Review of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon

I may be in a rare position to criticize Hanyou no Yashahime because I started, and finished, all of InuYasha in 2020 before Hanyou no Yashahime was released. Because I watched InuYasha so recently, I do not have fond memories from years past to cloud my judgment. I am able to compare and contrast these two shows rather easily. Given that, I can safely say that if you are looking for an adequate sequel to InuYasha you may be disappointed. I say you “may be disappointed“ because if you can look past the problems with the story and only look at the good parts suchas the art, then you are in for a good, and perhaps even a great, ride down memory lane. I, however, was not looking for this. I wanted a worthy sequel to InuYasha and I was left rather disappointed. 6/10.

*Spoilers beyond this point*

Quite a bit of the story of Hanyou no Yashahime is rather similar to InuYasha. A few examples are, a girl from the modern-day has to live in a new era killing demons while learning that she has powers, there are jewels that increase the owner’s power, the first demon that the girl from the modern-day has to fight is a warped Ōmukade, and the group of friends has to travel and kill demons, all be it for a different reason. Like in InuYasha, the pre-episode flashbacks are unnecessary, intrusive, and flow-breaking. The flashing of previously introduced character’s names is also unnecessary, intrusive, and flow-breaking. These similarities could be called references to the original, and I wouldn’t have too many issues with that statement, but where I do have irrefutable issues with the story are the plot holes. A plot hole for example such as Kaede still being alive. Canonically about 15 years have passed between the end of InuYasha and the start of Hanyou no Yashahime, and Kaede was 63 at the end of InuYasha, so she would be about 78 now. That is rather old for someone living in that era. Similar maths could be used to work out how old Rin was when she gave birth to Towa and Setsuna. The last plot hole I will cover is the plot hole of Towa not losing her demon powers on the new moon. My immediate reaction to seeing this was “Surely this happened in the present day, right?” Well as it turns out, she “Is originally from this world, so the new moon did not affect her in her world.” Wich I shouldn’t have to tell you, make very little since. Getting off the topic of plot holes, let me discuss the few other problems I have with the story, such as, the story lacking a main villain. Naraku was iconic. He was smart, intimidating, cunning, and strong. He also posed a constant threat to the main and supporting cast. In Hanyou no Yashahime who is there? Riku? Kirinmaru? Both options are unexceptional.

Many unfortunate realities in anime came to light due to the pandemic in 2020. One of those being that some anime don’t look as nice as they arguably should have. Hanyou no Yashahime could be one of those anime. A few times in the series is have noticed small to moderate seized flaws in the animation, but, is this due to the pandemic, or is this the way that it is supposed to look? Are the simplistic sword slashing animations an unfortunate outcome, or are they purposeful? Are the sometimes stale-looking backgrounds a time-saving trick, or are they true to the vision? I will leave those up to the individual to decide. However, something that I shall not leave up to the individual is the character design, and more specifically, Kohaku. His design is rather different from the other demon hunters, and even other characters for that matter. He wears a high collared half cape arrangement that looks very inefficient and unnecessary for such an efficient group as the demon hunters. He also has a cliche scar across his dorsal base. This not only makes him one of two characters with a scar in the whole series but also the only one with a permanently on display scar, which then furthers his visual clash with the other characters. On a similar note, if Rin has brown hair, and Sesshomaru has white hair, then why do Towa and Setsuna have a red streak in their hair? My theory is that the character designers were told that the main cast had to have a similar color scheme, so they added a red streak in Towa‘s and Setsuna’s hair to make them match Moroha’s red robe.

While on the subject of the characters, they are fine. But, I am not really connecting with them. None of the new characters feel as fleshed out as the original ones. This comes to light when the new characters interact with the old ones. The old ones are still fleshed out from the original series while the new ones look flat when compared. Similar to this, Setsuna doesn’t care about Towa, but as soon as she has a vague flashback to her childhood she is caring and protective. This would be wonderful character development, but it happens too quickly and comes off as the plot needed Towa to be saved and this was the most efficient way that it would happen. On a similar note, Towa has a very good grasp of her powers for someone who has just found out that they had them.

My opinion on both of the OPs and both of the EDs are rather similar to the characters. Just replace “connecting with the characters” with “liking the Ops and EDs” and that would encompass my opinion rather nicely. That covers the OPs and EDs, but what of the rest of the music and sound? Well, a lot of it is reused from the original. The flashback music, the fighting music, and others are all extremely similar, if not the same. This is where I have to question if this is an homage, or is it just blatant laziness? A similar thing could be said for the other sounds in the anime. What isn’t reused for the original is generic sound effects found everywhere else. Really, reusing the music from InuYasha would be a nice callback, easter egg, or reference to the original, but the reused music is implemented too frequently for me to believe that it is either of the previous three options.

I enjoyed Hanyou no Yashahime when it was being Hanyou no Yashahime, and not when it was being an InuYasha mimic. Villains that manipulate space-time, mutualistic pond monsters, and magic rouge all create a sense that this is the world we once knew, but with new aspects and challenges that make it feel refreshing. Easter eggs like Moroha being given the same Kappa foot that was given to Kagome is one that I remember off the top of my head. But, the similar story, reusing the music, and the lackluster characters really bring the whole anime down. I will continue watching because maybe the show will become more of its own in the future. That is a 7 for art, a 6 for the characters, enjoyment, and sound, and a 5 for the story. Coming out to a 6 overall.