Out of 100 Nobles watching…
77 were impressed!
15 were tired of filler
8 wanted some more depth in characters
On my “Tour de Rumiko Takahashi”, instead of returning to Urusei Yatsura I took a detour and read Inuyasha. Inuyasha was one of the first anime I ever watched catching episodes in elementary school late Friday and Saturday nights with my sisters. It was one of the biggest influences on my tastes, predisposing me to an interest in both traditional and modern Japanese culture, but here we are reading the manga and boy what a monster it was. Representative of Shonen of the time Inuyasha is a whopping 558 chapters (559 if we are counting a cute little charity postlude chapter Takahashi wrote years later). Takahashi used the series to create some great grotesque imagery and lovely inky traditional looking artwork throughout the publication.
Honestly, simply because it is complete, I consider Inuyasha worth the read, but it absolutely does not handle its run length well. The series unfortunately falls into some of the worst pitfalls of filler. Filler is baked into conflicts dragging out major plot relevant battles, and middling random filler chapters fighting some demon to save a village usually ties itself in some way back to the main plot resulting in an experience that cannot really be trimmed down with a “read these chapters” list. I will say though that some of the best and most soulful feeling chapters were various filler sections. Takahashi clearly solidified herself as a Shonen author with such a renowned and long running serialization, that said I do not feel she was particularly suited for it. Lots of action felt weightless or hard to track.
The main story points of Inuyasha were engaging when they were relevant. All the main cast had a unique dynamic that was well written if a bit simple. There isn’t much depth to Inuyasha outside of the Kikyou-Kagome love plot. Kagome is supposed to be a pure maiden and I think Takahashi did a good job writing internal dialogue for her that rationalized her being a genuinely good person.
The standout arc and character of the series I thought was Inuyasha’s brother Sesshoumaru. The way Sesshoumaru grew midway through the series and by the end of the story really gave me an insight to many an early 2000’s fangirls hearts. “I cost you your life… and there is nothing…worth exchanging for that!”
Rumiko Takahashi I think writes good “Japanese boomer humor” and can make very strong interpersonal plotlines that are able to capture realistic feelings well. Inuyasha stood out most, not when the main characters were chasing some big powerup to defeat Naraku, but when the story took the time to do a slice-of-life chapter, a joke chapter, or a romance chapter. The ending of the series had a very satisfying final chapter to me and my only regret is that it took so long to get there.
Initially I thought to close the book on Inuyasha and move on to just Yashahime, but writing this review to a Youtube playlist of the anime’s soundtrack is really feeding my childhood nostalgia and bringing me back to sitting on the living room floor vibin’ out. Looking into it the anime is 193 episodes… this Souls-like Okami-Ass soundtrack just might get me to come back some day. Until then, Inuyasha is a lovely adventure that meanders a bit too long, but is worth the read for weirdos who just like 70’s-00’s manga and anime like me.