Episode 41 (Hanyō no Yashahime)

Akuru’s Pinwheel is the forty-first episode of Hanyō no Yashahime, and the seventeenth episode of the second season titled "The Second Act."

Synopsis

 * 1) As Moroha spends some awkward time with her parents, Kirinmaru shows up, leading to an intense battle between the rogue Beast King of the East a recently released Inuyasha and Kagome.
 * 2) Setsuna sees that Akuru has appeared before Towa's unconscious form holding his pinwheel to her.
 * 3) The Sacred Tree of Ages' essence suddenly appears and tells Setsuna that she, Towa and Moroha have been chosen to destroy the Grim Comet in the modern era but must also destroy "the foreign body" as well.

Plot
At Higurashi shrine, a concerned Grandpa looks at the dark shadows that have now appeared on the Sacred Tree of Ages, fully aware of how ill an omen it is. His daughter expresses her own concerns at whether something would happen to Kagome and Towa, to which he replies that he simply does not know but is certain of something far worse happening sooner than later, implying that the old man can detect the Grim Comet somehow. Mei then leaves her grandmother and great-grandfather, as she is meeting her good friend Itsumi. She greets Osamu Kirin, who returns the young girl's kindness but is sad to see her so full of life and happiness that will be wiped out by the imminent annihilation of humanity by the comet as he is the only being who can see it.

Akuru heals Towa with his pinwheel and the Sacred Tree of Ages' essence appears to inform Towa and Setsuna that they and Moroha have been chosen by Akuru to destroy the Grim Comet as well as "the foreign entity" in the modern era. Rin then tells her twin daughters that they must do what they were destined to do and return safely, so that they can finally get a big hug from their parents for their heroic deeds. The twins assure their human mother that they will return and leave with Jaken to use the Windmill of Time to go to the modern era with aid from their dog-demon grandmother. Rin then sheds the tears she has been holding back and wonders if letting her daughters' go into such danger was all for the best, to which a still weakened and recovering Sesshōmaru smiles at his wife reassuringly.

At the Bone-Eater's Well, Moroha has been catching up with her long-lost parents who present her with a longbow made from materials from her grandfather's tomb and Inuyasha's silver-white hair. Kagome also tells her daughter that the Bone-Eater's Well is where she came from to the feudal era, that it is a very special place for her and Inuyasha. The family reunion is interrupted by the reappearance of Kirinmaru who demands that Sesshōmaru come out. Inuyasha tells Kagome and Moroha to stand back as he fights the one responsible for their fourteen-year separation. Kagome assures him that she will be fine, and Moroha says that she will never run away from any fight as she has survived this long on her own. Inuyasha unleashes with his Wind Scar and Adamant Barrage attacks, but Kirinmaru is strong enough to withstand them. Kagome and Moroha attack with sacred arrows, but have no more luck than Inuyasha in doing away with the rogue beast king.

Incensed at the constant inference from Tōga's sons, daughter-in-laws, and granddaughters, Kirinmaru is more determined than ever to bring the remaining members of the Dog-Demon clan and all those who follow them to an end. Inuyasha attempts to end him with his own demonic energy-based attack with Backlash Wave, but it, too, is ineffective as Kirinmaru's demonic aura is immensely stronger. He is disturbed at seeing Moroha, who is using her parents' gift to supercharge an arrow with even stronger and more effective spiritual power, causing him to dodge it, immediately berating himself for resorting to such cowardly tactics. Having had more than enough of "further acts of insolence" the beast king retaliates with a strong blast of his purple demonic energy, but the demonic energy shield from Tessaiga's sheath leaves parents and daughter unscathed.

Towa and Setsuna arrive and tell Moroha that they must go to the modern era to annihilate the Grim Comet, which shocks and infuriates Kirinmaru as he wants to do just that and be worshiped as a god by humanity. Moroha notices Akuru pulling her as insistence for her to join her twin half-cousins on their journey through time. Inuyasha tells his daughter to go one ahead as it is her destiny to be with her friends. Jaken goes to show the Half-Demon Princesses the way. Kirinmaru is about to be in pursuit but is stopped at sword point by Inuyasha who will never let Kirinmaru lay even one finger on his daughter. Takechiyo offers to take them to the palace of Sesshōmaru's dog-demon mother faster by riding on him as usual.

On an increasingly exhausted Shippō's spinning top to transport to the village much faster, Kagome admits how it has been fourteen years since she and Inuyasha were there last. Kaede is nearly pulverized by Shippō and is genuinely surprised at seeing Kagome and Inuyasha alive and well, having amused like everyone else that they were deceased. Kagome tells the elderly priestess to evacuate the villagers with the warning that something much worse would be occurring soon. On Takechiyo, the Half-Demon Princesses, Jaken and Akuru have reached the palace of Sesshōmaru's mother and get to see the Windmill of Time, with which Kirinmaru is so obsessed with. The mighty daiyōkai female awaits the arrival of her twin granddaughters and step-granddaughter on her throne.

Back in Tokyo, Mei and her friend Itsumi notice strange-looking crows that swarm to attack them, revealing themselves to be none other than carrion crow-demons. They are instantly destroyed by a stream of purplish demonic power that was fired from Osamu Kirin's arm. Incredulous at the sudden appearance of demons that have been extinct five centuries ago beginning to emerge from the Grim Comet. He wonders what he can do about them in his present state as the Grim Comet looms ever closer to the Earth.

Trivia

 * Akuru or his pinwheel is shown to have some sort of healing ability as he uses this power to revitalize Towa.
 * Akuru makes direct physical contact with the Half-Demon Princesses for the first time.
 * Inuyasha battles Kirinmaru for the first time alongside his wife and teenage daughter.
 * Inuyasha utilizes his Backlash Wave for the first time in the spinoff. However, for some reason this technique appears much weaker than it did in the original series, and Kirinmaru easily disperses it.
 * Moroha gets a new and more powerful weapon, a longbow made from of Inuyasha's sliver-white hair and materials from her grandfather's grave. It seems to boost her already strong spiritual powers somewhat like Kagome's longbow does for hers.
 * Kirinmaru showing fear of Moroha's spiritual powers suggests that she is potentially considerably stronger then her own mother.
 * Miroku and Sango retain their old running gag of her slapping him for touching her behind even after all these years. Showing they are more casual about it; since they carry on with the conversation after she strikes him.
 * Sango is seen carrying the Black Hiraikotsu on her back.
 * Kaede is reunited with Inuyasha and Kagome.
 * With Miroku's appearance, all major characters from the original series are present in this episode.
 * Rion becoming unable to move without enough haku to sustain her artificial body is reminiscent of Kikyō to when she was deprived of the spirits of the departed without her Soul Collectors nearby.
 * Kirinmaru seems to fear Moroha's ever developing and strengthening innate spiritual powers, as he had expressed slight concern when the quarter-demon was supercharging an arrow with even more spiritual energy, a feat she had never done so beforehand.
 * Miroku's signature spiritually-infused staff is returned to him by his wife who is carrying her greatly enhanced Black Hiraikotsu on her back.
 * The genuine Kikujūmonji is seen again.

Error

 * As Kin'u and Gyokuto rides on Hachi, there's missing pinpoints in his eyes.