InuYasha

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Inuyasha_-_Naraku_No_Wana_Mayoi_No_Mori_No_Shoutaijou

''For the anime character, see InuYasha (character)

There is a long-standing debate about the proper English spelling of the title character's name, an example of the type of dispute that often happens as a result of romanization. Variant spellings include "InuYasha", "Inuyasha", "Inu-Yasha", "Inu-yasha", "Inu Yasha", and "Inu yasha". Fans of the series often use "IY" (or less rarely, "Inu"), especially on fansites, although it is usually considered to be more of an abbreviation than an actual name. Official licensors use varying spellings, so they provide little guidance in this area; the two most popular versions are "Inuyasha" and the VIZ CamelCase version. Since Japanese names generally do not use spacing or capitalization, there is ultimately no "correct" spelling. is a popular shōnen manga and anime series created by Rumiko Takahashi.

The series is named after the main character, InuYasha. The name "Inuyasha" literally means "dog demon".inu (犬) is a Japanese word meaning "dog". Yasha (夜叉) can be translated roughly to "Demon". The full title is .

Overview

InuYasha is a shōnen action adventure romantic comedy, with elements from the horror genre. The story begins in Tokyo, Japan with a junior high-school girl named Kagome Higurashi, who on her way to school heads to the covered well on the family property (which happens to be a Shinto shrine). She does this to retrieve her cat, Buyo, from the well, since her brother was afraid to go inside. When she approaches the well a centipede demon (dubbed "Mistress Centipede") bursts from the well and grabs her. The demon claims that Kagome possesses the Jewel of the Four Souls (四魂の玉 Shikon no Tama) and attempts to seize it. When the demon is driven off, the very confused Kagome emerges in the Sengoku period of Japan. Kagome wanders into a nearby village and meets an old miko (Shinto shrine maiden) by the name of Kaede, who recognizes that Kagome is almost a mirror likeness for Kikyo (Kikyou), her elder sister (and powerful shrine maiden) who had died and had her body burned with the Jewel of the Four Souls, taking it with her into the afterlife. Kaede relates the story of how, 50 years earlier, a han'yō named InuYasha had tried to steal the Jewel from Kikyo, mortally wounding her in the process, but Kikyo had managed to strike him with a magical arrow, sealing him into an enchanted sleep and thus retrieving the Jewel before she finally died.

It turns out that Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo, and that she does possess the Jewel of the Four Souls, embedded within her body. When the centipede demon rips it from her and swallows it, granting the demon a great boost in power, Kagome is forced to release Inuyasha from his prison on the time-tree Goshinboku so he can defeat it.

Soon after they recover the Jewel, it is lost again, and Kagome accidentally shatters it into pieces with an arrow as she tries to recover it. The pieces scatter far and wide, and the story tells of Kagome and InuYasha's adventures as they search for the shards of the Jewel, as well as their growing romantic relationship.

Kagome and Inuyasha's relationship becomes complicated very quickly with the rebirth of Kikyo, the miko who first sealed Inuyasha to the tree, and who was also his first love. Brought back to life by the witch Urasue, Kikyo is reborn using half of Kagome's soul, but is not completely human--rather, she is a 'clay doll' who must absorb recently deceased souls to remain alive. The inability of Inuyasha to choose which woman he loves more leads to many romantic entanglements, and forms the very powerful love triangle that is one of the hallmarks of the series.

As their adventure continues, various other characters join in their search for the Shikon Jewel. They first encounter Shippou a small fox demon whose father was killed by the Thunder Brothers Manten and Hiten. Inuyasha defeats the brothers, and Shippou joins the group.

They then run across the lecherous con artist Miroku, a traveling monk (or houshi) who is venturing in search of a demon who placed a bizarre curse on his family. The demon, Naraku, is a very powerful half-youkai who, 50 years earlier, tore a hole in the hand of Miroku's grandfather, creating the kazaana, or wind-tunnel. The wind-tunnel functions like a black hole, and is passed down through the male generations of Miroku's family.

To stop the wind-tunnel from killing him (as it did his father and grandfather) Miroku must find Naraku and destroy him. He joins up with Inuyasha and Kagome, who soon realize that Naraku is the demon responsible for the fight Inuyasha and Kikyo had 50 years earlier, which led to Inuyasha's being imprisoned and Kikyo's death. Determined to seek revenge, Inuyasha makes the pursuit of Naraku his ultimate goal--one which coincides for the search for the Jewel, as Naraku is after it as well.

Their early pursuit of Naraku lands them face to face with Sango, a youkai tajiya or demon exterminator of the Exterminator village. Sango's family and village were slaughtered by Naraku, who used her younger brother, Kohaku as a pawn. The Tajiya village was attacked because of its proximity to the cave of Midoriko, the miko from whose soul the Shikon no Tama was first created.

Sango joins the party with the intent of taking revenge on Naraku. She is joined by her demon cat, Kirara. As the episodes progress, Sango and Miroku develop an attraction for one another that leads to Miroku proposing to Sango, and she accepts.

The rest of the episodes detail the adventures of Inuyasha and his gang as they continue to pursue Naraku and the rest of the Shikon no Tama. Throughout their adventures they meet a wide variety of friends and enemies, including Koga, the wolf-demon, and Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha's full youkai half-brother.

The storyline of Inuyasha covers over 450 episodes in the manga by Rumiko Takahashi, and 167 episodes of the anime created by Sunrise. Though various developments have occurred, very few plotlines have been completely resolved. The anime ended early, without any plot resolution, a decision made by Sunrise when one of the Inuyasha producers could no longer work on the anime.

The manga continues towards the grand climax of Inuyasha, however, and as of Volume 46, Naraku was just a few shards away from completing the jewel. Miroku is in mortal peril from the poisoning of his body through his wind-tunnel, as was Koga, the wolf-demon, and Sango's little brother, Kohaku. Kikyo continues to be a defining force for Inuyasha, who has sent a broken-hearted Kagome on a search for a way to purify her.

In chapter 464, as the last shard belonging to Kohaku's neck is currently the remaining thing stopping Naraku from possessing the entire Shikon no Tama, the story takes a sad note as Kikyo is finally defeated, leaving Inuyasha saddened as he holds her in his arms as the chapter comes to a dramatic close.

Characters

The plot focuses mainly on Kagome and InuYasha and their expanding group of friends and followers as they seek the shards of the Jewel of the Four Souls. The television show will occasionally skip over to the lives of the antagonists, minor characters or modern-day people as a way of setting up a plot, or clarifying a point. Flashbacks are occasionally used to the same effect.

Clothing in a historical context

According to interviews with the author, the style for Inuyasha's clothing was based on "priest's garb" of Japan's "Warring States" period. It is roughly similar in general appearance to the clothing worn by Kagome's grandfather, Kikyo, and Kaede; all Shinto clerics. The red garments are made of the legendary "Fire Rat (Hinezumi) Fur" which is said to be fireproof and "stronger than poor armour". From canon, we read "Hinezumi no Ke de Otta Koromo da, hetana Yoroi yori Tsuyoi ze" ; the literal translation is: "Its clothes woven from fire rat's fur, stronger than poor armor." These claims are substantiated in numerous incidents throughout canon. The historical reference can be found in the ancient Japanese folk tale "Taketori Monogatari", or "The Bamboo Cutter's Tale."

The jacket, or Robe of the Fire-Rat is one of the five items required to free Princess Kaguya from the Mirror of Life in the 2nd movie.

We can see that Inuyasha's garments are hakama (pants) bloused at the ankles, a jacket with "separated" sleeves, kosode (shirt), and obi (belt).

Pants: clearly Hakama, quite likely the Sashinuki style.

This is a style of the Heian Period (795-1192 CE). The show and manga take place in the Sengoku Period (1467-1615 CE). Of course, Inuyasha doesn't span the entirety of the Sengoku Period, however, since Inuyasha's outfit comes from his father, who was a very old demon, it makes sense that it has been matched up with the "Hitoe" (below). His Hakama and Hitoe are both made of the Cloth of the Fire Rat.

Jacket: Hitoe

Often mistaken for a common Kimono it is clearly not long enough. Some believe that Inuyasha's jacket is Hitatare but since the jacket is shorter than this, and his jacket is tucked into the pants, it appears to be a Hitoe with the sleeves modified to the kariginu style, commonlly called "bell sleeves". The Hitoe is an unlined robe, traditionally it is either a kurenai (orange-red) or rarely a pale green color. The sides are not sewn shut, and the sleeves are only partially sewn to the body. The collar is long and open. It is two panels wide, and so is very large; a double fold, like darts, made in the back at the time of donning, enable one to wear the garment. It is worn tucked into the pants (whether ōguchi or sashinuki). The red-orange color and the mention of the partially attached sleeves re-inforce this theory. The partially attached sleeves allows the white shirt (Kosode) worn underneath to be seen clearly. (Jackets worn by the characters Jakan, Kikyō, Kaede, and "Grandpa" all have the same feature.) The sleeves are extremeley full at the wrist, as wide as the shoulders of the garment, and have a ribbon or cord sewn through the hem of the wrist. This can serve at least two purposes: it allows the sleeve to be gathered at the wrist (like the Hakama at the ankle) and it is often used to gather the material for easy folding for storage. Neither of these features is seen in canon. The jacket is so short in fact that the white shirt (Kosode) shows through the side Hakama slits instead of the jacket. Interestingly, Inuyasha wears a black cord across the chest from the right shoulder to the left hip, tied in a simple bow. It is *not* a sword cord, but appears to be holding the excess fold of the jacket in place.

Shirt:Kosode

Kosode were commonly worn as underwear during the Kamakura era, at which time they became legitimate garments in their own right and became more dressy and full, with less sculpted sleeves. The undergarment kosode of Heian and Kamakura Periods was invariably white. An important point that must be made is that kosode (lit: “little sleeve”) weren’t just so called because the sleeve was small; they were given the name because the sleeve opening was small (especially when compared to other garments of the period, which were often termed ōsode, or “large sleeves”). The slits in the side of the Hakama show the white Kosode (shirt), and the openings at the sleeves and shoulders of the jacket show it as well. This is a deliberate fashion affect.

Belt: Obi

The belt appears to be a standard Obi, through which the Saya (sword sheath) is thrust. The Obi as worn by a swordsman is positioned just over the hips so the sword is "low" in the sash in order to make drawing the sword much easier. The Obi knot is normally a very tight square affair. However, we can see that Inuyasha wears his Obi and his Hakama much higher up around his waist, nearly to his ribs. Inuyasha's knot is more of a slightly floppy bow knot.

While Inuyasha's garments in the original manga started with an interesting pink colour, the bright red colour is now the accepted standard.

Kagome's grandfather (Grandpa), Kikyo, and Kaede all wear clothing traditional to Shinto clerics, which has remained virtually unchanged from the Sengoku era until today:

Ōsode ("large sleeve) garment or Hitoe-type jacket, over Kosode ("small sleeve") shirt, Hakama, Obi, and Tabi (socks). The Miko of today still wear the same style of clothing as Kikyo and Kaede, except that the sleeves of the outer jacket are now fully attached at the shoulders. Miko wear red Hakama, while Male Shinto Priests wear black Hakama.

Jaken wears traditional Court apparel for the era: A Formal Court Hat called tate-eboshi; Kosode (Shirt); Trousers called nu-bakama or sashinuki (bloused) hakama; with an overgarment simply called a jo-e having corded sleaves called jo-e no sode-gukuri no o.

Popularity

Many in the fandom consider the show's more passionate fans to be not unlike the fans of the American Star Trek series. The show is so popular that although it has been taken off the air many times in its run (to make way for shows such as Kikaider, Big O, and FLCL), it has always been reinstated due to the demands of viewers. After a while, the people who write the bumpers for Williams Street, Adult Swim's producers and programmers, became sarcastic about this, and it became something of a running joke that they were on the side of the viewers, but were at the mercy of superior departments ("Suits"). Practically speaking, the hiatuses are likely necessary to give Viz Media time to dub enough episodes far enough in advance to allow for a several-month-long uninterrupted run. InuYasha's current level of popularity among American otaku can be compared to that of Ranma ½ in the mid-to-late 1990's.

As time progressed, the show was moved to increasingly late viewing hours. As of October 2002, it aired at 11:00 p.m.. As of March 2004, it aired at 12 :30 a.m.. As of April 2006, it airs Wednesday mornings at 12 :30 a.m. and 4 :00 a.m. and re-runs were shown on Saturday nights at 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 Sunday Morning. As of July 2006, re-runs were moved to 1:30 a.m. and 4:30 a.m. Sunday mornings. However, the show has proven to be a slightly more mainstream hit in other countries such as on YTV in Canada, where it is one of the station's highest rated programs with the "newest" episode running on Fridays at 9:00 p.m. EST and shown again at 2:30 a.m. EST Saturday morning. Its popularity has also spread to Latin America where it runs on weekday afternoons.

There are many possible reasons for the popularity of the InuYasha series. A likely one is that it is eclectic, including elements from many different genres. At first, the series mainly appears to be action-oriented, and it does indeed have a significant amount of action, with at least one confrontation with an enemy in most episodes. However, it also includes a great deal of comedy (frequently slapstick), many monsters that add notes of the horror genre, and occasional romance. Another probable reason that InuYasha is so popular is that it has rather sympathetic characters who are varied enough that most people can relate to at least one of them.

Criticisms include the sheer length of the series in both anime and manga form, dragging out certain story points past credibility. Similar to Ranma ½, Takahashi has sometimes been accused by fans of being unable to finish a story effectively; others cite this as merely a desire of the animators and publishers to continue a still-lucrative franchise, as is the case with many other shōnen titles.

Although not technically an "adult" series, the show airs in this slot supposedly because of a scene in the first episode where InuYasha is impaled against a tree, and as a result, along with language in the English dub's dialogue considered too strong (like the use of the word "damn" as an example), this meant that the series could not be aired on CN's Toonami block. Although shows like The Simpsons air in the same timeframe as Toonami, CN, as a predominantly kids' network, still considers that time to be too early and inappropriate for the kids who watch it.

This show, though already extremely popular among American anime fans, is a mainstream hit in Japan. Since its debut, its popularity has been similar to the initial Pokemon craze. The manga and DVDs are widely available, and it seems to be the predominant topic of conversation. Not only that, crazed fans often cosplay as their favorite InuYasha characters. Even Japanese police enjoy the show, evident in their use of InuYasha and Kagome in traffic safety posters.

Adding to the above about television, InuYasha has been translated into a multitude of languages. Part of this is its popularity at MIPCOM in Cannes, France. MIPCOM is the largest entertainment convention in the world, and the InuYasha booth will always be packed with people arguing over airing rights.

Inuyasha currently holds the largest number of fan fiction stories in the Anime section on FanFiction.net, with over 62,000 tales. And the series marks the first to reach over 10,000 members and awards under the anime fanlisting.

Criticism

Though Inuyasha remains very popular around the world, it is not without its detractors. Some fans feel the series has long outlived its welcome-they point to the fact that despite running for over 450 chapters, very few storylines in the manga have been resolved. Some of these unresolved plotlines include the love triangle between Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kikyo, Sango's continued attempts to save her brother Kohaku, and the central conflict between InuYasha's group and Naraku. Critics charge that Takahashi has been dragging out these storylines for years, in many cases teasing that a plotline may be resolved and then leaving things unchanged. For example, there have been several instances in which Naraku has been seemingly destroyed, only for him to return in a later episode. Many have pointed to these instances as proof that Takahashi is "coasting," and attempting to keep the successful series going as long as possible for purely economic reasons. Other fans, however, disagree, and simply enjoy the interplay between the characters instead of focusing on plotlines. They also point to the relationship between Miroku and Sango as an example of a plot that has been resolved.

Artwork quality

Most critics agree that the artwork in both the anime and manga versions of InuYasha is quite impressive, with Akemi's Anime World, Anime News Network, and many others praising that it as "excellent". However, some viewers, such as Derrick Tucker, from THEM Anime Reviews, complain that some action scenes are often reused and that sometimes a static image moved against a background is used as a substitute for animation. He concedes, however, that the costs of producing a long anime series like InuYasha often make such compromises unavoidable.

Theme songs

Notes

External links

Official Sites

Unofficial Sites

InuYasha Online - A link directory for InuYasha fansites on the web.
Feelin' Fluffy - Features various links (series info to fanfiction selections), summaries of the first 13 episodes, fan-made music videos, and a gallery.

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