It's been more than a decade since Sunrise gave us quite the finale to one of the most beloved series of legendary mangaka Rumiko Takahashi's works, but the resurgence with Hanyou no Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, only proves that both the production staff team (the original Inuyasha staff for that matter, minus the original creator herself) behind this sequel at Sunrise only knows the term "cash-cow", and milk this show all they want, because all the charm of the original is (almost) completely gone, and I wouldn't blame you if the emotions and feelings are mutual. What a behest of an insult to injury to the word called "nostalgia", it sure does feel a time to be alive to fans who only constantly get shot on the foot when old shows like this make a comeback to only make a mockery of themselves. At least Japan was more adamant on the positive side, so a Season 2 (or rather appropriately, a continuation) is coming soon, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
If I can give a TL;DR to what Yashahime is all about, let me put it in a non-spoiler context of the entire Inuyasha series: there is this jewel called the Shikon Jewel, and for anyone who possesses it shall be granted maximus power of their wielding, be it good or evil. And if you are experienced with battle Shounen stories back in the day, Inuyasha is no different with trying to gather pieces of the shattered Shikon Jewel from the vast world that is the Warring States Era. Gather them all and save the world from evil and destruction, pretty typical stuff. Yashahime's foundation of the story and plot is one and the same of Inuyasha's, just with the difference of the shattering of the Shikon Jewel being Rainbow Jewels with the same after-effects and what-have-you. Obviously, since this is classified as a sequel of sorts (that's carried forward straight from the post-events of The Final Act), there's the usual cameos of Inuyasha characters, albeit those that are worth the time and importance to Yashahime's story. Otherwise, everything else about it is all new, albeit (again) that if you're watched even an episode of Inuyasha, it definitely feels right back at home with the fascination of the series as a whole.
The story plot of Yashahime is clearly an ode to Naruto in the most blatant way of how Boruto came to be, heck I'll even go as far to rename this show to Yashahime: Inuyasha Next Generations - "The Spin-off/Sequel Everyone Asked For But Sucks", despite being made as an original as compared to Boruto's manga source material counterpart...IMO not as appalling as how Boruto was, but it's by no means a consolation of condolences. Clearly, the best points of what we got to see from this show is the next generation of the original cast: the trio of half-demon princess girls Moroha (Inuyasha and Kagome's child), Towa and Setsuna (Sesshomaru and Rin's twin children, though the former's nonchalance is prevalent from the get-go), along with returning characters like the protector Grandma Kaede, Sesshomaru and Jaken, plus many others who make the return to nostalgic goodness...at least for the beginning. The new storyline with converging worlds of Feudal and modern Japan (that's obviously connected with the Sacred Tree of Ages), not gonna lie, that was a cool concept that fans would've wished to see in the original series, and we definitely got it here.
Alas, everything else just seems like the usual with Sunrise's decent visuals and animation, but with scriptwriting that's cringe levels of terribad. Let's break it down:
- The Dream Butterfly itself being a connection to both Towa and Setsuna's past memories of dissent (that was awoken without any hint of past life), that was the only driven plot that somehow was half-assed (and eventually half-baked) due to the slow pace and progression of the plot. Not like Inuyasha can evade faults on this aspect, because the former also does side events like these, but not to point where it feels condescending, solely due to Rumiko Takahashi's incredible storytelling that manages to keep fans engaged for the most part, even when it feels dull. Sadly, with Yashahime without the direction of Rumiko Takahashi, the word "nostalgia" is anything but a saving grace.
- The characters: Obviously, fans would've wondered that the OG pairings got together and did the deed, that was also a large selling point for Yashahime's beginning points as well. But as the show progresses, the subsequent feeling of cold feet of them being one-sided plot-centric focal pointers becomes more obvious. Moroha is easily the biggest mistake: From emitting the same nuisance behaviour (like how Inuyasha was), to being relegated as a side character with no proper potential development, holding daily conversations with regulars like raccoon Takechiyo, bounty hunter master Jyubei and killing demons to earn money. All of that, despite being a MAIN character alongside twins Towa and Setsuna. If my speculations are right, Towa inherited Rin's kindness and naiveté while Setsuna inherited Sesshomaru's nonchalance, which comes to serve as both a boon and bane in the journey to pickup and pursuit the truth of the Dream Butterfly's significance.
- As much as I love the original cast return all grown-up, that I find to be the only above-average decency for Yashahime as a whole. Taking demon slayers Kohaku and Hisui (Sango and Miroku's love child) as an example: talk about following the job legacy of Sango whilst not having the perverse effect of Miroku is a welcome surprise to see more of characters like Hisui, that once again, is heavily skewed upon nostalgia values.
- The villains...are a serious downgrade when compared to Inuyasha. Kirinmaru, Zero and "The Four Perils" aren't quite the levels of Naraku and his "offsprings", and the "pirate washed ashore" Riku is just your average typical generic meditator-cum-spy. Sure, there are some moments that seemed just fine even without the lore of Inuyasha (that frankly Yashahime does not need to imitate, and that's fine), but dear heavens, I've seen quite the detraction of badly-written characters, and the villany aspirations are just existent, but only when the plot serves to plate it as such. "Meh, Meh, Black Sheep, have you any (black) wool" as I'll describe it.
The OST is also...just decent, given for a new generation that also does not need to try to mimic all the bells and whistles of the original, and that's also OK for the most part since I wasn't expecting V6's "Change the World" levels of nostalgic brilliance. For the most part, the OPs handed down from current boybands SixTONES and NEWS, I'd prefer the latter any day as it fits the series' more action-heavy tonals, while the EDs are just as decently sounding as to be expected. Overall, just some fine music, but also easily forgettable.
Even with another sequel currently in production (as of the time of this review), I will give a preface to the general audience: whether or not you love or hate Yashahime to a degree, that's not for me to decide the enjoyment values that you'll get out of this show. From an anime-only perspective of people wondering what Yashahime is about, please start with Inuyasha (even if it takes you eons to finish the 10-year journey from the beginning to the Final Act, plus the canon movies), then come back to this and see how you feel about it.
You've tried, Yashahime...no, you should've tried harder. Until next time when the continuation sequel drops, I'm gonna keep my expectations low to exact the same "wash, rinse, repeat" action sequence once again, if it helps qualm the stacked amount of worries. Not the best, but it's nowhere as pathetic as it looks.
