Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 04
半妖の夜叉姫 04
Hanyou no Yashahime episode 04

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Moroha and Setsuna adjust to life in the modern times. However, Moroha detects Root Head’s presence and “convinces” the youkai to help them return to the past. Moroha takes Kagome’s old backpack and crams it full of stuff to take back. Towa’s adoptive mother Moe gives Setsuna a violin since Setsuna turned out to be musical prodigy. Root Head activates the portal, which is seen in the past by Kaede and the Youkai Hunters.

The three girls are stopped in the time tunnel by the Tree of Ages, who takes the form of the miko Kikyo, thanks to her sealing arrow having pinned Inuyasha to the tree for so many decades. “Kikyo” addresses the girls as “Yashahime” and confirms that Setsuna and Towa are the daughters of Sesshoumaru. She wants the girls to slay the youkai Beast King Kirinmaru. “Kikyo” explains who this youkai is and why he’s so dangerous.

Setsuna rejects the request from the Tree of Ages, feeling that Sesshoumaru should deal with this. “Kikyo” explains that Sesshoumaru has fallen off the path, and that the girls will have to deal with him as well, in order to put him back on the right path. Towa also rejects the request. The Tree of Ages is amused by this and awakens Root Head for the girls to battle.

Moroha finds Root Head’s weak spot, and to Setsuna’s and Moroha’s surprise, Towa defeats the youkai with a new power. Meanwhile, the Tree of Ages, as Kikyou, stands before a tree where Rin is apparently sealed. “Kikyo” speaks with Sesshoumaru, who walks off.

Thoughts/Review:

The power creep is real in Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 04, and not just in battle skills.

I Have the Power

A blog reader brought to my attention in episode 3 that they felt there was a bit of Mary Sue action going on with Towa. I didn’t agree, but for Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 04, that was certainly the case. She’s not a youkai hunter and she’s not been trained as such. And Moroha and Setsuna set up Root Head so that Towa can somehow have an insane power up and produce some energy dragon come from her sword.

I rolled my eyes at that point ’cause Towa hasn’t earned this power. I’m going to guess that a combination of her Rainbow Pearl, combined with her youkai blood is what caused this. However, considering how shocked Setsuna and Moroha were, it isn’t a good explanation.

Setsuna also got a power up, though this was for the violin. The girls weren’t in the modern age that long, so why Setsuna would get violin lessons at all is a bit of a mystery. The fact that she masters it in no time is a stretch, musical prodigy not withstanding. I know musical greats like Chopin, Mendelssohn, and Mozart (to name a few) debuted musically as young children. But it was still a few years to get there, not a few days.

Still, Setsuna did look cute in her evening dress, playing the violin. No doubt, this will be used as some kind of power as the trio fight youkai.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

I’m so insanely behind, let me wrap up my review of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 04 with some final though bullet points.

• Funny how Sunrise came up with a way to bring Kyoko back without actually bringing her back to life. So now the Tree of Ages has a humanoid form.
• I’m pretty sure it is Rin who is sleeping/sealed within that energy/crystal tree-like structure. So why has Sesshoumaru apparently turned his back on her and his daughters?
• Why doesn’t Moroha know her own mother and father?
• Finally, I loved how Sunrise took an OLD joke from Inuyasha, and gave it a fresh spin. Moroha is the descendant Jiichan wanted in Kagome.

In the end, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 04 rapidly spins through life in the modern age to return to the past. At the same time, Towa is given insane power ups ’cause “reasons”, which doesn’t bode well for storytelling in the series.