First Impression: The Eminence in Shadow, Season 2

The corruption, conspiracies, and battles of the Bushin Festival arc are complete and peace has returned—at least that’s what the members of Shadow Garden believe. But something even more sinister is on the horizon. What it is…the Shadow knows! (Congratulations to the two of you who got that reference.) For a red moon is rising above the Lawless City, stirring up the population of ghouls and transforming them from mindless, weak zombies into powerful, aggressive creatures, which in turn causes two of the three great rulers of the city—Lady Yukime, a fox spirit who runs the red light district, and Juggernaut, a powerful and battle-loving warrior—to wage war. But the third ruler may be the most intimidating of all—she, the Blood Queen Elisabeth, who will rise after a thousand years upon a young man’s blood sacrifice. And Claire, thinking that her brother Cid will be the victim, rushes to the queen’s castle!

I’m quite excited for season two of The Eminence in Shadow, which has finally outpaced the available manga in the U.S. (which I’ve been reading and reviewing) and was better and better as it went along in season one. And boy oh boy, does this season start with a bang! Warning, though—there is a lot of blood in the opening episode of this new arc, and nudity, too, which had been a rarity in the series thus far despite the ample fanservice. Otherwise, I have no complaints about episode 21 (as HiDIVE presents it) and instead, plenty to clamor about. The last ten minutes or so of the episode, as everything goes out of control, is an absolute adrenaline rush—not just or even primarily because of the action. It’s mostly because there are so many quick cuts between characters involved in the arc, old and new, that it raises the excitement level for the show through the roof. I can’t wait to see how the set of heroes here, including the super cool Mary the Vampire Hunter and Claire, who hasn’t received enough screen time in the show so far, fare against a new group of villains, with a few other characters of lesser strength or none at all (including Cid’s hopeless buds from school) who’ll help fill in the plot. Meanwhile, humor underlies everything in the series as Cid continues to think that all this is just a giant setup. The comedy is what sets this series apart from other violent and “serious” isekai and makes the whole thing worth watching; by this point in the show, I feel as if The Eminence in Shadow knows how to balance the comedic and action elements just right. They jive together almost as well as in the manga. And now, we can just sit back and enjoy. Or, if you prefer, you can “Run if you value your life. The frenzy has begun. The moon is red. We’re out of time.” I have a feeling with how many times Shadow has already repeated that quote, lifted from the far more earnest Mary who said it earlier in the episode, we’ll all have memorized it by season’s end.

The Eminence in Shadow can be streamed on HiDIVE.

Twwk
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3 thoughts on “First Impression: The Eminence in Shadow, Season 2”

  1. Good to hear that the second season starts off well! I’m still finishing the first season, and also going back and rewatching the stuff I missed while not paying close enough attention. This has been one of my recent favorites!

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