Wow, I can see I’ve already attracted a naysayer in my notes. x3 I dunno if that speaks of the fandom itself, or if it speaks of the fandom as it is on Tumblr.
Regardless, I love a good debate; so instead of instantly going for the block-hammer, I’m first going to offer some counterpoints, which I feel everyone should have seen if they’d watched the show in its entirety (so, spoilers, kinda).
1. I’m not saying Sesshomaru is perfect. Nor am I saying the writing is perfect (one thing I don’t really get is whether or not he knew what powers the Rainbow Pearls would give the girls other than enhanced demon abilities (seemingly), and where the heck a portal through time that dragged Towa off came from; I may have to watch the episodes a few more times). BUT,
2. You have to take a look at his actions from a demon’s point of view, and not a human’s (the characters acknowledge in the very last episode that his actions were questionable, but as a whole they were all about giving them all the opportunity to come into their own strength; the “rite of courage and cowardice”). He still wanted the girls to live for Rin’s sake, and if you look at it through a demon’s point of view, he was pretty generous in making sure they had the best chance of survival:
3. Giving them the Rainbow Pearls. Sealing them away from his ACTIVELY HUNTING FOR THEM enemy’s eyes in a barrier. Having Jaken watch over them as they grew and then spiriting Setsuna away in a protected half-demon village once she was out of the fire. All without arm’s reach, because he still had to project an air of ruthlessness around his enemies, and let them believe that the girls were dead, when in fact:
4. Everyone seems to underestimate the powers of a half-demon. He first-hand knows not to, having his ass handed to him by Inuyasha several times in the original show. xP Could he have helped the girls out of the fire? Yes, but that wouldn’t have stopped Zero and Kirinmaru from continuing to go after them with more and probably worse inescapable methods, showing that arguably the strongest demon lord in the show has a weakness. At that point he had to trust in the circumstances that he’d put into motion and make them believe they’d succeeded.
5. Once they grew up enough to no longer be bystanders to the fight, he still came to help them on several occasions; if not by directly doing so, then by showing his daughters what they could surely do with their abilities (in one notable moment that he DID help, he freaking took a LETHAL BLAST from Kirinmaru, directed at them). Not once did he ever show that he didn’t believe in them (which, again, was pointed out by Moroha in the last episode when they were doubting that themselves).
One questionable moment doesn’t make character regression; he’s made up for it with plenty of other good actions. He’s still come a very long way since the events of Inuyasha; even WITHIN the events of it...you don’t even need to look that deeply between the lines.
And that’s my other two cents. xP