Inuyasha
InuYasha (Hepburn) (犬夜叉, Inu "dog" + Yasha "demons that fly by night" from Sanskrit yaksha), is a manga and anime series by Rumiko Takahashi (creator of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma 1/2, and others).There is a long-standing debate about the proper English spelling of "Inuyasha", the title character's name. Some spell it "Inuyasha", some "InuYasha", some "Inu Yasha", and some "Inu-Yasha". As Japanese does not use spacing or capitalization, there is no "correct" spelling. Both Cartoon Network, the US anime licensee, and Viz Communications, the publisher of the manga and producer of the anime for the U.S. market, use "InuYasha". The issue of ambiguous capitalization and spacing also occured on protest signs during the Vietnam War - protestors would use any one of "Vietnam", "Viet Nam", and "VietNam". Both examples stand as shining examples of the difficulties that romanization can cause. The Kunrei, Nippon-shiki, and JSL romanizations spell this name InuYasya.
Warning: Plot details follow.
InuYasha is a shonen action/adventure romantic comedy, with elements from the horror genre. The story starts in Tokyo, Japan with a junior high-school girl named Kagome, 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 strange woman/centipede demon bursts from the well and grabs her. The demon claims that Kagome possesses the Jewel of Four Souls and attempts to seize it when the demon is driven off and the very confused Kagome emerges in the Sengoku period of Japan. Kagome wanders and meets an old priestess by the name of Kaede, who claims that Kagome is the spitting image of Kikyo, her elder sister (and powerful priestess) who had died and had her body burned with the Jewel of Four Souls, taking it with her into the afterlife. Kaede relates the story of how, 50 years earlier, a hanyou 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, sending him into suspended animation 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 Four Souls, embedded in her flesh. When the centipede demon rips it from her flesh and swallows it, granting the demon a great boost in power, Kagome is forced to awaken Inuyasha so he can defeat her.
Soon after they recover the Jewel, it is lost again, and Kagome accidentally shatters it as she tries to recover it. The pieces scatter far and wide, and the series tells of Kagome and Inuyasha's exploits as they search for the shards of the Jewel. As they search, they meet new people who join them on their quest for various personal reasons. Throughout the story Kagome and Inuyasha come closer to having deep feelings for each other, though the romance remains a side plot for most of the story.
Call modern time 'X', the feudal era 'Y', and 50 years before Y 'Z'. At Z, Kikyo died after sealing Inuyasha to the tree, where he went into suspended animation, and she was cremated with the jewel. At Y, the well (which exists in both ancient and modern times) drops Kagome, the 21st century incarnation of Kikyo, off from the future. Here, everyone has gotten older but otherwise not much has happened. X is the 'modern' end of the well's worm hole through time.
The manga was simultaneously released in Japan and the United States, which is very unusual. The english language version is published by Viz Communications.
InuYasha was first broadcast in America on Cartoon Network. The series later came to Canadian television screens, where it is currently airing on YTV. In Japan, the series is up to episode 118 and still going. It is produced in Japan by Sunrise.
The series has also inspired three movies to date, InuYasha: Love that Transcends Time (時代を越える想い Toki wo Koeru Omoi) and InuYasha: The Dream Castle in the Mirror (鏡の中の夢幻城 Kagami no Naka no Mugenjou) and the third, InuYasha: The Sword of Conquest (Japanese title:天下覇道の剣 Tenka Hadou no Ken) has been released in Japan.
Overview
Explanation of time travel
Release information
Characters in the series that exist in the Sengoku period
Special items and attacks
Theme songs
Seiyuu/Voice actors
Japanese / EnglishExternal links