REVIEW: ‘Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon’ Episode 3 – “The Dream Butterfly”

After a decade (and time traveled centuries) apart, Towa is finally reunited with her sister, but it is far from a happy reunion. The viewers are thrown right back into the middle of the fight with Mistress Three-Eyes, only now are in the modern era in front of Kagome’s perplexed relatives. Yashahime Episode 3 goes by fast but gives viewers almost more questions than answers.

Towa sees her long lost twin sister Setsuna, but Setsuna doesn’t recognize her. This is not just because Towa is grown up, Setsuna claims that she has no memories of a sister at all and that she grew up alone. Moroha right away senses something is up and can smell that Towa is indeed Sesshomaru’s daughter. Back in the Feudal Era, Kaede informs Kohaku and Hirose that one day Sesshomaru took away his baby daughters, and wasn’t heard from again. Ten years later, Setsuna showed up at Kaede’s door claiming she needed to undergo a rite of passage. Clearly, Sesshomaru learned nothing from his childhood, if he is truly testing Setsuna by abandoning her as Kaede believes.

There is still no mention of what happened to everyone else. It is nice that the show isn’t married to servicing audiences with constant shots of the original characters, but having them essentially disappear without a trace from the plot suggests something else might be up. The only reason it is so distracting is that the characters’ absence hasn’t been mentioned once by the main cast, even in passing. Kagome’s family clearly recognizes Moroha as her daughter, and yet no one asks about how she and Inuyasha are doing? Also, at some point, someone is going to have to explain why there are jewels in each girl’s eye. Moroha doesn’t seem phased but also doesn’t explain anything to Towa or Setsuna.

Once the battle is settled, a rather depressing fact is revealed about Setsuna that likely sets the three’s adventures together in motion. It is nice that Moroha cuts to the chase here, and she is going to provide a good balance as the two sisters work through what is shaping to be a lot of guilt and trauma. Yashahime‘s strength is that all three of the lead girls are distinct, and fun to watch. Towa’s relationship with both her sister and step-sister is honest, heartfelt, and genuinely tragic at times. Towa’s tears hit home, and don’t feel as the show is playing up the drama.

The animation continues to be great. The action scenes are fluid and fun to watch, with the characters doing backflips and front flips all over the place. What has always been a blast about Inuyasha, and now Yashahime, is how vibrant colors play into the action. It is subtle, less magic spells and more distinctive signals of a character or attack style. Moroha has Kagome’s pink spiritual arrows but also lets out an orangey-red dragon slash that seems like a lovely blend of her parent’s fighting styles. Towa’s blade is a cool light blue, that always stands out.

Another highlight of this show is the music. The score to Inuyasha was absolutely fantastic, and Yashahime is no different. There are also plenty of tracks and echos to the previous show, while still varying it up enough to again establish that this show is its own.

Yashahime Episode 3 delivers what was promised at the end of episode 2: a heartbreaking reunion and satisfying battle. At some point maybe the distracting questions will be answered so that the plot will feel less convoluted. However, with leading ladies this fun to follow, it is hardly a deterrent.

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon is streaming now on Crunchyroll and Hulu.