Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 21
半妖の夜叉姫 21
Hanyou no Yashahime episode 21

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

It is the time of the new moon. As such, Towa is human. Setsuna warns her to stay put while Setsuna goes off with Hisui. Kaede and Towa have a brief talk about Towa’s mother, Rin, before going to sleep. Towa dreams of the Dream Butterfly. She sees it take stuff from Setsuna and deposit it to the young woman within the Tree of Ages. Towa has a revelation, then wakes up.

Looking outside, Towa sees the Dream Butterfly. She follows it to the Tree of Ages, where she then sees fireflies. She follows them and finds Riku. The two talk, where he speaks somewhat of the origins of the Rainbow Pearls. He further reveals that once upon a time, he was in service to Kirinmaru.

Totetsu shows up to kill Towa, so Riku ends up fighting to defend her. During the battle, Riku ends up being injured, so Towa helps him to safety. They have a brief chat about romantic love before Totetsu manages to find them again. Riku doesn’t understand his drive to protect Towa, but he dives back into combat just the same.

Setsuna and Moroha arrive to stop Totetsu, just as dawn arrives. Totetsu attempts to flee, but Riku beheads him, taking the Orange Rainbow Pearl. Riku embraces Towa, happy she’s OK. He goes to leave, but Towa stops him and says she likes him. As such, she gives him her Silver Rainbow Pearl, since he’s trying to collect them all to return them to their rightful owner.

Moroha bags Totetsu’s still alive head to claim the bounty. Meanwhile, Setsuna wonders if Towa’s actions were OK, especially since Riku used to work for Kirinmaru.

Thoughts/Review:

I have to say, for the most part, the writing in Yashahime has really improved. And though I’m not a Towa fan (more because of the push to make her Mary Sue), I did like this unexpected, romantic turn depicted in Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 21.

First Romance

I didn’t expect it, but Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 21 introduced romance to the series. Yes, I’m not counting Sesshoumaru x Rin, Inuyasha x Kagome, or Sango x Miroku. For a start, those pairings are all married. Further, while they have roles in the story, they are not the focus. And their romantic elements are certainly not a thing here.

Still, it makes sense that the initial romance would be Riku x Towa. The pair have been around each other before. But I never thought romance. Indeed, I couldn’t figure out why Riku was so keen for Towa, beyond working whatever scheme he had planned. But it seems that he has developed honest, romantic feelings for Towa. It will be interesting to see where that goes, beyond Towa changing her mind about giving up her Rainbow Pearl to him.

As to Towa, even though what she did was an act of foolishness, I don’t blame her. Indeed, her giving up her Silver Rainbow Pearl shows how romantic feelings can sometimes cloud one’s vision. Hopefully, nothing bad comes of it.

Riku

I had speculated that Riku might be another powerful youkai. Instead, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 21 indicated he’s some sort of humanoid doll/puppet. Granted, he has his own will and such, but during the flashback 200 years earlier, it was clear that Riku was more of a simpleton. He was still learning things, like emotions. And he looked up to Zero.

Now we know what Riku is up to and why he’s after the Rainbow Pearls. I get the sense that Riku is not acting on Zero’s orders. Instead, it seems to me that Riku adores Zero. Since the Rainbow Pearls were created by her, and apparently contain all of her youkai powers, he wants them restored to her.

Still, Riku mentioned being able to kill those whom he loved. That seemed odd to me. And the writers acknowledge this to a degree by having Riku puzzled over his feelings for Towa. That aside, I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Riku wanted to kill Zero, but only after restoring her powers to her. In doing so, I’m guessing he’d see himself as having evolved being being a mere puppet. We’ll see what happens.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up my review with some final thoughts.

• The episode played up the notion of Kirinmaru’s honor. Although he may be a powerful youkai “lord”, he is opposed to dirty tactics and such. I found that interesting.
• It was nice seeing some of Kirinmaru’s underlings again during the flashback. However, I noticed Totetsu wasn’t there, nor was Toukotsu.
• I may have forgotten something or missed something, but I was surprised at how upset Zero was over the death of Touga (Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru’s father).
• I hope Moroha gets paid for Totetsu’s head.

In the end, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 21 ended up being a surprisingly enjoyable episode. Not only did we get a bit of lore, but we got a bit of unexpected romance.