Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 41
半妖の夜叉姫 弐の章 17
Hanyou no Yashahime: Sengoku Otogizoushi episode 41

SPOILER Summary/Synopsis:

In the present, Kagome’s grandfather senses something is wrong. Kirin-sensei doesn’t know what to do about the Grim Comet. In the past, within the Tree of Ages, Towa’s Kon has been drained, which is basically her soul. The child spirit Akuru shows up and uses its pinwheel to restore Towa’s Kon. Once Towa revives, Akuru cheerily departs.

At the Bone Eater’s Well, Kagome tells Moroha the importance of the place. She gives Moroha a new longbow that she and Inuyasha constructed after seeing Moroha fly through Touga’s grave. This makes Moroha very happy.

Back inside the Tree of Ages, its avatar, Kikyou, instructs Setsuna and Towa to return to the present to destroy the Grim Comet. Rin addresses her daughters, wanting to hug them, but knowing that she cannot afford to. She understands why Sesshoumaru spirited the girls away after they were born and sends her daughters off to complete their task. She asks they return so she and their father can hug them.

Outside, Kirinmaru shows up. Inuyasha, Kagome, and Moroha battle him. Setsuna and Towa arrive with Jaken. Akuru appears and wants Moroha to go with her cousins. After Inuyasha gives his blessing, they leave. Kirinmaru senses Rion is in trouble. He leaves to help her.

Elsewhere, Setsuna comes to Miroku in her youkai slayer outfit with his staff. Still elsewhere, Hisui, Kohaku, and the other youkai slayers brief the deputy shogun of the situation. He gives them the sword Kikujumonji. Meanwhile, Kagome, Inuyasha, and Shippo return to Kaede’s village. Takechiyo delivers Setsuna, Towa, Moroha, and Jaken to Sesshoumaru’s mother’s palace.

Thoughts/Review:

The writers of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 41 continue to impress me with how they are moving the plot forward. And at the same time, they are doing such great character work.

Rin

I’ve previously stated that I felt Rin is the strongest, bravest character in all of this series. That continued to be true in Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 41. While Kagome and Inuyasha were able to embrace Moroha, Rin forwent that pleasure with Setsuna and Towa. When Rin learned that her daughters were needed to save the world, she understood why Sesshoumaru spirited the girls away after they were born.

Now, Rin has to send them away with her blessing. If she were to have hugged her girls, she might not be able to let them go. And while Rin is sending her girls to a dangerous mission, she keeps a brave face. But the moment they are gone, she weeps. She did the right thing, even though it was not the thing she wanted to do. Thus to me, Rin is the strongest, bravest of all of the characters in this franchise.

Of course by Rin making the promise of a hug from her and Sesshoumaru upon Setsuna’s and Towa’s return, we as an audience have that to look forward to by the end of this season. (And as an aside, I really hope there’s more after this season.)

Inuyasha, Kagome, and Moroha

Family is a big theme of this second season of Yashahime. Obviously, that has continued in Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 41. I’ve already talked about Sesshoumaru’s family. Now it is time to look at Inuyasha’s family. I loved how Moroha was just drinking in the experience of spending quality time with her parents.

Then there’s the bow Kagome gives to Moroha. Inuyasha and Kagome constructed it after seeing Moroha during that once instance when she passed through the netherworld. Not only that, but Moroha gets to use it when she and her parents battle Kirinmaru. That fight, while not actually doing anything significant, was awesome symbolically. Inuyasha and Kagome allowed Moroha to fight alongside them and I loved it.

Of course, Moroha needs to go with Setsuna and Towa. The series is already being set up so that Inuyasha’s party deals with the stuff in the past while Moroha, Setsuna, and Towa deal with things in modern day Japan. That said, Moroha was initially reluctant to leave her parents as they still faced Kirinmaru. It was such a lovely moment, following by the first of two major cool things from Inuyasha. He understands what’s at stake and encouraged Moroha to go with her friends and cousins.

The second cool thing Inuyasha did was stop Kirinmaru from going after Moroha. Daddy’s little girl can take care of herself, but by George, no one is going to mess with Daddy’s little girl while Daddy’s around! 😂

Other Family Moments

It really is amazing how strong the family theme was in Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 41. Sango had already dispatched her children on missions. Now, she goes to fetch her husband from his training so that they can be ready for the fight to come. I find it interesting that she still addresses Miroku respectfully by his title “Hoshi-sama”. And the writers had to throw in the slap gag when Miroku grabs his wife’s butt.

Another family moment came from Kirinmaru. He bailed on battling Inuyasha and Kagome once Rion was in trouble. And despite her resentment to him, he revived her body shell.

Finally, we saw Kagome’s grandfather, mother, and niece in the modern world. If the yashahime are returning to present day, then I suspect we’ll see more of Kagome’s family.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon 41 continues the streak of superior writing, both in plot and in character development. The writers really bring home the family theme in the episode. And the fanservice continues to be in aide to the story, not a distraction from the story.