Ever since the rise of Japanese
pop culture internationally there has been a number of manga and anime – the latter
usually being adaptations of the former – that have gotten mainstream media
attention. Among these is “Inuyasha” by Rumiko Takahashi, about a Japanese
schoolgirl and Shinto shrine maiden that travels to feudal Japan for adventures
with a half-demon warrior with whom she has romantic tension with. From that
basic setup ran a manga series that Takahashi kept going from 1996 to 2008, such
that its anime adaptation actually took a break before finishing up in 2009-10.
Last May however came the announcement of an anime spinoff-sequel starring the “Inuyasha”
cast’s children.
And as Newsweek tells it, the
first official trailer for “Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon,” an anime-only
follow-up to Rumiko Takahashi’s manga “Inuyasha,” was released Friday last
week, August 7, courtesy of Viz Media. As with the original anime adaptation,
Sunrise is producing the new series, which will chronicle the adventures of the
twin daughters of Sesshoumaru, the demon half-brother of the source story’s hero
Inuyasha, along with his daughter by his wife from future Japan, Kagome. Just
as Viz handled the North American dub licensing for “Inuyasha,” so it will be doing
the same for “Yashahime.”
The trailer on Viz Media’s
YouTube channel gives a closer look at the next-generation lead characters for
the upcoming anime, the initial designs and general backstory for which were
revealed back in May. The focus is on the half-demon twin sisters Towa and
Setsuna, children of Sesshoumaru, separated during a forest fire in feudal-age
Japan. Towa magically finds herself in present-day Tokyo, where she is found
and raised by the family of her human half-aunt Kagome for ten years. She
becomes a tough yet compassionate tomboy teenager who prefers wearing male
fashion and practicing swordsmanship.
Her twin Setsuna, left in the
past, is raised and trained by the demon hunter Kohaku, becoming a skilled yet
stoic warrior. She crosses paths with Moroha, a fellow half-demon and daughter
of Inuyasha and Kagome. Left to fend on her own as another demon slayer, Moroha’s
encounter with Setsuna leads to the portal connecting past and future Japan to
reopen, reuniting Setsuna with Towa, though the former has forgotten the
latter. The three half-demon girls now find themselves investigating a malevolent
demon that Inuyasha, his wife and their friends battled in the past, forcing
them to travel between two time periods to find their missing memories and
their families.
Rumiko Takahashi provides the
character designs while Sunrise handles the production of “Yashahime:
Half-Princess Demon,” which will reunite the studio staff that worked on the “Inuyasha”
anime from 2000-04, and then 2009-10. The series will premiere in Japan this
October, with Viz handling digital streaming for North and Latin America.
Image courtesy of Manga Thrill
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