"Inuyasha" (2000) TV series 2000-2004

Creator:

Rumiko Takahashi

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

Release Date:

31 August 2002 (USA)

Genre:

Animation | Action | Adventure | Comedy | Drama | Fantasy | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

The evolution of Naraku!

Plot:

A teenage girl periodically travels back in time to feudal Japan to help a young half demon recover the shards of a orb of great power.

Plot Keywords:

Jewel | Demon | Priestess | Reincarnation | Well

US TV Schedule:

Sun. Jan. 3	5:00 AM	TOON	Assault on the Wolf-Demon Tribe	#5.102
Sun. Jan. 3	5:30 AM	TOON
Sun. Jan. 10	5:30 AM	TOON

Cast

Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Inuyasha / ... (67 episodes, 2000-2004)
Satsuki Yukino	...	Higurashi Kagome / ... (67 episodes, 2000-2004)
Moneca Stori	...	Kagome Higurashi (64 episodes, 2000-2004)
Richard Ian Cox	...	Inuyasha / ... (62 episodes, 2000-2004)
Kumiko Watanabe	...	Shippou / ... (56 episodes, 2000-2004)
Jillian Michaels	...	Shippou / ... (55 episodes, 2000-2004)
Kôji Tsujitani	...	Miroku (52 episodes, 2001-2004)
Houko Kuwashima	...	Sango (49 episodes, 2001-2004)
Kirby Morrow	...	Miroku (49 episodes, 2001-2004)
Kelly Sheridan	...	Sango (48 episodes, 2001-2004)
Paul Dobson	...	Myoga / ... (43 episodes, 2000-2004)
Dominik Auer	...	Inuyasha (40 episodes, 2000-2004)
Tadahisa Saizen	...	Villager a / ... (35 episodes, 2000-2004)
Kenichi Ogata	...	Myoga (28 episodes, 2000-2004)

Runtime:

24 min (167 episodes)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese | English

Colour:

Colour

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Canada:14 (Nova Scotia) (video rating) | Canada:14+ (Quebec) (video rating) | Canada:18A (Manitoba) (video rating) | USA:TV-14 | Australia:M (some episodes) | South Korea:12 | Argentina:13 | Germany:12 | Singapore:Unrated | Spain:13 | USA:TV-PG (some episodes) | Australia:MA

Company:

Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation (YTV)

Trivia:

Hojo is Japanese for "Aid".

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: When Inuyasha was fighting Kohaku, he says that he's covered in blood, but Kohaku has no blood on him at all.

Quotes:

Kagome: There you are! Let's go!
Inuyasha: Where to?
Kagome: Come on. Don't you feel the least bit sorry for Kikyo? Her grave was violated. I know you were betrayed by her but that was a long time ago. It's been at least 50 years since she passed away.
[Inuyasha tries to get up, but kagome grabs his hair]
Kagome: Hold it!
Inuyasha: Watch the hair!
Kagome: Mind explaining to me why you haven't been able to look me straight in the eye since yesterday?
Inuyasha: You're obviously imagining things.
Kagome: I get it! It's all about me looking like kikyo! That's it, isn't it? That's why you can't look at me.
[Inuyasha looks at her and taks her hand]
[...]

Movie Connections:

Spoofed in "Robot Chicken: But Not in That Way (#4.9)" (2009)

Soundtrack:

Grip

Awesome show!

If you liked Ranma 1/2, it is safe to say that you'd most likely enjoy InuYasha. Based off of the manga of the same title by Takahashi Rumiko, this is the tale of the half-demon Inuyasha and his companions Kagome, Miroku (aka: Houshi-sama), Sango, Shippou, and sometimes Myouga the youkai flea (more in the earlier season than later ones) as they search for the shards of the Shikon no Tama (Jewel of Four Souls), then hunt for the demon Naraku.

The series is a juvenile one, but not offensively so. I really enjoy the epic nature of the series. There are the standard "filler" episodes, but there are long stretches where the story just presses on. The writers often don't feel pressed to end the story withing the 30-minute format and so a certain tale can go on for a few episodes. Filler episodes are used to allow the viewers (and the writers) to catch their breath before plunging in again. But in recent episodes (starting at the late 90's into the 110's), the stories have dragged much longer than they should, just to extend things (IMO). However, things have improved with the current season in Japan. The fun filler episodes are back, but then the action episodes are more like the early season's in nature rather than last season. So my enjoyment has gone back up this year (2004).

Characters are another nice touch to this series. Characters are allowed to grow to a certain degree though relationships don't grow beyond a certain point. I would have liked to have seen Sango and Miroku do more at being a couple rather than just eyeing each other. That may have been fixed in episode 132. Also, I would like the writers to advance the Kagome/Inuyasha romance and we may see that this season. The other problem is that after a while, Inuyasha becomes the only character to do anything. Everyone else just stands around looking stupid rather than jump in and try to help. I hear that it will get better (based on the manga apparently) so I keep my fingers crossed.

The English dub is pretty well done, though the show felt a tad more juvenile in English than it did in Japanese. The DVD subtitles aren't to great, so if you are used to the excellent job done by the fansubbers (Anime-Kraze), you'll be in for some disappointments.

Bottom line: Nicely drawn and interesting characters & good (and sometimes humorous) writing make this otherwise juvenile series very enjoyable to watch.