InuYasha
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| InuYasha | |||
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| 戦国お伽草子–犬夜叉 (Sengoku Otogi Zōshi Inuyasha) |
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| Genre | Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Historical, Romance, Shōnen | ||
| Manga | |||
| Authored by | Rumiko Takahashi | ||
| Publisher |  Shogakukan |
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| Serialized in | Weekly Shonen Sunday |
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| Original run | 1996 – 2007 (ongoing) | ||
| No. of volumes | 51 with 501 chapters (currently) | ||
| TV anime | |||
| Directed by | Masashi Ikeda (eps 1 to 44)
Yasunao Aoki (44 onwards) |
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| Studio | Sunrise | ||
| Network | Animax, Nippon TV |
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| Original run | October 16, 2000 – September 13, 2004 | ||
| No. of episodes | 167 | ||
| Feature Movies | |||
InuYasha (犬夜叉, also romanized as Inuyasha?), full title InuYasha, A Feudal Fairy Tale (戦国お伽草子–犬夜叉 Sengoku Otogi Zōshi InuYasha?), is a popular manga series written by Rumiko Takahashi. The story centers around a time traveling middle school student and her friends (a half-demon, a lecherous monk, a kitsune, a demon slayer, and her nekomata companion) in the Sengoku Jidai who seek to restore the Shikon no Tama and keep it out of the hands of the evil Naraku.
The series is named after one of the main characters, InuYasha. The name "InuYasha" literally means "dog demon". Inu (犬) is a Japanese word meaning "dog". Yasha (夜叉) is a Buddhism-related word meaning "demon or demon warrior". [1]
The manga was adapted into a 167 episode anime series produced by Sunrise which first aired on Nippon TV in Japan from 16 October 2000 to 13 September 2004. The television run of the anime ceased without a conclusion to the story. The manga is still being released in Japan as of today.
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[edit] Plot overview
The story begins in feudal Japan with InuYasha, a hanyō stealing the Jewel of Four Souls (四魂の玉 Shikon no Tama), a jewel that can increase anyone's powers enormously, from a village. He doesn't get far before Kikyo, the young miko of the village shoots InuYasha with a sacred arrow, sealing him forever to the Sacred Tree (Goshinboku). Mortally wounded, Kikyo tells her younger sister, Kaede, to burn the jewel with her remains to keep it from falling into the wrong hands.
In modern Tokyo, a junior high-school girl named Kagome Higurashi is on her way to school. She stops in the well house of her family Shinto shrine to retrieve her cat, Buyo, and a centipede demon bursts forth and pulls her into the well. Kagome miraculously fends off the demon and emerges from the well in the Sengoku period of Japan.
Not knowing where she is, Kagome wanders around a forest near the well. She spots the Sacred Tree off in the distance and proceeds to towards it. When she reaches it she finds InuYasha, who is still sealed with an arrow to the tree, asleep. Villagers seize her and take her to the old miko, Kaede. Recognizing that Kagome is the re-incarnation of her sister Kikyo, Kaede tells the story of Kikyo and InuYasha.
The centipede attacks again, and Kagome is forced to release InuYasha to kill it. After defeating the centipede, in order to prevent InuYasha from taking the Jewel of Four Souls, Kaede casts magical prayer beads around InuYasha's neck so Kagome can subdue him.
Then the jewel attracts more demons. And in a battle against a carrion-crow the jewel is shattered into numerous shards.
Kagome and InuYasha set out to collect the shards and restore the Jewel of Four Souls. Along the way they befriend Shippo, a fox demon, Miroku, a monk, and Sango, a demon-slayer. The group often encounters InuYasha's brother Sesshomaru, Naraku who tricked Kikyo and InuYasha into turning against each other, and Koga, a demon wolf who's in love with Kagome.
[edit] Characters
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- Kagome Higurashi (日暮かごめ Higurashi Kagome) Voiced by Satsuki Yukino, Moneca Stori
- Kagome is a third year middle school student. She is the reincarnation of Kikyo, a priestess (miko) who died 50 years before the time Kagome first emerges from the Bone Eater's Well in the Feudal era. Because of this Kagome has powerful spiritual powers (miko powers) herself and can even sense jewel shards. Kagome can be extremely sweet, but can also become very dangerous when provoked. InuYasha wears a special bead necklace (known as the Beads of Subjugation) which only responds to Kagome's command: when she yells "Sit!" ("Osuwari!") (Often "Sit, boy!" in the dub). At this, InuYasha is thrown to the ground. The necklace was placed upon him due to his dangerous attitude when he was unsealed.
- InuYasha (犬夜叉) Voiced by Kappei Yamaguchi, Richard Ian Cox
- InuYasha is a half-demon ("hanyō" in Japanese), the product of a inu-yōkai and a human. He wields the Tessaiga (pronounced "Tetsaiga" and spelled "Tetsusaiga" in the American dub), a supernatural sword made from one of his deceased father's fangs. This sword, when properly wielded, can destroy one hundred demons with a single swing. InuYasha can quickly recover from injuries which would be fatal for any average human, because of his demon heritage. On the night of the new moon each month, InuYasha will change into a normal human with black hair, brown eyes, and loses his yokai power during this time. InuYasha was bound to Goshinboku by Kikyo's arrow until Kagome freed him.
- Miroku (弥勒) Voiced by Kōji Tsujitani, Kirby Morrow
- A Buddhist 'houshi,' or low-ranking, itinerant monk, Miroku traveled the countryside performing services such as exorcisms and yōkai exterminations to earn his living. He suffers from a hereditary curse originally inflicted upon his grandfather Miyatsu (also a Buddhist monk) by Naraku. The curse created hole in his hand that became a kazāna (air void or "wind tunnel") which sucks in anything not nailed down, regardless of mass. Miroku uses the kazāna as a powerful weapon against yōkai, but if the curse is not broken (by defeating Naraku), it will grow too large to control and consume Miroku himself. Miroku is a talented con artist who does not hesitate to invent fictitious supernatural menaces which he can then offer to combat in return for food and shelter, and he has a distinct weakness for pretty women. He makes a point of asking every attractive woman he meets if she will bear his child, and his hands have a seemingly uncontrollable habit of wandering.
- Sango (珊瑚) Voiced by Houko Kuwashima, Kelly Sheridan
- A yōkai slayer ("yōkai taijiya") who hails from a village of professional yōkai slayers. The only member of InuYasha's group to have no supernatural powers, Sango instead wields the Hiraikotsu, a massive boomerang made of yōkai bones, in addition to a broad repertoire of tools and tricks for battling yōkai. Sango seeks revenge against Naraku for the death of her family and her entire village. In addition, Sango seeks to rescue her brother Kohaku from Naraku's influence and somehow save his life, even though Kohaku's life is tied to the jewel shard embedded in his back.
- Shippo (七宝 Shippō) Voiced by Kumiko Watanabe, Jillian Michaels and Katherine Masilungan
- An orphaned young yōkai-fox (kitsune) whose father was killed by the Thunder Brothers, Hiten and Manten, and the first character in the story to join InuYasha and Kagome in their travels as a group. Shippo can shapeshift, but his forms are temporary, often incomplete and ineffective, and he is usually given away by his telltale tail. His other noteworthy abilities illusionary tricks with toys like his giant spinning top attack, using his race's notable fox fire magic, and making things like leaves or himself multiply. He tends to be naively observant and often makes pointed and cheeky comments directed towards InuYasha, earning him a retaliatory bonk on the head for his unsolicited "advice".
- Kirara (雲母 Kirara) Voiced by Tarako
- Sango's faithful, yōkai-nekomata; light-tan colored fur, with black stripes on each of her bushy tails (she has two) near the tip, and black-tipped paws. Also called Kilala (pronounced "Kee-Lah-Lah") in the English dub, but spelled Kirara. Kirara can change between two forms, a ferocious yōkai the size of a lion with the ability to fly, and a cute little kitten. Sango, Miroku and Shippo often use Kirara's flying ability as transportation in order to keep up with InuYasha.
[edit] Glossary
The following is a list of terminology from the anime and manga series InuYasha:
- Bone Eater's Well: The well that Kagome and Inuyasha use to travel between modern Tokyo and the feudal era.
- Daiyōkai : (literally "great yōkai") an especially strong and powerful yōkai.
- Goshinboku: the Sacred God Tree Inuyasha was sealed to.
- Hama no Ya: Sacred (or purifying) arrows (specifically Kagome's and Kikyo's).
- Hanyō: (commonly translated as "half-demon") the offspring of a yōkai and a human. They are often outcasts of both human and yōkai society.
- Hiraikotsu: a giant boomerang made from the bones of demons (Sango's weapon of choice).
- Inugami: (sometimes known as Inuyōkai) dog-like yōkai.
- Jyaki: demonic aura.
- Hōshi: a Buddhist monk.
- Kazāna: Miroku's wind tunnel attack.
- Kekkai: a force field (speciacally Miroku's).
- Kotodama no Nenju: (sometimes known as a rosary) the Beads of Subjugation around Inuyasha's neck.
- Kitsune: a fox yōkai from Japanese folklore known by their magic tricks.
- Miko: (commonly translated as "priestess") young female attendants at Shinto shrines.
- Nekomata: a cat older than ten years is said to receive magical powers and two tails.
- Osuwari: (literally sit) this is what Kagome says to subdue Inuyasha.
- O-fuda: (translated as "sacred sutras" or "spell scrolls") papers which hold special powers and are used against yōkai.
- Obake: ghosts, goblins, and monsters from Japanese folklore, including spirits of the human dead.
- Saimyōshō: Hell Wasps (specifically Naraku's)
- Sengoku Jidai: Sengoku period or feudal era of Japan.
- Shakujo: Buddhist staff.
- Shibugarasu: demon crow.
- Shikon no Tama: (or The Jewel of Four Souls) the shards of this jewel are what everyone is searching for.
- Shōki: demonic miasma.
- Taijiya: a yōkai (demon) exterminator.
- Tanuki:a raccoon dog from Japanese folklore.
- Tessaiga: Inuyasha's sword.
- Yōkai: belongs to a class of obake. They generally have some sort of spiritual or supernatural power. Some possess part animal and part human features.
[edit] Manga
The manga was serialized in Japan in the weekly publication Shonen Sunday by Shogakukan, with the first installment issued on November 13, 1996. Chapter 485 was published December 5, 2006 with the series still ongoing.[2] Every 180 pages, usually ten chapters, the issues are collected in bound tankōbon. Volume 45, collecting chapters 439 through 448, was published in May 2006.[3]Volume 48 was recently published. The chapters for volume 49 are ready but are yet to be published, and the chapters that will comprise volume 50 are nearly done. Rumiko Takahashi has stated her desire for the manga to achieve (and as of January 28, 2007, potentially surpass) 500 chapters.
In the United States the English version is published by Viz Media. The artwork is flipped to conform to the American standard of reading left to right. Volume 1 was published in March 1998, with either two or three new volumes following each year. At present, the series has stepped up to a quarterly release basis. Volume 28 was published in January 2007, while Volume 29 will be published on April 10, 2007, signifying that although Viz is still several years away from catching up to the number of volumes in Japan, they will start to catch up soon with the release of volume 30.
[edit] Anime
The InuYasha anime series spanned 167 episodes, and was broadcast across Japan by the anime television network, Animax, who have also aired the series across its English-language network in South Asia (being the first network to fully broadcast the series in the English language) and also across its networks in East Asia, and Nippon Television. The series ended on September 13, 2004.
The anime is licensed in North America by Viz and ShoPro Entertainment, and the actual dubbing is done by the The Ocean Group.
InuYasha was first broadcast in the United States on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim on August 31, 2002. The series later premiered on Canadian television screens on YTV on September 5, 2003.
InuYasha is now also shown on Cartoon Network's Latin American incarnation, Cartoon Network LA. In Latin America, it is shown dubbed in Spanish and in Portuguese (Brazil or with SAP in other countries). Cartoon Network LA can be seen in many countries south of the United States, as well as some cruise ships in the Caribbean. It is unknown if the last 7 episodes will air dubbed in the region.
At one point in Latin America, new episodes of InuYasha were airing twice a day, 5 times a week, and reruns were being aired Saturday night - 5 episodes in two hours. This is why the series concluded much faster than in the United States. As of December 2006, InuYasha is in rotation on the network.
In the United States, the final episode of InuYasha aired on October 27, 2006. The series started its second run on January 1, 2007 (The second run meaning Adult Swim has begun from episode 1 again, showing 8 episodes a week, twice a day from Monday to Thursday). This second run, however, is not complete as it skipped over episodes 73-80 for reasons that have not yet been made clear.
In Canada, YTV's Bionix programming block aired the final episode on December 1, 2006. On December 8, 2006, YTV's Bionix began airing reruns of InuYasha, starting with episode 105 "The Ghastly Steel Machine" and the consecutive episodes after it, instead of beginning from the first episode.
InuYasha was dubbed in Mandarin and hosted on Xing Kong, a Tawainese TV Channel. As of December 2006, InuYasha is aired in Singapore on Arts Central with viewers being able to select between Chinese or Japanese dialogue, three times a week from Wednesdays to Fridays at 11 p.m. (Singapore time). InuYasha also was dubbed in Bahasa Melayu for ntv7. The show is aired every Friday at 7:30 p.m.
On April 16th 2007, the first 12 InuYasha episodes will be in released in the UK as well as from the website Play.com (UK).
[edit] Eyecatches
| No. | Description | Episodes |
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| 1 | InuYasha's hand comes out and grabs the Shikon Jewel which dissolves into a red (into commercial break) then blue (out of commercial break) background of Japanese writing. | 1-20 |
| 2 | InuYasha's hand comes out and grabs the Shikon Jewel which dissolves into a green (into commercial break) then yellow (out of commercial break) background of Japanese writing. | 21-56 |
| 3 | InuYasha swings the Tessaiga and fades away to reveal a cherry blossom tree in front of a red full moon. | 57-105 |
| 4 | InuYasha and Kagome are back to back spinning clockwise vertically, they fade away replaced by multiple shards of the Shikon Jewel converging together in the center. | 106-167 |
[edit] DVD releases
| Season | Episodes | Discs | Features | DVD release date | |||||
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| Region 1 | Region 2/4 | ||||||||
| 1 | 1 - 27 | 5 |
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US/CAN: September 7, 2004 | AUS: May 12, 2006 | ||||
| 1 | 1 - 12 | 3 |
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---- | UK: April 16, 2007 | ||||
| 2 | 28 - 54 | 5 |
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US/CAN: November 8, 2005 | AUS: November 8, 2006 | ||||
| 3 | 55 - 81 | 5 |
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US/CAN: September 12, 2006 | ---- | ||||
[edit] Movies
Four movies, which continued the anime plot, have been released. The first movie, InuYasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time was released on December 16, 2001 in Japan with InuYasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island being the last movie to be released; on December 23, 2004 in Japan. The fourth movie was released three months after the series finale of InuYasha in Japan. As of 2007, there are no current plans for a fifth movie.
Four theatrical releases of the series has appeared so far:
| Cover | English Title | Japanese Title | Premiere date | |
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| Kanji | Romaji | |||
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InuYasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time | 映画犬夜叉 時代を越える想い | Eiga Inuyasha: Toki o Koeru Omoi | JPN: December 16, 2001 |
| After mastering the ultimate attack of the Tessaiga, InuYasha continues his quest for the Shikon Jewel shards with Kagome, Shippo, Sango, and Miroku. This time, all of them will have to face Menomaru, a demonic enemy brought to life by a jewel shard. | ||||
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InuYasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass | 映画犬夜叉 鏡の中の夢幻城 | Eiga Inuyasha: Kagami no Naka no Mugenjō | JPN: December 21, 2002 |
| After defeating Naraku, InuYasha and his friends each return to their lives. However, their short period of peace is interrupted when a new enemy emerges - Kaguya, the ruler of the eternal night. Locked inside a mirror, Kaguya is prevented from bringing eternal darkness into the world. Also in the movie, Inuyasha and Kagome share their true feelings for each other. | ||||
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InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler | 映画犬夜叉 天下覇道の剣 | Eiga Inuyasha: Tenka Hadō no Ken | JPN: December 20, 2003 |
| At the time of InuYasha's birth, InuYasha's father fought with a human named Setsuna no Takemaru, who loved InuYasha's mother, Izayoi. Soon after, So'unga, the legendary sword which belonged to InuYasha's father, was sealed away. Centuries later, So'unga is once again unleashed. However, the sword seeks to destroy the Earth and all life on it. Inuyasha must join forces with his brother, Sesshomaru, and destroy this sword before it destroys the world. | ||||
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InuYasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island | 映画犬夜叉 紅蓮の蓬莱島 | Eiga Inuyasha: Guren no Hōraijima | JPN: December 23, 2004 |
| The reappearance of the mysterious island of Houraijima after 50 years brought the attack of the four gods, the Shitoushin. With their eyes set on the powers that protect and sustain the island, the Shitoushin must be defeated as Inuyasha and his friends seek to help the children that are trapped on that island escape. | ||||
[edit] Games
[edit] Japanese Games
| Japanese Title | English Title | Release date | Console | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romaji | Kanji | |||
| Inuyasha: Kagome no Sengoku Nikki | 犬夜叉 ～かごめの戦国日記 | InuYasha: Kagome's Warring States Diary | November 2, 2001 | WonderSwan |
| Inuyasha: Sengoku Otogi Kassen | 犬夜叉 | InuYasha | December 27, 2001 | PlayStation |
| Inuyasha: Fūun Emaki | 犬夜叉 風雲絵巻 | ---- | July 27, 2002 | WonderSwan |
| Inuyasha: Kagome no Yume Nikki | 犬夜叉 かごめの夢日記 | InuYasha: Kagome's Dream Diary | November 16, 2002 | WonderSwan |
| Inuyasha: Naraku no Wana! Mayoi no Mori no Shōtaijō | 犬夜叉～奈落の罠！迷いの森の招待状 | InuYasha: Naraku's Trap! Invitation to the Forest of Illusion | January 23, 2003 | Game Boy Advance |
| Inuyasha: Juso no Kamen | 犬夜叉 呪詛の仮面 | InuYasha: The Cursed Mask | March 18, 2004 | PlayStation 2 |
| Inuyasha: Ōgi-Ranbu | 犬夜叉 奥義乱舞 | InuYasha: Feudal Combat | June 16, 2005 | PlayStation 2 |
[edit] English Games
| Title | Console | Release date | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| InuYasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale | PlayStation | April 9, 2003 | English version of Inuyasha: Sengoku Otogi Kassen |
| InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask | PlayStation 2 | November 1, 2004 | English version of Inuyasha: Juso no Kamen |
| InuYasha: The Mobile Game | Java and Brew handsets | June 21, 2005 | Inuyasha mobile phone game |
| InuYasha: Feudal Combat | PlayStation 2 | August 23, 2005 | English version of Inuyasha: Ōgi-Ranbu |
| InuYasha: Trading Card Game | Trading Card Game | October 20, 2004 | English version of Japanese Inuyasha TCG |
| InuYasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel | Nintendo DS | January 23, 2007 | [1] |
[edit] Growth and popularity
InuYasha is fairly popular in the Canadian internet community. According to Google, InuYasha was the most searched for term on their search engine in Canada, in 2004. InuYasha was also the third most popular searched for term in Canada in all of 2003.[4][5]
Leaping onto American TVs on August 31, 2002, InuYasha made its debut in Cartoon Network's Saturday Adult Swim Block. American fans loved it and the show's rapid rise in popularity quickly pushed it to air four nights a week.
According to Viz, the release of the feature film, InuYasha: Affections Touching Across Time on DVD has sold over 30,000 units to-date and has occupied the number one spot on Nielsen Videoscan’s Anime Rankings for three consecutive weeks. As a series overall, more than 800,000 DVDs of the InuYasha series have been sold since March 2003.
On the literary side, InuYasha graphic novels also continue to show strong sales numbers. The recently released Volume 19 of the InuYasha manga series has been ranked Number 3 on Nielsen Bookscan’s Graphic Novel Top 50 List for the week ending October 3, 2004, and Volume 1 is at Number 18 in its 77th straight week on top, confirming a growing interest among new fans. [2]
[edit] Trivia
- The protagonists, InuYasha and Kagome, kiss only once, in the second movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass (anime only). In the manga (only) they almost kissed in Chapter 494 only to be interrupted by Sota.
- InuYasha's bead necklace is used by Kagome to control him. When she says "sit" or "sit, boy" ("osuwari" in Japanese), the necklace forces his head to the ground. The necklace breaks in the third movie, Swords of an Honorable Ruler, but it is later re-assembled, restoring its full power.
- Despite having established the importance of Lunar phase as early as the first season, most episodes errantly shown a full Moon in nighttime scenes regardless of the passage of time. In one extreme instance, Episode 4 ("Yura of the Demon-hair"), shows a crescent Moon isolated between two full Moon nights.
- Many if not all of the major characters bear a resemblance to a character from one of Takahashi's earlier mangas, most often Ranma 1/2.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ *Infoseek Japanese dictionary entry for 夜叉/Yasha -- "an Indian term which was imported with Buddhism through China into Japan.(Sanskrit, Yaksa)) of Indian origins, a demon which harms people. In Buddhism it is a type of ancient Indian demon that have converted to Buddhism and serve as protectors of Bishamonten, one of the Shitennō."
- ^ Inuyasha - Sengoku o-Togi Zoushi - English translations of the manga
- ^ Inuyasha volume 45 (Japanese)
- ^ "Google Press Center: Zeitgeist", Google. Retrieved on December 24, 2006.
- ^ "Google Press Center: 2003 Year-End Zeitgeist", Google. Retrieved on December 24, 2006.
[edit] External links
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This article contains Japanese text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of kanji or kana. |
- Shonen Sunday's Official InuYasha manga website (Japanese)
- Sunrise's official InuYasha anime website (Japanese)
- Yomiuri Television's official InuYasha anime website (Japanese)
- Inu Yasha at Anime News Network's Encyclopedia
- Viz's official InuYasha website
- InuYasha at Telebisyon.net (Tagalog)
- Inuyasha Online General fansite
- Inuyasha Screenshots Gallery With over 6000 shots from the anime series.
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| General: |
Anime episodes • Manga chapters • Characters • Minor characters • Yōkai • Songs • Rumiko Takahashi • Voice actors |
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| Movies: |
Affections Touching Across Time • The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass • Swords of an Honorable Ruler • Fire on the Mystic Island |
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| Games: |
Feudal Combat • The Secret of the Cursed Mask • Secret of the Divine Jewel |
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| Locations: |
Bone Eater's Well • Higurashi Shrine • Mount Hakurei • WcDonald's |
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| Items & Weapons: |
So'unga • Tenseiga • Tessaiga • Hiraikotsu • Jewel of Four Souls • Fuyōheki • Tōkijin • InuYasha the Movie 2 Items |
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