InuYasha

InuYasha is a manga and anime series created by Rumiko Takahashi, creator of Ranma ½ and Good Housekeeping. The manga was published in Shogakukan, originally in 1996, and ran for twelve years.

The anime includes two televised series produced by Sunrise studio. In Japan, the first series ran from 2000 to 2004, while the second series titled ‘’InuYasha: The Final Act’’ did not begin airing until 2009. The original series of ‘’InuYasha’’ aired in the United States from 2002 to 2006 on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim slot.

The story of InuYasha concerns a half-human, half-dog-demon named InuYasha, living in Japan’s Sengoku period, who runs into difficulty relating to the powerful Jewel of Four Souls and its female human guardian. Due to the power of the jewel and the activity of other forces, a human girl from the present, Kagome, finds herself transported back to the Sengoku period and right into the thick of InuYasha’s problems.

Matters are complicated further when the powerful magical jewel is shattered into shards, which are spread across Japan. Since protagonist InuYasha is not a truly evil character, he and Kagome quest to re-assemble the Jewel as well as keep its powerful shards out of the hands of evil demons and dangerous characters.

InuYasha, while a more action and adventure-based story than most of Takahashi’s other work, still contains good doses of comedy and charming love-hate interaction between the male and female leads. Also notable is Takahashi’s characteristic use of amusing embarrassment and difficulty, experienced by the male lead because of a complicated situation he lives with.

• Kagome Higurashi: The main protagonist in the series, Kagome is a fifteen-year-old student and the reincarnation of Kikyo, a priestess who died fifty years before the time Kagome appears in the Sengoku period.

• InuYasha: A hanyo, or half-demon, InuYasha is the product of a dog-demon father and a human mother. InuYasha wields Tetsusaiga, a powerful, supernatural sword made from one of his deceased father's fangs.

All chapters of the InuYasha manga have been published in Japan by Shogakukan, in 56 comic book volumes. The full series has not yet been published in English, although Viz Media is partway through releasing all volumes in English.

All episodes of all seasons of InuYasha have been released in the United States, with both Japanese and English audio.

Four InuYasha movies have been released and all are available to buy on DVD, with English and Japanese audio.

Other InuYasha-related merchandise available includes figurines, music CDs, video games, and accessories.