Overview (Spoilers Below):
Sacred springs in the spirit realm are being spoiled by dark, poisonous water. What is its source? Where is the dragon god who is said to protect these springs? And what is their connection to Yukari?
Our Take:
Not even the serenity of the flourishing spring waters is safe from the dangers lurking in the spirit realm. The fourth episode involving Ise and his past begged us to question whether we’ll also get a backstory for Yukari. Well, it didn’t take us too long to figure out that answer, as Himari and the others are called to find the solution to one of the spirit realm’s Seven Springs that happens to connect to Yukari’s past.
The spring waters guarded by a dragon god named Ryujin were tainted by a mysterious poison due to Ryujin’s sudden disappearance. Even worse is that Yukari is also affected by the tainted poison, with the risk of him disappearing being greater than ever. It’s later revealed that Ryujin was also affected by the poison caused by the mysterious seal stuck to his body. So Himari offered herself as a sacrifice to speak to the god. Unfortunately, their plan didn’t go as well as they hoped, resulting in Yukari attempting to rescue her despite his condition.
While The Demon House sometimes feels episodic, I would credit it for providing more backstory and depth into its characters amid the yokai misadventures, especially Aoi’s shikigamis. “Crimson Burns the Dark” did a solid job exploring Ise’s humanity amid his foul attitude, but I think “Fleeting Times” managed to handle this element a bit better. The episode explored Yukari’s role as Aoi’s first shikigami and caretaker whenever Aoi felt lonely. More importantly, it showcased that Yukari was once a human in his previous life before he was given as a sacrifice to Ryujin due to a false accusation against him. While I wouldn’t call it a perfect display of Yukari’s origin, it offers enough to make the supporting characters more than just a pair of comic reliefs.