WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 25 of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, "Wielding the Tenseiga," now streaming on Crunchyroll, Funimation, Animelab and Hulu.
Fans are buzzing about Sesshōmaru's major role in the Season 2 premiere of Yashahime. As long-standing fans of the Inuyasha franchise already know, Sesshōmaru is not a demon of many words. Despite his celebrated character development and the love he holds for his family, his kuudere personality often prevents him from interfering directly in the lives of others. However, Sesshōmaru's distant and questionable approach to parenting is finally changing for the better in Season 2 of Yashahime.
In the finale of Yashahime Season 2, Setsuna is killed by Kirinmaru when the half-demon princesses band together to defeat him. Upon her death, Sesshōmaru arrives to find a grieving Towa hovering over Setsuna's dead body in the rain. Not willing to accept his daughter's death so easily, Sesshōmaru hands Towa his broken Tenseiga in a last-ditch attempt to resurrect Setsuna. After a long cliffhanger, Season 2 begins with Towa accepting the Tenseiga from her father after he tells her she's the only one who can save her sister's life.
Instead of immediately leaving the scene after handing off the sword as many fans expected, Sesshōmaru remains by his daughter's side throughout this life-or-death scene. He encourages Towa to find her inner strength so she can infuse enough of her demonic energy into the Tenseiga for the resurrection to work. After Towa successfully makes the blade appear but can't physically move, Sesshōmaru asks her why she's hesitating. Realizing her physical limitations, Sesshōmaru patiently waits as Towa gathers enough energy to move and strike down the underworld beings who were trying to take Setsuna's spirit to the afterlife.
After Towa spends every ounce of her energy to save her sister, Sesshōmaru gently catches her as she collapses. He carefully lays her next to the likewise unconscious Setsuna and caresses their faces -- an uncharacteristically tender moment for the demon. While this moment was teased earlier in the Season 2 preview and excited fans on further character development, Sesshōmaru's rare yet clearly visible display of fatherly love satisfied viewers everywhere.
As hordes of demons begin to envelop the family, Sesshōmaru says Setsuna's name in an attempt to awaken her back into the world of the living. Setsuna suddenly wakes up as she's tossed her new weapon that had just been forged by Totosai, allowing her to wipe out all the attacking demons at once. Sesshōmaru could easily have wiped out the demons himself but chose to let Setsuna handle it as a rite of passage, and his actions reveal how much he trusts his capable and powerful daughters to protect themselves.
After ensuring that Towa and Setsuna are both safe, Sesshōmaru hands Totosai the broken Tenseiga and asks him to fix it. While he eventually leaves the cousins and half-demon princesses alone again in typical Sesshōmaru fashion, even Totosai mentions that the dog-demon has grown more tolerant over the years.
To the delight of Yashahime and Inuyasha fans alike, Sesshōmaru has already shown significant character development in Season 2 as he becomes a more hands-on father who intervenes in his daughters' lives more and more. Not only did Sesshōmaru play a much larger role in the Season 2 premiere than most fans expected, but he also talks more than in nearly any episode he's ever been in. Now that Season 2 is finally underway, viewers can look forward to more tender and fatherly moments for the beloved dog-demon.
