#og sesshomaru from og inuyasha is the only sesshomaru I acknowledge

[cowboymbeepbop]

What y’all know about Lord Sesshomaru, Tumblr? 👀

[mythicamagic]

Okay so, every week I keep seeing people go "But everything Sesshomaru is doing in Yashahime is in character, actually! He only cares about himself! There's no character assassination going on!" and like, it's been goddamn years since I've watched Inuyasha, but...I don't even feel like what he's doing in Yashahime tracks for Sesshomaru at the BEGINNING of the OG show, nevermind the end. Like, I feel like he was NEVER this much of an ass. Thoughts?

Since we don't have any actual answers of wtf is going on, it's hard to say if Sunrise have actually butcheted his character but the implications and hints certainly do butcher him. The thing is with Sesshoumaru is that yes he was cruel but he didn't do things for no reason. It was usually if people were in his way or hindering a goal of some kind. And throughout the series, you see him commiting less and less cruelties and even starting to defend and save Inuyasha and his group. He shows sympathy for Kagura dying and looks after both Rin and Kohaku, staying by an unconscious Kagome and defending her.

There WOULD be character assassination if Sesshoumaru is the reason Inukag was separated from Moroha for 14 years. If he willingly fought against them. If he really did just abandon his kids in the forest. It does not align with OG Sesshoumaru and anyone who thinks so is likely too blind sighted by his facade not to get that he's a character who shows care by actions not words. In fact he lies quite often about not caring for Inuyasha, only to save him from getting killed many times. Yashahime understood this trait... For one episode (and thats bc Rumiko wrote it) the scene where Sango exits the hut wondering why they havent been attacked only to see Sesshoumaru silently guarding them sums him up perfectly. He won't ask for thanks or acknowledgement and won't give it, but he always watches over and protects what matters to him.

Him abandoning his kids doesn't align with him always leaving Rin with Jaken and Ah Un for protection.

Him interfering with Inukag and possibly ruining their happiness doesn't align with him defending and saving their asses during the final fight with Naraku and beforehand.

Him possibly having ended up impregnating Rin destroys him beyond recognition because it ruins his character development. Which if people missed the memo was - Learning to care for someone (a child) unselfishly and without expectation of anything in return. That is what it means to love platonically and move past what he was introduced as - a selfish person bent on power.

Sesshoumaru grew compassionate, y'all just have episode 7 Sess stuck in your head as the embodiment of his character when you should really have episode 188+ Sess in there.

[chenoehi]

The comet, Zero and Riku’s comments, and Sesshomaru’s...age?

To branch off of this post, I was thinking about what was going through Sesshomaru’s mind as he waited for the twins to be born. Like, did he know the comet was coming, did that play a part in his whisking the twins away, or was he just on guard because he knew demons might take advantage once the news spread, etc. That led me down this specific rabbit hole.

So, Sesshomaru presumably knew that the comet was approaching; after all, as Riku told Kagome it was only 500 years ago that his father helped destroy the last one. And Sesshomaru is supposedly 900-1,000 years old. Right? But what’s bothering me is that Zero shows up to let Sesshomaru know she and Kirinmaru will be a threat to his family (as I pointed out in this post, it’s really weird she’d warn him first instead of you know, just, killing them?). And the whole exchange, her pointing out that they need him to destroy the comet, it just seems that maybe...he didn’t know? It could just be bad storytelling, but he seemed urgent after that whereas up until that point he appeared almost relaxed. Jaken knowing where they’d go to destroy it could throw a wrench in this idea, but again, could be poor storytelling.

More importantly, the only reason Sesshomaru wouldn’t know is if he wasn’t born until after the comet passed, and in that case he’s younger than he’s been presumed to be.

No matter what, Sesshomaru is clearly still growing and developing because of how slowly demons age; we’ve seen this time and time again. Toga is physically more mature than his son when he died, and if Sesshomaru is, in fact, less than 500 that means he could have been about 300 when their father died (much closer to Inuyaha’s current age). Inuyasha himself is a hanyo but even he grows slowly. We know by the time his mother died he was still a child or young looking and we know that he now still resembles a teenager, looking a little younger than Sesshomaru. If Sesshomaru is less than 500 years old then he’s not even that much older than Inuyasha, who is ~200 years old (that was already presumed/possibly confirmed and then HNY confirmed Toga died 200 years ago, and since Swords of an Honorable Ruler is anime canon now that’s the same day Inuyasha was born).

I could be 100% wrong, he could have known about the comet, and that’s that, but the interesting thing to me is that the possibility of Sesshomaru being less than 500 years old instead of the 900-1000 years old I thought he was should blow my preconceptions of Sesshomaru’s maturity level to pieces however it honestly doesn’t. If Sesshomaru is only a few centuries older than Inuyasha, that actually would make more sense given how he acts. I’ve always thought it strange that at almost 1,000 years old Sesshomaru could still be so single minded and childish, and physically still look young. If he’s closer to 500 it just makes more sense, so I’d prefer it as the simpler explanation. Ockham’s Razor and all that. And given Inuyasha’s physical, emotional, and mental maturity at 200 years old, Sesshomaru could absolutely be 300 years old or younger in Swords of an Honorable Ruler. He’s visibly younger than his OG/FA future self—smaller, more youthful, and shorter. Similar to Inuyasha now.

On this note about his age: can I just have a moment of silence for Kaede calling Sesshomaru a fool, like yes sis, that’s right he is a damn immature fool. Wise centuries old demon lord my ass, he is a teenager and overall human disaster.

I love this bitch, I do, but he literally spent two whole centuries roaming the countryside whining about how daddy didn’t leave him the better sword until he became a grave robber. Then he tried to kill his little brother (who, fun fact, he actually acknowledged as his little brother before he knew Tessaiga was Inuyasha’s and got big mad, thereafter refusing to acknowledge Inuyasha) because he was jealous. He only started giving up the plot when he discovered that Inuyasha needed Tessaiga, realizing that maybe daddy wasn’t slighting him after all—but he was still immature and petty enough to smack his brother in the face for ‘desecrating their father’s grave’ when homeboy literally used daddy’s bones as a jungle gym months prior. And when everyone pitied him for being used as a tool to complete the Meido, and he seemed convinced at that point his father rejected him, it was his growing compassion for other people and letting go of his desire for Tessaiga (and subsequently his hatred for Inuyasha) that finally allowed him to grow.

He had to suffer his dad’s convoluted trials to grow stronger and mature enough to stop kicking his brother around over a bruised ego and to stop blaming all humans and hanyous for his father’s death. And as shitty as that sounds on the surface, I’m not sure his father would have gotten through to Sesshomaru any other way.

So basically, he’s a perfect mess and totally does not have his shit together, and in no way can I see him as the wise adult people want to make him because, well, he’s ‘a centuries old demon lord’ and a ‘grown man’. That literally means not a damn thing. We are not talking about a human here. It’s not the same as if a 19 year old human had kids with a younger girl. I’m not saying there’s nothing uncomfortable about it or that it’s morally 100% OK. And Sunrise could have done better on...certain points. My issue is that it’s comparing apples and oranges.

Case in point: all the hanyo children on Mystic Island, SHIPPO, MEIFOKU, even Jinenji who is large and not human-like as most hanyous are but yet appears to be extremely innocent despite having to be at least 40-50+ human years old. Full demon true age =/= human age and maturity. Setsuna and Towa (and possibly Shiori) are anomalies as they age at the rate of humans, but the majority of the others don’t. As a full demon aging and maturing slowly, at 900 (or 500) years old Sesshomaru is a sassy, bratty 19 year old. Two centuries prior, dude was looking like a younger, even brattier 17-18 year old when his father died. In another 50 years guess what, he’s still going to be looking like an immature 19-20 year old.

It will literally take centuries for him to mature just into his 20s and resemble his father’s age, both physically and metaphorically. And by that time any human wife he would have had would be long dead, having lived a full human life. Meanwhile, homeboy is just going to be entering his 20s. Which means at some point his human wife will eventually eclipse him in emotional maturity, which for a demon is more significant than physical maturity as they can’t possibly match their human counterpart for any decent length of time. A human lifetime is, after all, a blink of an eye for them and therefore the primary reason that they cannot possibly relate to human notions of age and maturity.

Knowing what we know about his personality and his underlying immaturity (whereas Inuyasha’s is more surface-level), how people thought he’d actually be a perfect non-problematic husband and father (to ANYONE) is beyond me.

All that being said, clearly he loves his family. That much is obvious with the lengths he’s willing to go and the sacrifices he’s willing to make to keep them safe. And yes that includes Inuyasha, Kagome, and their child. He’s saved and helped them, he’s fought with them, he’s long stopped from trying to cause them harm, and letting go of his hatred for Inuyasha allowed him to become stronger. And he doesn’t even bat an eye at Kagome any more, she can literally say whatever she wants to him. No way do I believe he would ever help Kirinmaru kill any of them. I fully believe he’s trying to do his best with poor communication skills and even poorer options.

[tatlinanise]

Now that the dust has settled

I want everyone to take a breather. I want everyone to remember that

the battle is over

The “mother mystery” being more or less “confirmed” means any lingering thoughts most of us had to this show can now be severed. Feel good about it. You know longer how to put effort into trying to make sense of this shit show again!

the damage is done

Regardless of the small chance that this is, in fact, a Sunrise troll in the works - they have already alienated atleast 1/2 the Western fanbase by this reveal alone. They have already tarnished Sesshomaru, Rin and their OG relationship in many people’s eyes. It doesn’t matter what their endgame is, the end result is the same. They have stepped on sacred ground for many.

Inuyasha is over

Has been for over a decade. The book is closed and even Rumiko acknowledged that “the Inuyasha in her has been over for years”. There is no harm in sharing that same sentiment, so by all means, healthily remove yourself from this debacle while cherishing what Inuyasha was to you fondly.  This existence of this sequel doesn’t HAVE to ruin that.

If you do choose to stick around, do not support this series officially

Goes without saying but do not watch this show under any official anime streaming if you’re still curious about how it ends. That’s the only way Sunrise is making bucks from foreign consumers right now, and we need to make it clear that they shouldn’t dare promote an anime like this to the West again if they don’t want this type of backlash and disapproval.

Let’s all begin our healing now, because Yashahime truly was the brainrot of the century. As expected of a 2020 anime! 

[hirazuki]

Ooo I'm curious about your hot takes on the Inuyasha reboot after reading your tags 👀

Ahaha, where to start XD Idk if they are hot takes, but here are my thoughts in bullet point form for coherency, I couldn’t figure out how else to organize them. Under a cut, as usual, because it got lengthy... as usual :D

We are 13 episodes in, and I still have no idea wtf is going on or what the series is actually about. And yes, I’m aware that we didn’t know of Naraku’s existence or of the overarching plot until at least episode 16 of that series either and Inuyasha was still very episodic in nature at that early point too, but here’s the thing: Inuyasha did not build upon a pre-existing series. For better or for worse, Yashahime has certain expectations to live up to that the original anime didn’t, by virtue of its being a sequel. Unfair? Maybe, but tough; that’s what happens when you make a sequel. Additionally, despite us not knowing The Main Plot™ of Inuyasha until later, the basic framework for it was laid out clearly by... episode 2? I think? Find and collect the Shikon Jewel shards. Boom, done. Were there distractions or fillers? Sure, but you never got the sense that the characters simply up and forgot about the shards. Even in fillers, the shards often made some kind of appearance. With Yashahime, there’s like three potential storylines going on: 1. The most obvious: most of our main cast from the OG is missing; where are they? Apparently no one in-story cares! :D Inuyasha, who’s that lol. I’m all for a sequel focusing on the new generation with cameos of the old crew; after all, they already had their own series. But this is like... no one cares about them? No one talks about them? And the more characters go about not mentioning them, the stronger their absence is felt. Like, for instance, Kaede knows Moroha is InuKag’s daughter. Moroha grew up on her own, doesn’t know her parents. Kaede doesn’t mention them to Moroha, doesn’t even spare a passing thought about them for the audience’s benefit, Moroha doesn’t ask. Kagome’s family in the present day meet Moroha, recognize her as Kagome’s daughter and... say nothing??? Souta shows Towa Kagome and Inuyasha’s old photos, but doesn’t say a word to Moroha?! Like. It makes no sense. By people not even acknowledging their existence, it makes the fact that they are nowhere to be found even weirder. Also the new gen girls don’t care about their parents or finding out who they were/are... like, okay, it would maybe be in character for one or two of them, but all three don’t give a fuck??? 2. Kirinmaru/the rainbow pearls: Idk how familiar you are with the story, but similar deal with Naraku and the shards here. Kirinmaru is being set up as the villain, still a mysterious figure; our new gen trio is supposed to collect the rainbow pearls that... some of his henchmen have? Or he is after them? Or is that Riku? Unclear. ANYWAY the new gen girls often forget all about the pearls’ existence :D 3. Setsuna’s memories: Setsuna’s dreams have been stolen by the dream butterfly and they need to get them back, because without her dreams she has no memories and is unable to sleep. Cool! Finally a solid, easy-to-follow plot line! Except wait! Towa, who supposedly made it her goal to get Setsuna’s sleep back, forgets all about it! All the time! Like, none of them make an effort to look into this other than being like “oh yeah, know anything about the dream butterfly?” to random folks every now and then. The Inugang back in the day was putting some grad school level research towards their goals, just saying. It just feels like everything’s all wishy-washy and there’s nothing really solid tying the series together. People just remember shit exists when it’s convenient.

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Character development is MIA. I’m not expecting ground-breaking char dev in 13 episodes (though I do know 12 episode series that were phenomenal in that regard), but like... I do expect the series to focus on building the dynamics between the main three characters. So far, the series is more focused on teasing the audience with glimpses and promises of the OG cast instead. The creators are using nostalgia and bait (esp of a certain pairing) to drive interest in the series, rather than developing the new characters as fully-fledged characters for their own sakes. 

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Moroha is was the only thing I actually liked about the series. She is a little spitfire and you can somehow instantly see both Inuyasha and Kagome in her, while she also remains very uniquely herself; I have never seen such a successfully developed main pairing child in any series. She featured quite prominently in the first few episodes -- and unlike both her parents, she’s got a great memory and knowledge of lore -- where she balanced funny moments with badass fighting moments and being the token supernatural encyclopedia. It was great! And then... they’ve like... forgotten her. She’s been left behind so many times by the twins. She’s the butt of every joke. She’s become the type of comic relief that’s, well, insulting. More like a buffoon than anything else. And it’s basically all for the sake of giving the floor to Towa :/

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Setsuna is okay. Not offensive, but unremarkable. She’s got her dad’s personality but like way toned down due to her different growing up circumstances, which is nice, but like... I feel she isn’t given any room to grow or breathe or anything. She’s also basically there as a device to enhance Towa’s development.

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Towa... oy. I tried to like her, I really did, but she just doesn’t work for me. They set her up having a very Kurosaki Ichigo type deal with beating up bullies and getting into trouble at school and shit -- I’m fine with that. That’s cool. Esp if it’s linked to not feeling like she fits in bc she’s a hanyou? Awesome. Except once she travels back in time to the feudal era it’s all “Oh killing is bad you shouldn’t kill people” and “even though they attacked me I can’t possibly hurt them” and “you need to empathize and talk things out” and “friendship is magic” and shit. It feels like she had a personality transplant, it literally makes no sense. Her design is totally nonsensical too -- out of everyone at her school, she’s the only one dressed in a bright white suit? Do protags not wear the school uniform? Someone should tell Kagome lmao. She’s a pro at hand to hand, and she can absorb demons’ powers and fling them back at them like a personified Tessaiga, and she has a lightsaber sword, and she’s immune to miasma, and -- like... you get it. It’s too much. It’s way too OP for the type of universe that Inuyasha/Yashahime is set in. She’s hanyou for fuck’s sake; remember all the training Inuyasha had to go through? When he couldn’t lift his sword? When his sword attacked him? Sango, Miroku, Kagome, even Sesshomaru all had trouble with their weapons and had to work to become stronger. But Towa? Nope. Towa is straight out of the Yas Queen/Girl Boss manual, so she gets a free pass on everything.

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UGH they are doing the VLD/bad writing thing where things happen (like, BIG THINGS) and none of the characters actually react to them. Or stuff happens and there are no consequences. No one ever talks about anything. It’s wild.

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Everyone has amnesia!! :D People either don’t know or don’t remember anything or anyone. People who absolutely should know things all of a sudden magically don’t know them. Like, Kohaku -- traveled with an undead priestess, spent years in the company of demons, traveled with Sesshomaru... and yet had NO CLUE that Setsuna is Sesshomaru’s daughter or that she is hanyou, despite her living and working with his team of demon slayers all this time. Like... how, man. How. And Kaede! Don’t get me started. Since when does she perpetuate random demon-boogeyman type stories as facts? Demon children will kill each other in the nest so that only the strongest one will survive, therefore Setsuna must have killed Towa when they were infants. O_O What are they, sharks? Has she been hanging out with Kisame? Wtf?? And she’s speaking about Sess’s kids as though she doesn’t know him or anything about him, when she has had Rin under her roof all these years. It just makes. no. sense.

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Things that happened in the original series are happening again now! Because that’s the best we’ve got, recycled plot elements wooo! No, but really, characters that died or things that were resolved in Inuyasha keep coming back. Why? What was the purpose of bringing back Kinka and Ginka? To have a foil for Towa and Setsuna as twins? Someone please tell Sunrise they can just create new characters. Like, it’s one thing to have call backs to the original or cameos, references, whatever. But like... this is entire (dead) characters and interactions.

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No one knows how long it’s been since the original series ended. Fans initially heard 20 years from promo material, then “over 15″ and “10 years since” in-series regarding two different events, and now in a future episode summary we’ve gotten 18 years since Hosenki II gave Inuyasha the black pearl. But like, which black pearl? Because the one in Inuyasha’s eye doesn’t exist anymore, but Hosenki II had told Inuyasha that it would take 100 years for him to produce one. So, are we retconning that or where the fuck did it come from? Also, this doesn’t help one bit, it just confuses things even more. Back to the point, though, we have no coherent timeline or real frame of reference whatsoever, and I’m betting it’s in large part to keep the mystery of who is Sesshomaru’s wife going, as it keeps Rin’s age very vague. Everything is vague and mysterious in Yashahime, to the point where no one knows what’s going on, in fandom or in-story even. It’s kinda like how too much plot twist/shock reveal ruins a story, too much mystery does the same. It’s insane that both shippers and antis of that ship can lay equal claim that the “18 years since” announcement works in their favor.

tl;dr: Idk man, Yashahime is a clusterfuck of a series. Even if the mother of Sess’s twins is either of the characters I ship him with, I will still not like the series. There’s no saving this writing. Every episode feels like this:

[gothriotgrrl]

I want to preface this with I don't actually like the show, but I really think there's a larger plotline that they're just getting into. What a lot of people don't realize is that the full plot and themes of the OG series was not fully established until around episode 50, and the only reason so many people watched the anime is because the manga was popular worldwide, and we already knew what was going to happen. So we knew, eventually, the story would catch up and make sense. I know that this is happening with Yashahime because after episode 15 of the first season, they lost over 1/3 of their viewership, domestically in Japan and worldwide. Within a week, they went from one of the top five animes, as far as viewership, to not even making the list of the top 20. That kind of sudden loss of ratings, without any proper recovery, should have been the end of the show. And it would have been if they didn't have a contract for numerous seasons already established, with a larger storyline. I have taken so many media marketing classes and I can tell you they knew that was going to happen.

It's also the reason I know Rin is not actually the mother. Because from a marketing perspective, Rin being the mother will kill the show. There is nothing interesting, intriguing, or dramatic, from a story perspective, about Rin being the mother. Unless they give her a real personality, and giving her a real personality means giving her characteristics and traits the people who ship her with Sesshomaru won't like.

Since they've already established that she doesn't have those personality traits, and have shown that Sesshomaru isn't particularly romantically engaged with her now that she's free, and is still treating her like a child, they've shown us that they're not going to make the relationship interesting or engaging. Now, the S*ssrin shippers might be okay with that, but that's not going to fly with the new audience.

It's also how I know Kagura is not the mother, bringing in a character from the OG series that has not really been acknowledged or established, as the mother, would disinterest the new viewership.

There is only one female character from the OG series that, if established as the mother, would not only increase the viewership but make the storyline and plot interesting, and that is Kagome.

It does quite a few things, it creates a love triangle, which the OG series was dependent on, it creates a new dynamic for the three main characters, because now they're sisters. And, most importantly, it explains why there are two sets of robes of the fire rat.

Because the only way Kagome would have married Sesshomaru and had his children is if Inuyasha was dead. Especially since RT said the reason she designed Moroha wearing the robes was because she thought Inuyasha was dead. If Inuyasha died, and we're going off of the Sunrise version of the show and movies, Tensaiga could not bring Inuyasha back to life because it already did when he was a baby. So he would have had to be brought back from the underworld by Sesshomaru's mother with her meido stone. And since it's already been established that people aren't naked in the underworld, he would have been brought back with whatever he was wearing when he died, creating a second set of fire rat robes.

I'm going to give my theory, and I want to point out my theory is based on the actual scenes from the show, and the many clues the anti-S*ssRinners have been pointing out

I think Roothead is more important because he's the one who killed Inuyasha. We're going to get a flashback to right after they kill root head from the first episode, and he's going to rise up out of the ground, or somehow reappear, and kill Inuyasha. There's a clue in the episode that something is going to happen because the key difference between that episode and the manga chapter it took place in, is what Sesshomaru is doing, and where he is. In that Manga chapter Sesshomaru is on top of Kaeda's roof, in the anime episode he's wandering around the forest with an ominous feeling, like something is going to happen.

That puts him close enough to attempt to resurrect Inuyasha and find out it can't be done. As Inuyasha's older brother, he marries Kagome, (they're probably going to make it seem like he caught feelings for her, which does make sense because they stated before the series started that Sesshomaru's wife helped change how he viewed humans and RT has openly confirmed that Kagome helped change how Sesshomaru viewed humans in the original series) she gets pregnant with the twins, she's nearing her due date, and Sesshomaru's mother shows up, talking about a prophecy. Kagome is the person lost in time, or untouched by time, or whatever the wording was (something established in the second movie, which Sunrise made) she is going to talk about how their daughters are a part of the prophecy, that they need to live long enough to defend themselves, and she's probably going to mention that there needs to be a third child born that's part of the prophecy, and it's not supposed to be Sesshomaru's. She's going to bring Inuyasha back to life, in order to keep Kagome from being killed before she can fulfill the prophecy, she's going to suggest that everyone says Rin is the mother even though she's too young, because there's no other option (and she's probably going to say something snarky and insulting to her son when she suggests it.) It also explains why they go out of their way to point out that Kagome is pregnant, but not showing. It also explains why Sesshomaru gave her a letter after he took the twins, and why it was suggested that she be the one to convince Sesshomaru help defend them against the meteor. It also explains the look he gives her when she asks him to help, he looks kind of hurt.

Kagome is going to be caught between Sesshomaru, her current husband, and Inuyasha, her resurrected husband, and that's going to create a love triangle between characters from the original series. It's also going to create a weird dynamic among the three main girls because they're going to realize that not only are they sisters, but their mother has to choose between their fathers. I think this is going to set Setsuna up to be similar to Sesshomaru in the OG series, because it's established early in the series that she puts the idea of her mother on a pedestal, and they go out of their way to have Setsuna be the one most interested in knowing what she was like. This is going to make her lash out against Moroha, and Towa is going to be in the middle.

That's going to become the larger, established plot. I also have a feeling that Inuyasha's time alive is not permanent, like with Kikyo, and when it's all over he's going to want Kagome to go back with him to the underworld, just like Kikyo wanted with Inuyasha.

This series already mirrors the original one in so many, ways I think they're just going to continue that.

What did yall think the plot of Yashahime was gonna be when the first promo pic came out

[chenoehi]

HNY crack theory time (tdlr; if Riku isn’t Sesshomaru or Kirinmaru’s child, could he be Tōga and Zero’s love child?)

While working on a few unrelated posts I started thinking about Riku again. Bastard won’t leave me alone, why do I love him so much. Skip to the bottom if you want to head straight to the crack. ‘Keep Reading’ isn’t working for me on mobile, sorry.

I’ve loved the theory that he’s Kirinmaru’s hanyo son due to coloring, symbolism, imagery, similar mannerisms, etc. Their introduction in the same episode, the English phrase and connection to Osamu Kirin, the grapes, their association with water, Riku’s vendetta against the perils, etc: it’s all too great to ignore but perhaps these connections are being made obvious on purpose to divert us. I have my doubts. I also entertain the theory of him being Zero’s hanyo child because she’s Kirinmaru’s older sister and as such he shares an eye color with her, the presence of eye shadow/markings (which Kirinmaru does not appear to have), some similarities in their dress, the association with the pearls, etc.

These ‘Riku is xyz’s hanyo son’ theories are more likely if we assume he’s a time traveler as we know Kirinmaru and Zero kind of have a thing about humans and half-breeds. Of course, Kyuki and other people know him (and as a Lord no less) so it’s still highly possible he was born prior to the Sengoku period.

Recently I mentioned a possibility of Riku being Kirinmaru and Zero’s hanyo half-brother, making him the HNY equivalent of Inuyasha. I really like that idea personally, especially because it would mirror Sesshomaru and Inuyasha’s relationship. Their family drama has been the underlying backbone of the whole series. It culminated in the perfection of the Meido Zangetsuha, a pretty big deal even still in HNY, and we all know Toga is still causing drama from beyond the grave.

But, a lot of people are convinced that Riku is related to Sesshomaru somehow. 

I’ll be honest, I’m not really sure I see any connections to support these theories as interesting though they may be. I think the biggest point to support this kind of theory is that Riku has a lot of information about Sesshomaru and he seems to have some personal grudge against him, possibly. But everything feels personal at this point. Here’s some reasons:

1. Riku talks about ‘taking care’ of the yashahime’s in a suspicious and threatening way. He points out that he’d like to see Towa perform Sesshomaru’s Azure Dragon Wave and then remarks that it was half-assed. He cozied up to Towa with ulterior motives. He explicitly pointed out (in a very sus moment) that loving humans brought nothing good to Sesshomaru’s father or Sesshomaru himself, and he seems pleased by that statement. Oddly enough, he wanted Homura to burn himself up, which directly prevented Towa and Setsuna from getting answers about why Homura caused the forest fire in the first place. Getting directly involved with finding Izayoi’s shell, even knowing about it in the first place and then knowing where to find it, knowing about the pearl and how to recreate/fix it, and then seeking out Kagome (referring to her by her own merits and not repeating the same line about her being Kikyo’s reincarnation was odd). Waiting around to see what happened when InuKag were sealed. It seems obvious he knew what would happen probably because of time shenanigans and for some reason wanted to help them out.

2. Zero’s tears becoming rainbow pearls, Tōga humiliating her, the comment about Sesshomaru’s mother, her very pointed threat against the twins on the night they’re born, the threat against Inuyasha when he’d already been left alive 200 years, waking Kirinmaru up just to tell him this once Moroha was born, etc. She said it already: she wants the family to suffer.

3. Kirinmaru’s reaction to hearing Sesshomaru had married a human and fathered hanyos seemed personal as well; I think that was overblown on purpose. His whole reaction was curious. Like, why threaten Inuyasha now when you literally just got done stating that he assumed Sesshomaru and Inuyasha could handle the comet? He's been around two centuries bruh, taking your time or what? I know it’s made to look like he’s just then making a move because Zero’s pointing out that a hanyo will kill him but are we expected to believe that he didn’t already think of that already? Riku said Kirinmaru can’t forgive the existence of half-demons so why didn’t Kirinmaru make a move on Inuyasha before? He would have had Sesshomaru’s support surely? (That’s debatable tho tbh; technically Sesshomaru did try to kill Inuyasha for real at their father’s grave, but prior to that we have no idea whether he made any real attempt on his life. He did acknowledge Inuyasha as his ‘little brother’ after all, and he could have easily killed him in at any point during his 50-year sleep). He seemed confident that Sesshomaru would help him kill Inuyasha, but again this could just be what we’re supposed to think.

So, the idea of Riku being related to Sesshomaru is interesting, but barring some kind of illusion or other explanation, I can’t see Riku being his son. Physically they look nothing alike and Riku doesn’t appear to possess any powers related to any demons we know. We’ve only seen him display certain..weird abilities by using the pearl and we don’t yet know how they all work, if each has special abilities or if they all operate in the same manner. I personally wonder if the pearls follow the will of the bearer or grant the bearer’s wishes. Ie. Riku used the pearl to gather water to him, he used it to make boats appear out of no where so he could get out of dodge, and if I remember correctly he used the pearl to create the gold. If the other pearls operate the same, the silver and gold pearls could be protecting the twins because that was Sesshomaru’s wish. Idk if that holds water, honestly who the frick knows what the silver and gold pearls really do at this point besides making their eyes sparkle. They seem to be reacting to something but I haven’t worked it out what that is myself.

Aside from ‘Riku is Sesshomaru’s son’ theories (which I do think are interesting), a crack theory about who else’s son he could be has come to mind. This was the purpose of the post but it got very long. I like writing about Riku, sue me.

Tōga -> Riku

If it seems plausible to some that Riku could be Sesshomaru’s son, either born before the events of the OG series (not that likely given his aversion to humans) or after the events of HNY (reappearing in the Sengoku period bc of time shenanigans), then what’s to say he couldn’t be Tōga’s hanyo son or even a full demon son (if it comes out that he’s using some illusion powers)? We’d already have a candidate for who his mother could be.

Zero said she was humiliated by Tōga. She wants his family to suffer. She shares similarities in appearance with Riku along with her brother Kirinmaru, who could very well pass as his potential father or uncle.

Honestly, I think I’d be satisfied with any of these theories coming true, even this crack one because it would be so juicy can you imagine.

Of course, there is Zero’s line that Tōga was basically responsible for unleashing hanyos unto the world and presumably she meant with Inuyasha. Do we know that he was the first hanyo? That hasn’t been explicitly stated yet. Does it mean that Riku could not have been fathered by Tōga prior to Inuyasha? No, Zero could be leaving him out. Does it still mean he could have been fathered by Sesshomaru after? Sure, if we overlook his ill will toward humans. In that case, it’s really more likely he comes from the future if he’s anyone’s son, but everyone knowing who he is throws a monkey wrench in that.