Momo Kyun Sword

Episode 12

This week's episode has a tough act to follow after the excellent “The Last Battle! Momoko vs. Jakiou.” Unfortunately, though it has some legitimately good character moments, episode 12 doesn't reach the same emotional heights as immediate predecessor. “Peach Fantasy! Momo Kyun Sword” is a low-key series finale that may leave some viewers disappointed and is mostly concerned with tying up the plot's loose ends.

First, there's the best part of the episode: Onihime. When we last left her, she was in a state of existential uncertainty, questioning her identity and her relationship with Jakiou. Onihime has become the breakout character of the series, and the scene where she comes to terms with what she meant to Jakiou, (and he to her,) is genuinely touching. By taking up her father's sword, she assumes the role of leader of the Oni, but it is a role that she chooses and defines for herself. Onihime achieves a measure of catharsis, and takes major steps towards her self-actualization as a person. Interestingly, Onihime's growth as a character is contrasted with a relative lack of growth for our supposed main heroine. After all her struggles and tribulations, after all she has learned about herself and the world, Momoko is in the exact same place she was at the start of the series: a perky teenager living an idyllic life in the countryside with her grandparents. For all the talk the animal trio have of her "growing" and "being freed from her doubt," she seems pretty much the same. I say "pretty much" because her life is different in one respect: she now has relationship with Onihime. The two characters have, since the start of the series, gone from being strangers to archenemies to sharing a strange new bond. They're not exactly friends, but Onihime and Momoko share a deep connection, which the latter is more open about than the former. She may still be a complete imbecile when it comes to anything else, but by the end Momoko has a rare understanding of Onihime, and this small development of her character is at least a little satisfying.

While the Onihime/Momoko scenes are well-executed, the same cannot be said for the rest of the episode. Most notably, the animation has taken a major turn for the worse since last episode, which apparently used up most of the show's remaining budget. All the characters move in an extremely jerky way, lurching from pose to pose like marionettes. The characters are also frequently off model, with Onihime at one point growing three cup sizes in between shots. Fortunately, the audio side is much better, with the cast and music maintaining their excellent track record. Unfortunately, the writing is not so spotless, as several characters remind us of their groan-inducing personal quirks. Celestial Maiden Sumeragi had been portrayed as a noble leader for the last few episodes, so having her return to her brainless ditz persona is jarring and a reminder of how poorly written her character has been. Thankfully, these references to the awful earlier parts of Momo Kyun Sword are relatively short, but the writers aren't doing themselves any favors by reminding the audience of the show's less-than-stellar beginnings.

For a majority of its run, the series was a poorly animated and abysmally written fanservice show that wasn't actually funny. Boobs moved in bizarre, unnatural, unsexy ways, while the bodies they were attached to stood still. More likely to inspire disgust or boredom than titillation, the sex-based comedy never came close to justifying its constant focus in the narrative. Thus, when, it launched into the final arc with episode 9 and suddenly became ten times the show it had been, it came as quite a shock. By episode 12, it wasn't even a fan service show anymore, having fully transformed into a high fantasy story. Momo Kyun Sword was never a good fanservice show, and it probably never would have become one, but by shifting it's focus to character, story, and action, Momo Kyun Sword finally put a smile on my face during the final credit roll. It wasn't perfect, sure, and didn't make up for all the badness before, but it made me care, and in the end, that was enough.

Rating: C+

Momo Kyun Sword is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.

Miles Nelson has been watching anime since 1997, and writing about it since 2013. You can read some of his articles at My Geek Review