English Dub Review: The Demon Prince of Momochi House “The Blue Hollyhock Dawns”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Himari dives into Aoi’s past to learn more about him and hopefully discover a way to save him. Can her connection to Aoi break him of the crow’s curse?

Our Take:

We’ve seen bits and pieces of Aoi’s past slowly unravel throughout the season, especially in the previous episode. Now, we are finally getting the big picture of how Aoi arrived in this predicament. It’s a good thing, too, since Himari needs a solution to rescue Aoi from her nefarious school teacher. One of the things I enjoyed about The Demon Prince is the mystery surrounding Aoi, who seemed like a caring person at heart but also hid a depressing secret that he didn’t recall after becoming a Nue. That alone adds to the viewer’s curiosity about Aoi’s mysterious past and the desire to know more. Even though it doesn’t reach any emotional heights in its storytelling, I appreciate its attempt to provide more depth to its characters to make it slightly more enjoyable.

The penultimate episode is no exception, with a young Aoi showing Himari his backstory before he confronted Nachi. It’s revealed that Aoi had the ability to see the Ayakashi when he was young, explaining why he can only see his siblings. Unfortunately, it also led Aoi to distance himself from his friends and family, including Hidaka and Aoi’s stepmother, with the latter carrying an Ayakashi. Upon watching the first half, I immediately realized that Aoi’s past resembles Natsume from Natsume’s Book of Friends, in which both characters can see Yokai yet get ridiculed by everyone who doesn’t. I’m not sure who has it worse since their parents didn’t do shit to help them, but I do know that the people who treat them differently are messed up.

Following that, we have the usual final battle structure we’ve seen in other action fantasies regarding Aoi and the Shikigamis battling Nachi. But, in the end, Himari reigns victorious thanks to her ability to expel the Oni from Nachi, further showcasing her bravery and striving to protect her new family. While Himari’s former school teacher has lost the fight, he might return in a potential second season for redemption or revenge. I do pray that it’s the former. Overall, this episode may have taken some pages out of Natsume’s Book of Friends regarding Aoi’s past, but its second half had enough spiritual juice to bring this final confrontation to a close.