Demons, dreams, butterflies, and women. How is it possible that these four words connect to formulate a mysterious and fairytale-like atmosphere in the world of Yashahime?
For starters, there are two beautiful women — Rin and Setsuna. They are mother and daughter bound to a suffocating curse placed by Lady Zero.
One is soundly sleeping because she’s under a comatose, while the other one has had her sleep stolen from her for 14 years!
All these things took place thanks to that cursed demonic — albeit beautiful — Dream Butterfly putting these women under deep slumber and sleepless nights.
So, until the red threads of destiny get untangled between Lady Zero and Rin, there’s no hope for mother and daughter to meet!
But what else is the Dream Butterfly doing to Rin? Well, you’ve come to the right place, my friend! So, let me tell you a brief story of how this fairytale-like plotline is unfolding in the anime!
The Dream Butterfly is a unique demon possessing Rin and Setsuna, but in a way that is advantageous for them to some degree!
For one thing, the Dream Butterfly keeps Rin alive and slows down the silver-scaled curse that Lady Zero placed on her! Without the Dream Butterfly’s interference, Rin would have been a corpse a long time ago — even before she has had a chance to hold her twins in her loving arms!
When Season 1 began, viewers thought that the Dream Butterfly is some sort of evil spirit that feeds off Rin’s dreams!
But it’s the opposite because the Dream Butterfly is enabling Rin to dream as well as obtain some sleep (at the cost of Setsuna’s memories and Setsuna’s capability to sleep though)!
Since Setsuna is the only daughter who’s left behind in the Sengoku Jidai (the “Warring States Era of Japan”), the Spirit of the Tree of Ages (in the form of Lady Kikyō) suggested to Jaken (Sesshōmaru’s vassal), how he can help Rin slow down her death from the silver-scaled curse!
But in doing so, Jaken must secretly latch the cursed demonic Dream Butterfly onto Rin so it can suck away her sleep and memories. Eventually, they will be transferred to the comatose Rin to keep her alive, even if only by a little!
Who else is Affected by the Dream Butterfly?
Lord Kirinmaru and his daughter — Rion — are two Yōkai who are affected by the Dream Butterfly.
Lord Kirinmaru cannot accept Rion’s death. Therefore, he made her immortal in his mind by dreaming about her through the Dream Butterfly’s help! Whenever Kirinmaru sleeps, he visits the soul of the slumbering Rion — whose corpse is buried in Mount Musubi — in his dreams!
Disturbing as that may sound, this kept happening for centuries! Rion was essentially trapped! She can’t break out of his father’s spell even if she wants it to end!
It’s a troubling emotional dilemma that Kirinmaru has had to face for many years! Henceforth, Rion thought that if she can’t liberate the soul that Kirinmaru is tightly holding onto, then she must execute Plan B: gain the help of outsiders!
And those outsiders happen to be the 3 lovely princess half-demons coming to the rescue: Towa and, Setsuna, Moroha! They stumbled upon the corpse of the slumbering Rion and helped her soul liberate itself from Kirinmaru’s “Dream Butterfly” bondage spell.
Technically, it’s thanks to Setsuna’s naginata — the “Yukari no Tachikiri” — naginata — that enabled her to severe the red threads of fate tying Rion’s soul to Kirinmaru’s greedy grasp.
How can the Dream Butterfly be repelled?
There’s only one way to repel the Dream Butterfly and that is by severing the red threads of fate binding the spell-weaver and the cursed being.
Think of it this way: Rin is the cursed individual, while Setsuna could be considered the involuntary spell-weaver thanks to the manipulations and interference of third parties (whom in this case are the Spirit of the Tree of Ages and Jaken).
Meanwhile, Rion is the cursed child and her father, Lord Kirinmaru, is the spell-weaver because he intentionally bounded his child’s soul on the earthly realm with the aid of the Dream Butterfly!
These pairs are tied or bounded by the red threads of fate. The Dream Butterfly sucks Setsuna’s sleep and memories and transferred them to Rin.
Though it’s costing Setsuna sleepless nights and memories about Towa being stolen, it’s helping Rin to stay alive (because the silver-scaled curse slowed down).
But Sesshōmaru managed to sever the Dream Butterfly tying Rin to Setsuna. Henceforth, Setsuna can now gain some sleep and has remembered her childhood memories with Towa!
But the disadvantage of severing this Dream Butterfly is this: Rin’s silver-scaled curse is now going to consume her faster! There will be no more dreams nor memories that will be delivered to her by the Dream Butterfly because it’s been vanquished by Sesshōmaru!
Although it’s come to this, it’s a trade-off that must be made. The only other side effect to Setsuna anyway is that she loses her powers during the New Moon (as seen in Episode 10, Season 2 of the series).
Kirinmaru and Rion’s Dream Butterfly is also repelled! But this time, it’s thanks to Towa’s newly acquired Kyūyōkon Root weapon — a glow-in-the-dark laser sword that also converts into a flute to absorb the Dream Butterfly’s Yōkai energy!
The Dream Butterfly tells different stories surrounding Rin and Setsuna, as well as Kirinmaru and Rion. Enchanting it may be, it’s deadly to some point as it causes Setsuna several sleepless nights and Rion’s soul to be bounded to earth for eternity!
About Hanyô no Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon
Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon is a TV anime series produced by Sunrise. It is a sequel to the Inuyasha series, based on the manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi.
Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon follows the adventures of Sesshōmaru’s twin half-demon daughters, Towa and Setsuna. When they were young, the half-demon twins were separated from each other during a forest fire.
While desperately searching for her younger sister, Towa wandered into a mysterious tunnel that sends her into present-day Japan. She is found and raised by Kagome Higurashi’s brother, Sōta, and his family. Ten years later, the tunnel that connects the two eras has reopened!
This allowed Towa to be reunited with Setsuna, who is now a Demon Slayer working for Kohaku. But to Towa’s shock, Setsuna appears to have lost all memories of her older sister!
Joined by Moroha, the daughter of InuYasha and Kagome, the three young women travel between the two eras on an adventure to regain their missing past!
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