InuYasha
Encyclopedia
, also known as , is a Japanese manga
series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi
. It premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008. The series follows Kagome Higurashi, a teenager from Tokyo, who is transported to the Sengoku period
, where she meets the half demon, InuYasha, when a monster from that era tries to take the magical Jewel of Four Souls embodied in Kagome. When Kagome accidentally splits the Jewel into various shards, which are dispersed across Japan, she and InuYasha start travelling to recover it, gaining allies and enemies throughout the journey. In contrast to her previous works, InuYasha is the first manga by Takahashi with a dark storyline, and thus used the setting of the Sengoku period to display easily the violent content.
The manga was published in North America by Viz Media
with all of its 56 tankōbon
volumes having already been released. The manga was adapted into two anime
television series produced by Sunrise
. The first, broadcast for 167 episodes on Yomiuri TV in Japan from October 16, 2000 until September 13, 2004, was directed by Masashi Ikeda for the first forty-four episodes and by Yasunao Aoki for the remainder. The second series, called InuYasha: The Final Act (犬夜叉 完結編, InuYasha Kanketsu-hen), began airing October 3, 2009 to cover the rest of the manga series and ended on March 29, 2010. Viz Media licensed the two anime series, having released the former in DVD volumes and aired most of its episodes. A total of four feature films and an original video animation
have also been released. Other merchandise include video games and a light novel
.
shrine. When she goes into the well house to retrieve her cat, a centipede demon bursts out of the enshrined Bone Eater's Well and pulls her through it. As she leaves the well, Kagome appears in the Sengoku period
of Japan. During the demon's previous attack, a magical jewel known as the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls was embodied from Kagome. She then becomes the demon's target and it tries to consume the jewel and kill Kagome. In desperation, Kagome unseals the half-demon InuYasha who was placed on a tree fifty years ago by Kagome's ancestor Kikyo, the young miko
of the village in charge of the sacred jewel. Although InuYasha destroys the centipede, the Sacred Jewel is later shattered into numerous shards that disperse across Japan. Even the individual shards are capable of granting great power, and are eagerly sought by humans and demons alike. Kagome and InuYasha set out to collect the shards to avoid disasters caused by Sacred Jewel of Four Souls.
Along the way, they join forces with Shippo, a small fox demon, Miroku, a monk who suffers from a curse his ancestors were given by a powerful demon, and Sango, a demon-slayer whose clan was killed by a group demons. They are mainly opposed by Naraku, a devious and powerful collective half-demon who manipulated the initial conflict between Kikyo and InuYasha, Sango's clan's destruction and was responsible for Miroku's curse. Naraku collects the shards for himself and continues setting up traps on the protagonists to take Kagome's jewels. Other people they find are InuYasha's older half-brother Sesshomaru, who wishes to kill Naraku after he tried to manipulate him, Kikyo, now partially resurrected with a fragment of Kagome's soul, and a wolf demon named Koga, most of whose comrades were killed by Naraku's forces.
Eventually, Naraku collects all of the shards and reassembles the Jewel of Four Souls. Although InuYasha and his allies defeat him, Naraku uses his power as the Jewel's owner to wish for Kagome's soul to be trapped inside it with his own, which would allow Naraku to survive within it in eternal conflict with her. Kagome wishes for the Jewel to disappear forever. She is thrown back into her own time and loses contact with InuYasha. However, after three years, Kagome graduates high school and comes to a realization which allows the well to work again. Kagome returns to the feudal era, where she stays forever with InuYasha.
. In contrast to her previous works, Takahashi wanted to do a darker storyline distant from her comedy series. In order to portray violent themes softly, the story was set in the Sengoku Era, when wars were common. For the designs of samurai or castles, no notable research was made by the author who considered such topics common knowledge. By June 2001, a clear ending to the series was not established as Takahashi still was not sure about how to end the relationship between InuYasha and Kagome. Furthermore, Takahashi stated that she did not have an ending to previous manga she wrote during the beginning, having figured them as their serialization progressed.
, InuYasha premiered in Japan in the November 13, 1996 issue of Shōnen Sunday
, where it ran until its conclusion in the June 18, 2008 issue. The chapters were published by Shogakukan
in 56 tankōbon
volumes, with the first volume released in May 1997, and the last released in February 2009.
Viz Media
free the series for an English translated release in North America. Initially, Viz released it in monthly American comic book format, each issue containing two or three chapters from the original manga, but eventually abandoned this system in favor of trade paperbacks with the same chapter divisions as the Japanese volumes. Viz released its first trade paperback volume in March 1998. At the time, American manga reprints were normally "flipped" to conform to the American convention of reading books from left to right by mirror
ing the original artwork; among other effects, this caused right-handed characters to appear left-handed. Viz later stopped flipping its new manga releases, although InuYasha was already well into printing by the time this change was made. Reprints of older volumes have not been "re-flipped" to match the newer ones. As of March 9, 2010, 46 volumes were released in North America, and new volumes of the series are being released monthly. Viz has also started to reprint the series in their "VizBig" format, combining three of the original volumes into each omnibus with slightly larger pages and full-color bonus art that was previously reduced to grayscale.
Viz Media also issues a separate series of "ani-manga" volumes which are derived from full-color screenshots of the anime episodes. These volumes are slightly smaller than the regular manga volumes, are oriented in the Japanese tradition of right to left, feature new covers with higher quality pages, and a higher price point versus the regular volumes. Each ani-manga volume is arranged into chapters that correspond to the anime episodes rather than the manga.
premiered in Japan on Animax
on October 16, 2000 and ran for 167 episodes until its conclusion on September 13, 2004. It was also broadcast on Yomiuri TV and Nippon Television
. In East Asia
and South Asia
it was aired on Animax's English-language networks. Aniplex
collected the episodes in a total of seven series of DVDs volumes distributed in Japan between May 30, 2001 and July 27, 2005.
The English dub
of the anime was licensed to be released in North America by Viz Media. The series was broadcast on Adult Swim
from August 31, 2002 through October 27, 2006. A year later the series aired in Canada on YTV's Bionix
programming block from September 5, 2003 through December 1, 2006. Viz collected the series in a total of 55 DVD volumes, while a seven box set was also released.
In 2009's 34th issue of Shōnen Sunday
, published July 22, 2009, it was officially announced that a 26-episode anime adaption of volumes 36 to the end of the manga would be made by the original cast and crew and would air on Japan's YTV. The following week, Viz Media
announced it had licensed the new adaptation, titled . The series premiered on October 3, 2009 in Japan with the episodes being simulcast via Hulu
and Shōnen Sunday in the United States. In other parts of Asia the episodes were aired on the same week on Animax-Asia. The anime completed its run on March 29, 2010
. Aniplex collected the series in a total of seven DVDs released between December 23, 2009 and June 23, 2010. The release of a DVD, and Blu-ray, version dubbed in English by Viz Media has been confirmed for sometime 2012. It is unknown if it will run on television, however.
, was released in Japan on December 16, 2001. In the film, InuYasha, Kagome, Shippo, Sango, and Miroku must face Menomaru, a demonic enemy brought to life by a jewel shard, as they continue their quest for the Shikon Jewel shards. In the second film, InuYasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass
, released on December 21, 2002, the group defeats Naraku and returns to their normal lives only to have to deal with a new enemy named Kaguya. The third film, InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler
, was released on December 20, 2003. In it, a third sword of InuYasha's father called So'unga is unleashed from its centuries-old seal and seeks to destroy the Earth forcing InuYasha and Sesshomaru to work together to stop it. The fourth film, InuYasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island
, was released on December 23, 2004, and depicts InuYasha and his friends attempting to rescue children trapped on the mysterious island Houraijima by the wrath of the four gods, the "The Four War Gods".
s and character songs were released for series by Avex Mode. Three character single were released August 3, 2005, by InuYasha
featuring Kagome
, by Miroku
featuring Sango and Shippo
, and by Sesshomaru
featuring Jaken
and Rin
. The singles charted at number's 63, 76, and 79 respectively on the Oricon
chart. Three more character songs were released on January 25, 2006, by Naraku
, by Kagome Higurashi, and by Bankotsu
and Jakotsu
. The singles charted at number's 130, 131, and 112 respectively on the Oricon
chart.
On March 24, 2010, Avex released , a best album that contains all the opening and ending theme songs used in the series. The album peaked at number 20 on the Oricon album chart and charted for seven weeks.
: , and . A single title,, was released for the Game Boy Advance
on January 23, 2002 in Japan.
InuYasha has been adapted into a mobile game released for Java
and Brew
handsets on June 21, 2005, an English-language original Trading card game created by Score Entertainment
that was first released on October 20, 2004. Two titles were released for the PlayStation
, InuYasha and InuYasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale
, with the latter being also released in North America. For the PlayStation 2
the two released games were InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask
and InuYasha: Feudal Combat
that also received an English version. An English only game, InuYasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel
, was released for the Nintendo DS
on January 23, 2007.
(OVA), was presented on July 30, 2008 at an "It's a Rumic World" exhibit at the Matsuya Ginza department store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district. The episode uses the original voice cast from the anime series. It was released in Japan on October 20, 2010 in both DVD and Blu-ray formats.
for best shōnen manga title of the year. In North America, the manga volumes have appeared various times in the New York Times and Diamond Distributions top selling lists. Moreover, in 2005 InuYasha was one of the most researched series according to Lycos.
The anime of InuYasha was ranked twenty by TV Asahi
of the 100 best anime series in 2006 based on an online survey in Japan. In ICv2's "Anime Awards" from both 2004 and 2005, the series was the winner in the category of "Property of the Year". In the Anime Grand Prix polls by Animage
, InuYasha has appeared various times in the category of "Best Anime", taking third place in 2003. The four films have earned together over US$20 million in Japanese box offices. In the American Anime Awards
from 2007, InuYasha was a nominee in the categories of "Best Cast", "Best Anime Feature" and "Best Long Series". The English DVDs from the series have sold over 800,000 copies ever since March 2003 with the first film's DVD topping the VideoScan anime bestseller list for three weeks. By November 2004, Viz announced they had sold over one million InuYasha DVDs. Mania Entertainment also listed the series seventh in an article ranking anime series that required a reboot, criticizing the series' repetitiveness.
Manga
Manga is the Japanese word for "comics" and consists of comics and print cartoons . In the West, the term "manga" has been appropriated to refer specifically to comics created in Japan, or by Japanese authors, in the Japanese language and conforming to the style developed in Japan in the late 19th...
series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi
is a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages...
. It premiered in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded on June 18, 2008. The series follows Kagome Higurashi, a teenager from Tokyo, who is transported to the Sengoku period
Sengoku period
The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...
, where she meets the half demon, InuYasha, when a monster from that era tries to take the magical Jewel of Four Souls embodied in Kagome. When Kagome accidentally splits the Jewel into various shards, which are dispersed across Japan, she and InuYasha start travelling to recover it, gaining allies and enemies throughout the journey. In contrast to her previous works, InuYasha is the first manga by Takahashi with a dark storyline, and thus used the setting of the Sengoku period to display easily the violent content.
The manga was published in North America by Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
with all of its 56 tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes having already been released. The manga was adapted into two anime
Anime
is the Japanese abbreviated pronunciation of "animation". The definition sometimes changes depending on the context. In English-speaking countries, the term most commonly refers to Japanese animated cartoons....
television series produced by Sunrise
Sunrise (company)
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...
. The first, broadcast for 167 episodes on Yomiuri TV in Japan from October 16, 2000 until September 13, 2004, was directed by Masashi Ikeda for the first forty-four episodes and by Yasunao Aoki for the remainder. The second series, called InuYasha: The Final Act (犬夜叉 完結編, InuYasha Kanketsu-hen), began airing October 3, 2009 to cover the rest of the manga series and ended on March 29, 2010. Viz Media licensed the two anime series, having released the former in DVD volumes and aired most of its episodes. A total of four feature films and an original video animation
Original video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
have also been released. Other merchandise include video games and a light novel
Light novel
A is a style of Japanese novel primarily targeting junior high and high school students . The term "light novel" is a wasei-eigo, or a Japanese term formed from words in the English language. Light novels are often called or for short...
.
Plot
The series' plot follows a high school girl Kagome Higurashi who lives on the grounds of her family's hereditary ShintoShinto
or Shintoism, also kami-no-michi, is the indigenous spirituality of Japan and the Japanese people. It is a set of practices, to be carried out diligently, to establish a connection between present day Japan and its ancient past. Shinto practices were first recorded and codified in the written...
shrine. When she goes into the well house to retrieve her cat, a centipede demon bursts out of the enshrined Bone Eater's Well and pulls her through it. As she leaves the well, Kagome appears in the Sengoku period
Sengoku period
The or Warring States period in Japanese history was a time of social upheaval, political intrigue, and nearly constant military conflict that lasted roughly from the middle of the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century. The name "Sengoku" was adopted by Japanese historians in reference...
of Japan. During the demon's previous attack, a magical jewel known as the Sacred Jewel of Four Souls was embodied from Kagome. She then becomes the demon's target and it tries to consume the jewel and kill Kagome. In desperation, Kagome unseals the half-demon InuYasha who was placed on a tree fifty years ago by Kagome's ancestor Kikyo, the young miko
Miko
is a Japanese term that anciently meant a "female shaman, spirit medium" who conveyed oracles from kami , and currently means a "shrine maiden; virgin consecrated to a deity" who serves at Shinto shrines.-Word:...
of the village in charge of the sacred jewel. Although InuYasha destroys the centipede, the Sacred Jewel is later shattered into numerous shards that disperse across Japan. Even the individual shards are capable of granting great power, and are eagerly sought by humans and demons alike. Kagome and InuYasha set out to collect the shards to avoid disasters caused by Sacred Jewel of Four Souls.
Along the way, they join forces with Shippo, a small fox demon, Miroku, a monk who suffers from a curse his ancestors were given by a powerful demon, and Sango, a demon-slayer whose clan was killed by a group demons. They are mainly opposed by Naraku, a devious and powerful collective half-demon who manipulated the initial conflict between Kikyo and InuYasha, Sango's clan's destruction and was responsible for Miroku's curse. Naraku collects the shards for himself and continues setting up traps on the protagonists to take Kagome's jewels. Other people they find are InuYasha's older half-brother Sesshomaru, who wishes to kill Naraku after he tried to manipulate him, Kikyo, now partially resurrected with a fragment of Kagome's soul, and a wolf demon named Koga, most of whose comrades were killed by Naraku's forces.
Eventually, Naraku collects all of the shards and reassembles the Jewel of Four Souls. Although InuYasha and his allies defeat him, Naraku uses his power as the Jewel's owner to wish for Kagome's soul to be trapped inside it with his own, which would allow Naraku to survive within it in eternal conflict with her. Kagome wishes for the Jewel to disappear forever. She is thrown back into her own time and loses contact with InuYasha. However, after three years, Kagome graduates high school and comes to a realization which allows the well to work again. Kagome returns to the feudal era, where she stays forever with InuYasha.
Development
Rumiko Takahashi wrote InuYasha after finishing Ranma ½Ranma ½
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi with an anime adaptation. The story revolves around a 16-year old boy named Ranma Saotome who was trained from early childhood in martial arts...
. In contrast to her previous works, Takahashi wanted to do a darker storyline distant from her comedy series. In order to portray violent themes softly, the story was set in the Sengoku Era, when wars were common. For the designs of samurai or castles, no notable research was made by the author who considered such topics common knowledge. By June 2001, a clear ending to the series was not established as Takahashi still was not sure about how to end the relationship between InuYasha and Kagome. Furthermore, Takahashi stated that she did not have an ending to previous manga she wrote during the beginning, having figured them as their serialization progressed.
Manga
Written and illustrated by Rumiko TakahashiRumiko Takahashi
is a Japanese manga artist.Takahashi is one of the wealthiest individuals, and the most affluent manga artists in Japan. The manga she creates are popular worldwide, where they have been translated into a variety of languages...
, InuYasha premiered in Japan in the November 13, 1996 issue of Shōnen Sunday
Shonen Sunday
, first published on March 17, 1959, is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.- History :...
, where it ran until its conclusion in the June 18, 2008 issue. The chapters were published by Shogakukan
Shogakukan
is a Japanese publisher of dictionaries, literature, manga, non-fiction, DVDs, and other media in Japan.Shogakukan founded Shueisha which founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but are together called the Hitotsubashi Group, one of the largest publishing groups in Japan...
in 56 tankōbon
Tankobon
, with a literal meaning close to "independently appearing book", is the Japanese term for a book that is complete in itself and is not part of a series , though the manga industry uses it for volumes which may be in a series...
volumes, with the first volume released in May 1997, and the last released in February 2009.
Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
free the series for an English translated release in North America. Initially, Viz released it in monthly American comic book format, each issue containing two or three chapters from the original manga, but eventually abandoned this system in favor of trade paperbacks with the same chapter divisions as the Japanese volumes. Viz released its first trade paperback volume in March 1998. At the time, American manga reprints were normally "flipped" to conform to the American convention of reading books from left to right by mirror
Mirror
A mirror is an object that reflects light or sound in a way that preserves much of its original quality prior to its contact with the mirror. Some mirrors also filter out some wavelengths, while preserving other wavelengths in the reflection...
ing the original artwork; among other effects, this caused right-handed characters to appear left-handed. Viz later stopped flipping its new manga releases, although InuYasha was already well into printing by the time this change was made. Reprints of older volumes have not been "re-flipped" to match the newer ones. As of March 9, 2010, 46 volumes were released in North America, and new volumes of the series are being released monthly. Viz has also started to reprint the series in their "VizBig" format, combining three of the original volumes into each omnibus with slightly larger pages and full-color bonus art that was previously reduced to grayscale.
Viz Media also issues a separate series of "ani-manga" volumes which are derived from full-color screenshots of the anime episodes. These volumes are slightly smaller than the regular manga volumes, are oriented in the Japanese tradition of right to left, feature new covers with higher quality pages, and a higher price point versus the regular volumes. Each ani-manga volume is arranged into chapters that correspond to the anime episodes rather than the manga.
Anime television series
The first InuYasha anime adaptation produced by SunriseSunrise (company)
is a Japanese animation studio and production enterprise. It is a subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings. Its former name was Nippon Sunrise, and prior to that, Sunrise Studios...
premiered in Japan on Animax
Animax
is a Japanese anime satellite television network, dedicated to broadcasting anime programming. A subsidiary of Japanese media conglomerate Sony, it is headquartered in in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with its co-founders and shareholders including Sony Pictures Entertainment and the noted anime studios...
on October 16, 2000 and ran for 167 episodes until its conclusion on September 13, 2004. It was also broadcast on Yomiuri TV and Nippon Television
Nippon Television
is a television network based in the Shiodome area of Minato, Tokyo, Japan and is controlled by the Yomiuri Shimbun publishing company. Broadcasting terrestrially across Japan, the network is commonly known as , contracted to , and abbreviated as "NTV" or "AX".-Offices:*The Headquarters : 6-1,...
. In East Asia
East Asia
East Asia or Eastern Asia is a subregion of Asia that can be defined in either geographical or cultural terms...
and South Asia
South Asia
South Asia, also known as Southern Asia, is the southern region of the Asian continent, which comprises the sub-Himalayan countries and, for some authorities , also includes the adjoining countries to the west and the east...
it was aired on Animax's English-language networks. Aniplex
Aniplex
, formerly known as Sony Pictures Entertainment Visual Works Inc. and Sony Music Entertainment Visual Works Inc., is a Japanese anime and music production and distribution enterprise owned by Sony Music Entertainment Japan and established in January 1997...
collected the episodes in a total of seven series of DVDs volumes distributed in Japan between May 30, 2001 and July 27, 2005.
The English dub
Dubbing (filmmaking)
Dubbing is the post-production process of recording and replacing voices on a motion picture or television soundtrack subsequent to the original shooting. The term most commonly refers to the substitution of the voices of the actors shown on the screen by those of different performers, who may be...
of the anime was licensed to be released in North America by Viz Media. The series was broadcast on Adult Swim
Adult Swim
Adult Swim is an adult-oriented Cable network that shares channel space with Cartoon Network from 9:00 pm until 6:00 am ET/PT in the United States, and broadcasts in countries such as Australia and New Zealand...
from August 31, 2002 through October 27, 2006. A year later the series aired in Canada on YTV's Bionix
Bionix
Bionix was a late night anime program block on the Canadian television channel YTV. From September 2009-February 7, 2010, it aired on Friday nights around 4:00pm to 2:00am and Saturday mornings/afternoons from 6:00 am to 9:00 am and 12:00am to 3:00pm , beginning on September 13,...
programming block from September 5, 2003 through December 1, 2006. Viz collected the series in a total of 55 DVD volumes, while a seven box set was also released.
In 2009's 34th issue of Shōnen Sunday
Shonen Sunday
, first published on March 17, 1959, is a weekly shōnen manga magazine published in Japan by Shogakukan. Contrary to its title, Weekly Shōnen Sunday issues are released on Wednesdays.- History :...
, published July 22, 2009, it was officially announced that a 26-episode anime adaption of volumes 36 to the end of the manga would be made by the original cast and crew and would air on Japan's YTV. The following week, Viz Media
VIZ Media
VIZ Media, LLC, headquartered in San Francisco, is an anime, manga, and Japanese entertainment company. It was founded in 1986 as VIZ LLC. In 2005, VIZ LLC and ShoPro Entertainment merged to form the current VIZ Media LLC, which is jointly owned by Japanese publishers Shogakukan and Shueisha, and...
announced it had licensed the new adaptation, titled . The series premiered on October 3, 2009 in Japan with the episodes being simulcast via Hulu
Hulu
Hulu is a website and over-the-top subscription service offering ad-supported on-demand streaming video of TV shows, movies, webisodes and other new media, trailers, clips, and behind-the-scenes footage from NBC, Fox, ABC, and Obstacle on October 20th 2011 Nickelodeon and CBS and many other...
and Shōnen Sunday in the United States. In other parts of Asia the episodes were aired on the same week on Animax-Asia. The anime completed its run on March 29, 2010
2010 in Japanese television
Events in 2010 in Japanese television.- Debuts :- Endings :- Deaths :...
. Aniplex collected the series in a total of seven DVDs released between December 23, 2009 and June 23, 2010. The release of a DVD, and Blu-ray, version dubbed in English by Viz Media has been confirmed for sometime 2012. It is unknown if it will run on television, however.
Film series
The series spawned four anime films which feature original plot, rather than being based specifically on the manga, written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa who wrote the anime episodes. The films have also been released with English subtitles and dubbed audio tracks to Region 1 DVD by Viz Media. Toshiyo Shinohara directed the film series. The first film, InuYasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across TimeInuYasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time
is a 2001 anime film directed by Toshiya Shinohara and written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa. It is the first of four films released in the InuYasha movie series....
, was released in Japan on December 16, 2001. In the film, InuYasha, Kagome, Shippo, Sango, and Miroku must face Menomaru, a demonic enemy brought to life by a jewel shard, as they continue their quest for the Shikon Jewel shards. In the second film, InuYasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass
InuYasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass
is the second movie of the InuYasha movie series. It was released in Japan on December 21, 2002 , and in the United States on December 28, 2004...
, released on December 21, 2002, the group defeats Naraku and returns to their normal lives only to have to deal with a new enemy named Kaguya. The third film, InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler
InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler
also known as InuYasha the Movie: Swords of World Conquest) is a 2003 anime film directed by Toshiya Shinohara and written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa. It is the third film to be released in the InuYasha films series. It was released in Japan on December 20, 2003 , and in the United States on September...
, was released on December 20, 2003. In it, a third sword of InuYasha's father called So'unga is unleashed from its centuries-old seal and seeks to destroy the Earth forcing InuYasha and Sesshomaru to work together to stop it. The fourth film, InuYasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island
InuYasha the Movie: Fire on the Mystic Island
is a 2004 anime film directed by Toshiya Shinohara and written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa. It is the fourth film of the InuYasha movie series. It was released in Japan on December 23, 2004 a few months after the last episode of the anime aired...
, was released on December 23, 2004, and depicts InuYasha and his friends attempting to rescue children trapped on the mysterious island Houraijima by the wrath of the four gods, the "The Four War Gods".
CDs
Multiple soundtrackSoundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
s and character songs were released for series by Avex Mode. Three character single were released August 3, 2005, by InuYasha
Kappei Yamaguchi
, better known by his stage name of , is a Japanese voice actor and actor from Fukuoka, affiliated with Gokū and 21st Century Fox.He is best known for the roles of Ranma Saotome , Jackson Neil , Tombo , Yattaro , InuYasha , Ryuichi Sakuma , L , Usopp...
featuring Kagome
Satsuki Yukino
Satsuki Yukino , real name Yuki Inoue , is a popular Japanese voice actress from Ōtsu, Shiga. Yukino is also a singer as part of the Hinata Girls...
, by Miroku
Koji Tsujitani
is a Japanese voice actor credited for voicing many anime and video game characters. Tsujitani is formerly affiliated with Sigma Seven.-Notable voice work:*3x3 eyes *Blood+ *Bola Kampung *Bondage Queen Kate...
featuring Sango and Shippo
Kumiko Watanabe
is an actress and voice actress from Chiba Prefecture affiliated with Arts Vision.-Overview, character, and career:*She has a wide vocal range, ranging from boys and girls to middle-aged women. She is also known to be a large professional wrestling fan, especially of Pro Wrestling Noah's Kenta...
, and by Sesshomaru
Ken Narita
' is a Japanese seiyū and actor from Saitama Prefecture. His real name is '. He is currently a freelancer.He is best known for his roles in Chō Tokkyū Hikarian , InuYasha , the Angelique series , Code Geass , Le Chevalier D'Eon , and Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Strikers ' (May 18, 1964 - ) is a...
featuring Jaken
Yuichi Nagashima
is a Japanese voice actor and actor from Kōnosu, Saitama. His former stage name was . He is a graduate of the Nishogakusha University Department of Literature and received training at Bungakuza's research establishment and the Seinenza Theater Company before attaching himself to Production Baobab...
and Rin
Mamiko Noto
is a Japanese voice actress working under Office Osawa. She was born in the city of Kanazawa, Ishikawa, and graduated from Hokuriku Gakuen Senior High School.-Voice:...
. The singles charted at number's 63, 76, and 79 respectively on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
chart. Three more character songs were released on January 25, 2006, by Naraku
Toshiyuki Morikawa
is a prolific Japanese male voice actor from Yokohama, Kanagawa, was affiliated with Arts Vision. Lately, however, he has become the head of that a voice actor company he founded in Apr 2011. His name is also sometimes mistranslated as Tomoyuki...
, by Kagome Higurashi, and by Bankotsu
Takeshi Kusao
is a Japanese voice actor who works for Aoni Production.Among his many roles, he is best known as the voices of Future Trunks , Hanamichi Sakuragi , Lamune , Ryo Sanada , Cless Alvein , Yukimura Sanada , and Dororo is a Japanese voice actor who works for Aoni Production.Among his many roles, he is...
and Jakotsu
Ai Orikasa
is a popular Japanese voice actress and singer from Tokyo. She works for Production Baobab. Orikasa is also the Japanese dub voice for Jessica Rabbit in Who Framed Roger Rabbit. Her debut work was Shoukoushi Cedie in 1988...
. The singles charted at number's 130, 131, and 112 respectively on the Oricon
Oricon
, established in 1999, is the holding company at the head of a Japanese corporate group that supplies statistics and information on music and the music industry in Japan. It started as , which was founded by Sōkō Koike in November 1967 and became known for its music charts. Oricon Inc...
chart.
On March 24, 2010, Avex released , a best album that contains all the opening and ending theme songs used in the series. The album peaked at number 20 on the Oricon album chart and charted for seven weeks.
Games
Three video games based on the series were released for the WonderSwanWonderSwan
was a line of handheld game consoles produced in Japan by Bandai between 1999 and 2003. It was developed by the late Gunpei Yokoi's company Koto and Bandai...
: , and . A single title,, was released for the Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
on January 23, 2002 in Japan.
InuYasha has been adapted into a mobile game released for Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
and Brew
Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless
Brew is an application development platform created by Qualcomm, originally for CDMA mobile phones, featuring third party applications such as mobile games. It is offered in some feature phones but not in smart phones...
handsets on June 21, 2005, an English-language original Trading card game created by Score Entertainment
Score Entertainment
Score Entertainment was a trading card design and manufacturing company based in Arlington, Texas. Their first card game was the Dragon Ball Z: Collectible Card Game in 2000. Score Entertainment was a member of the Donruss Playoff LP family of companies...
that was first released on October 20, 2004. Two titles were released for the PlayStation
PlayStation
The is a 32-bit fifth-generation video game console first released by Sony Computer Entertainment in Japan on December 3, .The PlayStation was the first of the PlayStation series of consoles and handheld game devices. The PlayStation 2 was the console's successor in 2000...
, InuYasha and InuYasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale
InuYasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale
is a 2D fighting game based on the manga and anime series InuYasha. It consists of battles and minigames in an effort to retrieve shards of the sacred Jewel of Four Souls, essentially following the overall plot of the series...
, with the latter being also released in North America. For the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
the two released games were InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask
InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask
InuYasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask, known in Japan as , is a role-playing game for the PlayStation 2 based on the manga and anime series InuYasha. The player is able to choose to play as a female named Kaname Kururugi or as a male called Michiru Kururugi. Regardless of the chosen gender, the...
and InuYasha: Feudal Combat
InuYasha: Feudal Combat
is a 3D computer graphics fighting game for the PlayStation 2 based on the InuYasha manga and anime series.Bandai planned to release this video game on August 16, 2005 in North America, but it was postponed to August 25 due to the 2005 Miyagi earthquake...
that also received an English version. An English only game, InuYasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel
InuYasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel
InuYasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel, released in North America on January 23, 2007, for the Nintendo DS, is an RPG game developed by Namco/Bandai Games America, Inc...
, was released for the Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
on January 23, 2007.
Original video animation
A 30 minute original video animationOriginal video animation
, abbreviated as media , are animated films and series made specially for release in home-video formats. The term originated in relation to Japanese animation...
(OVA), was presented on July 30, 2008 at an "It's a Rumic World" exhibit at the Matsuya Ginza department store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district. The episode uses the original voice cast from the anime series. It was released in Japan on October 20, 2010 in both DVD and Blu-ray formats.
Novel
A novel, written by Tomoko Komparu and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi, has been published by Shogakukan.Reception
Manga volumes from InuYasha have been popular in Japan, taking high places in rankings listing sales. In 2001, the manga won the Shogakukan Manga AwardShogakukan Manga Award
The is one of Japan's major manga awards, sponsored by Shogakukan Publishing. It has been awarded annually for serialized manga since 1955 and features candidates from a number of publishers.The current award categories are:...
for best shōnen manga title of the year. In North America, the manga volumes have appeared various times in the New York Times and Diamond Distributions top selling lists. Moreover, in 2005 InuYasha was one of the most researched series according to Lycos.
The anime of InuYasha was ranked twenty by TV Asahi
TV Asahi
, also known as EX and , is a Japanese television network headquartered in Roppongi, Minato, Tokyo, Japan. The company writes its name in lower-case letters, tv asahi, in its logo and public-image materials. The company also owns All-Nippon News Network....
of the 100 best anime series in 2006 based on an online survey in Japan. In ICv2's "Anime Awards" from both 2004 and 2005, the series was the winner in the category of "Property of the Year". In the Anime Grand Prix polls by Animage
Animage
is a Japanese anime and entertainment magazine which Tokuma Shoten began publishing in July 1978. Hayao Miyazaki's internationally renowned manga, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, was serialized in Animage from 1982 through 1994...
, InuYasha has appeared various times in the category of "Best Anime", taking third place in 2003. The four films have earned together over US$20 million in Japanese box offices. In the American Anime Awards
American Anime Awards
The American Anime Awards are a series of awards designed to recognize excellence in the release of anime and manga in North America.The first annual American Anime Awards balloting was supervised by Milton Griepp of industry website ICv2. The first gala awards presentation was hosted in New York...
from 2007, InuYasha was a nominee in the categories of "Best Cast", "Best Anime Feature" and "Best Long Series". The English DVDs from the series have sold over 800,000 copies ever since March 2003 with the first film's DVD topping the VideoScan anime bestseller list for three weeks. By November 2004, Viz announced they had sold over one million InuYasha DVDs. Mania Entertainment also listed the series seventh in an article ranking anime series that required a reboot, criticizing the series' repetitiveness.