REVIEW: ‘Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon,’ Episode 42

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (Yashahime) is a fantasy/adventure anime from Sunrise. Having set out to return to the modern era, Setsuna, Towa, and Moroha arrive at the Windmill of Time. However, approaching the windmill will not be as easy as they had hoped. Meanwhile, Riku and Rion learn a startling truth about Towa’s sword in Yashahime Episode 42.

As our trio arrives at their destination, they find themselves face to face with their paternal grandmother who keeps the windmill. Upon seeing they have the blessing of Akuru, she tells the girls they may pass through the windmill. However, there is a catch. Many have come seeking to travel through time, only to be swallowed up by it, never to be seen again. All their resentment is now pointed at the trio and has taken a physical form. If they wish to utilize the windmill, they must first defeat this new opponent.

Yashahime Episode 42‘s focal point delivers some solid moments as our protagonists face this new foe. We see how recent events have changed some of their abilities, providing a greater degree of combat power to one of them in particular. But while this sequence is the episode’s main narrative focus, this episode’s side story builds this battle up in a way that isn’t expected.

The other side of this episode sees Riku and Rion’s encounter with Kirinmaru explode into a full-blown confrontation between the Demon Lord and the wayward pieces of his life. I won’t spoil precisely what prompts this battle, but it applies weight to how our heroes will pursue their goal of defeating the Grim Comet.

The revelations of this side story also further build Kirinmaru’s character. What he is willing to do, as well as who he is willing to manipulate, never ceases to grow. His entirely selfish approach toward his affection for his daughter Rion is truly headshaking. How someone can be so fixated on an individual while being completely unable to care about what that person wants or needs is truly baffling. And yet, sadly realistic.

The visual side of this confrontational story of Yashahime Episode 42 delivers both of its action sequences solidly. The battle at the windmill has a higher intensity, as the outcome stands in some measure of doubt. Meanwhile, the other battle fully delivers on just how powerful Kirinmaru is when compared to his dual opponents. Both Rion and Riku are sorely outmatched, as Kirinmaru spends much of this fight not even bothering to draw his sword.

When all is said and done, Yashahime Episode 42 delivers lots of good things for fans of the show. Emotional revelations, battles, and plenty of plot progression all fill the episode’s run time.

Yashahime Episode 42 is streaming on Funimation and Crunchyroll.