Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 11
半妖の夜叉姫 11
Hanyou no Yashahime episode 11

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

Moroha shows off the pancake mix and propane hotplate she brought from the present. She witnesses a nearby pond swallow a bird, but Setsuna and Towa didn’t see it or have any interest in it. At the Youkai Hunter village, the sisters are briefed on the man-eating pond and assigned to kill whatever is doing it. At the pond, they stop a young boy from attempting to avenge his parents.  Towa treats his little sister’s minor abrasions, and the kid’s grandmother invites them to stay the night.

The sisters are informed of a (dragon) serpent youkai in the area. Setsuna gets talked into playing the violin for the kids, who are affected by the sad tune. Setsuna and Towa chat a bit, but Setsuna still wants to retain an emotional distance from Towa. Moroha rejoins them the next morning. She challenges the mysterious, venom-spewing youkai Doku Mizuchi ( 妖毒を吐く 毒蛟), but its venom takes her out of the fight. Setsuna is also negatively affected, but Towa isn’t.

A second youkai (the pond itself), Numa Watari, reveals itself. Towa is affected by its poisonous liquid body, but Setsuna isn’t. Setsuna recalls being informed about the purifying herbs around the pond, so she uses her abilities to funnel a bunch into Nuba Watari, killing it. Towa dispatches Doku Mizuchi. Setsuna helps Towa up, but then puts her guard back up.

Now that the pond is pure again, Setsuna plays her violin for the kids one more time.

Thoughts/Review:

With the insanity in my life this year, I had a hard time finding free time, much less finding motivation in my limited free time to watch/blog anime. However, things have calmed down somewhat, so I thought I’d resume my old, episode blogging scheme, starting with Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 11.

Sister Bonding

The whole purpose of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 11 was so that Setsuna and Towa would further bond. I don’t have a problem with that as a concept. However, it was clear that the dual-youkai foes, each with an attack the other twin was weak too, were invented just for the sake of forced character development. That is were the problem lies.

Even though it has been months since I last watched an episode, I’m remembering that these youkai of the week episodes all seem to center around forced character development. I’m sure for younger audiences, this isn’t a problem. But for an old coot like me, having a convenient pair of youkai that have powers that one sister can handle and one sister can’t just comes off as make-do writing.

Still, I am glad to see Setsuna opening up a crack to Towa.

Moroha the Show Stealer

As usual, Moroha continues to be the best part of the anime series and Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 11 was no different. I couldn’t help but be amused at her frustration over being given a job to clean her boss’s shop. And before that, her use of a propane hotplate to make pancakes cracked me up.

Sadly, the nature of the convenient story meant that Moroha had to be put on the shelf. I seem to recall that her father, Inuyasha, also had trouble with noxious, gaseous atmospheres, but I could be misremembering. Assuming I’m remembering correctly, then I give a weak pass to dispatching Moroha so easily.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 11 wasn’t much to write home about. The plot of the story was simply a convenience element to allow Setsuna to open up a tiny bit to her sister.