Review of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon

To this day Inuyasha remains my favourite anime series of all time. The late night Adult Swim viewings as a kid and those nostalgic EDs have stayed with me some 15 years later. After Final Act, the fandom wanted more Inuyasha, but we all knew in our hearts that the series had run its course and there was nothing else to add to the story. When news broke of Yashahime being made, I was estatic. Finally, after 11 years we were getting more of our childhood faves. Predictably, Yashahime’s first season(season 2 coming in summer) did not live up to its predecessor, but that doesn’tmean it’s not an enjoyable watch for fans of Inuyasha.

I’ll be brief. My main issue with Yashahime is that there’s way too much dead space in the series. The show blue balls you week after week with glimpses of the truth behind Kagome, Inuyasha and co’s disappearance and other plot points, but takes ages to actually get into them. This season is a show-runner to a longer series and it really shows. The pacing is awful far too often throughout. There’s large portions of episodes that could be condensed down into something much shorter, yet we get 10-15 minutes of fluff. Now, don’t get me wrong. Fluff is ok, I don’t mind the girls doing silly stuff with each other, but when there’s important plot points being neglected for episodes at a time, it becomes an issue.

Other than the awful pacing at times, I really enjoyed Yashahime. I think the girls are very fun, each have their own unique personality and are all capable of holding their own in a fight. I loved their chemistry throughout and they really did feel like a family once Setsuna’s tsun tsun walls were broken down. The art is basically an updated version of Final Act, which is very nostalgic to me and brought back so many memories. In traditional Inuyasha fashion, the OP and ED are bangers throughout and classic Inuyasha OSTs are reused as well.

Yashahime leaves a lot to be desired, but considering it’s a set up for a longer series and a sequel to my favourite anime, I’m willing to overlook some things until I get the full picture. Yashahime gets 7 pearls out of 10.

EDIT: There will probably be a A LOT of people rating the anime low due to the reveal about Towa and Setsuna’s mother. Which is absolute BS. The story takes place 500 years ago. Society was completely different and views towards marriage were nothing like today.