Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - The Second Act

Episode 7

It's not all that uncommon for a transitional episode to feel like it's trying to do too many things at once, but this one seems a bit more crowded than it strictly needs to be. There are several important plot points touched on: Moroha taking a job as Takechiyo's bodyguard feels like the least of them, but learning that Setsuna and Towa's relationship is troubled because neither twin quite knows what to do with, or expect from, the other seems fairly significant. It's something that's been touched on before, but now that they're truly on the clock in terms of saving Rin, their uneasy relationship has come much more to the fore, because if they're going to get their mom out of the mess she's in, they'll need to understand each other a lot better. In that sense, having Moroha work with Takechiyo feels a bit like an easy way to get the twins to spend time alone together to move this point along.

Although they don't really get into it, a lot of the girls' issues stem from their very different personalities and upbringings. Setsuna is very much a child of the Sengoku era – she's tough, knows exactly what her capabilities are and how best to use them, and has a rather grimmer outlook on life. Towa is more a child of the modern world. Her worldview comes from only having really read about violence rather than experiencing it, and that gives her less of a realistic view on why she needs to learn that sometimes it's okay to dodge instead of facing danger head-on. Towa doesn't know when to retreat because she's never really had to, or at least not when faced with life-or-death consequences. Setsuna – and Kohaku, who pops by this week – see this as making Towa the weaker of the two, or at least the one in more danger. Towa sees her sister as being overly cold because she won't treat her as an equal, when really what Setsuna's doing is protecting her heart in case Towa gets herself killed. It's not so much a failure to communicate as it is an inability to see that they're approaching the world from very different angles.

Despite that, I'm not thrilled with Riku's assessment that Towa is less protector and more protectee. I see where he's coming from; it's the same place as Kohaku and Setsuna in assessing Towa's chances of survival with her current attitude. But she's also not some damsel in distress, and while Towa and Riku are still pretty far from having what I'd call a relationship, him approaching her with that thought in mind isn't likely to do either of them (or their potential romance) any good. And, yes, it also just annoyed me, history-appropriate though the comment might have been. But since Towa isn't likely to just sit back and go all princess on us, she may let Riku teach her in a way that Kohaku cannot – she may feel that things are more equal with Riku and Rion, or that their association with Kirinmaru gives them a better grasp of what she'll need to defeat him.

In any event, all of that feels a little lost in the quick changes between groups of characters. It's nice to see that Zero does in fact still have some warm feelings for her mostly-dead niece, but all she does this week is to remind us that she's there and still gunning for Rin and her kids. Rion's assessment that Zero's as frozen in time as she was is doubtless true – holding on to her grudge isn't a great way to move on – but it feels as if it could have been better placed within the larger story framework. And if Takechiyo has a point beyond being the cute mascot-style character, I've yet to see it. As I said, his plotline seems mostly designed to get Moroha away from the other two girls.

But things look like they may pick up next week. Towa may have some hidden strengths that Setsuna, Kohaku, and Riku are all ignoring, and I suspect they may come to light in episode eight.

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