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NEWS: Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon TV Anime Gets 'Part II' Sequel

Frankly, I've long been baffled about why this series is getting ragged on so much. While the characters focused on may be different, the series has, for me, had a similar enough feel and entertainment value to what Inuyasha was doing in the middle of its run. The only significant negative I can see, by comparison, is that Towa is just kinda there personality-wise.

I think Inuyasha, at times (like in the middle of it's run as Key said), had some of the same episode formulas as Yashahime: who's the monster of the week we have to beat now? I think both Inuyasha and Yashahime feel a bit too episodic at times

Shiyonasan wrote:

I think Inuyasha, at times (like in the middle of it's run as Key said), had some of the same episode formulas as Yashahime: who's the monster of the week we have to beat now? I think both Inuyasha and Yashahime feel a bit too episodic at times

The key difference being that, for however much it meandered (and it meandered a LOT), Inuyasha still had clear stakes and clear goals for its characters that progressed in a way that made sense. There was always a forward momentum because the characters were always on the move, so you knew there was an eventual destination.

But Yashahime? The characters were extremely static, both in location and in development. Multiple episodes began with them talking to Hisui and taking random odd jobs from the exact same locale, so there was never a sense of that movement to a destination. And the character's motivations remained either underexplored (Towa), so mundane that there's nothing to latch onto (Moroha), or actually just nonexistent (Setsuna). Why should we care about Towa finding the butterfly if she barely remembers to look for it, and most of the show is spent with them in the same locations instead of doing anything about anything?

They may both have monster-of-the-week material, but the execution is vastly different.

The key difference being that, for however much it meandered (and it meandered a LOT), Inuyasha still had clear stakes and clear goals for its characters that progressed in a way that made sense. There was always a forward momentum because the characters were always on the move, so you knew there was an eventual destination.

But Yashahime? The characters were extremely static, both in location and in development. Multiple episodes began with them talking to Hisui and taking random odd jobs from the exact same locale, so there was never a sense of that movement to a destination. And the character's motivations remained either underexplored (Towa), so mundane that there's nothing to latch onto (Moroha), or actually just nonexistent (Setsuna). Why should we care about Towa finding the butterfly if she barely remembers to look for it, and most of the show is spent with them in the same locations instead of doing anything about anything?

They may both have monster-of-the-week material, but the execution is vastly different.

Frankly, I've long been baffled about why this series is getting ragged on so much. While the characters focused on may be different, the series has, for me, had a similar enough feel and entertainment value to what Inuyasha was doing in the middle of its run. The only significant negative I can see, by comparison, is that Towa is just kinda there personality-wise.

The other major difference I can see is that this series, unlike the original, has no core romantic elements. It lacks some drama because of that, but that element also got soap opera-ish at times in the original so it's personal taste as to whether that counts as a positive or negative.

Anyway, while this show has not been a priority view for me for the last few weeks, I'll definitely be back for another season.

I also wonder if the lack of a TV broadcast is hurting Yashahime’s success in NA. A Toonami broadcast might have had the chance to expand the show with casual fans or newer fans who didn’t grow up with the original but now it seems like it’s mainly the hardcore Inuyasha fans watching it. I’m not sure why Toonami hasn’t already aired it since a simuldub was produced for it instead of rerunning Demon Slayer again. And I feel like I haven’t seen Viz promoting Yashahime on social media quite as much as they have been with their BD sets for the original Inuyasha.

And I feel like I haven’t seen Viz promoting Yashahime on social media quite as much as they have been with their BD sets for the original Inuyasha.

As for popularity, it airs right in the family (read: kids) time slot on Saturday afternoon just before Detective Conan (on NTV, same station) and before Doraemon (on Asahi). That whole time period on Saturdays and Sundays is purely "family time" and those shows are always the most watched anime in Japan. So you've got kids and parents at home watching between 4:30~6:30 pm. That's where this show is slotted, meaning the audience is expected to be the same people watching those other shows. Nothing wrong with that; you just have to keep it in mind that the TV is on while the family is doing their weekend stuff, so of course the rating might be high.