[Episode 35, The True Owner of the Great Sword, design by Takehiro Nakayama].
Now, this frame (min. 17:23) is a juicy mystery to me. Even though I pride myself on recognizing any minor change in expression on Sesshōmaru's face, I can't quite place this one. Maybe it's that he's still shaken by all the recent events just occured, yes, that could be enough of an explaination for such a plain, unguarded manifestation of sadness... and... confusion (?), weariness (?). But it isn't as that still feels wrong on him, almost out of character. He looks like a damn Golden retriever puppy, how can you make this make sense??? (Especially at this point of the story). Then again, I like it exactly for this reason, because this fact that it doesn't make sense is so intriguing.
So. Sometimes I'm more inclined to think of this frame as a little smudge in the characterization of Sesshōmaru (and that would even be understandable given the delicate balance on which the episode is built), other times I like to think that it does make sense if I see it as something "right in its wrongness".
N.B. This face he makes here doesn't exist in the manga, we just see him pick up Rin's scent, so it's no use reffering to the source material.
