Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (manga)

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (Japanese半妖の夜叉姫HepburnHan’yō no Yashahime) is a Japanese anime television series produced by Sunrise. It is a sequel to the Inuyasha anime series, which itself is based on the original manga series of the same title written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. It follows the adventures of Towa Higurashi and Setsuna, Sesshomaru and Rin‘s fraternal twin daughters, and Moroha, Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi‘s daughter. The series’ first season aired from October 2020 to March 2021. A second season aired from October 2021 to March 2022.

Viz Media has licensed the series for North and Latin American territories, while Medialink has licensed it for Southeast Asian and South Asian territories.

Plot

Ten years after the events of Inuyasha: The Final ActSesshomaru and Rin‘s four-year-old daughter Towa is separated from her twin sister Setsuna, and gets stranded in the modern era, where she is adopted into her paternal half-aunt Kagome Higurashi‘s family, raised by Kagome’s younger brother Sōta and his warmhearted wife Moe. Towa becomes close to her younger adopted sister, six-year-old Mei, who is Towa’s “substitute” for Setsuna.

Ten years later, Towa is reunited with Setsuna, when she leaves the modern era through the vast time-traveling power of the mystical Sacred Tree of Ages. During their separation, Setsuna became a hardhearted, feisty demon-slayer working with Kohaku and does not remember her past as the mythical Dream Butterfly stole her dreams and memories. In order to restore them, the half-demon twins embark on an adventure, alongside their quarter-demon bounty hunter cousin Moroha, the feisty, hard-as-nails fourteen-year-old daughter of Kagome and Inuyasha, who lacks knowledge of her parents; except that her human mother is an uppermost-level priestess and that her equally impulsive father is a dog-demon/human hybrid.

At times, the vital essence of the Sacred Tree of Ages awakens from centuries of dormancy to warn them that a long-standing rival of their paternal dog-demon grandfather is plotting to warp time itself since Sesshomaru refuses to fight him directly in place of his late father. At the same time, the unparalleled time-based unsurpassable entity is harboring adult Rin in suspended animation for her husband Sesshomaru because of her fatal connection to Zero, the elder sister of Kirinmaru and creator of the seven mystical Rainbow Pearls, whose respective mighty demonic abilities rival those of the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls itself. During a battle with Kirinmaru at the ruins of Lady Izayoi’s mansion, Setsuna is seemingly killed by Kirinmaru, but Towa uses the broken Tenseiga to revive Setsuna.

Setsuna has her Kanemitsu no Tomoe upgraded by Totosai into the mighty Yukari no Tachikiri, which can cut the invisible red threads of fate. Towa receives the legendary cosmic sword Zanseiken from Kirinmaru’s deceased daughter Rion, whose soul is contained within an artificial body created by her father. The Half-Demon Princesses must become strong enough to save Rin before she perishes from the fatal curse placed on her by the deeply bitter Zero. Ultimately, Zero lifts the curse herself and passes on to Heaven. As Towa and Setsuna are ready to reunite with their mother, Moroha is given an ultimatum by Kirinmaru: Find Akuru’s pinwheel or never see her parents again.

Sesshomaru rechallenges Kirinmaru with Sesshomaru taking the hit for his twin daughters and half-niece, which fatally wounds and weakens him. He manages to use his remaining strength to send them into the Black Pearl, where they finally encounter Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi. After escaping from the Black Pearl using the combined powers of Tessaiga and Tenseiga, the group discovers that Kirinmaru’s true objective is to travel to the Reiwa Era to destroy the Grim Comet that threatens to destroy human civilization and become a supreme ruler over all humans and demons alike. After saving Sesshomaru’s life, Towa discovers that Kirinmaru allowed her to keep Zanseiken so that her soul is eventually extinguished by using its power so that he can use her body as a living vessel for Rion against the wishes of his undead daughter while Moroha is given a spiritually-empowered longbow made by Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi, which greatly boosts the effectiveness and spiritual energies of her sacred arrows.

Using Akuru’s pinwheel, the Half-Demon Princesses travel back to the modern era to destroy the comet themselves, with Kirinmaru chasing after them. They encounter Osamu Kirin, formerly Kirinmaru’s right arm, and Towa’s homeroom teacher, who informs them about his desire to save humanity. However, he double-crosses the girls’ and brings the Grim Comet to the feudal era to grant Kirinmaru’s wish in obliterating it from the plane of existence and showing Rion various countries and states from around the modern world. With the last of his strength, Akuru opens the gateway to the ancient past on the Sacred Tree of Ages, so the girls can return to help their parents and closest friends in preventing the Degenerate Age from progressing further.

 

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
Yashahime, Princess Half-Demon key visual.jpg

Anime key visual for its first season
半妖の夜叉姫
(Han’yō no Yashahime)
Genre Adventurefantasy[1]
Anime television series
Directed by
  • Teruo Sato (#1–24)
  • Masakazu Hishida (#25–48)
Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Music by Kaoru Wada
Studio Sunrise
Licensed by
Original network NNS (ytv)
English network
Original run October 3, 2020 – March 26, 2022
Episodes 48 (List of episodes)
Manga
Written by
Published by Shogakukan
English publisher
Viz Media
Imprint Shōnen Sunday Comics Special
Magazine Shōnen Sunday S
Demographic Shōnen
Original run September 25, 2021 – present
Volumes (List of volumes)

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