WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Episode 2 of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, "The Three Princesses," now streaming on Crunchyroll, Hulu and Funimation.
Episode 2 of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon spends its time introducing the origins of our three new heroines, with a particular focus on Towa, and setting up a potential source of conflict. Unlike Episode 1, "The Three Princesses" is really telling its own story, less connected to the original Inuyasha cast.
This episode reveals Towa and Satsume are twin sisters. They spent the first few years of their lives together, living idyllically in the forest. The two children get along perfectly, though they don't seem to have any sort of parental figures in their life. For now, their ultimate origin is still left a mystery.
Towa's life changes forever during a forest fire. The twins are running through the forest, holding hands, when Satsume slips and falls. For just a moment, Towa keeps running. She stops and turns around, but this brief bit of selfishness will have severe consequences. When she turns back to grab Satsume, a huge vortex appears out of a tree, sucking in Towa and sending her to the future. Once there, Towa is taken in by a kind stranger, Papa Sota, and spends the next 10 years of her life living in present-day Japan.
Towa's character development is the focus for most of "The Three Princesses." As it turns out, she's plagued by bullies and is constantly being moved from school to school. She's constantly fighting, to the point she wears a boys uniform because it's more practical for combat. Towa mentions that she isn't sure if the forest was a dream, but that she is certain Satsume is real and still carries around guilt from leaving her in the fire. Still, she seems fairly happy and content with herself, and she loves her family very much, particularly her little step-sister Mei.
Towa is aware of her demonic powers, which allow her enhanced agility and strength, but she hides them for her family's sake. She cares deeply about family, which leads her bullies to kidnap her little sister and threaten her. Towa reveals her powers to save her family, breaking her promise to Papa Sota.
Back in the past, Moroha and Satsume's story offers a glance at what may be Yashahime's central conflict. Moroha's waiting around in the mountains when she's suddenly confronted by a group of demon slayers-- the leader of which is a grown Kohaku, Sango's brother. Among the hunters is Satsume, and after making some comments about Moroha's demonic heritage, they all start fighting.
Moroha is clearly a wild, fiery personality with a tremendous amount of self-confidence. Meanwhile, Satsume has become cold and reserved, at least in battle. While Towa has been able to endure the separation and come out relatively happy, Satsume does not seem happy at all.
As they fight, they're interrupted by a centipede demon, a nice callback to the start of Kagome's adventure in the original Inuyasha. The centipede demon is after something -- rainbow pearls. As it turns out, Moroha and Satsume each possess a rainbow pearl that gives them power. As the demon successfully steals their enchanted gems, a portal opens up in a tree, and Moroha, Satsume and the demon are thrown into future Japan, where they immediately encounter Towa -- the owner of the third rainbow pearl.
There's no doubt that these pearls will be very important in the series, much of the plot of Inuyasha was driven by the magical Shikon Jewel. What the particular goal for the overarching story will be is so far unclear, but for now, the show's doing a good job introducing its characters.
