Inuyasha
Inuyasha, also known as Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale, is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. The series begins with Kagome Higurashi, a 15-year-old schoolgirl from modern-day Tokyo who is parallelly transported to the Sengoku period universe of Japan after falling into a well in her family shrine, where she meets the half dog-demon, Inuyasha. When a monster from the era tries to take the magical Shikon Jewel embodied in Kagome, she inadvertently shatters the Jewel into many pieces and are scattered across Japan. Inuyasha and Kagome set on a quest to recover the jewel, before the half spider-demon lord Naraku binds it.
Inuyasha premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996, and concluded on June 18, 2008, with the chapters collected into 56 tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan. In contrast to the typically comedic nature of much of Takahashi's previous work, Inuyasha deals with a darker and more serious subject matter, using the setting of the Sengoku period to easily display the violent content while still retaining some comedic elements.
The manga was adapted into two anime television series produced by Sunrise. The first was broadcast for 167 episodes on Yomiuri TV and Nippon TV in Japan from October 16, 2000, to September 13, 2004. The second series, Inuyasha: The Final Act, began airing five years later on October 3, 2009, to cover the rest of the manga series and ended on March 29, 2010, after 26 episodes. Four feature films and an original video animation have also been released. Other merchandise include video games and a light novel.
Viz Media licensed the manga, the two anime series, and movies for North America. Both Inuyasha and Inuyasha: The Final Act aired in the United States on Adult Swim from 2002 until 2015.
The manga series has over 45 million copies in circulation. In 2002, the manga won the 47th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category.
Plot
In modern-day Tokyo, Kagome Higurashi lives on the grounds of her family's Shinto shrine with her mother, grandfather and younger brother, Sota. On her fifteenth birthday, when she goes to retrieve her cat, Kagome is dragged into the enshrined Bone Eater's Well by a centipede demon that emerged from it. But rather than hit the bottom, Kagome finds herself in another universe which is parallelly the past during Japan's Sengoku period. The demon is revealed to have originally been defeated fifty years prior by Kikyo, a warrior priestess who is the keeper of the Shikon Jewel, an artifact created by the sacrifice of the priestess Midoriko which grants its holder's desires. As pointed out by Kikyo's younger sister, Kaede, Kagome is revealed to be the reincarnation of the now-dead Kikyo, who was the priestess in charge of looking after the sacred jewel. The Shikon Jewel was burned along with Kikyo's remains to cast it out of this world entirely, in order to keep it safe from the hands of those who would abuse it. Then Kagome comes across a boy pinned by a sacred arrow on a tree, learning he is Inuyasha, a half dog-demon, whom Kikyo trapped as her final act when he attempted to steal the jewel. Kagome frees Inuyasha to kill the centipede demon, but Kaede subdues him with a magical beaded necklace to keep him in line with Kagome saying "sit" or "sit, boy", which causes him to violently crash to the ground. The Shikon Jewel was extracted from Kagome's body by Mistress Centipede, and then later taken by a crow demon, which Kagome destroyed with her arrow, but in doing so, shattered the jewel into many shards that flew across Japan and into the possession of those who gain the individual shards' power.After Inuyasha gains his father's sword Tetsusaiga, placing him at odds with his older half-brother Sesshomaru, he aids Kagome in collecting the shards and dealing with the threats they cause as they are joined by Shippo the young fox demon. Kikyo is partially revived while revealed to have been Inuyasha's lover, but her version of how their falling out occurred brings the events into question. It was when the group is joined by the perverted monk Miroku, whose hand is cursed with a wind tunnel that was passed on to him from his grandfather, that his family's curse and the events which resulted in Inuyasha's imprisonment and Kikyo's death were caused by the evil half spider-demon Naraku. The evolving Naraku is revealed to have been born from the soul of the evil bandit Onigumo inhabiting a body created by countless demons as part of a pact to acquire the Shikon Jewel for his own ends, seeking out the shard while absorbing demons to increase his power and remove any weaknesses. Inuyasha's group is soon joined after by the demon slayer Sango and her two-tailed demon-cat Kirara. Sango's clan was killed when her younger brother Kohaku fell under Naraku's control and is kept alive by a Jewel shard. Over time, Inuyasha enhances Tetsusaiga into stronger forms while contends with Naraku's minion incarnations like Kagura and Kanna, and the reanimated Band of Seven. Inuyasha's team is loosely allied by Sesshomaru who took the orphaned girl Rin as a ward, the resurrected Kikyo, and Koga, the leader of the eastern wolf-demon tribe who seeks to avenge many of his comrades' deaths and has a one-sided crush on Kagome.
While Naraku momentarily removes his heart in the form of the Infant, who later attempts to overthrow Naraku through his vessel Moryomaru, Kohaku regains his freewill and memories and attempts to help out of guilt for indirectly killing his father. During that time, Sesshomaru settles things with Inuyasha to enable his brother to perfect Tetsusaiga to its optimal abilities. Eventually, Koga is forced to stand on the sidelines while Kikyo uses the last of her life force to give Kohaku a second chance at life as Naraku finally reassembles the Shikon Jewel. Although Inuyasha and his allies defeat him, realizing his true desire is for Kikyo's love despite his hatred towards her and that it can never be granted, Naraku uses his wish to trap himself and Kagome in the Shikon Jewel. Revealed to be sentient, the Shikon Jewel intends to have Kagome make a selfish wish so she and Naraku will be trapped in conflict and prolong its existence. But with Inuyasha by her side, Kagome wishes for the Shikon Jewel to disappear which causes Kagome to return to her time with the Well sealed, and she and Inuyasha lose contact for three long years.
In that time, the Sengoku period changes drastically: Sango and Miroku marry and have three children together; Kohaku resumes his journey to become a strong demon slayer with Kirara as his companion; and Shippo attains the seventh rank as a fox demon. Kaede takes Rin in her care to get her use to living with humans again if she wants to in the future. Back in the present, Kagome graduates from high school before finally managing to get the Bone Eater's Well in her backyard to work again. Kagome returns to the Sengoku period, where she reunites with Inuyasha, marries him and continues to train to become a priestess.
Development
Takahashi wrote Inuyasha after finishing Ranma ½. In contrast to her previous comedic works such as Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, and One Pound Gospel, Takahashi wanted to create a darker storyline that was thematically closer to her Mermaid Saga stories. In order to portray violent themes softly, the story was set in the Sengoku period, when wars were common. Takahashi did no notable research for the designs of samurai or castles because she considered such topics common knowledge. By June 2001, a clear ending to the series hadn't been established because Takahashi still was unsure about how to end the relationship between Inuyasha and Kagome. Furthermore, Takahashi said that she did not have an ending to previous manga she wrote during the beginning, having figured them out as their serialization progressed.Media
Anime
''Inuyasha''
The first Inuyasha anime adaptation produced by Sunrise was released in Japan on Yomiuri TV on October 16, 2000, and ran for 167 episodes until its conclusion on September 13, 2004. It was also broadcast on Nippon Television. Avex collected the episodes in a total of seven series of DVDs volumes distributed in Japan between May 30, 2001 and July 27, 2005.The English dub of the anime was licensed to be released in North America by Viz Media. The series was first run on Adult Swim from August 31, 2002, to October 27, 2006, with reruns from 2006 to 2014. When Toonami became a block on Adult Swim, Inuyasha aired there from November 2012 to March 1, 2014, when the network announced that they had lost the broadcast rights to the series. On August 25, 2017, Starz announced that they would be offering episodes of the series for their Video on Demand service starting September 1, 2017. The series aired in Canada on YTV's Bionix programming block from September 5, 2003, to December 1, 2006. Viz collected the series in a total of 55 DVD volumes, while seven box sets were also released.
''Inuyasha: The Final Act''
In 2009's 34th issue of Weekly Shōnen Sunday, published July 22, 2009, it was officially announced that a 26-episode anime adaption of volumes 36 to the end of the manga would be made by the first anime's same cast and crew and would air on Japan's YTV. The following week, Viz Media announced it had licensed the new adaptation, titled Inuyasha: The Final Act. The series premiered on October 3, 2009 in Japan with the episodes being simulcast via Hulu and Weekly Shōnen Sunday in the United States. In other parts of Asia the episodes were aired the same week on Animax Asia. The anime completed its run on March 29, 2010. Aniplex collected the series into a total of seven DVDs released between December 23, 2009, and June 23, 2010.Viz Media released the series in two DVD or Blu-ray sets which included an English dub. The first thirteen episodes, constituting the first set, were released on November 20, 2012, and the last thirteen episodes, constituting the second set, were released on February 12, 2013. The series began broadcasting in the United States and Canada on Viz Media's online network, Neon Alley, on October 2, 2012. On October 24, 2014, it was announced that Adult Swim would air The Final Act on the Toonami block, beginning on November 15, at 2:00 a.m. EST.
''Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon''
In May 2020, an anime original spin-off/sequel series was announced and titled Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, following the journey of Towa Higurashi and Setsuna, Sesshomaru's daughters, and Moroha, Inuyasha's daughter. It will premiere in fall 2020.The series will be produced by Sunrise, directed by Teruo Sato with main character designs by the original creator Rumiko Takahashi. Staff from Inuyasha will return, with Katsuyuki Sumisawa in charge of the scripts, Yoshihito Hishinuma in charge of the anime character designs and Kaoru Wada as composer. Kappei Yamaguchi and Satsuki Yukino will return to perform their characters Inuyasha and Kagome Higurashi respectively.
Viz Media announced the rights to digital streaming, EST, and home video release of the series for North and Latin American territories.
Films
There are four animated films with original storylines written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, the writer for the Inuyasha anime series. The films were released with English subtitles and dubbed audio tracks on Region 1 DVD by Viz Media. Together, the four films have earned over US$20 million in Japanese box offices.The first film, ', was released in 2001. In the film, Inuyasha and his friends confront Menomaru, a demonic moth warrior brought to life by one of the shards.
In the second film, ', released in 2002, the group unsuccessfully defeats Naraku and returns to their normal lives, only to encounter with a new enemy named Kaguya, a character based on a literature The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.
The third film, ', was released in 2003. In it, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru work together to seal the third sword of Inuyasha's father once again, when it is awakened from the sheath.
The fourth and final film, ', was released in 2004. It follows Inuyasha and his friends protecting the children from four enemy island warriors.
Original video animation
A 30-minute original video animation titled Black Tessaiga, was presented on July 30, 2008, at an "It's a Rumic World" exhibit at the Matsuya Ginza department store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district. The episode uses the original voice cast from the anime series. It was released in Japan on October 20, 2010, in both DVD and Blu-ray formats.Soundtrack CDs
Multiple soundtracks and character songs were released for the series by Avex Mode. Three character singles were released August 3, 2005 – "Aoki Yasei o Daite" by Inuyasha featuring Kagome, "Kaze no Naka e" by Miroku featuring Sango and Shippo, and "Gō" by Sesshomaru featuring Jaken and Rin. The singles charted at number 63, 76, and 79 respectively on the Oricon chart. Three more character songs were released on January 25, 2006 – "Rakujitsu" by Naraku, "Tatta Hitotsu no Yakusoku" by Kagome Higurashi, and "Abarero!!" by Bankotsu and Jakotsu. The singles charted at number 130, 131, and 112 respectively on the Oricon chart.On March 24, 2010, Avex released Inuyasha Best Song History, a best album that contains all the opening and ending theme songs used in the series. The album peaked at number 20 on the Oricon album chart and charted for seven weeks.
Video games
Three video games based on the series were released for the WonderSwan: Inuyasha: Kagome no Sengoku Nikki, Inuyasha: Fūun Emaki, and Inuyasha: Kagome no Yume Nikki.A single title, Inuyasha: Naraku no Wana! Mayoi no Mori no Shōtaijō, was released for the Game Boy Advance on January 23, 2003, in Japan.
Inuyasha has been adapted into a mobile game released for Java and Brew handsets on June 21, 2005.
Two titles were released for the PlayStation: an RPG simply titled Inuyasha, and the fighting game ', the latter of which was released in North America. For the PlayStation 2, the two released games were the RPG ' and the fighting game ', which also received an English version. An English-only RPG, ', was released for the Nintendo DS on January 23, 2007.
Inuyasha appeared in the crossover video game as a playable character.
Inuyasha's sword, Tessaiga, has appeared in Monster Hunter as a craftable weapon using items gained from a special event.
An English-language original collectible card game created by Score Entertainment that was first released on October 20, 2004.
Light novel
A light novel, written by Tomoko Komparu and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi, was published by Shogakukan in 2004.Live-action
In 2000, a Japanese live-action stage play ran from April through May in the Akasaka ACT Theater in Tokyo, around the same time the anime series began production. The play's script followed the general plot line of the original manga, with a few minor changes to save time. A second run of the play ran from January through February in 2001 at the Akasaka ACT Theater in Tokyo.In February 2017, it was announced that a new stage play adaptation of Inuyasha would be performed at Tennozu Galaxy Theater in Tokyo from April 6 to 15, featuring Yutaka Kyan from Golden Bomber as Inuyasha and Nogizaka46's Yumi Wakatsuki as Kagome.
The Chinese TV series The Holy Pearl is loosely based on Inuyasha. It stars Gillian Chung and Purba Rgyal in lead roles.
Reception
Manga
Inuyasha manga has sold more than 45 million copies in Japan alone; individual volumes from Inuyasha have been popular in Japan, taking high places in rankings listing sales.In 2002, the manga won the 47th Shogakukan Manga Award for Best Shōnen title of the year. In North America, the manga volumes have appeared various times in The New York Times and Diamond Comic Distributors top selling lists. Moreover, in 2005 Inuyasha was one of the most researched series according to Lycos.