Inuyasha

Inuyasha

A girl named Kagome is an ordinary junior high student who lives with her mother, brother, cat and grandfather at a temple in Japan.  One day, when rescuing the cat, Buyo, she gets pulled into a well by a youkai (demon, pronounced yoh-kah-ie) and is transported to a feudal land of the past.  There she frees a hanyou (half-demon and half-human, pronounced hahn-yoh)) named Inuyasha from being sealed to a tree in an ageless sleep for fifty years...

50 years ago, there was a beautiful miko (priestess, pronounced mee-koh) named Kikyo, who protected a powerful jewel called the shikon no tama (the Jewel of Four Souls, pronounced shee-kohn noh tahmah) from evil.  Inuyasha had been seeking the jewel in order to change from hanyou into a full youkai.  He had fallen in love with Kikyo, and she had fallen for him as well.  Inuyasha was willing to  give up his youkai side to be with Kikyo.  The two had made plans to use the shikon no tama to make Inuyasha a full human, however, they were tricked into hating one another by another youkai named Naraku (once a human man named Onigumo pronounced nahrahkoo).  Naraku, disguised as Inuyasha, had mortally wounded Kikyo. He had also disguised himself as Kikyo and had shot arrows at Inuyasha.  In response to this 'betrayal', Inuyasha attacked Kikyo's town and stolen the shikon no tama, but before he could escape, Kikyo had used her last breath to seal Inuyasha to a tree with one of her arrows.  Kikyo's younger sister Kaede (pronounced Kah-eh-deh) burned the shikon no tama with Kikyo's remains.

Kagome learns she is the reincarnation of the miko Kikyo.  She finds herself in the position of protecting the shikon no tama that came forth from her own body, but ends up breaking it into many shards when she kills a crow youkai that has stolen it.  She then vows to help find the shards and return the jewel to normal.  Initially because of a spell by Kikyo's sister (now an old woman), but later, of his own will, Inuyasha travels with Kagome in search of  the shikon shards, inevitably fighting many youkai who have found the shards and are using them to further their own power.  Inuyasha's older brother, Sesshoumaru (pronounced Seh-sho-oh-mah-roo), a full youkai, hates humans, and despises Inuyasha for being a hanyou.  He fights with Inuyasha from time to time over inheritances from their dead father and other issues.

Along their beginning journeys, Kagome and Inuyasha meet others who take up the quest for reasons of their own. One is Shippou (pronounced Shee-po-oh), the kitsune (he is a fox demon, pronounced keet-soo-neh). His father was killed by two youkai who wished for more power from jewel shards. He is a child and needs the protection, and so Kagome and (unwillingly) Inuyasha take him in.

The second edition to their band is Miroku, a lecherous monk, or houshi (pronounced Mee-roh-koo and ho-oh-shee) His family was cursed three generations before by Naraku. The curse is a vortex wind tunnel which sucks all inside but the venomous bees Naraku sends Miroku's way. This curse is, in Japanese, called the Kazaana (pronounced kah-za-ah-nah).

The third addition to the gang are Sango (Sahn-goh) and her fire-cat demon friend, Kirara. There are differing opinions of Kirara's name, varying from this to an Anglified version, Kilala. In either case, they are pronounced Kee-rah-rah and/or Kee-lah-lah.

Sango is a taijiya, (pronounced tie-jee-ya) whose entire village/family was slain by Naraku. Sango is on a mission of revenge with her faithful companion Kirara at her side.

There are over one hundred episodes of anime, and the manga is still in production by Rumiko Takahashi and can be found in many stores which stock manga. I, nmminut , only know of three Inuyasha movies: Affections Touching Across Time, The Castle Behind The Looking Glass, and Swords Of A Just Ruler. The first deals with an evil dragon awaking, leaving Inuyasha and Crew to defeat him. The second involves an evil demon woman who is after having Inuyasha as a full demon, but under her control.

The third movie, Swords of a Just Ruler, deals with the three swords which Inuyasha's father owned and why they are given to whom they were given, the Tetsusaiga Sword of Earth (variants are Tesusaiga, Tessaiga, pronounced Teh-tsoo-si-gah, Teh-soo-si-gah, and Teh-ss-si-gah respectively.), the Tensaiga Sword of Heaven (pronounced Tehn-si-gah), and the lost and fabled evil sword, So'unga Sword of Hell (pronounced so'-oongah).

Last edited by:

nmminut  on Nov. 6.06