WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 38 of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, "Kirinmaru of the Dawn," now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Animelab and Hulu.
The latest episode of Yashahime proves how far Sesshōmaru is willing to go to protect and reunite his entire Great Dog Demon family. After finally reuniting with Rin, Sesshōmaru rushes off to save Moroha from Kirinmaru's attack. When Sesshōmaru sacrifices himself to save the three half-demon princesses and safely reunite them with Inuyasha and Kagome within the Black Pearl, the Great Dog Demon may be forced to pay the ultimate price.
After Sesshōmaru gives Moroha the Black Pearl in the previous episode so she could find her parents, Kirinmaru quickly arrives to blackmail her. He steals the pearl and offers to give it back if Moroha finds Akuru and retrieves his pinwheel that is crucial to the Windmill of Time. However, Moroha refuses his offer because she's in a rush to meet her parents and wants to prevent Kirinmaru from manipulating the Windmill of Time to bring about the Degenerate Age. While Moroha turns into Beniyasha and bravely fights Kirinmaru head-on, the Beast King of the East easily overpowers her before her half-demon cousins arrive to offer their support.
When Sesshōmaru detects Kirinmaru and Moroha's fight while holding Rin inside the Tree of Ages, he rushes off to save his half-niece in the place of her own parents who couldn't be there. While the Great Dog Demon's caring and protective instincts over his half-niece may shock some viewers, his actions prove that his familiar love extends to Inuyasha's family as well.
Sesshōmaru convinces Kirinmaru to fight him in Moroha's place, and the two beast kings engage in a cosmic-scale battle where the Bakusaiga and Bakuseiken swords clash once again. When the three cousins decide to interfere in the battle to help Sesshōmaru, Kirinmaru becomes infuriated and aims his most powerful technique at the girls. Sesshōmaru uncharacteristically breaks his usual calm and stoic composure by becoming visibly angry when Kirinmaru insults and threatens the half-demon princesses.
As Kirinmaru's massive Demon Fireball attack approaches the cousins, Sesshōmaru jumps in front of them and absorbs the entire attack instead of deflecting it. Despite being Kirinmaru's ultimate move he hadn't used in over 500 years, Sesshōmaru successfully endures the initial attack to save his twin daughters and half-niece. While his eyes become hollow and he succumbs to his injuries, the Great Dog Demon has just enough energy to toss the Black Pearl at the three half-demons and send them to Tōga's tomb where Kirinmaru can't reach them.
The attack robs Sesshōmaru of his Haku, or life essence, that gradually drains from his body before he collapses to the ground as Rin and Jaken stand and helplessly watch. Despite the life-threatening injuries that bring him to the brink of death, Sesshōmaru is able to conceal his presence from Kirinmaru so he can't find his body.
Meanwhile, the half-demon princesses arrive at the Border of the Afterlife, where their grandfather is laid to rest. Soon after their arrival, Kagome finds them, while Moroha is shocked to encounter her mother for the first time. After close examination and verifying that she's indeed her daughter, Kagome hugs Moroha as they both cry in an emotional and touching reunion that fans have been waiting for since the series began. As they embrace, Inuyasha clumsily steps into the scene, and he's completely stunned when he sees his daughter. Not wanting to interrupt the reunion, Towa and Setsuna remain happy in the background as more of their family is brought together.
Sesshōmaru spends many years being the primary protector of the three half-demon princesses while Rin, Kagome and Inuyasha aren't around to assist in their upbringing and safety. Despite securing the safety of his own wife and twin daughters, Sesshōmaru puts his life on the line to protect his half-niece whose parents aren't around to save her themselves. In his final act, he uses the last bit of energy he has to send the three girls to safety where Inuyasha and Kagome can watch over them in his place. While this risky sacrifice leads to the Great Dog Demon's downfall, Sesshōmaru proves once and for all that his family is his greatest responsibility and first priority.
