English Dub Review: Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon “Night of the New Moon and the Black-haired Towa”

Overview (Spoilers Below):

Konton makes good on his promise from “Meifuku, the Meioju” to come after the girls again.

He sends Nikosen to “dance for him.” This demon, who was a monk in his previous life, agrees to face off against the “distasteful” half demons and retrieve the rainbow pearls.

Towa is gung-ho about their assignment from Kohaku to slay Nikosen. Setsuna is unimpressed by her twin’s enthusiasm, but the two set off on Kirara nonetheless.

They meet up with Moroha, who’s investigating the dried up trees and soil with some villagers. She hopes to slay Nikosen and claim the bounty.

The three head off to take on the beast, but Towa is unable to summon her demon sword. Setsuna also notes her heart rate is high.

Moroha is able to behead Nikosen, but not before he sprays poison. Setsuna gets the weakened Towa to safety, then leaves to pursue the apparition’s disembodied head. Moroha attempts to help Towa across a bridge to get to a nearby village.

While on the bridge, Towa’s hair changes to black and grows longer. Moroha also notes she can’t sense any demon energy, when the two are attacked by Nikosen again. Moroha, impressed by his ability to regenerate his head, tries to cut him in on a continuous bounty-claiming deal before he throws her and Towa into the gorge.

With help from Myoga, Moroha places seals of protection on a cave. She and the flea theorize about the effects of the new moon on Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha herself.

Meanwhile, Setsuna works with Hisui to set the mountain on fire in order to burn the demon out. He crashes into the cave where Moroha and Towa are hiding, attempts to eat Setsuna, and is only defeated when Towa regains her powers at the last second to save the day.

Konton, who’s watching from afar, finds the encounter entertaining and informative about the half-demons’ newly revealed weakness.

Our take:

If you’ve seen the “new moon” episodes of Inuyasha, you’re familiar with the concept of half-demons losing their powers during this time.

This episode brings this idea to the sequel, but with fairly disappointing results.

While it could have been potentially interesting to have all three of our protagonists experience weakness from a loss of their demon power, having Towa be the only one to experience it proves to be an odd choice. It further reinforces her status as the weak one in the group, which she only redeems at the last second.

Additionally, she mentions this never happened when she was living in the modern age. Myoga and Moroha’s stumbled explanations of why that might be (and why Setsuna’s not impacted at all) are just confusing.

Despite the plot missteps, the voice acting in this episode is stellar. Jason Marnocha (Keicho Nijimura in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure, and Victor in the upcoming Lackadaisy short) brings some truly villainous tonality to Nikosen. It’s a shame we won’t be hearing more from this character, but hopefully Marnocha will return for another role.

Erica Mendez does a fantastic job of weakening Towa’s voice while in her full human form, even if it does slide just a tad bit whimpery for my tastes.

It’s also great to hear Alan Lee (Terunosuke Miyamoto from JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable) as Kohaku and Aleks Le (Mario Zucchero in JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind...is this episode a JoJo reference?) as Hisui, even if they only get a few lines each.

Visually, Towa’s transformation is subtle, but interesting. I could do without the extended focus on her dazed look, but since that is the focus of the episode, it makes sense.

Despite the behind-the-scenes talent, this episode seems a little weaker than previous offerings. But every season has its slumps.

By next week, I’m sure the demon powers (and plot development) will be back in full force. Here’s hoping the next five episodes finish the season out strong!