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abouthoundsandlittlebirds · 3 years ago

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Can you speak more to your Kirin and Kagura theory? Was Kagura sent to the future by Kirinmaru to protect her? If so, how does Riku know jack shit and think Rin is the mom? Or, if he’s purposefully lying to Towa about Rin being her mom, why would he do that? All I know is Riku looks hella sus whenever he’s with Towa, and especially when he mentions Rin.

Sorry for the late answer, anon, I was gathering information for your question. Surely I will share with you what I've thought so far, knowing that this is only an incomplete theory and not a certainty about what may happen in the future of Hanyo no Yashahime.

Since this post will be long and may contain spoilers I will add a cut, so keep reading if you don't mind it.

Recently I came across a theory that Osamu Kirin is one of Kirinmaru's offsprings, being this the reason why Kirinmaru could see the future through Osamu's eyes. Actually this kind of power was introduced to InuYasha OG show through Kanna's mirror and Byakuya's flying eyeball, allowing Naraku to see what they were seeing. We get to know about Osamu and Kirinmaru's connected view in episode 23 of Hanyo no Yashahime, where Osamu is looking at the sky at an airport rooftop(?) and saw the comet that comes to Earth every 470/500 years (conflicted translations in the videos I've watched). Shortly after this scene is over, we can see Kirinmaru also watching the same comet, even if it is only shown in the Reiwa period at that moment.

When I've first watched episode 22 and 23 of Hanyo no Yashahime I didn't give a second thought about those events, however now I recognize that they are VERY important to the storytelling. That is why episode 22 ended with the airport scene and episode 23 began with the continuation of this same scene.

There are three important things to notice with the airport event: The first is the connection between Osamu Kirin and Kirinmaru that I've mentioned above (and I am not the best choice to talk further about it, since it is a theory that belongs to another person); Second, Osamu Kirin thought that the comet could be seen by humans at the Reiwa Era, since as pointed out by Sota, the notice of the comet approaching the Earth's atmosphere is being spread through humans; and, the third one is that Osamu Kirin was actually waiting for somebody at the airport, since in the end of episode 22 he shows surprise to see the Higurashi family over there and chooses to make a comunication with Sota in order to catch information about Towa’s wellbeing and to do remarks about the comet instead of following his way.

Now, rewatching episode 15 that is when we first knew about the comet, Riku tells Kagome that every 500 years the comet approaches the Earth atmosphere and drops some fragments. Those fragments if not stopped by a powerful demon and by Meido Zangetsuha technic which is the only attack that can be used to definitively stop it (this note was stated by Jaken in episode 15 and is very important and the reason why InuYasha was kept alive, since he is the only one who can hold Tetsusaiga and summon it), will bring the age of destruction to Earth, the exact same thing that the Spirit of the Tree of Ages (also known as Treekyo) says that is going to happen in episode 4, planned by Sesshomaru and Kirinmaru. The first because he abdicated his title as Lord of the West and the second because he saw an opportunity in it to do as he wanted. We can see it through Sesshomaru's choice in InuYasha OG show and in the reaction of Kirinmaru when the comet appears in the Feudal Era soon after Sesshomaru's daughters were born.

Sesshomaru as the first born of Inu no Taisho was supposed to have heinreted the role of his late father as the ruler of the youkais of the West, that is why Toga left Tenseiga with the hidden power of Meidou Zangetsuha to Sesshomaru, which was the most powerful attack that Inu no Taisho had (perhaps because he believed that InuYasha wouldn’t survive many years with Kirinmaru hunting half-demons). However, Sesshomaru only released this power when Kagura died. In the episode 3 of InuYasha - The Final Act, Totosai says to Sesshomaru that something grew where Sesshomaru's heart was lacking, that is why Tenseiga reacted to his change of heart and was now ready to recieve the Meidou Zangetsuha. However, later on The Final Act, Sesshomaru gave this power to the Tetsusaiga, InuYasha's heinreted sword that the first born couldn't held, meaning that he couldn’t summon this power anymore even if he wanted. Even if Bakusaiga is a powerful weapon, only the Meidou Zangetsuha is able to fully erase the comet’s fragments, like we saw in episode 15 of Hanyo no Yashahime when InuYasha and Sesshomaru fought against it and in episode 22 where Toga and Kirinmaru destroyed it themselves in the past.

If we pay attention to Kirinmaru's reaction after the comet was destroyed in episode 15 we can see that he wasn't worried about the fragment being destroyed, even if it was his role alongside to Sesshomaru to make sure that the peace on the Earth should prevail. Yet, his place in that fight was taken by Sesshomaru and Sesshomaru's place was taken by InuYasha. Yet, in episode 23 the reaction of Kirinmaru about the comet fragment in Reiwa Era is quite the opposite, whatsoever. Kirinmaru seemed to be worried and angry to have to face the comet and he imediately went to InuKimi's place to know if the wheel of time moved and he even tried to gossip about the intentions of Sesshomaru with Akuru's pinwheel.

Knowing that Kirinmaru's intentions seems to face the comet himself, he needs Meidou Zangetsuha to destroy it in Reiwa Era. This seems to be the reason why he was kind of frustrated to know that Zero had broken Tenseiga. Since Tenseiga was the previous host of that technic, his intentions could be to return Meidou Zangetsuha to Sesshomaru's “useless weapon”, which means that he could get rid of InuYasha at least. However, with Tenseiga being broken and the comet approaching even more the Earth’s surface, he will have no choice but to spare InuYasha once more, and fight alonside with him.

By his actions, even if he put aside his plans of getting rid of half-demons, Kirinmaru is afraid of the prophecy of the Shikon no Tama about his death being true. That is why even if he thought that the Yashahimes were weak he still fought against them for a second time and killed Setsuna in the process. His problem with those girls is that they have Inu no Taisho's blood. The two Lords used to be pretty amiable with each other before Toga took a human as the mother of his second child, after being aware of the prophecy that a being that is neither human nor demon would kill Kirinmaru. Taking this action as a sign of treason in their alliance, Kirinmaru made Toga his enemy and would've fought against him if Inu no Taisho wasn't severely wounded as we saw in episode 21. Also, the events of this episode related to Toga's death would explain why Kirinmaru doesn't trust too much on Riku anymore, since his offspring couldn't arrive on time to save his enemy/friend's life. Riku must have sensed it too, because he went to Zero's side and openly betrayed his master in episode 24.

This lack of trust was the reason why Osamu Kirin was created. Kirinmaru needed a trustful subject. He didn’t trust too much in the Four Perils or in his sister. That is why he used Riku to deliver the medicinal herbs to Toga. It could be seen as a meanless job, yet the inefficiency of doing it had consequences. Riku now is no longer the first choice of Kirinmaru to do errands, meaning that he is indeed a pirate washed ashore like it was written in his introduction chart in episode 7.

We actually don’t know the reason or how longer Kirinmaru was sleeping before being waken up by Zero. What we know is that he lost his will to return to sleep when he knew that Sesshomaru had half-demons daughters and that InuYasha was alive and fathered a shi-hanyo. Soon after he knew this, Sesshomaru was introduced in his presence and offered help to kill InuYasha (thanks to him his brother’s life was spared).

If I may speculate over here, then my guess would be that Kirinmaru fell asleep after he heard that Sesshomaru was hunting InuYasha in order to obtain Tetsusaiga or when he learned that InuYasha was sealed by Kikyo’s sacred arrow. Kirinmaru doesn’t seem to be concerned about all the half-demons around, only with those who carries Inu no Taisho’s blood. We actually know that Zero was hunting half-demons, that is why Kirinmaru went to sleep and left the hard work for her to do. Even if Zero has no longer her powers, she could still get rid of half-demons, since Riku stated in episode 15 that Kirinmaru and Toga were the most powerful demons around 500 years ago, meaning that their bloodline is pretty exquisite.

Returning to the theory, after InuYasha and Kagome were sealed in the black pearl, Sesshomaru became the guardian of Izayoi’s tear. As said in episode 15 by Hosenki II, the black pearl is the only (actually easiest) way to go to Inu no Taisho’s resting place. Without it, Kirinmaru wouldn’t be able to reach InuYasha any longer and curiously Kirinmaru allowed Sesshomaru to become the pearl’s guardian.

Temporarily it should be a solved problem, but 4 years after Sesshomaru’s twins were born something may have happened that led Kirinmaru to doubt about his decision, being Yotsume a crucial proof of it.

When we first see Yotsume disguised as Sokyu in episode 1 of Hanyo no Yashahime, he tells Towa about a story that he heard ten years ago about a priestess called Kagome that time-travelled across the bone-eating-well located in Tokyo and alongside a half-demon called InuYasha she hunted demons. It could be a meanless information, if in the next scene we didn’t see a flashback of him in his original form watching Kagome, which seems to be at least 5 years earlier than the backstory he got to know, since that scene happened in the day that Root-Head attacked Kaede’s village, way before Moroha were born. Here then we have a mismatched speach. This means that even if Yotsume was watching Kagome that day, he didn’t know about her ability of time-travelling. So when Kagome were sealed with InuYasha in the black pearl, Kirinmaru didn’t know about her, since they were sealed soon after Moroha was born, meaning it must be more than 14 years ago.

The main question at this moment should be what happened in the four years after Kagome and InuYasha were sealed that led Yotsume to gather information about the origin of InuYasha’s wife. We can speculate as much as we want about it, but the main fact is that probably Osamu Kirin only time-travelled to the future ten years ago. But why? And how?

Whatever the reason for it, it is related to the forest fire that threw appart the twins and Rin becoming Zero’s shield. For four years Kirinmaru held back Zero, stopping her desire to kill Sesshomaru’s daughter. This action could be a proof of faith that Kirinmaru gave to Sesshomaru. Yet, this faith was broken and he decided to not give anymore protection to the twins’ life.

In episode 24 Zero tells Kirinmaru that the rainbow pearls are her tears and she is able to find it wherever and whenever she wants. It is a controversial saying, because in episode 15 she knew that the white and yellow pearls were with Sesshomaru’s daughters, yet she lost track of them inside the barrier that Jaken had casted soon as they were born. So at that time she wasn’t looking for the girls. And even if she could sense the presence of her tears, she was only able to see the girls when she learned how to use the spell of watching people’s dream/sleep, and this happened four years later, that is why when Homura set fire to the forest the twins weren’t inside a protective barrier as we see in episode 14, that was because Sesshomaru became Kirinmaru’s trusted subject and planned against his fellow. But how?

My guess is that this treason is connected to the black pearl. Something that we cannot see in naked eyes changed in the relationship of Kirinmaru and Sesshomaru. The first glimpse of doubt that Kirinmaru had about Sesshomaru was when Sesshomaru sealed InuYasha inside the black pearl. He didn’t doubt about Sesshomaru’s loyalty when he knew that he had half-demons daughters because they weren’t allies back then. They forged this alliance after Kirinmaru woke up and Sesshomaru offered help to kill InuYasha. And as it seems, it took four years for the trust to be broken.

At this time I’ll insert my Kagura theory.

After Sesshomaru sealed InuYasha and Kagome inside the black pearl, I believe he gave Kagura the pearl and told her to keep it safe. Izayoi’s tear was the assurance that his family would be safe. Yet, when he sensed that his family was in danger (probably after the fire in the woods) he sent Kagura to the future (probably to look after Towa and keep her safe over there, since he wasn’t surprised to know that Towa was alive) and decided to hide Setsuna among half-demons.

It is a fact that Sesshomaru’s daughters are half-demons (strong ones, to be honest), so Riku and Zero presumed that their mother is human even if she was underage, taking the close relationship Sesshomaru had with Rin. But if we recall episode 99 from InuYasha OG, Koga, that is a wolf demon and lives in a demon’s tribe, didn’t find it strange that Sesshomaru was travelling with the child Rin (that was 7/8 years old back then), and even took her as a love interest of Sesshomaru, showing that he knew little about humans and human x yokai interaction, quite different from those who knew about human life, like we see in episode 41 of InuYasha OG when Kagome, Sango and InuYasha showed horror about Koharu, a 13 years old girl that wanted to marry an 18 years old Miroku. Also, Kagura just like Riku and Osamu is only a puppet, an offspring created by the essence of a demon and the power of the Shikon no Tama. Even if she is said to be a demon, no one knows what kind of creature would be the children she had, specially with her creator being a half-demon himself.

Also, in episode 4 of Hanyo no Yashahime, after the Yashahimes met the Spirit of the Tree of Ages and killed Root-Head, Treekyo confronted Sesshomaru and said that his daughters denied her request and if he leaves Rin behind, the girl would never wake up again. Then he walks away from her and she says that it is also a way and perhaps the best choice. If we take Treekyo’s request to the Yashahimes we will know that the best choice she speaks of is related to stopping Kirinmaru from doing what he is aiming for. This means that after Sesshomaru knew that Towa, Setsuna and Moroha were fine, he dropped Rin in the backstage of his plan. For ten years (or even more) he worried about Rin in her sleeping state, however just when he found out that the girls were fine he changed his mind, meaning that something that was supposed to happen did not. Indeed Sesshomaru is still being protective over Rin, he even stopped his search for Akuru’s pinwheel in the moment he found it, to save Zero and Rin’s life as a consequence of the first rescue. However when she broke Tenseiga he didn’t think twice to kill her again, but still keeping a cold face that was hard to read.

I personally believe that when Sesshomaru gave his back to Rin and Treekyo at the end of episode 4, his plan changed and he then began his search for Akuru’s pinwheel that until then wasn’t a thing he was doing. We know that the pinwheel is connected to the wheel of time, so Sesshomaru’s intention is to change time or, perhaps, travel across time.

As we’ve seen in InuYasha OG show, only Kagome and InuYasha were able to time travel using the bone-eating-well. Back then Kagome had the Shikon no Tama (jewel and later fragments) and InuYasha had the black pearl. Then, in Hanyo no Yashahime only Towa, Setsuna and Moroha were able to time travel through the Tree of Ages and each one had a rainbow pearl. Taking those facts as an example, it wouldn’t be too impossible if only those possessing some kind of jewel/tear would be able to use this ability. The other possibility would be the pinwheel of Akuru and perhaps this is the way used by Osamu Kirin to arrive in the Reiwa Era.

Considering the concern that Kirinmaru had about the Wheel of Times moving and Sesshomaru’s search, probably Kirinmaru is hiding something related to the past/future from everyone else, except Osamu Kirin. And he is afraid of this hidden secret being revealed.

Taking Naraku’s arc as an example and how Sunrise is repeating some backstories of InuYasha OG into Hanyo no Yashahime, it wouldn’t be weird if later on Osamu Kirin is revealed as the incarnation of Kirinmaru’s heart, just like Akago was Naraku’s heart. This would explain why Kirinmaru isn’t afraid to face the Yashahime as he was when he heard about their existence. Definitively he is afraid of the prophecy, but he isn’t being cautelous while facing the girls. He showed more concern about the Wheel of Time changing than fighting the Yashahimes after being backstabbed by Riku in the place where the Inu no Taisho’s blood would be stronger. If we go back to InuYasha OG show, we will see the same kind of reaction in Naraku. He would confidently fight against InuGroup whenever his heart was far away and avoyd as much as he could a confrontation when Akago and/or Onigumo were near.

Using the information of Yotsume and the timeline drawn so far, the travel of Osamu Kirin would match with the information gathered about Kagome’s backstory, giving Kirinmaru the false hope that the future is a safe place for his heart to be, meaning that Osamu left him when Kirinmaru had a confirmation of Sesshomaru’s betrayal, almost 10 years ago.

Now, if we return to the airport scene where we see Osamu Kirin looking at the sky in episode 22, we notice that he watches an airplane land and then he glances at the comet for a short time. Then he gives his back to the sky and starts walking away, imitating five people close to him that too started to move away from the rooftop, when he notices Sota with his daughter, Mei, a few steps far from him. He shows surprise and go to Sota, starting a conversation about Towa’s absense from school (and showing no concern about it) and ending with the comet out loud observation.

For me it is a proof that he was waiting for someone to arrive over there. My guess would be Kagura. Also, when we see Osamu Kirin in the classroom in episode 4, he tells Towa to pay attention to the lesson, otherwise she will miss the context, and then he tells her to read the sentence in page 23 that says: “I am going to visit Kyoto”.

It could’ve been an Easter Egg, because in episode 23 he is actually waiting someone at the airport that probably is coming from Kyoto, because Kyoto is a prefecture located in the Kansai region, and Kansai according to the research I did is located in the West region of Japan, that in the Hanyo no Yashahime is a land that belongs to Sesshomaru (Lord of the West), meaning that the person/creature that is arriving in that airport is somehow connected to Sesshomaru and seeing that Jaken, Rin, Towa and Setsuna are in the Feudal Era and A-Un wouldn’t fit into a plane, it can only be Kagura.

To finish this theory that is already long enough and explain how Kagura and Osamu Kirin are connected, I must speculate even more and say that this connection happened because neither Kagura nor Osamu knew the backstory of each other and they might have taken interest for each other as an equal (two incarnations/demons). Also, probably the forest that Towa said that she grew up in episode 21 is located in the West, that is why Kagura was in that place and visits Tokyo, because Tokyo is where Kaede’s Village is located in the Feudal Era. My guess would be that using Towa’s age as a guide, she is looking for her daughter in high schools. Osamu Kirin being Towa’s teacher could’ve contacted her and is waiting her at the airport since he was the one that summoned Kagura over there. However, I believe that he is using Towa as a bait.

With Kirinmaru watching everything that Osamu is doing/seeing, he is quite aware of the fact that the comet is arriving in the Reiwa Era and also knew how Towa looked like before meeting her in person. Now, knowing that someone in the Reiwa Era that is not her family (the Higurashi) is looking for her, Kirinmaru is curious enough to see who this person could be since she is probably connected to Sesshomaru and if he can’t use her as a bait to hold Sesshomaru back, then he imagines that she is hiding something that would be useful to him.

As I said before, this is only a theory/speculation that I did using the anime info (and my imagination) to elaborate. All the real events I have tagged the place it came from (the episodes number) and gave them my interpretation. Those events without the official reference tagged should not be taken as a reliable source.

I thank you so much anon for this ask, it made me really happy to be able to share my thoughts with you! Again, sorry for my late answer and be free to say whatever you want, it would be a pleasure to answer you back!

P.S.: Sorry for the typos, I don't use Google Translator and my English ain't that good.

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