Hanyou no Yashahime: Sengoku Otogizoushi

I'm not gonna mince my words: if you're a fan of Inuyasha, please STOP at The Final Act and don't pursue Yashahime thereafter, and this is coming from a hardcore fan who has grown up with Inuyasha since its inception. Call me biased, but this was to be expected.

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.

Hanyou no Yashahime was a mistake. There I said it.

I never was a huge fan of Inuyasha but I did like that series, it was a big part of my childhood and I just liked all the variety of characters there! If you miss Inuyasha, don't watch this serier, go and rewatch original one, I promise you, you will have way more fun than watching 24 episodes of Yashahime.

Although the main 3 characters aren't exactly terrible, they are not very entertaining either, somehow their interactions aren't enjoyable to watch, they are just plain boring. Something really is lacking. I don't know if it's because it's ... only three girls and there is no male or fun sidekick to just balance them out, it just doesn't work for me. As single characters, I see nothing wrong with Towa, Setsuna and Moroha but as a group, they just don't work right. Tanuki character adds nothing, he's just a rip-off Shippo but less funny.

Story is very very boring. Nothing exciting happens, nothing suprises you, it's bland. Now I didn't really like plot in original Inuyasha's series either but it still was way better than whatever they threw in the script of Yashahime.

Now you may see that I gave it 1/10. Is it 1/10? No, it's really not. It is at least 4/10 probably but I am biased and I will keep this low score. Main reason is that I find the ship Sesshomaru x Rin turning canon as something very inappropriate. I saw how people defend it that it is a different era and this used to be normal etc. Just because something used to be 'normal', doesn't mean it was supposed to be treated that way. I won't write a whole paragraph of reasons why this ship shouldn't have happened, many people before me has already done that. I don't like it, it ruined this mediocre show for me, I don't regret giving this series 1/10.

Go watch better shows, don't waste your time on upcoming sequel.

There's 7 episodes out now of Yashahime, the nostalgia driven sequel to Inuyasha. At first, I thought it was turning out better than a sequel of this type had any right to be. The new protagonists, are quite likable, and Moraha in particular, will surely be a fan favorite. And they really made this show an ode to the original. Same voice actors, same style eye catches, same music, same spoilerific previews. Though twenty years have past since Inuyasha's debut, Yashahime feels just the same, as if no time had passed since the Final Act's last episode. But then... as the show started getting into ... its plot, unfortunately I started to realize, the nostalgia and the characters are the only good things about it, since the writing is TERRIBLE.

There's constant leaps of logic, where characters either have knowledge of what's happening that they shouldn't have, or characters go along with what's happening because the story requires it, and not because it makes any sense for their point of view or personal motivations. Other things feel like they aren't really explained because they're tropes or plot points established in the original series that writers felt obligated to follow. The story simply flits between one thing and the next in a rather disjointed fashion, because the writers very clearly had a starting point and an ultimate destination in mind, but just have no idea how to get from point A to point B. The writers also completely flubbed giving the girls any sort of driving motivation, other than Towa's desire to restore Setsuna's memories, which the other two don't share. A big bad was introduced, but the girls immediately rejected taking up the quest to defeat him. Which could have been an interesting choice, except the show feels completely aimless as a result.

On top of all that, their parents, that is, the original show's cast, are very conspicuously absent, and it's getting more and more contrived why they are never mentioned, and why the girls seem unconcerned that their parents are gone. The writers made the decision to hold back on that, most probably to tease the audience, but the longer it goes on, the more it feels forced, and the longer we have to endure this crappy writing about them wandering around aimlessly, when really we all know that mystery is what the audience really cares about.

In conclusion, only fans of the original Inuyasha could possibly like this show, but even then, be prepared for some really poor writing.

Let me state some things first:

Inuyasha is my favorite anime/manga of all times and I waited for a sequel or at least something new about it for more than 10 years. And honestly? It delivered.

Do I really think this show deserves a 10?
No. I would say it is an overall solid 8. But damn I enjoyed this show ways more than I ever thought I would. So I'll keep my 10.

Now, about Hanyou no Yashahime.

It starts giving us a little bit of what happened after Inuyasha with the old cast and then we have our new generation cast to take the show. And I can ... say that the entire new cast is pretty enjoyable and we frequently have some nostalgia moments with our old friends showing up once in a while (sometimes personally, sometimes in flashbacks).

At the start, the pace is kinda fast on how things are dealed easily but that only adds to our 3 heroines, as they develop upon that. I would say that Moroha is one of the most enjoyable characters of the first half of the anime. From the second half onwards, we get more details of what happened and why a lot of things changed. With that, Sesshoumaru gets more screen time as well.

As Moroha is pretty enjoyable, is important to notice that ever since this anime got announced, it was stated that this would be "Sesshoumaru's daughters' story". Every single episode starts talking about "Towa and Setsuna", so it got me surprised on how people would constantly complain that in some moments, the two of them would get more screen time than Moroha. She is part of the main cast, but this is not her show.

About Towa and Setsuna. The other two of our new main heroines.

Sesshoumaru's twin daughters and the center of this anime's plot. I love Setsuna's design as she is basically a female version of Sesshoumaru. Her more cool character that actually hides a huge dere inside remember very well her father too. The way she learns to trust Towa and even Moroha only adds to her development and she was my favorite character of this entire show.

Said that, is Towa who gets more attention for the most of the time. Even though all three are half demon Yashahime (Moroha is actually a fourth of a demon), she is clearly THE main character here. We don't see her change too much like Setsuna, but still she is a lovely character who cares a lot about her friends and specially her sister. Some people complain about she being too naïve or making some stupid decisions, but lets be fair, the old Inuyasha characters had a lot of this derp moments as well. This isn't something new to the series.

About the villains.

Though the side villains are quite annoying (and honestly, this is another thing that is not new to the series), the main "bad guys" are pretty much likeable.
I don't have the same "shit I want this guy dead so hard" feeling I used to have when Naraku was the main villain. Instead, I feel the new characters the same way I felt his creations were in the original manga. They were enemies that needed to be fought, but they still have something likeable about them (damn I cried when Kagura died back then).
They are interesting characters and every one of them have and objective in mind and I enjoyed a lot seeing our heroines fighting them during this show. Sesshoumaru showing some times added more intensity and nostalgia to the whole setting.

Finally, the plot.

This is where things get a bit confusing for some people when it comes to the anime's pace.
We usually have some episodes to add development to the main cast and them some episodes to give us a bit more of background of what's going on. These changes made some people feel it was rushed sometimes and super slow other times.
In my opinion? Even though it felt a bit fast at the start, it was pretty well balanced overall.

For last, I would like to point out that if there is something I didn't liked about this anime, it was episode 19. Would recommend everyone who plans to watch this show to just skip that. I am still trying to understand exactly what were they planning with that, can't even call it a filler. Though, there certainly are people who loved that, so I'll respect everyone's opinion. Said that, everything that comes after that episode is gold and the anime closes perfectly for the incoming next season.

If you really enjoyed the old one, you will enjoy this one as well.

Y'all this show is cringe incarnate.

The most frustrating thing about it is that it has genuinely good moments in there. Spots where you can see a good idea, an interesting possible character exploration, etc and it just doesnt follow through on any of those. This series has only nostalgia going for it, and for someone who really only cared about the original was tbh, because of this ships, this show has none of that. You might think that maybe the original cast popping up here and there could fix things with a burst of nostalgia, but no. The original cast has all but disappeared ... after the first episode (Which is a flashback for little/no reason) and what has happened to them is treated as a big mystery box that the actual characters, despite being their family/origins etc, they could honestly give a damn about.

Now that is interesting in how they characters view it, but what it ends up leaving the show with is three leads who buy and large go down to this basic formula (As of episode 9):
Moroha: Wants to actually do something
Towa: Will only go along with it b/c what moroha wants to do somehow ties back to her goal of restoring her sister's memories
Third girl (I honestly forgot her name. She has that little bearing on anything): Will go along with whatever Towa wants to do bc reasons. Despite stating previously that she doesnt remember or care about towa or moroha. But will be there to do her cyclone attack but never the finishing blow.

Thats really it. Two of the three characters really have little to no bearing on what happens in a given episode or where they go. Now, they will disagree with what moroha wants to do initially, but they'll eventually do what she wants to do anyway, because reasons.

The biggest thing that bothers me about it though is the pacing. This show is quick. Way quicker than the original show at least. The central conflict thus far has the three characters going around killing what are called "The Four Perils". Thing is, these perils are described as basically generals in the army of the guy who (presumably) killed Inuyasha and Kagome. Sound like pretty tough folks right? With one exception, all of them are killed in a single episode. And most of the time its just by happenstance that they run into the Perils. Theres no planning, no searching, nothing. Literally theres a character who fast travels them directly to the Peril's base to go kill them. Its ridiculous, and I hate it. Maybe im just too used to the original series, but why would they even bother making a nostalgia based sequel series if they weren't going to try to mimic as much of what people enjoyed about the original as possible?

Also the OP sucks more ass than Donkey from Shrek's Vaccuum.

3/10

This show is really terrible.

The relationship between Sesshomaru and his so-called wife is very SUS. It appears to be a very disgusting, disturbing dynamic being portrayed, especially in a show aimed at young teens.

The wife appears to be a child, a young teen herself while giving birth. It is very unsettling.

Other then that, the writing is abysmal. The characters are mocks of what they were in the original show. Too much baiting. Also, the show contradicts itself and make characters act stupid and OOC in order to keep answers from being answered. The character designs are also wonky.

The main character, Towa, has no ... depth. Not an intriguing or lovable character at all. She is very Mary-sue with her random powerups and flat characterization.

I'm giving Yashahime a harsh review, call it biased, I don't care. This review will contain spoilers.

Yashahime went back and forth from being decent. I love the girls and their dynamic, which is very different from what I expected it to be. Moroha is charming and feral. Towa is earnest and soft, which is the opposite vibe I got from her design. Setsuna is straight laced and serious like her father, which wasn't the vibe from her design, but I actually liked being surprised.

The cameos from other characters were fun and I liked how even not knowing their parents, the girls are intertwined ... in Kagome's family one way or another. I loved that they were all connected that way, whether they realized it or not.

The story definitely has pacing issues, trying to lengthen its run time with stories of hunting down demons that are less interesting than what everyone is here for: to find out what happened to the girls' parents. While I didn't watch far enough to uncover this true, news has spread down the grapevine that a certain dog demon is confirmed to have groomed and performed pedophilic actions is neither okay nor acceptable, even in fiction, in my opinion.

Yashahime had a lot of potential as an enjoyable show where you can just turn your brain off and relax, but I can't even do that now. Total score is a 1: do better Japan, pedophilia is not okay in any context.

Spoilers below.
This sequel is aimed at young girls, yet it normalizes pedophilia and grooming. In a recent episode they showed a 15 year old girl giving birth to the kids of the adult man who’s always had authority over her after he took her in and cared for her when she was 8 in the original series. It’s disgusting how in episode one they show her at age 11 worshipping the adult man she trusts, only to portray her 4 years later having his children. This show is aimed at a modern audience, it’s not a historically accurate period drama, nor a documentary and it ... has never been historically accurate to begin with in the treatment of its character and of modern day themes... until now. It's time to stop romanticizing abusive behaviours using the excuse of fantasy/historical settings, especially if the target audience is not mature enough to realize that what they're watching is not actually romantic. I'm extremeley sad to see my childhood memories tainted by this sequel, I feel nauseated.

As many fans who watched this show, I grew up watching Inuyasha and loved it so much that my imaginary characters were Inuyasha and the gang. When I heard about it getting a sequel I admit that I was worried that it would be trash...and boy was I right.

1) Yashahime relied a bit too heavily on nostalgia and that's the only ship that kept it sailing, I'll tell you that. We have Moroha who is the daughter of Kagome & Inuyasha, she has a nice balance of their personality and could have been extremely interesting but sadly gets treated as the butt of the joke. ... We have Seshomaru's twins, Setsuna has the same exact personality as her father, she's aloof, quiet and prefer workings alone. She had potential but was also cast out. Then we have the older twin, Towa, who was raised by Kagome's family in the modern world and for me, she's the biggest problem. She's naive, whines all the time and only knows how to say "Setsuna! Setsuna! Setsuna! Waahhhh" from episode 1-24 her character does not change in the least. The series tries bringing back some of the old cast...and by that I mean Kagome's brother who is now married, with his own family and raised Towa [this is episode 1] we have Kagome's family for like...2 episodes. Then we have Miroku for like 2 episodes but that was weak. We get hints of the other characters like Sesshy but there just isn't enough.

There was no character development from the very beginning, unlike Inuyasha where they each had an interesting backstory and they grew. I admit Inuyasha wasn't perfect but for me personally the characters were what made me keep coming back, even the villains grew on me. We had Naraku who used to love Kikyo when he was human before turning evil and we had his offsprings. In Yashamime we are meant to have Kirinmaru and the 4 perils who are so weak that its laughable. Riku starts off interesting and then becomes one dimensional.

2) Storytelling/ Plot: This was the biggest reason for my low score after the characters. The plot well maybe at the beginning is something about finding the dream butterfly for Setsuna but it seems the writer forgot that they set that as the plot, we are also meant to find out what happened to the old cast, why Rin is sleeping or dead in the holy tree where Inuyasha once slept for 50 years. The monsters are weak and get destroyed within 1 episode, the girls all get crazy power without explanation. One moment we are talking about Rin, the next it seems to be forgotten and Towa is going "Setsuna! Setsuna! Setsuna! Wahhhh!!!" After 24 episodes we learn almost nothing at all and go back to the beginning.

3)The art was okay, it wasn't terrible but it wasn't amazing either. Episode 24 was a laugh for me when they decided to go crazy with it. Music is nothing at all like Inuyasha where we had songs like "My Will", "Dear" and so many amazing ones that even now after more than 20 years, I still listen to. There is only so many times I can hear the screech of "We are going higher" before wanting to puke and rip off my ears. The ending song was nothing special, not memorable at all. I wish they had music like Inuyasha which for me personally was one of the places that it had shined.

4) Enjoyment...if you've read this far its probably obvious that I did not enjoy this show. From the first day they released the first episode until today (03/20/2021) when we got the last episode of the first season...I was left disappointed. I kept going back due to nostalgia and because I hoped it would get better but time after time I was left with a bitter taste in my mouth and wishing I knew who the writer was and how to reach out to them so that I could curse them out and teach them how to write. This felt like a little kid trying to write a fanfiction, its like comparing it to the trash of Fifty Shades of w/e. Even Boruto with all of its fault was better and that's saying something. I feel like the writer should get fired and that we should get someone that at least has a plot. What is the reason for having the 3 girls? What is their purpose for existing? What is the reason for their enemies existing? Why are they important? We don't have any of that.

Overall my score is 1/10, am I being harsh? Yes, I am. At best I'd give it a 2/10 since Setsuna, Moroha and some of the other characters had potential and the animation was alright but that's all it has.

If you are a fan of the original Inuyasha DO NOT WATCH THIS! At best, watch episode 1-2 and stop there, please. But hey, if you are a masochist or want to treat this as a terrible show to watch and learn what NOT to do, give it a go as well.

So, I finished Yashahime and finally I can say, with an open heart: this was a terrible experience. You know, I'm a huge Inuyasha fan since my 11 years old and when the notice of Yashahime came I was super happy, I put a lot of expectations because I like Sunrise works and the previous series. Well, right now I'm terribly disappointed. Let me explain some points about this (IT CONTAIN SPOILERS):

1. Even the art and sound are pretty good, they're nothing amazing. You can easily enjoy what you see but when it comes to the story and when you think about it deeper... ... That was a poorly written. The Rainbow Pearls, the Dream Butterfly, it's just too basic, we needed creativity here!

2. The main characters are very boring, specially Towa. They don't have convincible ambitions, most of the episodes don't show us too much about their growth as characters. And the random adventures couldn't put much enjoyment to me.

3. Kirinmaru, Zero, Riku... All the villains and antagonists are pretty boring too. Nothing you can compare with Naraku, Kagura and the others, it's just anything with a "cool" design they can use as a villain. Nothing really exciting.

4. Yashahime let me thinking, we have some big holes in the script. Like Kaede knows Setsuna and Moroha a long ago, right? Kaede knows Miroku and Sango. And everyone knows Inuyasha and Kagome. So how can Moroha doesn't know about them? We have all the daddy issues of Towa and Setsuna with Sesshoumaru, Moroha knows this and NEVER questioned herself about her parents? In 24 episodes it was never mentioned. And, by far, this was so dirty with Inuyasha and his whole family story, when he could be genuinely happy with Kagome and their daughter, he got sealed in a dumb way. Alright, I doubt they can really explain this in another season.

5. And about the old characters/organizations too! Miroku looked so pathetic, we had just some seconds of Sango... Miroku, in the end of Inuyasha, was so happy with Sango and their family. We were robbed again. We got more devil slayers, but no time for them too. Does someone remembers Shippou? A shame, really.

I won't even talk about Sesshoumaru and Rin's relationship in this anime, that was so GROSS.

I don't really believe or care for scores in anime, I'm just putting 2 in overall because... Yeah, it feels right. Thats was my opinion, probably won't go watch the next season. Sorry for any mistakes, English isn't my native language!

What could have been a great show...but wasn't. I wasn't even expecting it to be better than the original Inuyasha, but god this sequel is terrible.

** Note for new viewers: If you haven't figured it out, this is a SEQUEL to Inuyasha, so yes, you'd have to watch Inuyasha to know who the original characters are. **

That being said, as I've just finished watching Episode 11, my disappointment in this show has grown tremendously. If anything, this sequel feels more like someone's failed fanfiction. I will go over a few things below.

The reason fans were excited about this sequel was because of seeing our beloved ... original characters living their life. They've brought back some or most of the original VAs, so why use them so little in the sequel? I understand that this show is focused on the new characters, however, what I don't understand is why the show is trying so hard to disassociate them from the original characters. Seriously, all this time they've spent with Kaede and they still have no idea what kind of parents they had LMAO The writers make it seem like the daughters have nothing to do with their parents. I also don't get the attitude for that... The entire show, the daughters question about their parents, but when it matters or when they have a chance, they suddenly couldn't care less. It's like the writer's own characters are going out-of-character LOL

Secondly, the writers used a cheap trick of killing off their parents. (Not a spoiler since this was already talked about when Yashahime was announced and also we still don't really know). There's better ways to do a sequel, and killing off characters randomly without even a reason isn't one of them.

Third; there's no plot. I would've been satisfied if this was a slice of life or a series of episodes for all their battles, kind of how Inuyasha was when they weren't worrying about the Shikon Jewel. But it's really confusing. Even as an avid Inuyasha fan, a lot of the things in this show don't make sense or aren't even explained. The writers have failed to asked themselves, what is the purpose of the 3 daughters? What is their individual purpose? When watching this show, it's painfully obvious how there's no clear direction.

Fourth; as I mentioned earlier, this show seriously feels like someone's failed fanfiction. There's so many things that don't make sense? Rainbow pearls? Okay, so there's 3 of them---wait there's actually at least 7 of them?? Doesn't even explain where tf the rainbow pearls came to be, why each daughter has it plus random monsters/"Perils". At least we understood how the Shikon Jewel came to be! If you're going to introduce something new, you better have a story for it!

Unfortunately, the writers couldn't take a hint from the original show and do a little story narration at the beginning, like Inuyasha. Would have saved all this pointless confusion and lack of organization.

And so we go to the last point; storytelling. This show is doing is really terrible job at telling the story. As someone mentioned, the pace is all over the place, often times too quick. If Towa thought it was hard to leave her modern family, you would think she'd brood over it for at least 2 episodes, considering how impactful and important her modern family is to her. But no, within 3 minutes she easily makes the decision and that's it lol

I don't know if Rumiko was involved in the making of the story? I thought she only did their character design. But yeah, whoever wrote the story for this show is definitely not an actual fan of Inuyasha... Writing is poor, takes way too many shortcuts, hopes ____ and ____ make sense at this certain time when it never did.

Really the only thing this show has going for it is the nostalgia of the original characters and teasing the audience in hopes we'll see them (i can assure by ep. 11, we still won't).

No one has that half demon vibe. Why does everyone feel so human to me?

These questions are left hanging in the air after every episode of Yashahime in my eyes. They have powers they do not earn, they don't really do much with them, and there is no plot to comment on. I cannot recommend watching it unless you are very curious as to how much worse it can get, as I am.

As other reviews have stated, it feels like poorly written fanfiction that should have just stayed as that. We still don't know why we should care about these dang pearls, why their journey ... means anything, and where this pasta stain on the wall is spreading to.

I wanted to like this, and now I end up hate watching this series :/
Enjoyable to hate watch with a friend though!

I like the new characters but the plot is stale, the fight scenes are lack luster, the atmosphere is bad, the demons look like teddy bears and the characters are way too strong.
All the things I liked Inuyasha for are not in this series it feels very Baruto like.

I will change this review once the show is completed if things change but as for now I do not recommend anyone to watch this show unless they are bored there are better things to watch this season.

It seems that Rumiko Takahashi has lost her passion the past 10 years and is just pumping out ... garbage.

This review does include spoiler.

As a big InuYasha lover I was excited for this sequel, I was excited to see their kids and what troubles they are facing, but oh boy was I disappointed.
Let us go through the categories: Story, Character, Art&Sound and Overall

Story (4):
So, in the first few episodes there is already so much happening it just seems that they want the three girls in the old times just asap and the rest of the new era cast doesn't matter. It all just feels too perfectly fitting with the time travel. And they barely have troubles to go back and forth, even though it ... was just once both ways. Now the viewer got a brief explanation of the story from the tree spirit, which also offers a quest the girls don’t want. So, they deny. Now somehow Setsuna & Towa do stuff together, even though Setsuna has no interest in doing so and Moroha does her own thing most of the time.
There is nothing for the viewer to really focus on (like some kind of goal) because at some point they just fight random demons, and it doesn't contribute to the story. And except Towa we have no one who is interested in catching that butterfly so why should the viewer be?
The only thing we get to know is that Moroha wants to collect money, because she must pay herself free (??). (Instead of just running away? idk.) And by earning that money it somehow always ties up with Setsunas and Towas Story, so they walk around as trio, but it doesn't feel like one.
The pacing is way too fast. Ep 18 just released, and they already faced the main antagonist. They barely needed any time to fight these 4 Demons, but also there was no actual point in fighting them anyways? No one helped with the butterfly and there was also no money earned. You can just watch them wander around, face a demon, beat it, earn nothing and next episode the same cycle starts again.
Also to the throwbacks: They want to make you believe that SESSHOMARU, the guy who found Rin as a little kid, dead. Was making babys with her? And then he just took the kids and barely someone complained? He took two newborn babies and put them in a forest on their own and you want to tell me no one even tried to make him stop?? Ok.

Character (4):
Setsuna and Moroha really got most of their personality traits from their dads. It is kind of cool to be like "oh that's what InuYasha would do as well" and I think it is normal to have personality traits of your parents. But not when you have literally never seen them?
Setsuna is not interested in anything and her "story" is literally the whole plot. Towa somehow feels a deep connection to Setsuna, even though they also barely saw each other. They do go on their way to catch the Butterfly together, even though Setsuna taking part in this doesn't make great sense as she is not interested in catching it. Moroha just feels thrown in. She doesn't help the storyline develop and she also just does her thing, by "accident" she ends up going the same way as the other two.

Art & Sound (8):
I like that they kept it VERY similar to Inuyasha, because any other thing wouldn't have made sense as it plays in the same world/era. It may be nostalgia talking here but the Soundtracks of Inuyasha are masterpieces and since the ones here in Yashahime are nearly the same they just sound great. They fit the scenes and sometimes they give you some feeling of nostalgia.
The art is also very much kept the same. It's really nice looking.

Overall (5):
I'm giving it a 5 right now, even though idk if it will go down as the episodes are being released. Except the occasional throwback there isn't really something to hold on.

In its original manga and anime run, Inuyasha was a huge hit. The original explored the life of someone who was born between two sides and belonged to neither one. It told a love story that ultimately could have been a metaphor for coping with lost love and moving onto someone else, our tendency as humans to try to see someone we loved and lost in the new person. The list of things that the original Inuyasha tale left behind is long and can be enumerated further, but this review is about its sequel: Yashahime.

This show is being done by the same studio as the ... original and the character designs have largely not changed in style. They are in fact pretty consistently keeping with the original. Sunrise also has a decent sized budget for animation work, though a few cuts did have mediocre background characters and the animation did seem to run low on budget towards the end. The visuals are a solid 6/10. Being Sunrise, they also have a tendency to use pretty strong audio, especially for OP and ED themes. The sound is truly solid. Had the show's substance been done better, I would probably have grown attached to the theme songs. The biases of the story and characters aside, the sound earns a solid 7/10.

The issue with Yashahime lies primarily with its storytelling and characterizations.

Yes, in its 167 episode run, the original Inuyasha had fillers. However, it had a good deal of characterization of minor characters at the very least and substantial characterization of its main cast. Here, however, the fillers are the majority of the show with little to no overplot to tie one episode to the next. Only about the first 4-5 episodes had any substance and direction to them with about one significant flashback some 10+ episodes later. There is effectively no progression plotwise until about the last 3 or so episodes.

The main cast is also notably shallow compared to its predecessor. We have Towa, Setsuna and Moroha, a pair of years-separated twins and a half cousin. There isn't any romance between the main characters this time around, which is fine if that were all. However, their bonds are superficial. Little to no screentime is spent showing them bonding or even compatible to bond as friends, let alone as sisters/kin who are willing to risk their lives for each other.

Of the supporting cast, the minor episodic villains are largely of the slapstick comedic variety that communicate little to no meaning worth contemplating upon their defeat. Miroku and Sango's married lives were shown at one point but amount to effectively a form of non-sexual fanservice of their married lives with kids. New members of the cast like Riku are portrayed with little to no history or motivation and often amount to just acting "cool". Sesshoumaru, a much beloved character of the original series is effectively rendered an illogical plot device in the background just to initiate the setup in episode one and provide convenient combat help. Lastly, the villains' only motivation seems to be a shallow form of narcissism combined with a half-baked excuse of self-preservation according to the prophecy of a rock that never talked let alone predicted futures in the original series.

While a sequel has technically been announced and may address some of the blanks and question marks started by this show, it is unlikely that even combined with the coming sequel's answers that this show would live up to its original. As a standalone entry, these 24 episodes certainly fail to. In fact, in two whole ways, the series is more akin to a mediocre fanfiction with the worst pairing possible.

Story: 4/10
Characterization: 2/10

Yashahime follows the trend of most modern sequels. It’s heavily dependent on the original cast, it has a lot more emphasis on chicks than men, and is overall unneeded and a waste of time. Inuyasha had already outstayed its welcome by over a hundred episodes, but at least it ended. You were free to leave it behind you as a very good action adventure than ran out of juice very quickly and then kept going in circles until you no longer gave a damn. Years later and for no logical financial reason they decided to make a sequel for a show nobody asked for or ... was looking forward to. How did they expect to make back their money I have no idea, since everyone had either moved on to other shows, or stopped watching anime altogether. And they didn’t exactly win back a lot of people with the direction the continuation had. I am not referring only to the callbacks, which were the only interesting thing about it. There were nonstop cameos of older characters and locations for attracting the fans of the original for which they would have a heavy dose of nostalgia about a show they had watched decades ago.

The problem was with the newer stuff which was a complete mess to figure out or to give a damn about in general. It’s all fine when they are showing you what the older characters are doing in flashbacks, but when the plot switches to the newer ones you are just waiting for another flashback. The three girls we are following for most of the show have very little to do compared to their parents. One of them wants to make money. The other one wants to be able to dream again. The third one wants everyone to be friendly with each other. Holy shit, how is any of that interesting? Remember the monk who would be sucked in a black hole at any moment? Now that’t tension. And sure, the objective is to eventually defeat a super powerful demigod, but most of the show is wasted on silly episodic missions with weak enemies. The older series was also full of silly adventures to the most part, but that show came out at a time when having a loose plot was fine. You could have a hundred filler episode of Naruto in a row and people wouldn’t give up. A mostly episodic structure no longer works nowadays. That aside, the fights were far more exciting back then, because the horror aspect was far more prevalent. In Yashahime you never feel any tension or dread, because it’s like a bunch of silly girls going on a picnic. They are more preoccupied with unimportant first world problems than with dealing with demigods who ruined their childhood, hurt their parents, and who want to kill them. And the reason they can be so carefree is because the bad guys are not killing them despite being easy and despite knowing of the prophesy which foretells of their demise by their hands. It’s obvious plot armor and there is no good justification for it.

And even that is peanuts before the incomprehensible plot. They constantly throw these little mysteries in order to make the characters act in mysterious ways. They want to make you believe there is a lot going on behind the scenes and that is why their motivations seem to change from one episode to another. But that is not true. The more they explain what they want to do, the more you realize not even the writers know what is going on. They keep flip flopping for the sake of the plot, or plot armor in general. It’s so jarring.

And what the hell is wrong with their magic powers? Many special attacks in Inuyasha could only be used if you had a special weapon or you went through a specific procedure. In Yashahime most of these special attacks can be used freely and right away. It doesn’t matter what weapon they use and they sure as hell didn’t spend any time in training so they can learn any of those abilities. Like a typical modern shonen, the best powers are given to them right away when the plot demands it, usually in the middle of a fight and with no effort. That makes the fights very boring, because they are won too easily. As a follow up to that, it never feels like they deserve their victories, because they use powers they shouldn’t be able to master so easily. In Inuyasha they would always spend a few episodes on getting a power up, and then a few more on using it properly. There is no such thing in Yashahime; everything is easy and the girls are going on a picnic where they discuss their first world problems. It’s so boring to watch.

Oh, and one last thing. The only time the show created some buzz during its run, was when it was revealed who was the mother of two of the girls. Hell broke loose because it was Rin, a girl that was like a daughter to Sesshomaru. They never showed any romantic interests, not even in the sequel, so it came off as grooming, a very typical thing in anime that feature a man raising a girl as his daughter, only for eventually making her his wife. It doesn’t matter if that was common in feudal Japan. We didn’t see them falling in love, there was no build up to that relationship, and therefore it comes off as disgusting. And that is Yashahime in a nutshell. A show nobody wanted, almost nobody watched, and even those who gave it a chance ended up hating it for having dull main characters, boring fights, incomprehensible bad guys, and disgusting grooming.

it's full of pedophilia and bad story writing
the characters are lovable but it just destroy the original story of inuyasha
and we barely even see the original cast

and to top it all off, they made sesshomaru and rin together, i'm sorry sessrin shippers but i think there are lots of wrong things in their relationship and i can list it:
-the main trio all have the same age that is 14, kagome have moroha in her 20s but rin have towa and setsuna in her teens which is pedophilia if you think about it
-to me their relationship is more to a parental relationship more then lovers so ... making them together ruins the story for me
-it just weird that sesshomaru would marry rin, it gives me a weird and bad taste, it literally gives me the 'i raised her to be my wife vibe' and trust me it's a big no-no. i'm okay if sesshomaru marries someone else (even though i'm a sesshomaru simp) but does it have to be rin?

I may be in a rare position to criticize Hanyou no Yashahime because I started, and finished, all of InuYasha in 2020 before Hanyou no Yashahime was released. Because I watched InuYasha so recently, I do not have fond memories from years past to cloud my judgment. I am able to compare and contrast these two shows rather easily. Given that, I can safely say that if you are looking for an adequate sequel to InuYasha you may be disappointed. I say you “may be disappointed“ because if you can look past the problems with the story and only look at the good parts such ... as the art, then you are in for a good, and perhaps even a great, ride down memory lane. I, however, was not looking for this. I wanted a worthy sequel to InuYasha and I was left rather disappointed. 6/10.

*Spoilers beyond this point*

Quite a bit of the story of Hanyou no Yashahime is rather similar to InuYasha. A few examples are, a girl from the modern-day has to live in a new era killing demons while learning that she has powers, there are jewels that increase the owner’s power, the first demon that the girl from the modern-day has to fight is a warped Ōmukade, and the group of friends has to travel and kill demons, all be it for a different reason. Like in InuYasha, the pre-episode flashbacks are unnecessary, intrusive, and flow-breaking. The flashing of previously introduced character’s names is also unnecessary, intrusive, and flow-breaking. These similarities could be called references to the original, and I wouldn’t have too many issues with that statement, but where I do have irrefutable issues with the story are the plot holes. A plot hole for example such as Kaede still being alive. Canonically about 15 years have passed between the end of InuYasha and the start of Hanyou no Yashahime, and Kaede was 63 at the end of InuYasha, so she would be about 78 now. That is rather old for someone living in that era. Similar maths could be used to work out how old Rin was when she gave birth to Towa and Setsuna. The last plot hole I will cover is the plot hole of Towa not losing her demon powers on the new moon. My immediate reaction to seeing this was “Surely this happened in the present day, right?” Well as it turns out, she “Is originally from this world, so the new moon did not affect her in her world.” Wich I shouldn’t have to tell you, make very little since. Getting off the topic of plot holes, let me discuss the few other problems I have with the story, such as, the story lacking a main villain. Naraku was iconic. He was smart, intimidating, cunning, and strong. He also posed a constant threat to the main and supporting cast. In Hanyou no Yashahime who is there? Riku? Kirinmaru? Both options are unexceptional.

Many unfortunate realities in anime came to light due to the pandemic in 2020. One of those being that some anime don’t look as nice as they arguably should have. Hanyou no Yashahime could be one of those anime. A few times in the series is have noticed small to moderate seized flaws in the animation, but, is this due to the pandemic, or is this the way that it is supposed to look? Are the simplistic sword slashing animations an unfortunate outcome, or are they purposeful? Are the sometimes stale-looking backgrounds a time-saving trick, or are they true to the vision? I will leave those up to the individual to decide. However, something that I shall not leave up to the individual is the character design, and more specifically, Kohaku. His design is rather different from the other demon hunters, and even other characters for that matter. He wears a high collared half cape arrangement that looks very inefficient and unnecessary for such an efficient group as the demon hunters. He also has a cliche scar across his dorsal base. This not only makes him one of two characters with a scar in the whole series but also the only one with a permanently on display scar, which then furthers his visual clash with the other characters. On a similar note, if Rin has brown hair, and Sesshomaru has white hair, then why do Towa and Setsuna have a red streak in their hair? My theory is that the character designers were told that the main cast had to have a similar color scheme, so they added a red streak in Towa‘s and Setsuna’s hair to make them match Moroha’s red robe.

While on the subject of the characters, they are fine. But, I am not really connecting with them. None of the new characters feel as fleshed out as the original ones. This comes to light when the new characters interact with the old ones. The old ones are still fleshed out from the original series while the new ones look flat when compared. Similar to this, Setsuna doesn’t care about Towa, but as soon as she has a vague flashback to her childhood she is caring and protective. This would be wonderful character development, but it happens too quickly and comes off as the plot needed Towa to be saved and this was the most efficient way that it would happen. On a similar note, Towa has a very good grasp of her powers for someone who has just found out that they had them.

My opinion on both of the OPs and both of the EDs are rather similar to the characters. Just replace “connecting with the characters” with “liking the Ops and EDs” and that would encompass my opinion rather nicely. That covers the OPs and EDs, but what of the rest of the music and sound? Well, a lot of it is reused from the original. The flashback music, the fighting music, and others are all extremely similar, if not the same. This is where I have to question if this is an homage, or is it just blatant laziness? A similar thing could be said for the other sounds in the anime. What isn’t reused for the original is generic sound effects found everywhere else. Really, reusing the music from InuYasha would be a nice callback, easter egg, or reference to the original, but the reused music is implemented too frequently for me to believe that it is either of the previous three options.

I enjoyed Hanyou no Yashahime when it was being Hanyou no Yashahime, and not when it was being an InuYasha mimic. Villains that manipulate space-time, mutualistic pond monsters, and magic rouge all create a sense that this is the world we once knew, but with new aspects and challenges that make it feel refreshing. Easter eggs like Moroha being given the same Kappa foot that was given to Kagome is one that I remember off the top of my head. But, the similar story, reusing the music, and the lackluster characters really bring the whole anime down. I will continue watching because maybe the show will become more of its own in the future. That is a 7 for art, a 6 for the characters, enjoyment, and sound, and a 5 for the story. Coming out to a 6 overall.

Disclosure: This is not a full review, these are just my heated thoughts (edited it a bit) after managing to finish this trainwreck of an anime:

This is a disgrace.

Inuyasha was one of my favorite anime series when I was a kid and I remember all the characters very dearly.

This show just stomps on all the original characters to introduce a new uninspired cast that could have perfectly came straight out of an OVA or side story. The way they disregard the old characters is disgusting and sad.

The plot is also a bore to watch and lacks any cohesion. The director had no ... idea what he was doing when he plotted this story. There are loose ends all around and none of them can be remediated with simple flashbacks as they did with Inuyasha and Kagome's (which was terribly executed).

This is one of few anime that I remember having to fast-forward some scenes to be able to get through it. I would have dropped but I was already more than halfway through and wanted to get it done with it. I won't be watching the second season though, no with these characters taking the stage.

It doesn't get a lower score because, artsyle-wise, it remains loyal to the original and the soundtrack was nostalgic, but that's about it. Also, I've seen a lot worst than this. It's just that how they destroyed one of my favorite anime just kills me inside.

They should just have let this one end as it ended with an original, glorious arc. Now, for certain, for me, Inuyasha is dead. But they have killed it.

I won't be writing a full review because I'm afraid more venom will be spilled and honestly, this anime should be forgotten, it was a mistake, and hopefully they don't try to milk it anymore.

Inuyasha is a beloved story with dedicated fans who enjoy it until today. So it would be only fitting that this anime would receive a well written next generation sequel that did the original justice and reminded us how great Inuyasha truly was.

Yeah that didn't happen, instead we got hanyou no yashahime. What started out as a promising announcement (albeit a bit weird since it would focus on Sesshomarus twins instead of Sangos and Mirokus girls) ended up being the most atrocious sequel I have ever seen.

When it was first announced and the artworks for the three main characters dropped I was excited. The girls ... looked great, Towa even looked gnc in her suit. Setsuna looked like a mini Sesshomaru and Moroha was the perfect blend of her parents. If it only stayed that way.

The first episode was the animated extra chapter from the manga which already looked very very wonky. The characters looked younger, their ears bigger and their eyes more asymmetrical than ever. But the story was nice. If only it stayed that way.

The next parts will contain heavy spoilers so be warned.

Right of the bat the show made it clear there aren't three protagonists, there is Towa and her sidekick Setsuna and then there is comedic relief Moroha. As much as I hate the term Towa is a blatant Mary Sue, she doesn't have to train, she doesn't have to work for anything she just gets it. New power here, cool weapon there, win the fight when the two girls who fought and trained almost their entire lives couldn't do shit. She also got to grow up in a nice home with Sota and his family when Moroha who was separated from her parents as a baby, raised by the wolf tribe and then sold as a child slave at 11, had nothing.

That's the other thing. The protagonists of the original are treated absolutely horrible. Right of the bat Sango is referred to only as Mirokus wife, we later learn she also for some reason doesn't want to fight anymore and instead makes masks like a good little wife while Miroku is out training and fighting.
Inuyasha and Kagome got sucked into the black pearl by none other than Sesshomaru and didn't come back the entire series, they're still gone by the end of it and no one cares, not their best friends, not Kaede, not even their own daughter, no one.
Oh and Shippo is just gone.
But don't worry cause Kikyo is back. She is now a tree spirit but aren't we all glad to see her again? :) Don't worry she won't matter later in the show anyways.

The plot makes no sense, everyones motivation is different and it's all over the place. Things don't get explained, the protagonists don't ask questions. New plot points get introduced all the time when none are resolved and then they have the audacity to shove shitty fillers into your face at the very end of the show. There are multiple villains and oh nooo is that Sesshomaru as a villain? Well they already took a big fat dump on the character development of the original show so this shouldn't be surprising.

Sesshomarus motivations are completely unclear. Does he have a plan? Is the dementia finally setting in? Who knows.
Sesshomaru has been a fan favorite for a while so it shouldn't be surprising they wanted to focus a little bit more on him and his family. But what is that? He doesn't care for his family? Yeah you heard right. Not only did he snatch his daughters right after the birth to dump them in a forest, supposedly to be raised by Jaken instead of him but he doesn't even speak more than 10 words to them, leaves them unconscious in the middle of nowhere and BIG SPOILER when one of them dies he just turns around and leaves, A+ parenting!!

Then there is of course the big mystery of the twins mother. It's Rin who would've thunk. But wait there is a neat little twist to this since we got a timeline provided to us of 18 years passing since the first episode which took place half a year after the final act in which Rin was 11 years old. In case that wasn't clear Rin is 15 when she gives birth, yeah you can piece the rest together.
But she clearly must've been very much in love with Sesshomaru and he with her right? Oh boy. Not only aren't they shown in the same frame until episode 23 but they don't ever talk to each other.
Also Rin is shoved in a tree to hibernate for 14 years and didn't get to raise her kids either, fun right? She hasn't aged making her effectively the same age as her daughters.

Aside from the blatant pedo/hebephilia I also want to include the racism and transphobia the show gave us in 2021. Shiori, the little half demon girl from the original makes an appearance in yashahime. She has a human night and her dark skin suddenly gets all white and creamy. Because dark skin is demonic.
In one of the fillers they introduce a character called the lady, who dresses feminine with make up but looks very masculine with a cleft chin, tall, muscular. It's very obvious if you look at her that this was intentional to make her look weird. She also wears hoop earrings, has kinky hair and a little darker skin, which also could be seen as using some black stereotypes.

I know this has been a lengthy review but if you made it to the end you either saw this shit fest or hopefully stay far away from it and the upcoming second season.