English Dub Review: Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon “Meeting Through An Apple”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Towa and Setsuna join Kohaku, Hisui, Rokuta and Nansuke to take down a spider demon. Kohaku comments that the twins are getting better at working together, and even compliments Towa on her demon sensing skills. Kyuki reports to her master, Kirinmaru, warning him about Moroha, Towa, and Setsuna defeating Tokotsu. She even identifies Towa and Setsuna as Sesshomaru’s daughters, and asks to take care of it. Meanwhile, the demon hunting group retires to the village for the night. Towa asks Setsuna to play her violin for a bit, which she does. We’re treated to a dream sequence of what life could’ve been like if they’d grown up together in the modern age, enjoying a shopping spree, stuffed animals, and Setsuna being able to sleep. Unfortunately, the dream is just that, and Towa wakes up to find Setsuna’s left her behind. Determined to show Setsuna that she’s not in the way, Towa heads off on her own to prove she’s reliable. She sets course to the mountains to find the dream butterfly. On the way, she meets a mysterious green-eyed boy who claims to be a pirate, and goes by Riku. She’s immediately annoyed with him and his constant calling her a princess, but sticks with him until they reach a river for a snack break. Riku summons water out of the river for a drink using his blue pearl earring, impressing Towa enough to share her food. He’s amazed by the taste of her modern-day apple, and gifts her a sword in exchange: the REAL Kikujumonji. Shortly after he steps onto a passing river boat and leave her with his “gift”, she’s arrested by the deputy shogun for stealing the Kikujumonji, and taken to his castle for interrogation (tying back to the scenes from the first and second episodes.) Back at the village, Kaede tells Setsuna that Towa headed off on her own, trying to prove that she could be reliable. Setsuna is highly annoyed, and sets out to retrieve her sister. Moroha is on her way to attempt to kill Kyuki, and tries to get a bit more information about the high-level job out of Takechiyo, who’s more interested in ensuring the job actually gets done. Moroha spots Setsuna, and informs her about the new demon hunting job, while Setsuna gets her up to speed about Towa’s disappearance, and the two set off to rescue their lost friend.

Our take:

Earlier this week I read a review saying that Yashahime is intended for younger audiences, so each episode is designed to stand alone. While that does explain some of the redundant re-introductions of even main characters, I feel that someone watching this for the first time would be deeply confused by, well, all of it? It also doesn’t quite make sense to design a series with completely  anymore, since streaming allows for (and even encourages) bingeing. Regardless of the standalone intentions (or lack thereof), this episode kicks off with an extended intro about Setsuna and Towa’s story, then quickly gets to the action packed demon hunting and slightly less action-packed meeting a pirate in the woods. Most significantly though, this episode’s main storyline eventually leads back to the scene from the very first episode where Towa’s been captured.

I’m a huge fan of Towa’s navigation skills, “Ok, east is that way!” and while I don’t quite understand the grape/berry motif from this episode, it did make Kirinmaru seem extra intimidating, even while kind of making a pun, and lent just a touch of ominous foreshadowing to Riku as well. The voice actors for these two characters absolutely nail their debuts in this series, with Crispin Freeman (that’s Alucard for my fellow Hellsing fans) making Kirinmaru’s cold, detached personality evident in every word, while Zach Aguilar (who you may have heard in One Punch Man, where he voices Genos) ensures Riku’s constant badgering isn’t too annoying, and is actually just a touch manipulative. It’s also great to hear from Dawn M. Bennett as Kyuki again, although I’m eagerly waiting for when we get to see her in full tiger yokai form. I don’t know if green eyes are being used as an indicator of villains, but Riku and Kyuki both sporting this eye color seems significant at this point. I’m definitely interested to see how that develops, if at all.

The humor in this episode finds a nice balance, with Takechiyo asserting that Towa’s the most reliable of the three girls, much to Setsuna and Moroha’s ire, then shortly afterwards getting frozen by Fubuki. I also appreciate the action scenes, even if we have to wait until nearly the end of the episode to get them. It’s also nice to have it revealed that Towa’s not as helpless as she seemed in early episodes where she was tied up. This revisiting of the earlier scenes establishes that she was still be able to use her demon energy to assist with Moroha locating Fubuki’s main body, and taking the demon out with a Sacred Arrow. The slow-mo results of Moroha rushing in against the owl demon also have their own flair. Finally, Setsuna’s begrudging acknowledgement that her sister’s actually reliable is hopefully the start of their reconciliation arc, but I guess we’ll have to wait and see (likely for the rest of the season) how the relationship between these two long lost sisters develops.