Half-Demon Daughters

Translated by: Dylan Acres

The fantasy adventure spanning two eras, the Warring States period and the present day, begins again in the Reiwa Era. This "Feudal Fairytale", woven by three half-demon girls and filled with the supernatural and romantic, finally begins this fall.

Setsuna

Setsuna is Sesshomaru's daughter and Towa's twin sister. However, she has no memory of Towa, who was separated from her at a young age. She is a member of the demon extermination group led by Kohaku.

Towa Higurashi

Towa Higurashi is Sesshomaru's daughter and Setsuna's twin sister. As a child, she traveled in time to the present day and was raised as a daughter by Kagome's younger brother, Sota. She has a quick temper.

Moroha

Moroha is the daughter of Inuyasha and Kagome, and has lived alone since childhood. She spends her days exterminating demons as a bounty hunter and is nicknamed "Moroha the Demon Killer."

Sesshomaru's Two Daughters:

Cool, handsome, proud, and cold-hearted, Sesshomaru was one of the most popular characters in Inuyasha. His daughters, Towa and Setsuna, also share some of Sesshomaru's features. "Setsuna and Towa strongly inherited the 'yin' and 'yang' of Sesshomaru, respectively. For that reason, when considering their characters, Rumiko-sensei also said, 'Forget about the existence of their mother for the time being.'" (Sumisawa) ^[2]

Behind the Scenes:

The character designs for Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha were created by Rumiko Takahashi. "Rumiko-sensei initially told me, 'I can't draw a character unless I'm satisfied with it.' The designs she's currently drawing are the result of many different setting plans we came up with, and she finally gave us the OK." (Sumisawa)

Characters from Inuyasha include Towa's foster father, Sota, who will be familiar to fans of Inuyasha. Also, Kohaku, the leader of the demon extermination group that Setsuna joins, is the younger brother of Inuyasha's companion, Sango. He's also an important figure who held the key to the battle for the Shikon Jewel. Will other characters from Inuyasha make an appearance?

Inuyasha (originally written by Rumiko Takahashi and published by Shonen Sunday Comics) is an action-packed adventure story about Inuyasha, a half-demon living in the Warring States period, and Kagome Higurashi, a modern-day girl who travels back in time to the Warring States period. The anime ran from 2000 to 2004 and depicted a complex human drama involving a mix of humans and demons, as well as the battle for "The Jewel of Four Souls," and the story concluded with a grand finale in Inuyasha: The Final Act, which aired from 2009 to 2010. Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon continues the same worldview while depicting a new adventure. Towa and Setsuna are the daughters of Inuyasha's brother, Sesshomaru, and although they are twins, they live in different eras.

Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter is Moroha. These three girls, of both demon and human descent, are the protagonists of this work. Why do they end up working together? Who is Towa and Setsuna's mother? And why do the three live separately from their parents? At this stage, the full picture of this work is still shrouded in mystery. This month, we interview Katsuyuki Sumisawa, who served as series composition and scriptwriter for Inuyasha and Inuyasha: The Final Act, and who will continue to serve in the same role for this work. It seems that the anime staff's passion for the Inuyasha series is still deeply rooted.

The "Sengoku Otogi Zoshi" series, which details travels between two eras, is written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa

First, please tell me how this work came about.

Sumisawa: More than three years ago, Michihiko Suwa, the producer of the Inuyasha anime, asked me to write a sequel to Inuyasha. I thought, "What's he talking about?" (laughs). After all, Inuyasha is already complete. Rumiko Takahashi-sensei is a consummate author, and she left no gaps. I think there are very few manga that have such a clean, satisfying ending and left such deep emotions. Plus, I wrote the script for the anime, billed as Inuyasha: The Final Chapter, and I ended it myself, so it would have been impossible for me to continue from there.

What direction were Suwa-san thinking of taking the story?

Sumisawa: I also asked him, "Inuyasha and Kagome don't have any issues to address, the Bone-Eater Well (which connects the present day and the Warring States period) is no longer passable, Naraku has been defeated, and the Shikon Jewel is no longer there, so what kind of story are you going to create?" He replied, "That's your job, Sumisawa-san." (laughs)

That's a really unreasonable request. (laughs)

Sumisawa: That's right. So I put it on hold for over two years. However, when I was invited to an anime event in Washington, D.C., there was a local person cosplaying as the Great Dog Demon (Inuyasha and Sesshomaru's father). ^[3] He said to me, "Please make a sequel to Inuyasha soon!" It seems they still see Inuyasha as a popular series that continues to this day. With that in mind, I thought about it again, and finally came to the conclusion that I could write it: "A story about Sesshomaru's daughter."

Why Sesshomaru's child and not Inuyasha's or Kagome's?

Sumisawa: In a story that focuses on the protagonist's child, when the parents appear, they all get the best parts. Rumiko-sensei also analyzed it, saying, "Even if we tried to make it a story about Inuyasha's son facing an incident and taking action, it wouldn't go beyond the problem-solving methods of the Inuyasha series, so it would be impossible." So I suggested to Rumiko, "If it was Sesshomaru's daughter, perhaps the story would unfold differently."

What was Takahashi-san's reaction when you heard the idea?

Sumisawa: At first, she was always thinking, "Hmm..." Of course. Of all the characters created by Rumiko-sensei, Sesshomaru is one I'm particularly attached to. But she said, "But I wonder if Sumisawa-san can do it," so I said, "Please let me do it!" I was grateful that Rumiko-sensei trusted me. I felt a strong need to live up to that trust. In fact, I had considered a story set in the "present day," a time when Sesshomaru has little to do with the story himself, about Sesshomaru's daughters fighting monsters. But that was a complete failure. Looking back, I'm embarrassed that I even came up with such a plan. It would have been interesting in its own way, though. Sumisawa-sensei just couldn't handle it. First of all, it didn't have a serious atmosphere. And it had to cross over between the Warring States period and the present day. Without this element of "Hanyo," the worldview of Inuyasha wouldn't exist. Either one alone wouldn't be a "Sengoku Otogi Zoshi." ^[4]

So how did you decide on the title "Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon"?

Sumisawa: It wasn't too difficult. The word "hanyo," meaning half-human, half-demon, was invented by Rumiko-sensei, and it's understood overseas as "HANYO." So we deliberately used "hanyo," a word that's understood worldwide, in the title. "Yashahime" alone is used elsewhere, so we also wanted to add something to the beginning. Sunrise's Mitsuhiro Ogata said that the "Sengoku Otogi Zoshi" in the logo is "like Mobile Suit Gundam."

So it's a new Sengoku Otogi Zoshi centered around half-demon girls.

Sumisawa: However, while I said earlier that Inuyasha is a manga that doesn't miss a single thing, there are actually a few elements that didn't make it into the anime. For example, there's the story in which Rumiko revived Inuyasha once for the "Heroes Comeback" project, a reconstruction support project for the Great East Japan Earthquake. This story appears in volume 30 of the original Inuyasha wide-format comic. Also, because the anime Inuyasha: The Final Act had a limited number of chapters, several episodes were left untouched. So I felt that I had to write those.

At this stage, two questions are of interest to fans: "Why aren't Inuyasha, Kagome, and Sesshōmaru raising children?" and "Who is Sesshomaru's wife?"

Sumisawa: That's right. I can't reveal the answers here, but with Rumiko Takahashi's supervision, there's no way we'd leave such a crucial issue unaddressed. Of course, this will be properly depicted in the main story, so please look forward to it. Sumisawa's story will continue in the next issue. Stay tuned!

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Footnotes

• [1] Rie Nakashima (中嶋理恵) worked as art director on Pokemon the Movie (劇場版ポケットモンスター ミュウツーの逆襲) as well as Inuyasha Movie 2: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass as well as Kekkaishi (結界師).
• [2] Katsuyuki Sumisawa (隅沢克之) is the series composition (basically a head writer) and screenwriter for Inuyasha, Inuyasha: The Final Act, and all four of the Inuyasha movies as well as Yashahime. Additionally, he is the series compositor for Mobile Suit Gundam Wing (新機動戦記ガンダムＷ), and has written numerous episodes of Dragon Ball Z (ドラゴンボール) and Sailor Moon (美少女戦士セーラームーン).
• [3] This would have been Otakon 2017, which was held August 11-13, 2017 in Washington, D.C.
• [4] Sengoku Otogi Zoshi (-戦国御伽草子-) is translated as "A Feudal Fairy Tale" in English and has always been used as a subtitle for Inuyasha and is continued in Hanyo no Yashahime.

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