#BUT suffice to say found family does affect them uniquely IN their routes even if they still have it outside their routes | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dragonsarecats · 5 months

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To be fair CF is just as much about found family than VW

Hi anon! I'm gonna link the post I talked about the Golden Deer here for clarity's sake lol.

I think when discussing themes of found family in different three houses routes, it's important to talk about Byleth. In a game where the single, main variable between possible futures is Byleth's interference, it means the story has to be written in a particular way--I mentioned this before when talking about character supports and endings; each character needs to be able to have a romantic ending with Byleth, which affects how their supports are written. In the case of the Lord's, this means you're given tangible reasons why you should've chosen them.

I mean. Let's be real here. Claude has the highest survivability rate of any character in the base game. He can't die if you're completing Verdant Wind (for obvious reasons), or Blue Lions. He's heavily implied to live to see another day in Silver Snow, and you can spare him in Crimson Flower! Edelgard and Dimitri die without the professor's stabilizing influence--but Claude? What does he lose without the professor.

That's sort of how I determine subtler themes of each route in a way--by comparing what you get with and without Byleth.

So when I argue that Verdant Wind is the most about found family, I mean it thematically; the other routes don't have tangible less found family, but without Byleth members of the Golden Deer just blatantly disappear unrecruited post time skip in several routes!

Without Byleth, the option for found family is removed for Claude in a big way, I personally feel, and not just by full recruitment runs lol. Not completely, of course--even in Crimson Flower a recruited Lorenz laments having to face off against Claude and Hilda is willing to die in defense of him and the city--but enough that it was blatantly shocking to me that if you don't recruit Marianne, she does not appear at all post time skip, no exceptions.

In a narrative sense, perhaps slightly unshocking; but in a practical sense? This leaves Claude without a healer.

Claude can't hold onto all his Deer even if you don't recruit any of them in the Academy phase. Silver Snow, Azure Moon, Crimson Flower--Marianne will always be gone; consistent, non variable. Depending on the route other characters like Lorenz might disappear as well.

The themes of found family are prevalent in all the routes, but since each route is pretty much defined by the Lord who leads it, I feel as though their personal relationship with the found family is most defining, if that makes sense.

People stand by Edelgard, Dimitri, and even Rhea for better, or for worse. Even recruited, characters like Felix make it abundantly clear that switching sides doesn't change the immense emotional attachment they have to their original lord.

This just. Isn't true for Claude.

Without Byleth, he doesn't get to keep everyone together. Without Byleth Hilda is recruitable in two routes. The idea that you could ever do the same with Hubert or Dedue is blatantly laughable.

Byleth's presence is what enables Edelgard, Dimitri, and Rhea to remain the most of themselves, if that makes sense. Edelgard's war strategy in Crimson Flower is a lot less aggressive and scorched earth then it is in the other two routes because she's had the professor as an emotional rock. Similarly for Dimitri, he's able to recover because Byleth is there to keep him alive and safe. And then Rhea will blatantly die in the Verdant Wind route where she doesn't in Silver Snow. Byleth, in every sense of the word, keeps these three characters alive and well.

But without her? They still inspire loyalty and devotion--unquestionable, again, if no recruitment takes place. Dimitri, Edelgard, and Rhea can all face up against you as enemies with the full force of their houses/allies (save for, oddly, Annette).

Claude does not.

Claude's whole route is about learning to trust others in a way that allows them to trust him. The Deer are devoted to Claude in Verdant Wind in a way they just, textually aren't otherwise, and that's due to Byleth's influence, both as a Professor to these individual students, and to Claude.

When I say that Verdant Wind is the most found family thematically to me, I mean it at a very base level. Claude knows he doesn't have what Dimitri and Edelgard seem to take for granted. It seems almost effortless, in Verdant Wind, the loyalty and devotion he inspires in his friends despite how often you, as Byleth, are told that Claude appears to be an untrustworthy and sneaky individual.

But it's easy to see in routes where you don't chose him that without Byleth, that image mantains. Claude is an outsider. And maybe he doesn't need Byleth in the way the other lords do to survive or achieve his dream (after all, there's nothing saying he can't open diplomacy with his former classmates after he goes back to Almyra so long as he lives to do so), but just as Byleth is uniquely able to be a peer to the Golden Deer, so can Claude uniquely trust and gain the trust of his house in full.

It's not as dramatic as the other two houses, and I think it's the point. Edelgard and Dimitri have already built a solid foundation of devotion and loyalty. Ferdinand and Felix (your "rival" characters in those houses) are loyal without Byleth, even if Ferdinand claims it's to guide her or if Felix complains every step of the way. Lorenz isn't. In Verdant Wind, you sort of take it for granted that everyone will be there at the reunion if they survived the Academy phase. Of course they will--they promised, didn't they?

But outside Verdant Wind, it's clear to see that you as the player took it for granted. And that's why I think Verdant Wind is thematically the most found family. It's not because the other routes don't love each other as much or aren't as complex or there isn't devotion. It's because fundamentally Verdant Wind is about Claude, for the first time in his life, having a group of people he can rely on and who will rely on him without hesitation. It's about the formation of found family, and how Claude doesn't need it to achieve his dreams, but man, does it give him something to achieve those dreams for.

#fe3h #twila talks #twila answers #claude von riegan #edelgard von hresvelg #dimitri alexandre blaiddyd #verdant wind route #lorenz hellman gloucester #marianne von edmund #thank you for the ask anon!!!#I think the themes of found family in the other three routes are very prevalent just different #whereas claude's route is really about the formation of a found family and him being able to keep it you know?#claude doesn't need byleth in the way the other three lords do #but that means he DOES need byleth in a way those other three don't if that makes sense #again byleth is the fulcrum on which this universe/narrative spins so the way you judge a lot of this in my mind #is to see what happens when byleth is or isn't there #i mean look at three hopes lol #didn't talk too much about the effects of found family on edelgard or dimitri here because i don't want to be here all day lol #BUT suffice to say found family does affect them uniquely IN their routes even if they still have it outside their routes #and again all this is influenced and informed by shared history and power dynamics etc etc #it's also important to me to talk about the way each of the four routes differentiates in clear ways from the other #anyways this is my golden deer propaganda follow me for more or send me asks for a timely multi paragraph response #sdfhsjkdf

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recentanimenews · 4 years

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OPINION: What I Want From Princess Half-Demon As An Inuyasha Fan

Image via Viz Media

"As I live in this world, I know that things will continue to change, but I'm not worried about the future. I'm going to spend every day with Inuyasha. No matter what, now I know the two of us will be together, as we head toward tomorrow." Those were the last words spoken by Kagome Higurashi as she and Inuyasha looked out into the world, finally living peacefully after completing their long, tireless journey.

Rumiko Takahashi's epic adventure came to an end after many wonderful episodes, and to me, this series had one of the most satisfying endings of an anime I'd seen. As a fan — and after spending years invested in this series, even waking up at 3 AM just to watch it — I was completely content with the conclusion. I didn't feel there needed to be more, but of course, if there was some sort of sequel, continuation, or spin-off, I sure as heck wouldn't be disappointed. And years later, that very thought is becoming a reality. There's already so much hype around the highly anticipated Inuyasha sequel spin-off Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, even sparking a large social media discourse. As a HUGE Inuyasha fan myself, I'm often wondering what I can expect and what I'd want to see in this series and if Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon will live up to Inuyasha's anime legacy?

Image via Viz Media

A New Feudal Fairytale

From Viz Media, the synopsis for Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon is as follows:

In Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, the daughters of Sesshomaru and Inuyasha set out on a journey transcending time. Set in feudal Japan, half-demon twins Towa and Setsuna are separated from each other during a forest fire. While desperately searching for her younger sister, Towa wanders into a mysterious tunnel that sends her into present-day Japan, where she is found and raised by Kagome Higurashi’s brother, Sota, and his family.

Ten years later, the tunnel that connects the two eras has reopened, allowing 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.

The official website for Hanyou no Yashahime: Sengoku Otogi Zoushi recently shared a 90-second promotional video for the series.

youtube

Seeing Moroha, Towa, and Setsuna is already making me emotional. Moroha is the spitting image of her parents, with a fiery personality just like her father, and seeing her with both her parents' abilities is just peak level excitement. Setsuna is straight-up Sesshomaru's daughter, and I'm already loving Towa's confidence, as well as the twin's opposite personalities and how their strengths and weaknesses will compliment each other. I'm also stoked to see everyone's demon strength and abilities during combat because Moroha, Towa, and Setsuna aren't your average demons!

I'm excited to meet these next-generation characters, but I'd be lying if I said I'd be okay not having the original characters be a part of this story. Seeing as it wasn't until the very end of the last episode of Inuyasha: The Final Act we got to see the original characters have any chance at a normal life, I'd really love to see what a typical day in the life is post-Naraku. As we've seen in the trailer, Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango, and Miroku continue to slay demons after the events of the last episode, which is to be expected, but I'm genuinely curious as to how they balance battling demons with being parents, especially if any of their jobs take them far away from the village for long periods of time.

When it comes to relationships, I already know how the original characters made out, but one of the biggest questions on my mind is ... WHO IS THE TWINS' MOTHER? Considering Sesshomaru was never the most welcoming character, it makes me really curious about who was able to break down that barrier of his. I don't need an excessive amount of time dedicated to how Sesshomaru became a father — a single episode or even a nice little flashback scene will suffice — but the show can't just say, " Oh so Sesshomaru has twins now," and not let me know who, what, when, where and how this happened! I also need to know if the mother is human or not because again, that would be really telling of Sesshomaru's character.

And what about other characters like Shippo? I'm ready to see that full-fledged fox demon glow up! I feel so much excitement thinking about bringing back a classic series with new additions, and there's some cryptic information currently available at the time of this article I wasn't expecting that's making me even more anxious for this series like ... why is Moroha all alone!?

”もろは”のカラー設定を初公開！ ”火鼠の衣”を纏い、赤いリボンがトレードマーク???? 『半妖の夜叉姫』は2020年秋読売テレビ・日本テレビ系土曜夕方5時30分～放送決定！（※一部地域を除く）公式サイト↓https://t.co/gqioWTuQ18#半妖の夜叉姫#もろは pic.twitter.com/8BAlYchhvS

— 半妖の夜叉姫 (@hanyo_yashahime) July 19, 2020

Where are Inuyasha and Kagome?

One of the things I was looking forward to most was seeing Inuyasha, Kagome, and their daughter interact as a family, but something about Moroha's character biography struck me. According to her description, she lived alone since she was young, and because of that, she knows little about her parents. WAIT, WHAT?! We KNOW Moroha is Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter, but it doesn't make sense to me she wouldn't know anything about them? I've heard theories Inuyasha and Kagome died, but I really don't like this idea. To me, it doesn't feel right having the two main characters, the ones I watched face incredible danger, going up against the strongest of enemies episode after episode, die suddenly from who knows what. It would be a huge disservice to Inuyasha and Kagome to write them off like that, and also ... it would just be a huge bummer, so I hope the series doesn't go that route. I don't know exactly where they are, but based on the love and support Inuyasha had from his mother and Kagome from her family, I know they wouldn't willingly neglect Moroha, and because of that, my hope of seeing this family interact at some point AND to experience some good anime parents remains strong because we really need more of those.

Image via Viz Media

Unlocking the Past

There's this mysterious element surrounding the original characters I wasn't expecting when Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon was announced, but now, after watching and analyzing the trailer a million times (as one does) I'm coming up with theories of how I think the series will intertwine the characters, bridging the gap between old and new generations and, truthfully, I'd be satisfied if any of this were true because I really like this idea. Here's my thought: the trailer explains there was the demon Root Head, who was defeated by Inuyasha and his friends. But soon after, the demon gained the power of the tree of ages creating a passage from the Feudal Era to the present day — which is how Towa was separated from Setsuna. We also know Moroha, Towa, and Setsuna begin an adventure to uncover their missing past.

The trailer made it a point to bring up Root Head and the tree of ages so I'm speculating the tree of ages opened up passages to not just the present day, but to other worlds as well, seeing as the tree of ages lives throughout different generations as explained by Kikyo in Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time, and maybe Inuyasha and Kagome were separated during that same period of time as Towa, and everyone's memories related to those lost in time were altered. It's quite possible the OG gang are now outsiders scattered between eras, and the only way to fix time is to put fate in the hands of the next generation. This would explain why the original characters are gone, from what I can tell, and why Moroha grew up alone because, again, I don't buy the theory Inuyasha and Kagome died. Seeing as when Towa was separated, she grew up in the present day with the Higurashi's, I'm sure they would've told her stories about Inuyasha, Kagome, and the Feudal Era — giving her insight into how the passages connecting eras works, becoming the key to their missing pasts.

The story as it is now is tough to decipher, and while I'm having fun coming up with these theories, my overall hope for this series is to get a healthy mixture of characters and storylines. Getting the opportunity to follow up on the original character's lives while also experiencing the adventures of their children without anyone's character development being sacrificed or neglected for the story's sake.

Image via Viz Media

Writing Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon

When it comes to the writing aspect of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, I find myself seeing something very positive. Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon appears to be an original anime TV series spinoff of Inuyasha. Because of that, it lends itself to more fluid storytelling with the unique opportunity to tell a full and complete story from the beginning, without prolonged pauses or filler episodes. I feel this is a rare treat when it comes to anime.

Unfortunately, Rumiko Takahashi is only credited as the main character designer and doesn't appear to be involved in the story. When I hear news like that, it's easy to think this could be one of those typical anime patterns where there's potential for an anime series to go off the rails if the original author isn't involved. However, I'm not really worried seeing as Katsuyuki Sumisawa has returned for this project, and will be in charge of the series scripts just like on Inuyasha. Teruo Sato, Yoshihito Hishinuma, and Kaoru Wada are also returning to the series with SUNRISE continuing on as the production house. With a team and studio already familiar with the property, and who has previously handled with such care the show that has already brought me so much joy, I feel secure when it comes to the storytelling.

— 半妖の夜叉姫 (@hanyo_yashahime) May 9, 2020

KKAAGGOOMMEE!!! Who else just heard Inuyasha's voice ringing in your ears as you read that? I can't be the only one and man I do hope we get to hear that at least once more. I'm beyond excited for this new feudal fairytale and have confidence it will be a good balance between old and new. The only thing that can make it better is if Do As Infinity comes back to sing another theme song because let's be real, the second Inuyasha ending slaps!

What do you hope to see from Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon as an Inuyasha fan? Let us know in the comments!

Pro hero Veronica Valencia is an anime-loving, hot sauce enthusiast! You can follow more of her work as a host, writer, and producer on Twitter and Instagram.

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