Why 'The Demon Prince of Momochi House' Anime Falls Short

The Demon Prince of Momochi House

Have you ever felt the need to do something even though the entire world tells you not to? Maybe it’s something highly personal that only you realize the importance of, spurring you towards an outcome that is more precious than any gold. Seeing something through to the very end is tough when you’re surrounded by others telling you to stop or give up, but you have to bite down and grind even against the odds sometimes. Who knows? It could be the decisive test leading you to a massive change in life!

“The Demon Prince of Momochi House," also known as “Momochi-san Chi no Ayakashi Ouji," is a 12-episode TV anime series that aired from January 6th to March 23rd in Winter 2024. It was produced by Aniplex, Movic, BS11, and Crunchyroll and brought to life by Studio Drive.

The main staff behind it included Oowada Tomoyuki, Sotokawa Akihiro, and Miyakoshi Tooru as producers, and Shirahata Bob as director. Featuring the genres of fantasy and romance alongside the theme of mythology, this 24-minute series of episodes catered to the Shoujo demographic and received a rating of PG-13 for teenagers 13 years of age or older.

The anime is based on the manga series of the same name, which ran for 16 volumes from February 23rd, 2013, to August 24th, 2019. Featuring similar genres and themes, the work of author and artist Shouoto Aya was serialized in Asuka.

The series was published in English via VIZ Media under the Shojo Beat imprint from July 7, 2015, until October 6, 2020. It was also released in Polish under the title “Strażnik domu Momochi” via Waneko from the 6th of July 2015 until the 4th of February 2020. Recently, a music video for the anime's opening theme, “Hoozuki” by Kamiyama Yoh, was released on January 26, 2024. This 3-minute video featured the supernatural genre alongside the theme of mythology.

The story centers around an orphan named Himari Momochi, whose only link to her deceased parents is the house that they secretly bequeathed to her. When she finds out about this on her fateful 16th birthday, she is absolutely thrilled by the opportunity to learn more about her late family and arrives at the house in question—an establishment rumored to be haunted!

She becomes utterly bewildered when she runs into three young men already living there: Aoi Nanamori, who identifies as the guardian of the house, and his two familiars, Yukari and Ise. While the supernatural beings allow her to stay there overnight, they tell her to leave the very next day to avoid harm from the Ayakashi, wandering spirits that sometimes attack humans.

To their surprise, protagonist Himari is totally unaffected by her spectral encounters and is now determined to move into the supernatural residence! Here, she learns that Aoi had become the guardian unwittingly, causing him to be confined to the location and even forgotten by the outside world.

This discovery makes Himari’s resolve even stronger, pushing her to find the means to free Aoi from his grim fate, and she also manages to make the three Momochi House protectors accept her as their landlady. At the same time, a mysterious Kasha continues to send hostile Ayakashi to Himari's newfound, and they seemingly have darker plans for Aoi's ultimate fate.

After reading the synopsis, you might be reminded of “Kamisama Hajimemashita,” and this show has many parallels. Personally, I wasn’t a big fan of that show either, mainly owing to the MC, who I found to be insufferable and entitled to the affections of her significant other.

I am aware that the show is beloved by many, and that’s fine, but “The Demon Prince of Momochi House” turned out to be even worse in my eyes. First off, if you have read the manga and are a fan of it, avoid this show like the plague. The original work is full of whimsical fantasy, intriguing characters, and stunning artwork, but none of that made it into the adaptation.

Even the early visuals weren’t that great, and by the end, it’s apparent how much of a dumpster fire this was. The budget appears extremely minuscule, as clearly seen in the non-existent details and the entire anime’s “filler” nature. It’s the show that had no good reason to exist and probably should have stayed that way.

In the story department, the premise was decent enough for them to build upon and progress. But even after three whole episodes, I didn’t catch any semblance of an interesting story or proper direction, and it didn’t feel like a plot even existed. The anime has an episodic nature, where they probably intend to build up the plot and characters to the point that the overarching narrative or conflict becomes apparent.

But the establishment and execution are so bad that I was left with zero reason to care, with even more aspects needing clarification. Why? The only episodes that are somewhat faithful to the manga are 3 and 4, after which they rush through the main premise at a surface level just because then they throw in 4-5 different mini-stories hailing from the manga into the middle portion of the show in the most hazardous and directionless way possible.

If said mini-story is not rewritten, they rush it to the heavens while throwing all details out the window. Even the conclusion was an “anime-original,” something they wrote up mindlessly to end the show ASAP. I admit the runtime is not enough to give the full story, but did they really have to butcher it like this?

The character department is the worst aspect of all. Anyone new to the series would have no idea about the backgrounds or histories of the key characters, and they aren’t relatable in the least. Why? All the vibrant personalities and traits from the manga are completely lost here; it’s like we are watching cardboards interact.

The character designs do nothing to convey key characteristics because the visuals are just as horrendous. Did they seriously think showing the male MC naked and saying, “Don’t look at me” when transforming counts as a personality trait?

The least they could’ve done was make him look good in the process, but nope. Moving on, I can count the number of times these characters spoke on my hand, so don’t expect great chemistry or interactions either.

While the characters are set up as a reverse harem of handsome men surrounding Himari, the sheer lack of comedy and interactions leaves it at that. All Himari does is toss stuff out consistently, which is not enforced in any way by the MC. I mean, her only meaningful dialogue is repeating Aoi’s name again and again.

As mentioned, the art and animation department could be more conscious. As rarely as these characters actually speak, their mouths aren't even animated to move. So yes, the animation is just non-existent, and I don’t think the creators cared at all.

All the gorgeous character designs from the manga have been dulled down to oblivion and even look ugly here. For example, Himari's hair is thickened to the point that it looks like tangled vines; Aoi looks like your typical Shoujo male MC with no redeeming qualities; Ise is not portrayed as masculine and bullheaded as he should be; and last but not least, Yukari looks like discount-store Yuki Sohma, lacking any inherent charm.

Was it just me, or was Aoi’s age fluctuating back and forth throughout the show? At one point, he looks like he’s an underage teenager, but he looks like a man well over his thirties in another.

One of the manga’s biggest artistic allures was the highly delicate and intricate designs, patterns, and gradients across each piece of clothing, but none of it even comes close in the anime. The only exception is Aoi’s Kimono, so props to that.

The Sounds and Music department is decent, mostly thanks to Ayana Tsujita and Tomoyuki Kono leading the crew. They did a nice job creating the right atmosphere for the show, but it was wasted on such a dumpster fire of a show. The opening theme is "Hoozuki" by Yoh Kamiyama, but this piece is really misplaced here. It would have sounded great in a Shonen series, creating this dissonance at the start of every episode, going so far as to make the actual episode worse than it already was.

The ending theme, "Aiko," by Muto, is excellent. It is calm and collected and fits perfectly with the Shoujo vibe, letting us down slowly and quickly after the horrors of the episode. I absolutely must commend its visuals, too; they were gorgeous despite being still images. The OSTs fit the show pretty well but weren’t stellar enough to make things more bearable. The voice actors were underutilized and wasted here because they hardly get to speak, so I honestly feel bad for them.

“The Demon Prince of Momochi House” is a highly disappointing show that tarnishes the name of the original work. If you are interested in this work, please save yourself the torment and read the manga because it is truly worth it. I honestly did try to find something positive in this show for the entire watch, but I drew up a blank outside of the decent music. I really don’t know who this was made for or what it even wanted to accomplish, but it is what it is. Not recommended; this is a discount-store Kamisama Kiss devoid of any redeeming qualities.