For the anime character, see InuYasha (character)

InuYasha (Japanese: 犬夜叉, inu "dog" + yasha "demon" from Japanese yasha, derived from masculine Sanskrit yaksha, "yasha" is also Japanese for "forest spirit" ) is a long-running manga and anime series by Rumiko Takahashi (creator of Urusei Yatsura, Maison Ikkoku, Ranma ½, and others). The full title is 戦国お伽草子ー犬夜叉 (in Rōmaji: Sengoku o-togi zōshi InuYasha), which roughly translates to InuYasha, a Feudal Fairy Tale.

Overview

InuYasha is an action/adventure anime with elements of romance and comedy. The story begins in Japan, when a girl named Kagome Higurashi, who, on her way to school, heads to a well at her family's Shinto shrine. When she approaches the well, a centipede demon bursts from the well and grabs her. The demon claims that Kagome possesses the Shikon Jewel, and attempts to seize it. She drives the demon off through the use of an unknown and mysterious power and emerges in Japan's Sengoku period. Spotting a tree that she recognizes from her family's shrine, Kagome discovers a sleeping boy pinned to it by an arrow. Upon closer inspection, she finds he has dog-like ears on his head, and feels compelled to touch them. Kagome is then captured by local villagers, who take her to their priestess, Kaede. Keade claims that Kagome is the spitting image of Kikyo, her elder sister who had died in a tragic act of betrayal. Kaede relates the story of how, fifty years earlier, a half demon named InuYasha had tried to steal the Jewel from Kikyo, mortally wounding her in the process. However, Kikyo had managed to strike him with a sealing arrow, sealing him to a tree and into an enchanted and supposedly eternal sleep, retrieving the Jewel before she finally died.

Oddly enough, it turns out that Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo, and that she possess the Shikon jewel, which is embedded within her flesh. When the centipede demon returns, it rips a hole in Kagome, freeing the jewel. The demon swallows the jewel and gains incredible power, thus forcing Kagome to revive Inuyasha so that he can rout the foul aberration.

Soon after they recover the Jewel, it is lost once again, and Kagome accidentally shatters it into pieces as she tries to recover it. Now they must find every shard of the Shikon jewel before they fall into the wrong hands.

Characters

• Kagome Higurashi — The female protagonist and a third year middle school student. She entrances many of the male characters with her beauty and innocence.

• InuYasha — The male protagonist, a hybrid of a dog demon and a human.

Characters from both eras are listed by their order of appearance:

Supporting Cast

• Kikyo — A dead priestess who loved InuYasha. She was brought back to life by the ogress Urasue.
• Shinidamachu — Kikyo's lesser demons that collect souls of the dead to sustain her life.
• Kaede — A priestess and sister of Kikyo who protected the village in the fifty years after her sister's death. She is the first to recognize Kagome as the reincarnation of her sister.
• Sesshomaru — InuYasha's callous and tenebrous older brother. Unlike Inuyasha, Sesshomaru is a full demon.
• Jaken — A demon who is Sesshomaru's sidekick and loyal servant, a comical character.
• Rin — An orphaned girl who was rescued by Sesshomaru and tags along with him and Jaken.
• Midoriko — A priestess of great spiritual power from many centuries before the Sengoku period. Her soul was locked in battle with a demon's soul inside the Shikon Jewel.
• Miroku — A Buddhist monk who suffers from a bizarre blood curse that was visited on his Grandfather by Naraku. This curse created a gaping hole in Miroku's hand that sucks in anything, an attribute that Miroku takes advantage of throughout the series.
• Hachi — A congenial shape-shifting yokai who has befriended Miroku. Hachi's natural appearance is a Tanuki Youkai.
• Sango — The strongest of all Demon Slayers and the love interest of Miroku.
• Kirara — Sango's faithful, two-tailed cat-demon.
• Shippo — A young fox demon whose father was killed by the thunder brothers.
• Myoga — A flea who is InuYasha's steward. He usually runs away from dangerous situations.
• Naraku — The main antagonist, Naraku originated from a bandit named Onigumo. Naraku deceives everyone to get what he wants, and after hiding in Mount Hakurei, he becomes a full demon.
• Kohaku — Sango's younger brother who is under Naraku's thrall; he eventually regains his memory.
• Kagura — A wind sorceress, created as the second detachment from Naraku. Kagura secretly plotted to kill Naraku, only to be killed by him through trickery.
• Kanna — The first detachment of Naraku, she is a demon who appears to be a pale little girl with white hair and clothing. She has the power to steal souls with her mirror.
• Goshinki — The third detachment from Naraku who was slain by InuYasha's full-demon form. His fangs were used to make Sesshomaru's second sword, the Tokijin.
• Juromaru and Kageromaru — The fourth & fifth detachments of Naraku. Both were slain soon after they were released.
• Muso — The reincarnation of the soul of Onigumo that was expunged from Naraku's body. He was absorbed by Naraku after he attempted to defeat him.
• Akago — Naraku's heart and sixth detachment, he is a baby that can possess anyone with darkness in their heart. His main goal is to control Kagome's mind and use her abilities to find the remaining shards of the Shikon jewel.
• Hakudoshi — Created from Akago's body, he was Entei's master and looks like a 7-year-old child. Like Naraku, his heart is not inside his body, so he is able to endlessly regenerate himself. Created as seventh detachment of Naraku.
• Moryomaru — One of Naraku's enemies. Due to his telepathic powers, both Kagura and Kohaku suspect he is Akago. He is a 100-foot monster with a human shape, and can shoot blasts of energy from his arm. He was originally a soulless puppet created by Hakudoshi.
• Koga — The young leader of a wolf demon tribe, Koga wishes to avenge his fallen comrades. In addition to thinking highly of himself, he is in love with Kagome. He often calls her "his woman", which always makes InuYasha angry and possessive over Kagome.
• Ayame — A female wolf demon whom Koga promised to marry when he rescued her from certain death. Koga eventually learns to love her. Ayame only appears in the anime.
• Toutousai — An elderly blacksmith who forged the Tessaiga and the Tenseiga.
• Tsubaki — A dark priestess who made a deal with a demon to retain her youth and beauty. She met her end when Naraku lured her to do his bidding with the almost complete Shikon Jewel.
• Band of Seven — Seven mercenaries who where resurrected by Naraku to do his bidding.
• Entei — A demon horse who serves only the most powerful demon.
• Kocho and Asuka — Kikyo's shikigami that summon Kagome when Kikyo needs to be purified of Naraku's evil and act as messengers to InuYasha when Kikyo wants to speak to him. Both are powerful and capable of erecting barriers all by themselves.
• Goryomaru — A monk who had his arm devoured by a demon. He tries to kill Kagura, only to have his head cut off by Hakudoshi.

Seasons

• Season 1: 1-27
• Season 2: 28-54
• Season 3: 55-81
• Season 4: 82-99
• Season 5: 100-126
• Season 6: 127-159
• Season 7: 160-167

Cameo appearances

Jimmy Kudo and Rachel Moore of Detective Conan (“Case Closed”) make a cameo appearance in episode 128. Detective Conan is published on Shonen Sunday along with InuYasha. The anime is available in the US as Case Closed from FUNimation.

Also in the episode when Kagome's younger brother Sota falls in love, Kagome decides to help him overcome his fear of asking her out by constantly cheering him on. She gets her family to scream "Banzai!" and dresses him in the outfit that Conan often wears. At the end of the last episode of the series, Sota, still in his Detective Conan outfit, is seen with his girlfriend at the park.

Distributors

Sunrise Ltd. and Columbia TriStar Television own the Japanese copyrights. VIZ Media holds the English copyrights.

See also

• InuYasha media and release information
• InuYasha Yokai List
• InuYasha special items and attacks
• InuYasha voice actors

Notes

1. ^  Tessaiga is called Tetsusaiga in the English language versions of InuYasha that are produced by Viz. For more information about the difference in terminology, see Tessaiga.

External links

Japanese sites

• Sunrise's Official Inuyasha Site Anime
• Web Sunday's Official Inuyasha Site Manga

English sites

• Wikicities has a wiki about Inuyasha: The Inuyasha Wiki
• Inuyasha at the Internet Movie Database
• Ear Tweak.com - Manga archives [English Version] of the recently released Inu Yasha Episodes (Only the recent 10 Episodes will be retained by the web site]ca:Inuyasha