Inuyasha (Anime Review)

So guys, once again, returning to my anime reviews is my review of one of the most popular anime on the planet, Inuyasha. I mentioned a while back that I was watching it when I did my review of that Moroha collectible I did last month. I mentioned how I was in the middle of watching Inuyasha. I became interested because the series itself is insanely popular and some YouTubers I follow say they liked it too. So, I did what I usually do when an anime isn't sold here, I got the entire series on Blu-Ray from America and was able to watch the whole series and I finished it on Monday. So, in the end, even though I may have had a few problems with it, I honestly, really loved the experience of watching this. I really, really, really loved watching Inuyasha. The series itself is an adaptation of the manga created by Rumiko Takahashi that started back in 1996 and the anime started back in 2000. Also, like I always say, this will have all the spoilers for the series, so if you wanna watch the series, go watch it before reading this. Okay, so, the basic plot is that it follows a fifteen year old girl named Kagome Higurashi who, after falling inside a well in her family's home, is transported to the past during the Feudal Era where she meets a half-human, half-demon named Inuyasha who's a swordsman. After she helps him escape from a tree that he's been pinned to for a long time and he still looks like he's around Kagome's age, she discovers she has something called the Shikon Jewel inside her body, but after she accidently shatters it in hundreds of pieces across Japan, she and Inuyasha team up to recover all the pieces to put it back together again. Along the way, other people join the group like a monk named Miroku, a demon slayer named Sango and a small fox demon named Shippo. So, at first, I guess the main thing I enjoyed the most in this series was the whole adventure aspect to the series because Inuyasha and Kagome are travelling all over the Feudal Era of Japan looking for the pieces of the jewel but they keep running into people or other demons who're trying to use its power for their own. And the early encounters they have are really entertaining and it's really fun to watch because you're not only watching a fun adventure, but also the characters' personalities are really entertaining to watch like Inuyasha's arrogance and stubbornness and Kagome's kindness and sweetness and the two of them get into trouble with others and each other just because of their personalities and it's really fun. But a lot of that changes when we hear about Kikyo, this priestess who was alive before Inuyasha was bound to the tree who was his first love interest and we learn that she was the one who pinned him to the tree with an arrow she used. And we're just kinda left wondering for a while of what really happened to them. But she's already dead but one demon they fight is able to use Kagome to bring her back to life in a way because Kagome is actually Kikyo reincarnated so Inuyasha is having a lot to deal with on that level. But a lot of other character work is still going on because we're also introduced to Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's half-brother who starts off as like an antagonist with wanting to fight Inuyasha as much as possible because he acts like he wants to kill him. And their first fight leads them to the grave of their dad where Inuyasha gets a sword there called Tetssaiga that his dad left for him, but Sesshomaru is angry about that because he wanted that sword so he resents Inuyasha for being the one to inherit it. So he goes off and wanders aimlessly with his sidekick named Jaken while we continue on with Inuyasha and Kagome. And this is when they meet up with the new characters Miroku, Sango and Shippo. And I love the dynamic the five of them share. Again, it's like I already said, I love the personalities they all have and how they all play off each other is a lot of fun with Miroku being kind and friendly but also this pervert and comedic in that sense, Sango being serious and loyal but also having a few quirks of her own and Shippo being sweet and innocent but not always getting along with Inuyasha a lot and that leads to some of the funniest moments of the show. Speaking of which, the show is insanely funny. There's so many laugh out loud moments and I loved it. And, again, a lot of that comes from the characters' personalities clashing with each other a lot. And, yeah, a good portion of the beginning of the series is centred around Inuyasha and the others travelling trying to find the shards of the jewel, but a lot of things change later on when we're introduced to the main villain of the series, Naraku. This half-demon who has strong powers and we learn a lot about him too like how he was created from a human named Onigumo who was possessed by tons of demons and Naraku was born from him and them. And Naraku is a really cool villain, not just with his powers and all that, but also with the way he's voiced. In the dub, he's voiced by Paul Dobson who does a really great job with the way his voice sounds. He sounds really cool and he just does a fantastic job with him whenever he speaks. He also wants to get the Shikon Jewel and is the kinda guy who manipulates so many people to get what he wants. For example, he was the one who tricked both Inuyasha and Kikyo into thinking they betrayed each other and that's how Kikyo died the first time. And I love the constant confrontations between him and Inuyasha with the group because it leads to a lot of great moments. And, again, we just keep the same formula going for the longest time with the group travelling and trying to get more pieces of the jewel while fighting demons and trying to kill Naraku and forming bonds with each other that help them grow as characters and you totally buy them as friends. And, yeah, there is also character drama as well with Inuyasha and Kagome because they begin to develop feelings for each other but Inuyasha is torn the whole time about Kikyo so he's not always sure what exactly he wants to do. That whole thing with them, while it does build on their characters and is funny from time to time, is something that can maybe get kinda clichéd after a bit as generic teenager drama. I get that they are teenagers and so it makes sense they'd do it, but still. And that gets even more complicated when we meet Koga, this wolf-demon who begins to fall in love with Kagome and so there's a running joke going through the series with the two of them trying to compete over her while Inuyasha doesn't really want to admit how he feels because he's so stubborn and that gets a lot of great laughs. And I've already named a whole bunch of characters there and that's because there are a whole bunch of characters in this and so the show is always using a plot with one group of these characters. Not to mention other important characters like Kohaku, as in Sango's younger brother who Naraku possessed to kill their whole family and was left to die himself until Naraku had a jewel piece placed inside him to keep him possessed and so there's a lot of time dedicated to that as well as Sesshomaru too as he still just wanders around with Jaken and a small girl he finds named Rin who he begins to really care for. And so it was fun to follow all these characters in these different plot points and, while a lot of the episodes follow the same kinda plot, they're always done in a really entertaining way. I'd say my favourite kind of episode is any involving the group fighting against Naraku or any of his incarnations because he's able to separate himself into tons of different versions that become different people all together and those episodes are a lot of fun. And, like I said, the show is really funny so that just made it all the more fun to watch this, especially anything involving Myoga, this tiny flea demon who appears every once in a while to give information about some situations but is also a coward and just runs off whenever he gets the chance. And, again, even with a bunch of these stories feeling the same, it was always fun. And, like I was saying, a lot of the characters build different relationships with each other like how Inuyasha and Kagome begin to develop a relationship and also Miroku and Sango begin slowly do the same. And seeing as the series is a fantasy romance, it focuses on these relationships a lot of the time, and seeing as I really enjoyed watching them a lot of the time, it was nice to see them develop. I guess if there were some problems, I guess it's my usual one with anime and that's some filler episodes that I was thankfully able to skip, but there are some that people do consider some of the worst filler in all of anime, so I guess I should warn you about that if you were ever curious to see it. Also, like I said, some of the character drama can be pretty clichéd after a while. It does make sense for the characters, but a lot of the time, it does seem like the same thing going on a lot of the time and sometimes it felt overdone and so some of it got annoying to watch after a while. Another kinda weird thing to me is when we're introduced to this group called the Band Of Seven. They're this group that Naraku ressurects and, I dunno, it does have some funny moments and they do have a significance in the part of the story they're in, but it doesn't really go anywhere and once they're gone, they're never really brought up again, so it felt like a bit of a detour. Though their deaths do lead to an amazing moment when Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippo find Naraku in a mountain and that was a great encounter between all of them. However, with all that being said, I absolutely loved the ending of the series. I'm probably jumping ahead too far, but I really should talk about the ending. Because we got the point where a lot of arcs were coming together and it had a lot of great moments like when Kohaku is freed from the piece of the jewel in his neck and is able to survive without it, or Kikyo being killed again and this really have impact on Inuyasha and Naraku eventually manages to get all the pieces of the Shikon Jewel and uses it to gain more power. Not only that, but Sesshomaru also has turned into an anti-hero in this time and so he helps out to fight Naraku with them begrudgingly. And I love how the characters have their own thing to do like Miroku trying to get away from the others so they won't be killed from his wind tunnel in his hand that he's had for the whole series and it's close to killing him too, along with other things like Sesshomaru looking for Rin, who Naraku kidnapped, and the others still just trying to find and kill Naraku who keeps sending illusions to distract them all while he tries to destroy the local village where they usually stay. And I love all sorts of things like that that keep going through the end climax. And it all culminates in the real final fight with Naraku and, and I'm not entirely sure about this, but I think he sorta turns good at the end. I'm not entirely sure, but Kagome eventually manages to talk to him and reveal what he was really looking for in life and that leads to her using one of her arrows to hit the jewel and kill him. But then that leads to her being taken into the underworld, kinda, where Inuyasha tries find her and the Shikon Jewel itself tries to trick her into making a wish that would have ended horribly until Inuyasha does find her and is able to save her and then she actually manages to make the jewel disappear forever. I sorta felt that was how that part was gonna end, but it was still done really well. Though I do find it a little weird that it has Kagome go home without being able to go back to the Feudal Era, which is something she's been able to do throughout the series. She often goes back home by going into the well she got there from and so she's brought home at the end with the well not being able to take her back anymore and Inuyasha is brought back to his time but then it skips ahead three years and it does end up working again and so Inuyasha and Kagome end the series together and we also see Miroku and Sango have gotten married with some kids of their own, and I really love that. We also see how everyone has had a happy ending too like Koga getting together with another wolf demon, Sesshomaru is still with Rin and she seems really happy and Kohaku has been able to become a real Demon Slayer to help everyone. And, again, I just had so much fun watching this series. I'm so happy I finally got into this really popular series and I was really pleased with how everything was done. I really loved watching these characters and just taking this journey with them and it was a lot of fun to learn more about this world and how everyone survives in it, and I like how it has that early 2000's anime charm to it. A lot of other ones have it and I like how it was done here. I also found it cool that this is an anime where the protagonist doesn't keep getting more and more transformations. Sure, Inuyasha does transform a couple of times into his true demon form or true human form, but that's only occasionally, it's mostly his sword Tetsaiga that keeps getting more transformations and level-ups, because it keeps getting more powers that makes it stronger and gives it more abilities, and I really enjoyed seeing that. Really guys, I was just so glad to actually see this and see it all the way to the end. I would honestly put this in my top 20 anime list because I just really enjoyed this so much. The dub as well as always is really fantastic too like Richard Ian Cox, Moneca Stori, Kirby Morrow, Kelly Sheridan and Jillian Michaels as Inuyasha, Kagome, Miroku, Sango and Shippo. And, now that I'm finished with this series, I'm even more excited to get started on Yashahime, the sequel series to this and once I do eventually finish watching that, I'd love to make a review for it too. So, yeah, everyone, like I always say with these reviews. I do definitely recommend checking this out. I personally had a really great time with this and I'd really like to watch it all again some time. And so, everyone, that's my review of Inuyasha. Thank you all for reading and please comment down below to tell me what you think.