I wrote this review to voice my dismay about the second season of Yashahime, though this encompasses the first season as well. Beware of spoilers for both Inuyasha and Yashahime.
Yashahime is the sequel to Inuyasha, where we follow the daughters of our beloved main characters from the fantasy epic that concluded more than a decade prior. Inuyasha had a strong conclusion with its happily ever after, so to me it’s peculiar to see a sequel at all.
Yashahime begins with Towa Higurashi, and we learn she is not the daughter of Kagome Higurashi and Inuyasha but got adopted into the Higurashi family back in the present day instead. I guess Yashahime needed to mirror its prequel and have a relatable main character of the present to be thrown into the feudal era isekai style.
Towa turns out to be Sesshomaru’s daughter along with Setsuna, while only Moroha is the daughter of our former protagonists. With themes of sisterly bonds, the focus lies more so on Sesshomaru’s daughters, instead of the prior main characters’ one. Which is odd for a next generation type sequel, but perhaps understandable as Sesshomaru is a fan favorite.
I find it a bit problematic how Sesshomaru ended up with daughters in the first place. Sure, he has come a long way from being hostile towards his half-demon brother Inuyasha to taking care of the human girl Rin. Maybe he actually got over all of his issues, fell in love with her and had twins, but Rin must have been extremely young? The series has a hard time telling a clear sequence of events but considering her kids didn’t seem to know her at all, maybe she was the proclaimed 18 years. It gets really weird though because she got frozen in time to delay a curse, and with her character design she actually does look younger than her teenage twins.
Speaking of aging, there are a lot of curiosities relating to time. Kagome’s cat apparently is still alive after 18 years. Her kid brother Sota had a daughter as well, who herself is at least in elementary school age. Apart from the kids though, none of the characters seem to have visibly aged at all, Sango for instance doesn’t really look older than her adult daughters either.
Now what actually annoyed me is that the sequel undid the conclusion of the main series by removing the main characters Kagome and Inuyasha. For the better part of the 2 seasons, we didn’t even know if they were alive. I understand that you need to make space for the new main characters to unfold, but does it have to be at the expanse of previously established characters for no good reason within the fictional world? Consequently, the main group is scattered and only during the course of the second season are they properly reintroduced again.
Now for our new protagonists. While overall enjoyable, in my opinion they didn’t quite manage to be unique or relatable enough for replacements. Towa is the most heroic and good-hearted of the bunch, but her fixation on reconnecting with and saving her sister has Towa develop an unhealthy obsession and reckless attitude. She is willing to sacrifice herself while not considering the consequences to her friends. Her weakness is apparently the inability to run away, which has her tap into Mary Sue territory at times.
Setsuna clearly is made to resemble her father Sesshomaru a lot. She has forgotten her sister by supernatural means and the conflict that unfolds with her does make for some interesting tension in the first season. After making up with Towa, her main purpose is to worry her sister, even dying one time to be brought back by Tensaiga. I was surprised to be reminded Setsuna died when I picked up season 2, so little was my investment in the main characters and the lackluster writing.
There isn’t much to be said about Moroha apart from her possibly being the most fun out of the trio and her personality being an obvious nod to Inuyasha’s. She’s a bit independent from the twins and often goes her separate adventure but acts as a support when needed.
Kirinmaru is the main antagonist alongside his sister Zero. While it does give the world a bit more depth to see another great demon apart from Sesshomaru, it begs the obvious question where he’s been during the events of the main series. He makes for a rather weak antagonist; for the most part, he didn’t even feel threatening. Compare this to the menace Naraku emanated. This is because he is easily matched by Sesshomaru, and his motives are indistinct and his direction chaotic at times. He had every chance to dispose of the main group if he chose to but didn’t.
Along with Kirinmaru, there are a few side characters that would normally ring every alarm bell for being suspicious but are trusted without question by Towa. This even includes entities that were created from Kirinmaru. Surprisingly, the main trio is mostly right about trusting those suspicious characters, even though some eventually do turn against them. At this point the plot has lost most substance, so its hard to feel invested in any drama that unfolds anymore.
The writing and plot simply are disappointing. At times, it feels like a slow, episodic fantasy adventure that spends most of its time slaying some fodder demons. It’s hard to see the purpose of some side arcs in the grander scheme, so they feel like filler and had me bored at times. Inuyasha also had its share of filler out of necessity because of its ongoing manga source, Yashahime doesn’t have that excuse. The pacing is so slow that you could have easily fitted the 2 seasons into one. It is so weak in its conception, that it sometimes contradicts its narrative. Kagome was shown to seal away the guardian spirit of the tanuki clan in the past, because despite its mischief, the tanuki rely on their patron. Moroha has her own mind and decides to purify it later on anyways, without any consequence to the clan.
The climax of the story really outdid itself with nonsensical plot. To be fair, Inuyasha never tried to be a time travel series, rather it used it as an unconventional isekai method. In Yashahime, the characters travel across time at convenience with no good explanation or consequence. Sure, we get maybe an episode of leadup for a little hindrance they must overcome, but it seems to be a little too easy. Instead of defeating the antagonists, the conflicts shift to a supernatural disaster that threatens the present day, and this “Grim Comet” is brought back to the feudal era by the middle school teacher Kirin Osamu, who totally is not Kirinmaru. Honestly, the last couple of episodes change up the plot so much that it’s hard to take it seriously anymore, but my investment dropped long before. Kirinmaru isn’t really defeated but just fades into the afterlife as he made up with his daughter.
Anilist doesn’t credit any staff for the story of Yashahime. Instead, the directors seem to be at odds with the setting of Yashahime, having a track record mostly in the music genre. I must wonder what audience Yashahime is even targeting. Inuyasha, while being unconventional, was a shonen with at times dark twists and serious drama. This is also reflected in the soundtrack, as the more sinister sounding tracks from Inuyasha seem to be missing in Yashahime. Fans of Inuyasha will have matured quite a lot in the decade since, but Yashahime has regressed to a more light-hearted, kid-friendly fantasy adventure. While the character design and art style are fine and mirror its prequel, the animation is a bit lackluster during action scenes and… peculiar in others. Towa acquires an artifact that transforms into a sword during a sequence that is reminiscent of the magical girl genre.
Yashahime wasn’t the sequel I expected. It replaces the main cast to make room for the next generation but fails to live up to the standards of its prequel. It clearly borrowed a lot from Inuyasha, but its lackluster writing resulted in a mostly nonsensical 2nd season. Clearly the target audience has shifted towards a younger and possibly more female one. That in mind, it might be enjoyable as a light-hearted fantasy adventure for a younger audience. If you’re willing to look past its writing issues you might find a sweet story about family bonds that help you overcome any challenge. Paradoxically, I can’t recommend it to fans of the Inuyasha series though.
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