English Dub Review: The Demon Prince of Momochi House “Inari Sunset”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Himari meets a new classmate who everyone says is cursed. Surely that can’t be true, right? So what’s that dark mist shrouding him?

Our Take:

Himari has encountered yet another spirit-related problem at her new school. This time, it’s a new student who happens to be involved with another Ayakashi, as if one classmate disguised as a yokai isn’t enough to satisfy our ghostly desires. This particular classmate is Hayato Hidaka, who seems to be the talk of the town for the wrong reasons. This is due to everyone spreading a rumor that Hidaka is surrounded by a curse that could cause harm to those around him. However, from Himari’s perspective, his curse is one of many things haunting this isolated classmate.

This episode follows a typical storyline where someone is wrongly judged based on people’s rumors but eventually proves their innocence. However, the series uses this familiar plot to delve deeper into its characters, much like in “A Fourth Friend” and “Crimson Burns the Dark”. As Himari attempts to figure out Hidaka, she discovers that Hidaka’s family, the Skimodo clan, had a history with the Momochi family. More importantly, Hidaka’s family had the ability to control fox spirits or Kuda-kitsune, although Hidaka revealed he didn’t inherit the power, much to the spirits’ confusion and anger.

However, the real shocker of this episode is that Hidaka is Aoi’s childhood friend who has fragments of his memories with him. Worried about his friendship with Aoi being broken, Hidaka made a deal with the fox spirit to help him fix it, but with the catch of losing his treasured possession, his memory of a young Aoi. This confrontation also happened on the same day Aoi became the house’s guardian. This reveal makes Aoi’s misfortune even more depressing, with him erasing Hidaka’s memories of him resembling the salt to the wound.

“Inari Sunset” is another example of The Demon Prince taking advantage of its episodic plots to enhance its characters and history with decent results. I would say that this and “Crimson Burns the Dark” are the best episodes I’ve seen so far regarding the impacts they left in their stories. However, we still have many episodes left to determine whether the show is another solid addition to the fantasy-yokai category, so stay tuned.