English Dub Review: The Demon Prince of Momochi House “Crimson Burns the Dark”

OVERVIEW (SPOILERS)

Kasha strikes the house again, this time trapping Aoi and forcing Ise to make use of his Ayakashi form, which could put him at risk without Aoi’s spiritual protection. But they save Aoi anyway and Kasha retreats, the end.

OUR TAKE

After a few episodes just getting the lay of the land and establishing the threats that will be present throughout the series, we have our first episode focusing on a character who isn’t Himari or Aoi. We’ve had a bit to show that Himari is dedicated to living in this house that she has inherited from her family, but will also do her best to learn more about Aoi and his Shikigami in order to best help them out since they are the ones who control said house. It’s clear there will be some romance between these two characters, but as this is very clearly aimed a female demographic and the Ayakashi are also incredibly hot men, there may also be some hintings at some love triangle between them as Himari wins them over. This week, the focus is Ise, the red oni to Yukari’s blue oni, and some insight into how he came to be a part of Aoi’s entourage. Turns out he used to live on another plain with a tiny spirit who was his best friend, but circumstances led them to be thrown into the human world and with Ise unable to call upon his powered up form (which according to wikipedia makes him look more like an orangutan, though I don’t really see it).

Since then, he’s been tied to Aoi, who gave him some sort of protection so that he can used that form when he likes, but I guess Kasha’s attack negates that protection by sealing Aoi in a certain way. Ise thinks back to when his rashness cost him his former best friend, but decides to put himself on the line to save his new family. That’s a nice, wholesome bit of character development for a character who previously was just “the slightly more angry one”. Still not sure what exactly Kasha’s deal is and what he’s after, but it seems like his weekly plans will be a good way of bringing up opportunities to flesh out our existing cast, especially as more humans get involved. That said, next week is probably going to be about the other one, Yukari, who is the more serious and stoic of the two, but I’m sure we’ll learn plenty about why he ended up with Aoi first and what his powered up form resembles within Japanese mythology. But that’s all for now, check back here next week, same Momochi time, same Momochi channel.