Yomi no Tsugai β Japanese Fans React to the Recent Episodes ('Is this anime actually yakuza?')
Overview
Yomi no Tsugai is the latest anime from Hiromu Arakawa (Fullmetal Alchemist, Silver Spoon, Arslan Senki), adapted by Studio BONES (the team behind FMA: Brotherhood). It started airing in April 2026 and Japanese 5ch anime fans have been dissecting it weekly.
This article translates Japanese fan reactions from a 5ch thread covering episodes 5 ("The Tortoise and the Hare") and 6 ("The Kagemori Family and the Mysterious Attackers"), where the Tsugai (paired spirit-beasts) system gets deeper, the Kagemori clan's structure becomes increasingly yakuza-coded, and Asa's intense brother-complex toward Yuru continues to be a major talking point. Several comments compare the work to Fullmetal Alchemist (inevitable given the author and studio), praise the design work, and dig into voice cast minutiae β including the running joke that veteran VA Ayumu Murase is voicing nearly every minor character in the show.
Japanese Fan Reactions (26)
I came from the anime and started reading the manga... I thought this was going to be some tag-team yokai war story, but this is yakuza, right? This is straight-up yakuza.
Someone wrote "Isn't Yomi no Tsugai way too FMA?" and I couldn't process it because it's so obvious. I mean, the author IS the FMA author, and the studio IS the one that made FMA. What did this guy expect lol.
Yuru and Asa as a sibling pair are more likeable than the Elric brothers honestly.
Just watched episode 6. There's this constant "here it comes!" energy but nothing actually goes off, which makes me lose my mind. And yet it's super entertainingβthat's impressive.
Sasama-sama's body proportions are too ideal. I love them. I love the way Arakawa-sensei draws women way too much.
>>1 Sasama doesn't get enough screen time.
Asa's brother-complex remains completely off the deep end (and I say that as praise).
"Onii-sama" (formal) is more amazing than "Nii-sama" (regular)!!!
Asa and Gab-chan are basically Mei and Pero 2 from Godzilla S.P. β completely my type.
Asa and Gab-chan's character chemistry is so strong that I really want the mystery of the village massacre solved soon.
Watched it but... I can't really empathize with anyone in this. The protagonist's entire village got slaughtered and his reaction is basically "well... I don't really get it but let me stay calm." The little sister murdered villagers without question and now she's hanging off her brother going "Nii-sama! Nii-sama!" Feels like they started deep-diving into the worldbuilding before introducing a single character with a normal human perspective.
Who the hell said Yomi no Tsugai wasn't fun? This is incredibly fun, what are you talking about.
I'm pretty sure the people claiming it's not fun haven't actually read/watched it. Or they hold some personal grudge against Arakawa-sensei β that's the only explanation.
I genuinely love the design of this episode's enemy Tsugai, and the chibi deformed version was too cute. The Gab-chan & Gabriel duo is also unbearably adorable.
Cast list: Kotetsu β Ayumu Murase Gabriel β Ayumu Murase Ai/Makoto β Ayumu Murase Onmyou β Ayumu Murase Akai-san β Ayumu Murase Midori-san β Ayumu Murase Tangaku/Sokaku β Ayumu Murase Gozu/Mezu β Ayumu Murase Okina/Ouna β Ayumu Murase ...what is this lol
Doesn't the Japan Voice Actor Union have a rule that you only get paid for one role even if you voice multiple characters?
A Stand battle gets interrupted by a regular human just physically wrecking the place. Terrifying. Stay away, Animal Sama.
I thought the title was "Twilight of the Tsugai" (Tasogare no Tsugai) this whole time.
In the English subtitles, Kame-chan and Usa-chan were translated as "Torty" and "Bunbun".
>>22 The downer-vibe doctor voiced by Uchiyama-san has serious Rutile (from Land of the Lustrous) energy.
When they entered the barrier around the Kagemori mansion, Sayou-sama said there were countless Tsugai presences. But when the attack came, the Kagemori side had way too few combat-capable Tsugai and users... Are there non-combat Tsugai and users too?
>>24 I think they'll show up next week β there are lots of non-combat Tsugai. You can see them in the OP.
>>26 The clanging sound when Gabriel's teeth get hit is a metallic sound and it cracked me up.
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