English Dub Review: Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon “The Dream Gazing Trap”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Moroha and Setsuna jump over a frozen Takechiyo in pursuit of owl demon Yotsume, causing the young racoon dog demon to burst out of her icy prison in anger. Towa fortunately subdues her with some fruit snacks, allowing the group to make use of her powers to pursue the beast. Corpse dealer Jyubei is fishing at night when he’s approached by Riku. The two plot to use Towa, Moroha, and Setsuna to take down the Four Perils. Jyubei comments that Riku could use his powers to take down the Four Perils himself, but Riku reveals that he’ll wait until the three half-demon girls do the dirty work, then swoop in to take their rainbow pearls for himself. Back with Yotsume, he’s gone running to his master Kyuki, who refuses to let him into the safety of the cave, but instructs him to use his Dream Gazing spell, enhanced with a rainbow pearl to sus out the girls’ weaknesses. Moroha appears to make short work of him with her Heavenly Arrow Barrage, but he manages to subdue her with his Dream Gazing spell. Setsuna gathers up her friend and moves her to safety, unaffected by the magic herself. Towa and Takechiyo catch up to the action, only to immediately be paralyzed by the owl demon’s spell. Setsuna grumbles that they’re all such a handful before we’re treated to sequences from each of girl’s dreams, but all mixed up. Moroha sees Takechiyo’s dream of being left with Jyubei by Miroku, Takechiyo sees the last time Moroha saw her parents (and Kirinmaru), and Towa sees the dream butterfly, that leads her to the Tree of Ages. Setsuna finally takes down Yotsume, and when the rest of her crew wakes up, they charge in to take on Kyuki. The harpy proves a formidable foe, using her rainbow pearl to absorb Towa and Moroha’s demon energy. Moroha helps Towa figure out she has the ability to absorb demon energy, and she jumps to Setsuna’s aid.

Our take:

This dreamy episode manages to cover a lot of ground with motivations, hinting towards who the show’s real villain is, and how the fate of our four young protagonists is defined by, but distinct from, that of the previous generation.

Takechiyo is my least favorite character (despite the quality dub provided by Ryan Bartley, who sounds wildly different here compared to her performance as Shizuku in The Irregular at Magic High School) with supposed comic relief that somehow manages to be more annoying than even Shippo. However, this episode’s decisions to straight up Scooby Snack her (while also hinting at her connection to the original series’ cast) might be enough to make me reconsider. While I don’t love the fact that this character seems to have the strongest ties to the events of Inuyasha, it’s always good to see the original cast, even if Miroku’s appearances are a slightly bittersweet reminder Kirby Morrow’s untimely passing earlier this year, even if it was a wordless encounter, at least this time.

While the action sequence was a little more condensed than usual, seeing more of Riku’s plan fall into place is satisfying in its own way. I do wish Kyuki had gotten a little more screen time, especially in her full tiger demon form, but what can you do when a character’s a fairly minor villain in an adventure series? Dawn M. Bennett will be sorely missed if this is, in fact, her last appearance for the series, but her incredibly intimidating voice performance will certainly stand out as one of this show’s strong suits.

There seems to be more of a mystery aspect to Yashahime as compared to Inuyasha, where it was always fairly clear who the main antagonists were, but at this point, I’m still enjoying watching the story unfold little by little. That could change if things start to get exceptionally confusing, but seeing the slow shifts in Setsuna starting to care for and respect Towa, and the two of them along with Moroha becoming a more effective team is where the quality is. I can wait to see how it ties in to a larger story over time, and get answers to questions about what happened to Kagome, Inuyasha, Sango, and Miroku as the plot progresses. For now, it’s fun to see these girls take on awesome demons and chase their dreams (and dream butterflies.)