Inuyasha was one of those connection findings. It so happened that one of my favorite Korean TV drama actors started a show called Gu Family Book (aka Kangchi The Beginning) and the character he was going to play was a half demon who tried to be human. A lot of people commented that it sounded like the anime Inuyasha. So when I have found a good deal for the dvd of the show I decided to give it a go.
Now I'm not really into anime. I of course love Candy as much as anyone in my age group. In fact I think she is responsible for my not shunning from this form of art. Then came the Ghibli series I so much loved, Marco, Flander's Dog, etc. There was of course Fuji TV's Heidi (actually I have been called Heidi when I was about 4-5 since apparently I ran like her!) and others that I loved the stories and images of. Then I checked out "cool" stuff like Ghost In the Shell, geek stuff like Ninja Scroll and Samurai X but I remained on the edges only seeking Ghibli stuff, particularly Hayao Miyazaki directed ones. There is Avatar: The Air Bender of course but it is an exception (God how I love that show)
Well Inuyasha in its 167 episodes was not something I'd binge watch. But I have kept at it (and actually finished Kangchi before finishing Inuyasha) and I really liked it.
The titular hero is Inuyasha. His, now deceased, dad was a powerfull dog demon and his mother was a noble. Inuyasha has a half brother (same father) who is a full demon. This is one of my favorite characters and he is called Sesshomaru.
Here is what he looks like
Spoiler:
No wonder I go for him because he is the strong silent type. Hardly says a word and he was also a bit of a demon racist at the beginning but I had a feeling that he is going to be a Zuko or Snape type of character. And he is! Not only he saved a little human girl but also he ended up helping Inuyasha and the gang various times dealing with Naraku. Oh and he lost one arm early in the show (a bit like Yang Guo - heh) and continued to be just as awesome with a single arm.
Our heroine is Kagome, who is the reincarnation of a priestess Kikyo (who had an affair with Inuyasha which was sadly destroyed by Naraku). Kagome is a happy go lucky high school girl who got thrown into the feudal era Japan and not only that but stuck with Inuyasha who wants to go full demon and needs a certain sacred jewel to achieve that. The problem is that everyone wants this jewel for its amazing powers. And Kagome manages to break it and the shards are scattered all around picked up by various characters and Naraku is aiming to collect all of them and achieve ultimate power. Eventually Kagome falls for Inuyasha.
The gang is a great one. We have a taoist priest called Miroku who is after Naraku because he put a wind tunnel in his hand (passed over to him from his dad) and this will eventually devour him if he doesn't kill the one who put it there. The wind tunnel is all powerful and sucks everything around when its activated.
There is Sango, a human demon hunter whose father and whole villiage is tricked and massacred by Naraku who also took her younger brother Kohaku (who was the instrument Naraku used in killing every one of that demon slaying tribe). Sango's first priority is taking Kohaku back and then killing Naraku for revenge.
Lastly we have Shippo a fox demon kid whose family was killed by other demons (and they were in turn killed by Inuyasha) and he is totally very very cute and more helpful to the group then one might think.
Kikyo was reanimated by a witch and she also wants to kill Naraku (who is in love with her) there is a wolf demon whose tribe's majority is also killed by Naraku (the villian has henchmen and they do most of the killing on Naraku's orders). He is very into Kagome and has two of the precious shards on his legs.
Lovely Sesshomaru has a side kick, a tiny talkative and sycophant Jaken and then there is Rin the human girl and there is Aun his two headed dragon (Sesshomaru is so cool). The thing about this little group is that Jaken and Rin are no help to Sesshomaru at all but he still has them around :)
The villain Naraku is a suitably despicable and scary creature. I don't really want to talk about him.
And then there is Inuyasha who is impulsive with a quick temper but he has a kind heart and I like it that he never forgets Kikyo even when he starts to like Kagome (and he is always honest with her). He was a great hero.
All in all this one made me laugh, cry (some episodes were so touching, Shippo and Sango/Kohaku were the ones I shed tears over most) and generally had a good time. I even had withdrawal symptoms.
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