THIS MAY CONTAIN SOME SPOILERS!!! IT MAY ALSO BE A TRIGGER TO SOME, SO AVOID THIS IF THAT’S THE CASE PLEASE!!!
Most of the reviews anyone will read below this are most likely not going to be helpful. That’s due to people either being for or against a ship that is portrayed in this sequel. If anyone wants to know keep reading the next paragraph, if not skip to the other paragraph.
This is a [i]anime-only [/i] sequel to Inuyasha. Inuyasha itself takes place between late 1990s to early 2000s, but a majority of the story is set in Feudal Japan. It’s fantasy based so demons are part of the focus and plot to this story. Inuyasha takes place over a year to collect the jewel shards and defeat Naraku, the big bad evil. By itself alone, Inuyasha was great and ended on a high note. It had varying dynamics and gave main, as well as side characters (minus a handful) depth along with character development. Now here’s the drama that is ensuing within the fandom. A certain ship was portrayed in the sequel based off characters from Inuyasha, which would be Sesshomaru and Rin. Sesshomaru is a dai-youkai (in other words a high level [dog] demon). He has been alive for 1000+ years but physically he is placed as 19 [in human years]. Sesshomaru starts off as an antagonist by fighting his younger half-demon brother Inuyasha for a sword that was left by their father. The main reason why Sesshomaru was able to change and become a better person is by meeting and traveling with a child named Rin as well as Jaken. Rin, even though it wasn’t stated except for this character profile book no one provides the page of, has no age but is thought to be at least 8 years old. Here’s where people get the division; some view their relationship as father-daughter, some just view them as traveling companions. The some that view this as familial are disgusted by the hint of the portrayal of the Sessrin ship coming true. Going past that, those some have even started to claim that this ship displays signs of grooming and pedophilia. Although people are allowed their opinions and beliefs, everyone views this differently. The examples to back this up are that (and to keep this short/simple) is
• (Grooming) since Sesshomaru and Rin met at 19/8, even though Rin was left at a human village and Sesshomaru left for long periods of time, he came back with gifts for Rin.
• (Pedophilia) That Sesshomaru did the deed with Rin at the age of 12-15.
It’s been said a million times over the internet about the timeline/ages of the Inuyasha cast. If anyone wants to look that up, please feel free to do so. I will state it in terms of Rin’s age but all the way at the end, that way I can space it out to be clean.
Now to get on to a review of Yashahime. This series has a lot of....everything surrounding it. Please remember, THIS SERIES WAS DONE DURING THE COVID PANDEMIC! In terms of plot and story writing, so far, the story needs a lot for it to make most people interested in it. Keep in mind, the story is suppose to revolve around the NEW GENERATION, not the original. In that regards, this is light and fluffy. It definitely is funny to watch, but will leave anyone feeling that they have more questions than answers. Animation-wise, it can get a bit wonky and a majority of the characters will look so much younger than their ages. It does however fit the theme of this being a show aimed to an audience younger than adults. Lastly then, music-wise, anyone will get nostalgia as some of the OST is used from Inuyasha. The opening and endings, on the other hand, are well done in animation and are very catchy, plus up-beat.
Since this show, as of 1/18/2021, is still ongoing with 8 episodes left within this season, I’m still hoping it will end on a high note. I do also wish for all the characters to get happy endings, and for all my questions to be answered.
I hope if anyone took the time to read this has a good day, and thank you very much for taking the time to read this. <3
Timeline/Rin’s Age:
The anime states that Kagome first travels back to the Feudal Era when she turns 15 in 1997. As said before, Rin is assumed to be 8 years old when she is first introduced in the show.
The storyline of Inuyasha takes place in the span of a year. Leaving Kagome at 15/16, and Rin at 8/9. Due to some reasons, Kagome isn’t allowed to travel back in time for 3 years.
A time skip occurs leaving these two characters at 18/19 and 11/12. In the first episode of Yashahime, it’s said to be 6 months after the end of Inuyasha. However 1 more month has to be added from information given in episode 15. That then leaves Kagome at 19/20, while Rin would be 12/13.
Going back to episode 1, the main characters (Towa, Setsuna, Moroha) are said to be 14 years old [in the present]. Episode 15 states that the beginning of those events take place 18 years ago. From there, 18 years minus the girls age would give us a 4 year time skip (that is poorly addressed).
Adding that to the last ages given, Kagome would be 23/24 and Rin would be 16/17 when the last events of episode 15 take place.
