Manga Review – Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi

Inuyasha by Rumiko Takahashi
First published on May 18, 1997 to January 1, 2009 by VIZ Media LLC
Genre: Shojo, Romance, Fantasy, Adventure, Historical
56 Volumes with 559 Chapters
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (MAL 9/10)
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Get it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3c6fm2o

Kagome Higurashi’s ordinary life comes to an abrupt halt when a demon drags her deep into a well, transporting her five hundred years into the past. In this era, Kagome quickly learns two things: demons walk amongst humans and she has unknowingly brought a dangerous object from her world—a marble-sized sphere known as the Shikon Jewel. This unusual orb brings tremendous power to any demon who has it in their possession, and Kagome is an easy target for anyone determined enough to steal it.

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While in a fight with a demon, a hasty attempt to fend it off causes Kagome to accidentally shatter the jewel, sending countless pieces of it all over feudal Japan. She soon learns the grave consequences of her actions when she must work with the half-demon Inuyasha to collect all the pieces of the jewel before they fall into the wrong hands.

Review

This series is absolutely the longest series I’ve ever read so far, with a total of 56 volumes containing 559 chapters. Yeah right? I grew up watching anime and when I stumbled to this one, I instantly got hooked. I really really love this series, but it’s just now that I finally had the courage to read its manga, which they said are exactly the same as the anime version. I started reading this last December but had a 1 week off because of the Holiday until finally I finished it. And I’m really so happy that I read this one because I’ve got to understand more about this story which made me fall in love with this series even more.

This story is about this modern Japanese girl, Kagome, that was pulled from her own time and went to feudal Japan.  It is where she met the half yokai (supernatural monster in Japanese folklore) or also called Hanyou, Inuyasha. Two opposite personalities that were forced to travel together because of the Shikon Jewel or the Jewel of Four Souls

Kagome (female lead) is so much fun and a wonderful heroine. And Inuyasha on the other hand is such an awesome badass that thinking about him hurts. And as a couple, they sure are mind blowing. After writing this review, I’ll definitely re-watch the anime hehe.

When Inuyasha first met Kagome, I swear he could really be a great pain in the ass and is a straight-up a-hole. And as the story progresses, he becomes a great person without losing his bad boy image ofcourse. But when it comes to Kagome, he sure is kind of protective and I love their usual bantering. It could get annoying sometimes but mostly entertaining lol, especially when Kagome gets really angry at him.

His character is so realistic too. Behind the bad boy image is the guy who lost his first love and when she returns, he’s torn between her and Kagome. Which to be honest, made me kind of mad at him. Well, I’m 100% with Kagome and I totally don’t like Kikyou. But after reading the manga, I still don’t like her, but is kind of likeable now especially when she saved Kohaku.

And when Inuyasha had a battle with his demon blood and his human heart, it was only Kagome who could make him go back to his senses, isn’t that just sweet?

(I was a bit teary-eyed when the Spider youkai were after them and he got bitten while he’s in his human form. And speaking of human form, he sure still rocks it even with black hair minus the cute doggy ears. Then he lay on Kagome’s lap and told her that he loved her scent even if he told her otherwise before. They’re in the middle of a dangerous situation but because of that, it became kind of a romantic and unforgettable scene for me.)

Kagome on the other hand is a typical female lead. She started as a helpless girl until they found out about her being the reincarnation of Kikyou which was Inuyasha’s first love and the strongest Miko in feudal Japan. I love how she became badass as the story progresses. Kikyou may be the first woman Inuyasha loved, but it was Kagome who really changed Inuyasha as a person. Plus, did I tell you how many times she saved Kikyou? Also, even how many times she got hurt because she’s Inuyasha’s first love, her heart remains pure.

I have to be honest, there’s some point in this series that totally got my nerve and made me flipped. That’s mostly about Inuyasha being torn between Kikyou and Kagome and how many times he chose Kikyou over Kagome. I mean, that’s quite cruel really. But even that’s the case, I learn to outgrow it simply because he still travels with her, plus, once in a while they have their own moments. And speaking of moments, I need to step ahead and point out the lack of kissing scenes between them. In anime there’s quite a lot, but in manga, almost none. What’s up with that?!

As they travel, their group of two grew into a group of 6 where they met the kitsune Shippou, the monk Miroku, cool Sango and her cute Kirara.

Shippou is a cute Kitsune (fox) yokai that specializes in making pranks which he mostly uses to Inuyasha lol. At first, they both hate each other and argue a lot which is kind of funny. But as they both traveled together, their relationship improved. He is really adorable and so attached to Kagome.

Miroku – A playboy and pervert who loves caressing a woman’s butt. But his proposal to Sango was pretty sweet.

Sango – a really tough cookie. I love her character and the fact that she can man-handle guys. And her relationship with Miroku was so kawaii.

(Quite cliche eh? Inuyasha and Kagome fell in love with each other and Miroku, Sango with each other too. Well, IDC haha. I just love their group.)

Kirara – is a cute yokai that transforms into a ferocious beast during battles. Plus, he flies!

With a very long series, a long list of characters isn’t a surprise at all. But what’s really hard with manga or anime is to get familiarized with the character’s names. But as for my favorites or the ones that totally got my attention here’s my list. (I’m being mean today, so I’m not going to add Kikyou in my list, blee)

• Number one in my list is Sesshoumaru. I never thought I’d say this, but I’m one of those really annoying fangirls who love him. Deym! When I first saw him in the anime, I had to say that there’s something dangerous about him. Inuyasha has this bad boy image, but Sesshoumaru is on the highest level. I really hated him at first. Unlike Inuyasha, he really is living the bad boy life. He’s rude, full of pride and all things bad. I specifically hated how he keeps on stealing their Father’s memento, Tessaiga, that was originally given to Inuyasha. But everything changed when he met Rin, and then we got to find out about Tenseiga and everything about it. Then eventually, I learn to love Sesshoumaru.  When it came to the part about Meidou Zangetsuha, I felt so sorry for him. Huhu, and then after that my admiration for him intensified. He made me feel so many emotions, I almost cried because of him.
• Well, obviously, it’s Rin. I love her character simply because she’s the reason why Sesshoumaru became compassionate, which is also the reason how he was now able to use his healing sword Tenseiga. And I love her teasing with Jaken. I love how the boring team of two grows and becomes lively because of her.
  Honestly, at first, I’m one of those fans that ships Rin to Sesshoumaru. But after I read the manga, I realized something. I don’t know, but I think Jaken is right. Sesshoumaru is like a father to Rin in a strange way, and he sure is a great one. (But ofcourse if they end up together, I would still be happy 😉)
• Kagome’s family – her mother, younger brother Shouta and grandpa. I thought it’s going to be a big shocker when they met Inuyasha, but ended up petting him like a pet dog lol. They’re all touching Inuyasha’s ears haha. Well, that couldn’t be helped lol especially if he has those adorable doggy ears.
• Miyouga – The coward flea. He’s the sort of guy who knows it all, well, not totally all but mostly about Inuyasha and his father. I wish this series was able to show something about the past, especially about Inuyasha’s father and mother. Well, it actually did in the anime.
• Totosai – The swordsmith who forged Tessaiga and Tenseiga due to Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru’s father’s request. I would have loved it more if they included a back story of him too.
• Kaede – Kikyou’s younger sister. A strong lady who would probably live another 50 years the way she’s going.
• Kohaku – The younger brother of Sango. For a young age, he’s been through a lot. But I’m happy how he was able to regain or fight for his humanity after what Naraku did to him.
• Naraku – For the ultimate cunning supervillain, I guess he quite deserves to be in this list lol. He’s a hanyou like Inuyasha. He’s the reason why Kikyou died 50 years ago and why Kikyou and Inuyasha had a rough past.

When I think about it, this is obviously a typical adventure anime/manga. For adventure stories, the idea of different sets of individuals forming a group while traveling is quite cliche too, let alone falling in love with each other! But what sets this story different from others is the adventures each character went through. When I thought it’s the end and the ideas are already sucked out dry from the author, we then introduced a new unexpected scene. I’ve been watching anime and they all gave me the same reaction. And what is that? It’s astonishment. We might already have encountered the story’s plot before, but the twists and turns, the scenes, the lines were so unique. I can’t count how many times I said out loud “I didn’t expect that!” while reading this series. 

All we’re covered too. I love that each character has their own background covered, so we all got the chance to really know more about them and where they came from. I love that each character has the chance to stand out and we’ve got to see how they matured with each chapter. As the title goes, without watching the anime, I really thought this series would only revolve around Inuyasha, well, it kind of does since each character has a connection with Inuyasha. But what I would like to say is that the author didn’t make a selfish decision to just make Inuyasha the hero all the time. We’ve got the chance to see the weaker side of him, the annoying one, the part where others from the group became the hero and saved him, and ofcourse the funny and dense Inuyasha which is my favorite.

As I’ve said, this series has a total of 559 chapters so it will absolutely take us a lot of time if I talk about the adventures the group encountered one by one. So to make it short, I’ll just “kind of share” my favorite chapters from this series. Before I decided to read this manga, I had a lot of favorite scenes from the anime, mostly? Well, all of them we’re from Kagome and Inuyasha. But after reading the manga, I have to say that my favorite scenes were from Sesshoumaru (Inuyasha’s youkai brother). The first one was when he met Rin (human girl) and resurrected her. I really love how little by little he changed from this full mean badboy image to a compassionate one. He’s still a badboy but when he’s with Rin, dayum, I just can’t help but squeal in delight. And another favorite scene was when he went inside the meidou (a place where the living are not supposed to go) to save Rin. It’s also the most touching scene ever because of how he discarded his sword tenseiga (his father’s memento) because it can’t save Rin.

For my rating, I’m detracting a half star. It really is painful but I guess I really need to. It’s because even with the 559 chapters, it failed to tell us an introduction of what really is a yokai or hanyou or everything about those so-called monsters. I mean, it’s been 50 years since the story resumed but Sesshoumaru looks as fabulous as ever and so is Inuyasha. I mean, if Inuyasha and Kagome will live together as man and wife, Kagome will age and Inuyasha would still be looking the same? The slowness of the villains too is quite so-so but I understand that to make this series long. Also, about crossing time through the well, in its first few chapters, we’ve got to find out that it’s the Shikon Jewel that connects the two worlds, but I remembered after Naraku seized all the shards of the Jewel, Kagome was still able to go back to her world. That really is kinda confusing though. And lastly, the epilogue. Dang! Sango and Miroku had their three little angels, how come Inuyasha and Kagome didn’t have atleast 1 son or daughter?! Oh well, I guess you can’t really have all.

I would highly recommend this series, if you’re down for a good solid adventure and a kickass heroine with a sexy demon badboy. It’s often hilariously funny and the drawing is so lovely.

Also, I have compiled this series’ hilarious lines here.

Challenges

• 2017 eBook Reading
• 2017 You Read How Many Books?
• 2017 Mount TBR
• 2017 Review Writing

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