|
 Inuyasha
is a tale of demons, love, hate, and a whole lot of fighting to
find the pieces of some sacred jewelry. Well, the story starts with
a highschool girl named Kagome, whose family resides at a Shinto
shrine in the modern-day Japan. She falls into this old boarded
up well that sends her back in time. This place she finds herself
in, is feudal Japan. A place that sees its share of demons and other
spirits that do harm to the humans that live there. Unknowningly
to Kagome she is somehow a reincarnation of a well-known Miko (priestess
that protects humans from these demons), named Kikyo. Kikyo had
died 50 years prior to Kagome's visit, but before she died she sealed
a half human/half demon dog with an arrow to a tree. His name is
InuYasha.
Well
to say the least, Kagome ends up freeing Inuyasha and he inturns
saves her life. Yet, he like most Youkai(demons or evil spirits)
want what Kikyo, and now Kagome protects: the Shikon jewel. This
jewel is in essence a wishing stone which grants its owner the power
of anything they want. Inuyasha wishes to become a full Youkai instead
of the Hanyou (half demon) he is. Hanyou's are looked down upon
by both demons and humans alike in their world. With that said the
jewel gets stolen, Kagome and Inuyasha try to retrieve it, but they
end up breaking it into several shards. Now since Kagome has the
ability to feel the Shikon shards presence, and since Inuyasha and
her feel that they are the ones responsible for rejoining the jewel,
they begin their quest to find the shards.
Inuyasha
and Kagome are joined by the likes of a clever but young fox-demon:
Shippo, a womanizing monk: Miruko, and a Youkai extermination expert
and her pet: Sango and Kiarri. From time to time they end up quarrelling;
but mostly getting help from Inuyasha's big brother: Sessoumaru,
Sessoumaru's loyal sidekick and faithful follower: Jaken and Rin.
Add an unwelcomed return of Kikyo. And a character whose traits
are on par with Inuyasha: Kogae the speedy wolf demon and his wolf
pack. Then the story gets shifted into a love triangle of all sorts.
As for villains: Naraku, Kagare, and his other "detachments"
makes the list complete. The series does well in giving each of
these characters their own spotlight.
The plot in essence screams Dragon Ball Z. Yet the side stories,
character interactions and development, and the overall storytelling
is what keeps me hooked. If your a fan of Yu Yu Hakusho, Dragon
Ball Z, and/or Rurouni Kenshin then you're missing out if you haven't
seen InuYasha.
I rate this as A MUST OWN.
Genre: Action/Adventure
Pros: Adventurous tale ala Dragon Ball Z in a demon infested
world ala Yu Yu Hakusho.
Cons: The ugly demons aren't scary, it's the pretty ones to
be afraid of.
* denotes that my copy of the anime is a fan sub, yet Inuyasha
is currently being distributed by Viz Video.
-Zojitzu
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