For this anime highlight, I’ve decided to go back to the anime classic Inuyasha.  Before I ever started watching anime, I had a friend who always mentioned how good Inuyasha was, and when I began watching anime, I found Inuyasha and decided to give it a try.  This is one that I binged watched, and it definitely kept me entertained.  Check out this fan trailer from MayonakaNoRyuu on youtube.

Inuyasha is a time traveling story mixed with Japanese folklore in an epic romance and fantasy anime.  It follows the adventures of Kagome, a girl from the modern age, who falls down a well, and travels back in time to the Japanese feudal era.  In this era, she comes across a young man with wolf ears pinned to a tree with a magical arrow.  The young man, of course, is Inuyasha, and he is half human and half-demon. His father was a wolf spirit.  Inuyasha was trying to steal the jewel of four souls or Shikon No Tama, a jewel that will give those who obtain it immense power.  In Inuyasha’s case, it would allow him to become a full demon.  The jewel was protected by a powerful priestess Kikyo who stopped Inuyasha by shooting the arrow that pinned him to the tree.  She then takes back the jewel and dies.  Before Kikyo dies, she asks the villagers and her younger sister Kaede to burn the jewel with her body.

Five hundred years later Kagome is born, and is the reincarnated Kikyo.  Without realizing it, she has the Shikon Notama sealed inside her.  When she is transported back the feudal times (fifty years after the event that happened with Kikyo and Inuyasha) , she is mistaken for Kikyo by both Inuyasha and Kaede, Kiko’s younger sister now an old woman.  It is soon discovered that she is different and is in fact the reincarnation of Kikyo’s soul which means she has special powers as a priestess.  Several things happen, and the jewel of four souls is shattered into fragments and scattered throughout feudal Japan.  Even if one shard falls into the wrong hands, it could make monsters truly terrifying.  Inuyasha and Kagome team up to find the shards and unite the jewel.

This anime is action packed, humorous, but it also has a lot of drama mixed in.  The characters are nicely developed with interesting back stories and character flaws.  You have Inuyasha who starts out recalcitrant and reckless, but as the story progresses, you see a softer more vulnerable side appear especially when his mother is mentioned or the tragic love story between him and Kikyo.

Kagome and Inuyasha

I love the pairings in this show, but in particular I love Kagome and Inuyasha.  Though I do think Kikyo and Inuyasha is tragic and sad, Kagome is still a better match for him.  And I love how Kagome starts out a typical teen and morphs into this really strong female character that is strong enough to fight and stand at Inuyasha’s side.  I also love their bickering and witty banter.  Their relationship doesn’t happen overnight, but slowly forms throughout  the series which I love, and I think it is really realistic.  The pain you feel when you see Inuyasha pick Kikyo over Kagome at one point is heartbreaking as you really want him to be with Kagome.  I think this part was really well done and well developed.  Check out this awesome fan video for their relationship by SakiraChan on youtube.

Villains

Inuyasha has some pretty epic villains that push the story forward, but none is as nefarious as Naraku, the main villain.  Naraku was a half-demon born from the heart of an evil man who allowed demons to devour him if they gave him a body.  He fell in love with Kikyo, and wanted both her and the Jewel of Four Souls.  Naraku is the main puppeteer behind a lot of the drama and sad events in this anime.  He’s clever and deceptive and hard to kill.  At one point he even gets Sesshomaru, Inuyasha’s half brother, to work with him.

Speaking of Sesshomaru, he is a villain you tend to have mixed feelings about.  You love him and you hate him at the same time.  He hates Inuyasha because Inuyasha is a half-demon and born from a different mother than Sesshomaru and there is definitely a sibling rivalry that leads to epic clashes.  Sesshomaru does have a mysterious factor to him, and his heart does start to soften towards humans as we see with his time with a little girl he saves and watches over, Rin.

There are a lot of aspects that I liked about this anime.  I loved the time traveling aspect to this, and the romantic aspect.  I’m not usually into romantic stories, but this is one that really found a way into my heart.  There is a lot of action and drama, and the core characters are so interesting to follow.  Inuyasha is a character you love and root for, but I will admit that I kind of liked his older half-brother Sesshomaru as well.  If you want an epic action/romance check out Inuyasha.