InuYasha

Inuyasha proves what a talented mangaka Rumiko Takahashi truly is! Rumiko Takahashi can go from making slackjaw comedy like Ranma 1/2, to making creepy horror such as Mermaid Saga, to jam packed action shounen anime such as Inuyasha. There are elements from Ranma 1/2 in Inuyasha. Many of the characters in Inuyasha parallel characters from Ranma 1/2. There is a half demon girl in Inuyasha that bares a slight resemblance to Lum from Urusei Yatsura. Inuyasha was inspired from one of Rumiko Takahashi's earlier series from the 80's called Fire Tripper. Inuyasha is about a teenage school girl from the present day (at the time 1996) named Kagome Higurashi. Kagome lives with her little brother, mother, pet cat, and grandfather in a house right next to the family shrine. Her grandfather is obsessed with mythology and ancient artifacts. Kagome is well liked by her peers at school, she has three friends, and a guy named Hojo who is secretly in love with her but Kagome is of course oblivious to this. On her 15th birthday Kagome enters the family shrine and the well starts glowing and Kagome is captured by a centipede demon named Mistress Centipede. Kagome is transported 500 years into the past and she sees Inuyasha a half dog demon who is bond to a tree. Kagome is attacked by Mistress Centipede who bites out the sacred jewel from Kagome's body. Inuyasha tells Kagome to free him so that he can kill Mistress Centipede. Kagome does so by pulling out the sacred arrow that binded Inuyasha to the tree. Once free, Inuyasha easily kills Mistress Centipede but tries to kill Kagome. The elder of the village an old priestess Kaeda magically puts on an enchanted necklace onto Inuyasha which he cannot take off and Kaeda tells Kagome to give the necklace a command and Kagome says "Sit" and Inuyasha crashes face first to the ground. Kagome accidentally breaks the sacred jewel into many pieces with a sacred arrow causing her and Inuyasha to go on a quest to find all the pieces. Kagome being a powerful priestess can sense a piece of the scared jewel close by. The main antagonist of the series Naraku is the cause of most of the tragedies and murders in the series. Naraku is different from other half demons because Naraku is the human bandit/murder Onigumo and a legion of demons combined into one body. Naraku gives "birth" to many incarnations that follow his orders. One of his incarnations a wind sorceress named Kagura despises him and wishes to be free. Naraku is the reason why Inuyasha was bond to the tree because Naraku caused Inuyasha and Inuyasha's first lover Kikyo to turn against one another in order to capture the sacred jewel. Inuyasha and Kagome on their quest to capture all the pieces of the Sacred Jewel befriend a young monk named Miroku who has a generational curse from Naraku which is the wind tunnel that is a black hole in the palm of his right hand that he uses to cover up with sacred beads and a piece of clothing. To remove the curse Naraku must be killed or the wind tunnel will eventually suck up Miroku just as it did to his father and grandfather. A fox demon child named Shippo who can transform into anyone and anything. Shippo's family was killed by Naraku's minions. A teenage demon slayer named Sango whose father and clan were slain by her possessed little brother Kohaku who under Naraku's control slaughtered them and joined Naraku. Sango's companion a demon cat named Kiara who can transform into a giant flying cat , all travel with Inuyasha and Kagome united in their quest to capture the sacred jewel shards and kill Naraku. Inuyasha's older half-brother Sesshomaru is easily the most complicated character in the series. Sesshomaru was originally one of the villains in Inuyasha. Sesshomaru and Inuyasha each had animosity towards one another. They each both told the other that they will kill the other and would try to fight the other to the death. Sesshomaru resented the fact that both his and Inuyasha's father (The Great Dog Demon) gave Inuyasha the Tessaiga which Sesshomaru believed was the best sword that belonged to his father because Sesshomaru received the Tenseiga which Sesshomaru believed was a useless sword. Sesshomaru goes from despising humans to eventually bonding with one, when he saves a little human girl named Rin who he allows to become one of his traveling companions that he guards and protects. It can be said that Rin was the one that gave Sesshomaru his "heart". Inuyasha and Sesshomaru actually don't want the other to die. Towards the end of the series Inuyasha begins to care about Sesshomaru and doesn't want him killed. Sesshomaru, Inuyasha, Kagome, and their traveling companions all unite in their common quest to kill Naraku once and for all! If someone enjoys adventure, action, fantasy, and mythology then they will enjoy Inuyasha.