Genre: Action | Romance | Comedy | Horror (you name it, and this series probably has it!)
Company: Sunrise
American Liscensing Company: Viz Communications
Format: 92 episodes and counting
Dates: 10/16/2000 to currently airing
Original Creator: Rumiko Takahashi
Age Rating: Usually fine, but often not suitable for young children; 13 and up

Synopsis (long and complicated): Kagome is a normal Japanese girl who has recently turned 15. But on her birthday, she is dragged into the feudal past of Japan (of about 500 years ago during Sengoku Jidai) by a youkai (demon) through a dry well on the grounds of her family's Shinto shrine. When she arrives, she is found to have a powerful jewel named the Shikon no Tama (Jewel of Four Souls) hidden in her body and to be the reincarnation of a powerful miko (Shinto priestess) named Kikyou. When she is attacked by a youkai for the jewel, in desperation she frees a doglike hanyou (half-demon) boy named Inuyasha from a tree he is sealed on to have him save her. After he defeats the evil youkai, Inuyasha doesn't seem to be a hero at all and attempts to steal the jewel and kill Kagome. After Inuyasha is subdued, the jewel is accidently shattered during a battle with a crow youkai. Now Inuyasha and Kagome are paired together against their will to find all the shards of the jewels before evil beings do. They start to really get along and like each other and Inuyasha begins to be a very relunctant hero...but Inuyasha's past with the miko Kikyou is still nearby to haunt them, as well as a mysterious enemy from Inuyasha's past, a youkai named Naraku....

SCORE: 96%

This anime has got be one of my favorites of all time. Name any kind of genre, and this series probably has it (everything but sci-fi and mecha!)...but that's not because it's whacky or dumb, but because most genres work with this series. This series is adventureous, funny, mysterious, lovable, suspenseful, full of surprises, romantic, cute and very captivating. But, let's explore further....

Plot: The length of this story makes the plot very long and complicated, and it will even take differnet turns. The plot is very apparent however, and works extremely well, even though the whole definite plot isn't ground until episode 15 to the 20s. This series is not over yet, but with the way it's going, it is leaving the audience wondering what truly will happen after it's all over, or even if it'll end happily or the way we want it...and that's something that can often be rare in an anime series. The ending of this series will be very interesting, and is something highly discussed and debated by fans because of all the possiblities. The plot is usually very tight, even though some very, very small plotholes may be present and are very debatable.

The presence of Japanese folklore in this series has helped the plot immensely and really give an audience a taste of classic Japanese legend. I was amazed how much I learned about Japanese culture after watching these episodes, and it wasn't a bad thing. The presence of the folklore has made the series entertaining and made it surprisingly authentic and original.

All the characters have definite personalities, and you can't help but really feel for at least one of the characters. Even with everything going on, romance is a strong factor in Inuyasha, from Inuyasha's past, to his current relationship with Kagome. The romance is very entertaining and I love seeing it progress with Inuyasha and Kagome (as well as the slowly emerging romance between Sango and Miroku). Other friendships and relationships are also very entertaining and cute.

The action is amazing and truly entertaining, as Inuyasha often has to come up with quick solutions to his fighting, instead of just fighting for fighting's sake.

The comedy is very funny and teases at the awkwardness of being in love, accidental peepings, the wounding of prides and the immaturity of usually Inuyasha and Shippou.

The only drawbacks possibly to the plot is filler episodes (not present in the manga) and the long length the series has been drawn out to. This isn't really bad however. Most filler episodes aren't extremely bad, and the series' length hasn't made it boring. However, if you don't want to get into a series that has 92 plus episodes, I can't blame ya. The worst plot item is the constant recapping in several in a row episodes. This makes it boring, but at least the animators aren't using too much fighting animation over and over again.

Visual: The visuals are absolutely wonderful. I suppose they are not extremely spectacular to the common eye, but the animation isn't poor by any stretch of the imagination and is beautiful rendered. All scences convey what they are meant to, whether it is to show how embarrrasing situation is to how horribly painful a blow is. The backgrounds and scenery are very nice to look at, and they should be. After all, most of the story takes place in medieval Japan before Tokyo and major cities.

Ahhh...I have always loved the simplistic character drawings created by Rumiko Takahashi has taken, and considering the complication and ugliness of many other animated characters, Inuyasha is very easy on the eyes. Some may think her simple renderings have left little features to seperate characters, but I think not; there is always something present in each character that let's you know who it is. Besides, each character, even in their simplicity, have their own very definite looks, from clothing, to hair, to abnormal body features.

To mention it again, recapping is done a lot in several episodes, but is never reanimated over old animation, and it's never boring to look at. But, it can still be a bother.

Overall, the visuals kick ass!

Sound: The soundtrack is something to cherish. For once, a very traditional Japanese music soundtrack composed by Kaoru Wada (Ninja Scroll) instead of modern pop and rock. There's nothing wrong with pop and rock, but after hearing it in most anime, listening to music go back to it roots is wonderful breath of fresh air. Also, considering most of the story takes place in medieval Japan, the soundtrack shouldn't have been any other way. However, if you are a big fan of Jpop, don't be disappointed. The soundtrack may be traditional, but all of the several opening and closing themes are wonderful Jpop songs by some very popular Jpop singers and bands. The only thing not to like about the soundtrack are probably those obscure and almost out of place songs played around Houjo, a boy who likes Kagome from her own time.

The sound effects work very well. The clash of swords, or the rustling of leaves add to the atmosphere of the scene. The sounds of the jewel and supernatural elements fit very well. The squeak of Inuyasha's ears, or when he gets crushed to the ground by Kagome's sit command always sound hilarious.

The voices are absolutely wonderful, and Kappei Yamaguchi who was the voice of Ranma from Ranma 1/2 (Rumiko Takahashi's previous series) does the voice of Inuyasha. The way he talks has a lot of variety for so many different situations, and the way he slops through his speech on occasion is very arrogant and funny. His shouts and yells are so, so very doglike, and really hits it right on. Kagome's voice fits well, and Miroku and Sango's have enough calmness to make it apparent that they're the older ones of the group. Shippou's voice just fits him too well and is very cute.

The Dub: The original is better by quite a bit, and the voice actors are defintely not use to the characters yet. But, they are getting better, and Richard Cox (who also does the voice of Ranma in English as did Kappei in Japan) does a wonderful job as pulling Inuyasha off as a mouthy jerk. He's not as good or as funny as Kappei, but I wouldn't want anyone else to do Inuyasha's voice, and he's pefect for it. Kagome's name is also slightly mispronouced (Kah-gou-may, instead of Kah-go-may. The middle syllable is too long and gooey sounding and emphasized too much), and so is Kaede's, but after a few episodes, it's easy to ignore and get use to. Since Inuyasha is aired on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim, we're lucky that nothing has been drastically edited (except for some erasing of boobs on a demon monster, but who cares? Also some nudity even though it wasn't really nudity to begin with). Most anime when aired is horribly butchered and we're lucky Inuyasha hasn't really been altered. Even though most foul language is gone, Viz has left in an occassional cuss in for good measure. All and all, the dub has been very true to the original series.

Dub Letter Grade: A-

Extra Rants and Bitching: If you couldn't tell, I love this series and wouldn't trade it for any other anime. I have loved this series for all the reasons mentioned above, but also because of the main women characters, which are not perfect, but are able to stand on their own without being self righteous about how much stronger they are as women. This is something that worked out very well, which is amazing considering what time period most of the story takes place in. However, the way some woman characters are treated is true to the time period, but it is not portrayed as being cruel, but a matter of honor, and also without being over emphasized and stressed. Also, the main male chracters are well rounded, and even through embarrasments, they are not nearly afraid of expressing their feelings, unlike most anime. The main men characters may be arrogant at times, but they never talk down to the women characters or underestimate them for being women.

Score Comments: 96% is a most excellent score, and I would have given even higher if it wasn't for all the recapping done in the episodes. This series is awesome and enjoyable!

Websites:

Have a website about this series, or do you know of a good one? Want me to link to it on this review? Well, the feel free to email the sucker to me! Just make sure to put "Review Link" in the subject.