Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - The Second Act

Episode 14

I may be erring on the side of a higher rating for this episode, but I feel like this was a long time coming – Moroha finally gets to reunite with her parents. In some ways this is a more significant development than the twins getting to see their mother. They always knew what they were working towards, and saving Rin was the backbone of the story for most of the series thus far. They also had, compared to Moroha, a lot of interactions with their father, so even if they didn't grow up with their parents, they at least knew where they were and got to see their dad. Moroha, on the other hand, has been parentless in a much more solid sense, and apart from that one glimpse they got of each other, there's been no contact whatsoever. She may have been conflicted about seeing them when she initially got the black pearl, but as the preview for next week shows, deep down inside she really, really wanted her mom and dad.

Of course, first we have to get there, and that's rather a more complicated process, or at least one that involves once again fighting Kirinmaru. As you recall, he was holding the pearl hostage until Moroha brought him Akuru, and sensible girl that she is, she has exactly zero plans to do that. After all, getting her parents back won't mean anything if she gives Kirinmaru the ability to destroy the world. She's of course no match for him, and I'm seriously starting to doubt the utility of her Benimaru form, but that's why one has cousins and a surly, emotionally challenged uncle to come to the rescue.

Sesshomaru's decision to help his niece is mildly surprising. He hasn't been the world's most active relative over the course of two seasons, and a piece of me would have thought that he's put Rin above the girls. But maybe that's exactly what he's doing. Rin's one great desire is to reunite with her daughters; it's almost the first thing she asks about when the curse is broken and she falls into her husband's arms. If her girls are incinerated by Kirinmaru's purple fireball of doom, that's something she might not ever be able to get over. In light of that, we could read Sesshomaru coming to the girls' aid as something he's doing for Rin as much as anyone else. Presumably he knows that she's not going to just stay put inside the tree with Jaken like he instructed, and coming out to the crispy remains of her children would not work out in anyone's favor but Kirinmaru's.

Of course, it's possible that the show wants us to fully believe that he's doing this for the girls alone. There's been at least a modicum of effort put in to make one of the series' themes be the relationship between daughters and parents, with Kirinmaru's descent into true evil possibly taking place because of his own daughter's death. That that very daughter now wants to kill her father is presumably going to lead to the truth about that, because she really may be the only person who can get close enough to do it by virtue of her relationship with him – and Kirinmaru's death will have an effect on the other relationship we've seen a fair amount of, that between the two halves of a couple. Sesshomaru and Rin have been separated for most of the series, Inu Yasha and Kagome have been together but cut off from the rest of the world. If the opening theme is to be believed, Towa and Riku are intended to be a third (at least potential) couple, and Kirinmaru's death would separate them forever, because as a part of Kirinmaru, his death will also mean Riku's. Or at least that's what we're meant to believe; I'm skeptical because, well, I don't believe that the show would do that to Towa, but also because antlers long outlast their original owners. They decorate homes and can be found in the woods decades after the deer or moose has passed on, so why should Riku be any different?

Maybe that's me being too optimistic. But I like a happy ending, even in a mediocre, uneven show like this one, which is why I'm hopeful – both for Riku's ultimate fate and for next week's full reunion of Moroha's family.

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Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - The Second Act is currently streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, and Hulu.