Inu Yasha

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InuYasha
犬夜叉 (InuYasha)
Genre	Adventure, Shounen, Fantasy, Historical, Supernatural, Comedy, Romance
Manga: InuYasha, A Feudal Fairy Tale
Written by	Rumiko Takahashi
Publisher	-
Original run	- – Ongoing
Volumes	Currently 33(?)
Anime : InuYasha
Directed by	Masashi Ikeda Yasunao Aoki
Animation by	{{{animator}}}
Music by	{{{composer}}}
Script by	{{{writer}}}
Studio
Network	NTV Yomiuri TV Cartoon Network YTV Canada
Original run	October 16, 2000 – September 13, 2004
No. of episodes	167 TV episodes, 1 OVA and 4 movies.

InuYasha (犬夜叉) is an anime and manga series created by Rumiko Takahashi. The manga, InuYasha, A Feudal Fairy Tale (犬夜叉 戦国お伽草紙), which has been serialized in the magazine Shonen Sunday. The anime was broadcasted on Japanese TV in October 16, 2000 until the anime's end in September 13, 2004. The anime ended abruptly and left many fans of the anime in a cliffhanger. The manga however still continues to be published in new volumes.

A sequel anime series, Inuyasha: The Final Act, started recently. New episodes can be watched on the Shonen Sunday website[1]. Inuyasha: The Final Act begins where the first series left off. It began airing on Saturday, October 3, 2009, and a new episode is posted every Saturday when it airs in Japan. These episodes are availabe in subs only. There is no word yet if Viz Media will release a dubbed version, but it seems likely.

Overview

The Jewel of Four Souls

The story begins in feudal Japan with InuYasha, a hanyō stealing the Jewel of Four Souls (四魂の玉 Shikon no Tama), a jewel that can increase anyone's powers enormously, from a village. He doesn't get far before Kikyo, the young miko of the village shoots InuYasha with a sacred arrow, sealing him forever to the Sacred Tree (Goshinboku). Before dying from mortal wounds, Kikyo tells her younger sister, Kaede, to burn the jewel with her remains to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.

What really happened was that orginally in the past, InuYasha wanted to steal the jewel to become a full fledged demon. He kept failing every time. He and Kikyo eventually became a couple, despite their differences, and felt like they could trust each other. However, there is another demon named Naraku who wants the jewel for himself. And in an attempt to get it, tricked InuYasha and Kikyo into thinking that they betrayed each other. In a rage, InuYasha attacks the village to steal the jewel, but he is sealed to a tree by Kikyo's sacred arrow while trying to escape with the jewel.

In modern Tokyo, a junior high-school girl named Kagome Higurashi is on her way to school. She stops in the well house of her family Shinto shrine to retrieve her cat, Buyo, and a centipede demon bursts forth and pulls her into the well. Kagome miraculously fends off the demon and emerges from the well in the Sengoku period of Japan. She eventually finds InuYasha who is still pinned down to the tree by the arrow, in some sort of eternal sleep.(The tree is enchanted. As long as one is touching it, they do not age. Inuyasha was put under a spell, but on the tree. And remained there for 50 years.) The centipede demon eventually returns and in a panic to be saved, Kagome frees InuYasha from the tree, and Inuyasha destroys the demon with his brute strength. When the centipede demon bit into Kagome's stomach the Jewel of Four Souls was revealed to be inside of her.

It also eventually revealed that Kagome is Kikyo's reincarnation. This explains why she had the Jewel inside of her and why she was able to free InuYasha. She also has the power to sense where the Jewel is if hidden, including shards of the Jewel.

With the help of Kikyo's sister, Kaede & Kagome place the "Beads of Subjugation" (InuYasha's necklace) on InuYasha. With the command of "Sit, boy!" from Kagome, InuYasha is rendered powerless, thus helping Kagome keep InuYasha from the Sacred Jewel.

Determined to return home but yet also given the task to protect the Jewel, Kagome protects the whole Jewel from InuYasha without fail. Unfortunately, a crow demon found its way to the jewel and ate it, gaining supernatural powers. In pursuit to retrieve it, the demon crow loses a foot. Kagome ties the foot to an arrow (since the crow's body parts try to return to the main body each time it is severed) and shoots it at the demon crow. The tip of the arrow shatters the Jewel and the flying shards scatter all over Japan.

Kagome and InuYasha set out to collect the shards of the Jewel of Four Souls and restore it. Along the way they befriend Shippo, a fox demon, Miroku, a monk, and Sango, a demon-slayer. The group often encounter InuYasha's brother Sesshomaru, Naraku (who tricked Kikyo and Inu Yasha into turning against each other), and Koga, a wolf demon who's in love with Kagome.

Primary Characters

The primary cast of InuYasha. Included in this image is Muso (top right corner).

• InuYasha A hanyō with long silver hair, dog ears and wears a robe woven from the fur of the fire rat. He is half human and half dog demon. When he was a child, humans would often tease and make fun of him for being a halfling. This is one of the reasons why he wanted to steal the Jewel of Four Souls, to use it to become a full-fledged demon. He eventually retrieves a sword called Tetsusaiga, which has extreme amounts of power.(The Tetsusaiga can slay 100 demons in one sweep)
• Higurashi Kagome A schoolgirl who's family owns and works the Sunset Shrine. On her 15th birthday, she is pulled down the well by a centipede demon. She is the one who freed InuYasha and accidentally shattered the Jewel of Four Souls. She is able to sense where the shards are, being the reincarnation of Kikyo. She is able to return home and back to feudal Japan if she has the Jewel or shards of it with her. She also eventually finds feelings towards Inuyasha and vice versa. Although InuYasha still has some feelings for Kikyo, and is having a tough time knowing he can only be with one.
• Kikyo A miko(Priestess) who was the guardian of The Jewel of Four Souls. She is the one who sealed InuYasha to a tree after she thought he betrayed him, when really it was a trick by Naraku. Despite her reincarnation being Kagome, her 'past' soul is able to 'come back' even with Kagome present in feudal Japan. She returns from Hell in a clay body image of herself. After finding out what happened was Naraku's doing, Kikyo felt feelings toward InuYasha again and often tried to take him back to Hell with her. Kikyo shares some sort of hatred towars Kagome.
• Shippo
• Miroku
• Sango
• Sesshomaru Sesshomaru is a full dog demon and InuYasha's brother (half brother in the manga). He can be described as being cold and somewhat selfish. He has a sword called Tenseiga, which has the power to save a hundred souls. Sesshomaru only wants power though, and finds the sword useless. He wants InuYasha's powerful sword, the Tetsusaiga, and has attempted many times to steal it. The first time he appeared, Inuyasha used the Tetsusaiga to cut off his left arm. Traveling with him are his loyal servants, Jaken the toad demon and a polite, little girl named Rin.
• Naraku
• Koga

Trivia Facts

• In the Mexican dub of InuYasha, Higurashi Kagome is called "Aome". This is because the name Kagome sounds like an offensive pun in Spanish. Especially Latin Spanish.
• In episode 90, there is some Cat Noodles for sale in a grocery shop. The Cat Noodles are a reference to Ranma ½'s Shampoo who owns a noodle restruant.

Links

• InuYasha Image Gallery
• InuYasha Lyrics
• Inuyasha Screencaps Gallery