Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		3.0
Overall		4.0

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie Review

YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 continues the epic journey. The second part of the second season, YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 provides the second half. The action-adventure sequel and continuation of the InuYasha series finds more ways to explore the InuYasha franchise.

Created by beloved manga artist Rumiko Takahashi (InuYasha), the YashaHime anime is produced by Hisakazu Naka as a follow up to the classic InuYasha saga. YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 features animation production by Sunrise (Inuyasha, InuYasha: The Final Act). Series production is by Shogakukan (Maison Ikkoku, Pokémon: Lucario and the Mystery of Mew), Sunrise (The Big O, InuYasha), and YTV (Case Closed, InuYasha).

Executive produced by Kana Sasaki (Mikito Bizenjima, Frieren: Beyond Journey's End) and Shin Sasaki (Buddy Complex), YashaHime features opening theme music performed by NEWS (opening one) and SixTONES (opening two). The ending theme song music created for YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 is performed by Little Glee Monster (ending one) and adieu (ending two). YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 also features voice performances by Azusa Tadokoro, Mikako Komatsu, and Sara Matsumoto. Fans of InuYasha and YashaHime (following along with the saga) won’t want to miss the excitement of Season 2, Part 2.

The journey of YashaHime is reaching the conclusion. As the tale unfolds in Season 2: Part 2, both Setsuna and Towa find themselves in a new predicament as a valiant effort ultimately ensures that the curse on their mother is finally lifted. Despite the curse now being bypassed, the adventure is far from over. Towa and Setsuna must still manage to defeat Kirinmaru. The epic confrontation is one with much hanging in the balance – the stakes are high. Could Earth be destroyed if Kirinmaru is not defeated? The tale is approaching the epic finale – and all bets are off.

The animation remains a wonderful spotlight within the production. The animation features superb art direction by Shigemi Ikeda (InuYasha, My Hero Academia) and Yukiko Maruyama (One Punch Man, My Hero Academia) and chief animation direction by Yoshihito Hishinuma (InuYasha, Tales of the Abyss). Combined with animation character designs by Yoshihito Hishinuma (InuYasha, Tales of the Abyss), YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 continues to provide first-rate animation that adds so much to the production. The animators on the series did great work enhancing the series sense of fun with impressive animation and artistry that adds so much depth to the series.

The art style stays true to the original InuYasha anime series and the stylistic elements from the original continue to carry forward in the sequel series. The animation is one of the greatest strengths of the entire series with the series showcasing outstanding colors and wonderful details in the animation. The animators bring to life impressive background animation and the characters are well integrated into the series.

The result is something that taps into the original magic of the InuYasha series and paves the way for both a new generation of fans and established audiences who cherish the original saga. An impressive feat from everyone involved in the production. The art work continues on with the legacy of the art from creator Rumiko Takahashi.

The cinematography by Shigemi Ogawa (InuYasha: The Final Act, Tales of the Abyss) adds something special to the series, too. The cinematography on YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 shines with colorful imagination – highlighting the visuals with an enriching sense of visual splendor that fits the series aesthetic goals. The visual cues work well with crisp and detailed cinematography. Ogawa provides cinematography capable of highlighting both the light and dark elements of the series visuals. These elements enhance things considerably and there is much to appreciate.

The score composed by Kaoru Wada (InuYasha, Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight) is a perfect background to the action and spectacle. Wada is a talented composer who is one of the best composers in anime. Wada understands how to build scope and scale with epic scores highlighting an incredible range of intense action and adventure alongside the characters. Wada is no newcomer to these imaginative worlds, building on the scores for InuYasha.

Written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa (Dragon Ball Z, InuYasha), YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 brings the tale to the conclusion. Sumisawa is a professional anime screenwriter with some great credits to their name – including many classics. The writing is solid with good character dialogue and fun adventure. Fans of InuYasha will appreciate the series staying true to the original tone and vibes of the original anime. Sumisawa continues the legacy working with the universe of creator Rumiko Takahashi.

Directed by Masakazu Hishida (InuYasha, Dinosaur King), YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 packs some mighty punches with plenty of action-adventure adrenaline to keep action junkies enthusiastic. Audiences seeking some excitement and energetic fun will find YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 a wonderfully imaginative world and fun series to enjoy.

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Released on Blu-ray by VIZ Media, YashaHime: Season 2, Part 2 is presented in 1080p MPEG-4 AVC encoded high-definition in the original television broadcast aspect ratio of 1.78:1 widescreen. The presentation is provided in native high-definition and offers a significant improvement in color and clarity compared to some of the earlier seasons of InuYasha, the original series YashaHime is a sequel to. The animation looks outstanding in high-definition. Colors and clarity are first-rate. The animation looks superb and the level of detail in the art is impressive. Background animation and line art are crisp and well reproduced. The character designs and the outlines look fantastic and the sharp visuals add to the production.

One of the hallmarks of the Blu-ray disc format is the superior presentation quality. Streaming video service platforms traditionally offer video presentations with lower video bit-rates and a more compressed image compared to physical media. Presentation enthusiasts wanting the best of the best available will find an improvement on physical media with superior bit-rates and encoding – and that's not even counting the variables of data streams on an internet connection or the capabilities of a router. The physical media format provides more data and with better compression for a more impressive video presentation.

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The release includes a selection of lossless audio options: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Japanese DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 (with English subtitles). The lossless audio encoding on the release is impressive and capably reproduce the sound design and sound direction of Yasushi Nagura (Arifureta - From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Boruto: Naruto Next Generations). Dialogue sounds crisp, clear, and engaging. The score composed by Kaoru Wada is a wonderful highlight of the audio presentation. The soundstage is impressive and both options will provide an immersive audio presentation of the series.

Blu-ray rewards audiences with superior audio presentations compared to streaming video services. Streaming video platforms only provide lossy (non-lossless) audio encoding compared to the lossless audio presentation quality of the physical format. Blu-ray continues to impress audiences with a more immersive soundstage – crisper audio and audio with more depth and detail than streaming platforms provide audiences. The higher bit- rates and audio encoding qualities help make the format a wonderful audiophile dream for those with high end equipment and gear – enthusiasts looking for the best of the best for the home theater presentation.

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Clean Opening & Ending (HD, 6:46)

Art Gallery includes 11 click-through illustrations.

Interview with Kira Buckland (HD, 5:26) – who provides the English voice of Setsuna.

Interview with Morgan Berry (HD, 4:12) – who provides the English voice for Moroha.

More from VIZ (HD, 1:06)

Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon - Season 2, Part 2 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

YashaHime Season 2, Part 2 provides action and adventure in spades. Fans of the series who have been following the saga along for the ride will want to continue the journey with more excitement with the fan favorite characters of the world of InuYasha. The world created by Rumiko Takahashi (InuYasha) is incredible.

The Blu-ray release provides an excellent high-definition video presentation and lossless audio encoding. The box-set also includes a couple of supplements that are sure to please English dub voice-cast fans with interviews with Kira Buckland (English voice of Setsuna) and Morgan Berry (English voice of Moroha). For diehard fans of the series, consider YashaHime Season 2, Part 2 a great release well worth picking up for the collection. Recommended.