Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 10
半妖の夜叉姫 10
Hanyou no Yashahime episode 10

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Moroha, Setsuna, and Towa are looking for some troublesome youkai. They find a charred cow and a young family who tells them of the battling youkai pair. A conjoined, youkai, naga twins emerge from the clouds, battling each other. Kinka uses fire powers while Ginka uses lightning. The duo notice Setsuna’s and Towa’s Rainbow Pearls and decide to leave to grab the pearls later.

That night, the brothers possess Setsuna and Towa and immediately begin fighting. Moroha is initially confused by this, but then realizes the sisters are possessed. Her warning allows Setsuna to release a powder that forces the brothers out of them. Setsuna and Towa hitch a rid with Takechiyo, leaving Moroha behind. They chase the brothers, who have taken both girls’ Rainbow Pearls, and end up with their Ka youkai tribe leader, Joka.

Joka reveals the brother’s only purpose is to give her more power so she can have revenge on Sesshoumaru. As such, she grabs Ginka and using her tendrils, stabs him to absorb his power. Kinka tries to rescue him, but to no avail. However, this imagery causes Setsuna to have a brief, memory flash to when she and Towa were separated.

Joka rips the two brothers apart. Kinka ignites Setsuna’s naginata pole weapon with his special flame. With this, Setsuna is able to defeat Joka. However, Ginka is dead and Kinka dies soon after. Both Rainbow Pearls return to Setsuna and Towa. Setsuna refuses to acknowledge to Towa that she had a memory flashback.

Thoughts/Review:

This is the second time that this series has brought back supposedly dead villains from Inuyasha and repurposed them. This time, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 10 took the naga youkai Ginka and Kinka.

Mostly Boring Action

Maybe it was because I’d already seen another Ginka and Kinka in action in Inuyasha, but the fight between them was boring as all get out in Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 10. I just didn’t care about them or their fight. Even their “mother” (of sorts) Joka was boring and cliched. Her grudge against Sesshoumaru wasn’t enough to overcome this.

I get that Sunrise was trying to use a pair of twin youkai to have Setsuna reflect on her relationship with her own twin, Towa. But even this mild, if forced, character look at Setsuna couldn’t save the episode from being a boring, action piece.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Egad. I can’t stop being insanely behind, so I’ll keep this review of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 10 short with some final thoughts.

• Because Sunrise wanted this episode to be a character piece with Setsuna and Towa, best girl Moroha had to be put on the shelf.
• What’s with Ginka and Kinka “evaporating” into energy particles like a defeated Servant in the Fate franchise? To date, defeated youkai usually leave a skeleton at minimum, unless their who body was disintegrated in an attack. I’m guessing this was done to have a joke at Moroha’s expense. Only I didn’t laugh.
• On the positive side, there was no Mary Sue stuff for Towa. And Setsuna got to finish things off properly.

In the end, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 10 is kind of a “meh” episode that tries to get a bit of work for Setsuna’s character and her relationship with Towa. Unfortunately, the boring action and the seemingly forced memory flash for Setsuna kill everything.