Yashahime, starring daughters of Inuyasha’s stars, is coming soon, but the entire Inuyasha manga is free to read right now.

Even within the illustrious resume of manga creator Rumiko Takahashi, Inuyasha is special. Not only is it her longest series, it was also Takahashi’s first to debut after Japanese comics and animation gained significant popularity outside Japan, with the Inuyasha anime adaptation’s overseas TV broadcasts earning Takahashi a truly global fanbase.

So it’s something for people around the world to be happy about as 12 years after the end of the Inuyasha manga, and 10 years after its final anime season, there’s a full-fledged anime sequel series on the way!

Titled Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (or Hanyo Yashahime in Japanese), the first of the story’s three protagonists is 14-year-old Towa Higurashi (pictured above), a family name fans will recognize as the same as that of Inuyasha’s female lead Kagome. However, while she’s now a modern-day Japanese junior high school student, Towa was actually born hundreds of years ago, during Japan’s Sengoku period, and travelled to the present via the magical Tree of Ages, after which she was found by Kagome’s brother, Sota, and raised as his daughter.

Towa has a twin sister, Setsuna, who she became separated from when she travelled to the present. Left in feudal-era Japan, Setsuna becomes a demon hunter, despite the fact that she and her sister are half-demons themselves, as well as the daughters of recurring Inuyasha antagonist Sesshomaru.

▼ Setsuna

The final member of the central trio is Moroha, another half-demon demon hunter who also has a familial connection to the other members of the core cast. She’s Towa and Setsuna’s cousin, since she’s the daughter of original series will-they-or-won’t-they-turns-out-they-did couple Inuyasha and Kagome, although Moroha has lived by herself since a young age and doesn’t know much about her parents.

▼ In Takahashi tradition, early concept art for Moroha is pretty fluid regarding her hair color.

Eventually Towa and Setsuna are reunited, but with Setsuna having no recollection of their childhood together, kickstarting an adventure to regain her memories.

While Takahashi herself is handling the main character designs for Yashahime, the project is an original anime TV series, with no manga version yet announced. Teruo Sato, assistant/episode director for the original Inuasha anime and also director for Inuyasha: The Final Act, returns as director, as do animation character designer Yoshihito Hishinuma and composer Kaoru Wada. In a further show of continuity, Animation studio Sunrise once again will be producing the animation.

Yashahime is scheduled to begin airing on Japanese TV in the fall, and as the beginning of a new chapter in the franchise, looks like it should be inviting enough even for people with no prior Inuyasha experience to jump right in and follow along. However, if you do want to get caught up on the complete story so far, Japanese manga publisher Shogakukan has announced that all 558 chapters of the Inuyasha manga are currently free to read on its Sunday Webry app. You’ll want to read quickly, though, as the free-to-read period ends on May 15.

Related: Sunday Werby
Sources: Yashahime official website, Comic Natalie via Hachima Kiko, Viz
Images: Yashahime official website
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