and the Tortoise" after a new Tsugai pair that stalls Yuru's own Sayou-sama - also drops the season's central mystery (the twins' parents "vanishing" mid-flight to Okinawa) and introduces Asuma, a smooth, shady Kagemori man whose casting sent the board into delight.
Here is what Japanese fans were saying.
Japanese Fan Reactions (26)
Yuru didn't hesitate for a second to shoot a man, either. That double-shot - faster than the enemy could even raise his pistol - gave me chills.
I figured "no way a bow beats guns," but Yuru keeps slipping out of danger with this combat instinct he must've honed in the mountains. It's fun, and a little scary. And the way he's clueless about modern civilization is honestly adorable.
The animation on that arrow flying through the air in Episode 5 is absurdly good.
Sayou-sama's left half getting all competitive against the tortoise is pure muscle-brain energy.
Sayou-sama (the left one) hit me harder than I expected - what a physique! Even the arms-crossed standing pose is so cool. There are so many appealing characters; I want to aim for that "hardcore hunter mentality" in daily life too.
Sayou-sama's left half overwhelmed Gabu-chan's Tsugai, and the right half shut down Asa's ability with a single roar. Tracking Asa from Gunma all the way to Tokyo by the smell of blood alone is insane - and they fly, too. The rabbit and tortoise stalled them, but it really was just a stall; they didn't take a scratch of damage.
Asa's furious brother-complex is so funny I love it. Big bro really is cool, huh!
'You're not dead?! You're alive?! Can I hug you?' / 'Can I hug you once we're done talking?' - both little-kid Asa and the energetic, big-brother-obsessed Asa now were adorable. Calling her cold-shouldered brother cool, getting to see a side of him she never saw as a child - you can feel how happy that makes her.
Bro-con Asa is too cute. I expected Episode 1's heaviness to carry on, but it's actually pretty light and comedic. My one worry is there's no big emotional peak yet, so I hope it doesn't just fizzle out.
Binged up to Episode 5, but - from Episode 1, peaceful villagers get one-sidedly slaughtered by people with powers and the hero barely escapes... so why does the story then start a comedy from the attackers' side? The OP hints they'll team up eventually, but right now I can't quite keep up. The 'don't worry, they spared the kids' bit felt like an excuse, too. Everything else is good though, so I'll keep watching.
The protagonist is way too quick to make peace with it. He learns the truth about his village and shows no panic, no inner conflict at all. Even if death is more familiar in his village than in modern society, glossing over people he knew being torn to pieces feels off - less 'wild' and more like something on the emotional, human side is missing.
He nearly cut Jin's throat out of rage, but held back. Some people seem desperate to turn Yuru into a vengeful fiend, but he's not that simplistic.
From Asa's point of view, they're a clear enemy that has come after her and her parents' lives over and over. So it's no mystery at all that she has no hesitation about the East Village people.
It's a microcosm of war, so there's no 'who's right.' Both sides are doing shady things - if anything, Kagemori, who at least spared the children out of mercy, starts to look like the lesser evil.
It's like a turf war between yakuza - there isn't really a 'right side,' is there?
Building the Tsugai concept around buddy pairs - left and right, tiger-front wolf-behind, the rabbit and the tortoise - is genius. If I have one complaint, it's the shadiness oozing out of Kagemori Asuma's throat... yeah, Ishida Akira has moved in there.
The voices matched the manga so well I had no trouble watching. Sayou-sama is cool, and I was so glad Sayou-sama's voice is Takako Honda. And then Asuma shows up and it's Ishida Akira - I clapped my hands with joy. The shadiness is just perfect.
I actually liked Asuma as a character in the manga, but once Ishida Akira voices him, people will only ever call him 'CV: Ishida.' Such a shame.
Gabu-chan figures were 2,000 yen right up until broadcast, then got bumped up 10x to 20,000 - that's how popular she's gotten.
This anime is consistently fun. They finally touched on what'll probably be the central mystery: the parents' disappearance. 'Vanished' inside an airplane - that sounds like something out of a mystery novel. Between Asuma (CV: Ishida Akira) and the sudden third faction that attacked, the conspiracy swirling around Yuru and the others is worth watching. Exciting stuff.
About the English subs - calling Tsugai 'Daemons,' is there really no English word that fits? I'm genuinely glad I'm Japanese.
They go out of their way to explain it's a being called a god, a spirit, all kinds of things - and then locking it into 'demon' is so tasteless. Same with Demon Slayer; it makes me think English is a language with a narrow range of expression.
'Tsugai' comes from tsugau (to mate or pair), so it points to something narrower and more concrete than the broader 'couple.' Interesting.
I asked an AI, and it said if you want to emphasize the strength of the bond, 'mates' might be better.
In the manga the Kagemori place looked about as big as a yakuza mansion, but in the anime it's the size of a financial conglomerate's or an imperial family's estate. The action's going to look great here.
Yomi no Tsugai makes 30 minutes fly by faster than anything in years. There's not a single boring moment, yet it's never exhaustingly dense. It's just impeccably, perfectly entertaining.
Source:■