Hey guys! Sorry, last week I had an unexpected circumstances that I couldn’t avoid, so I had no choice but to do a double post.
EPISODE 2
The second episode, as expected, was a partially a filler like most of season 1 was. They won’t make it easy to find Bokusen-Oh to have a new sword for Towa, so she’s still stuck with her old broken sword while searching for the tree demon. The three girls didn’t have any clue where Bokusen-Oh is until Moroha was advised to learn his whereabouts from another demon who knows him. Bad news for them, the demon that apparently knows where Bokusen-Oh is was a hostile one with hatred for long-haired women. Sea Snake Woman (that I think was clearly based on Medusa) was one of the typical demons who was originally benevolent, but turned evil due to humans’ misunderstanding.
The Sea Snake Woman used to be a spirit who protected the sea, and fell in love with a fisherman she saved. But she became malevolent after she was killed by the very same fisherman when his friends attacked her in her snake form because they believed she was the cause of the accidents that befell the fishermen. As the result, she became a malevolent demon and was resentful of women with beautiful long hair, especially the black ones, because it reminded her how pretty she used to be yet she couldn’t go back to that form. What she didn’t know, the fisherman who killed her, in fact, loved her. The moment he recognized her, the first thing he wished to say, even as he turned into stone, was his declaration of love. Still, why there’s no explanation why he killed her?
The episode showed how small-minded people can be. When bad things happened, people have tendency to find something to blame, be it another person, animal, plant, or anything that caused it to become a symbol of bad omen even if that wasn’t actually the case. Ignorant or not, they’ll eventually will have to face the consequent of making somebody or something else a scapegoat for their misfortunes. Take this morale to the heart!
Usually, I’m quite bored watching Towa and the others fighting “demon of the week” because of how too rushed it was defeated. However, this was one of a few fights I enjoyed a bit, though rather than because of Sea Snake Woman herself, it’s more because how the girls were fighting her. I couldn’t stop myself from grinning when watching Moroha and Setsuna rolled down Takechiyo as their shield so they won’t make eye-contact with Sea Snake Woman (since they’ll turned into stone if they did), but it ended up useless for them since their attacks won’t hit. (^_^;)
And then Towa using her mirrored-glasses that render the Sea Snake Woman’s power ineffective, albeit it’s silly seeing her fighting with that glasses on that it’s hard to take it seriously. I hope there’ll be more explanation about Setsuna’s Yukari no Tachikiri. It has such a power, and I need more detailed explanation to understand, specifically more about its root. Overall, I’m still disappointed with how the Sea Snake Woman just reverted to her original form simply by knowing the fisherman’s real feelings for her. Was it one of those types who would rest in peace after her regret or resentment appeased? There’s just no explanation whatsoever and the Sea Snake Woman just went back into the sea like that. And Kohaku and the others, once again, didn’t do much to help. I’m really hoping they have more roles in this season.
Last but not the least, I’m happy to see Riku again so quickly. And the way he saved Towa by freezing the sea had me leaped in joy inside! I’m still worried in regards to his feeling for Towa since he said he’d only kill people that he loves (it gave me a yandere vibe), but at the same time I’m curious how his relationship with Towa will develop since they are on the opposing side. In the first season, it was clear that Towa started to like Riku and Riku himself also refrained revealing an important information about Towa to Zero despite his loyalty to her and now he saved her again.
Also, even though it’s only for a brief moment, I love how Towa was sulking because when she woke up after Setsuna defeated the swarm of demons once she was revived, Towa was so happy that she hugged her but Setsuna just dismissed her happiness and told her to stand up because they couldn’t waste time. Ouch, what a way to reject your sister from enjoying the moment! (>_<) That’s Sesshomaru’s daughter for you, Setsuna was not so expressive in showing her affection the way Rin and Towa does…which makes it one of Setsuna’s charms. She’s a tsundere! (^w^)
EPISODE 3
sigh I knew this would happen, but never thought it would be this fast. It’s here, the horrible pacing. This week’s episode have many information that were crammed too much into one episode. Rather than the fight against Sea Snake Woman, they should’ve dedicated the previous episode into the revelation of how Rin ended up sleeping inside the Tree of Ages without having to rush so much. I won’t complain too much about this episode’s pacing, so now go straight to the said information.
First, it’s revealed that Rin gave birth to Towa and Setsuna at age 18 (good, she’s not married under age). This means that chronologically, she’s 32 years old in the present. And she got cursed by Zero right after Sesshomaru and Inuyasha destroyed the red meteor. The curse that Zero placed on Rin was twofolds: First was a silver-scale curse that would caused her entire body to be covered in silver scales. The only way to break the curse is by killing Zero. Unfortunately, Zero placed a second curse that connected Rin’s life with her own, which means if Zero died, Rin will die as well, like what happened in the first season. Oh, how much I hate Zero. From my view, rather than to protect Kirinmaru, she did this because she hated humans and half-demons due to her jealousy. While not specifically said, Zero held feelings for Inuyasha and Sesshomaru’s father, but he chose to married Izayoi, a human woman.
Rin has grown so much. She became both a wonderful woman and a mother. She willingly sacrifice her own life if it means it would save her daughters and even bravely told Sesshomaru that her love for them rivals that of her love for him. Never underestimate a mother’s love! Of course, Sesshomaru and Jaken respect her feelings and opted to find another way. They decided to seal Rin within Tree of Ages to slow down the progress of the curse. When the curse began to activate again, the Spirit of Tree of Ages froze her time permanently through the use of Dream Butterfly that Jaken planted within Setsuna. As it turned out, the Dream Butterfly plays an integral role in keeping Zero’s curse under control. At the same time, this means that if something happened to the Dream Butterfly, then the silver-scale curse would once again activate. Towa’s goal is to find the Dream Butterfly to restore Setsuna’s memories. What she will do once she learn that destroying the Dream Butterfly means endangering her birth mother?
The second revelation is Riku’s origin. It has been hinted several times that Riku has a special connection with Kirinmaru. This episode explained that Riku was born from Kirinmaru’s broken horn, making him part of Kirinmaru. As he was a part of Kirinmaru, it means that Kirinmaru was able to see and hear through Riku’s eyes. To avoid this, Zero told Riku not to get near her ever again to prevent Kirinmaru from knowing her plan. Since Kirinmaru could see and hear through Riku, it’s no different from him observing Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha’s movements as long as Riku follows them around. Riku wishes to protect Towa, but now that he knew about his connection with Kirinmaru, would he still follow them around?
After what she did to Rin, I was truly satisfied when Zero couldn’t absorb back the Rainbow Pearls into her body. Riku gathered the Rainbow Pearls so that Zero could restore her power as a Great Demon. Much to Zero’s anger, Sesshomaru had foreseen this, so he purposely planted the Rainbow Pearls into his daughters and the red pearl inside Izayoi’s memento because their memories would be grafted into the pearls that would cause Zero to see their memories if she absorbed them into her. Zero resented them too much to have those memories inside her, and so refuse to absorb her pearls back, thus preventing her from restoring her demonic power. Props to Sesshomaru for giving an extra layer of protection for his family!
Speaking of protection, I love to see how protective Setsuna was in regards to Towa, telling Riku not to get near her again. Still, I’m confused what made her trust Riku so easily. Yes, Riku did stab Kirinmaru before, but it should be obvious that Riku has an agenda of his own, so it wouldn’t be wise to trust him so easily if I were her. And Riku’s concern for Towa didn’t go unnoticed. As I had expected, Riku is the type who only cares for the person he’s interested/liked but doesn’t care for anyone else. This type of character is a hit and miss for me. Although, so far, I like Riku, so he’s okay…for now. I need more Riku and Towa moment here! Come on!
The next episode will finally have mother-daughters reunion…albeit Rin was still asleep. But she’s smiling, that must mean she’s happy to finally see her grown-up daughters! And didn’t expect to see Kirinmaru so soon. I thought he won’t appear until much later, after Towa gained her new sword.
From the subs I’m reading, the Yukari no Tachigiri is a both a powerful weapon of its own (what weapon made by Totosai isn’t?) and a medium for Setsuna to use her Blood Blade- the red streak in her arm. I’m thinking because she’s not a full demon, the Blood Blade won’t physically manifest as Sessomaru’s Bakusaiga did and Setsuna won’t be able to harness Blood Blade’s power without her new weapon. Setsuna’s Blood Blade has the ability to cut through the seen and the unseen, or specifically, the strings of fate as we saw with the Medusa-based demon. Thus, based on episode 3, to save Rin, Setsuna must first channel her Blood Blade’s ability to the Yukari no Tachigiri and cut the red string of fate linking her mother and Rin together, and then she and Moroha and Towa (along with the adults available at that point) must work together to kill Zero, lifting the silver scale curse (which would also have killed Rin anyway even without the link to Zero). After the enemies have been eliminated, Towa can next deal with the Tree of Ages about removing Setsuna and Rin from the Dream Butterfly’s influences, and at that point Rin will awaken and be freed from the Tree.
Chronologically, Rin 32, but as the twins were separated when the were 4, then physically Rin is stuck at the age of 22, because that’s when her time froze. I wonder if Sesshomaru will plan more children with her once the whole ordeal’s over, as both of them never got to truly be parents to the twins.
And I don’t think Setsuna fully trusts Riku yet… she’s just trusting him on matters related to Towa’s safety as Riku rightfully pointed out, she’s not strong enough to protect both herself and Towa and hasn’t mastered how to correctly use her new weapon yet.
Meanwhile…. the audience got the fully picture… but when in the in-universe will someone finally tell the twins about Rin and her link to Zero? The silence from Sesshomaru and Jaken doesn’t help if Towa acts first on the Dream Butterfly, caring only about the past and getting Setsuna’s memories back instead of cherishing the time she now has. Riku could, as he’s betrayed Kirinmaru (unless Kirinamaru, like Naraku, can kill him) but he has this obsession with Zero so I highly doubt he will. And the Tree of Ages never came clean in the first place… for someone aware of Rin’s situation, it’s strange she asked the 3 princesses to kill Sesshomaru, too. I was hoping Bokusen- Oh, as the all-knowing tree, would tell them, but that didn’t happen because the focus is all on getting Towa her new sword using a root Kirinmaru fears.
I don’t know about Rin and Sesshomaru planning to have more children. It’s possible that they’ll try to make up to Towa and Setsuna first, especially Rin who loves them so much.
Yeah, Tree of Ages’ true goal is still a mystery considering how she’s very cryptic in giving guidance to the heroines. Would there be a plot twist in which the Tree of Ages actually the true antagonist behind the whole thing or something? While I understand Towa’s desire to reconnect with Setsuna like they did in the past, considering someone’s life is at stake, it’s not wrong for her to let it go. Setsuna is still here with her in the present, and while Setsuna is not as affectionate as when they were children, Setsuna is still her sister. Towa can reconnect with Setsuna by getting to know the way she is now without having to rely on their bond in the past. True sisters can always have a strong bond regardless of past memories.
Viz has licensed the Yashahime manga for a 2022 physical release, amongst other titles.
Also, someone posted an interesting comment re. Yashahime’s production here (dunno how true it is):
“…apparently the studio revealed that Rumiko Takahashi refused to greenlight a sequel centered around InuYasha & Kagome (or their kids) & only agreed to the sequel once they came up with the Sess(houmaru’s) twins idea (apparently their first pitch was a sequel focusing on InuYasha & Kagome having a son & she turned it down).”
Having a sequel centered around the previous protagonists’ child is something that has been used often, so if this information is true, I wholeheartedly agree with Rumiko Takahashi’s choice of not greenlit the original idea. Besides, if the sequel has Inuyasha and Kagome’s son as the protagonist, I have a feeling they’ll make the son having similar personality as Inuyasha, which would be boring since it’ll be a rehash. I prefer a daughter like Moroha.