Inuyasha (2000) 犬夜叉
Director: Yasunao Aoki / Nari Ikeda / Tateya Ishihara / Yasuhiro / Takemoto / Hirofumi Ogura / Masakazu Hishida / Kunihiro Mori / Suzuki Toba / Satoshi Kyoshi Fukumoto / Kaoru / Teruo Sato / Hishikawa/Takashi Ikebata / Niyuki Matsui Naoki Nissen Chapter
Screenwriter: Junki Takegami / Katsuhiko Chiba / Akira Yamatoya / Takashi Yamada / Akira Haruno
Starring: Katsuhei Yamaguchi / Satsuki Yukino / Koji Tsujitani / Noriko Kuwajima / Kumiko Watanabe / Hanko Hidaka / Ken Narita / Mamiko Noto / Yuichi Nagashima / Tomoyuki Morikawa / Akiko Yajima / Taiki Matsuno / Naoko Kyoda / Kenichi Okata / Yukana Nogami / Izumi Ogami / Ai Kobayashi / Takeshi Kusao / Tomokazu Sugita / Hiroaki Hirata / Ai Orikasa / Hiroshi Ienaka / Mitsuaki Madono
Genre: Drama / Romance / Animation / Thriller / Fantasy / Adventure
Official website: www.sunrise-inc.co.jp/yasya
Country/Region of Production: Japan
Language: Japanese / English
Date: 2000-10-16 (Japan)
Number of episodes: 167
Single episode length: 24 minutes
Also known as: 戦国御伽草子
IMDb: tt0290223
Adaptation: Inspiration
Summary:
In 1496 Japan, humans and demons (yōkai) battle over the Shikon Jewel (四魂の玉, Shikon no Tama, lit. “The Jewel of Four Souls”), which is said to grant any wish. Kikyo, the priestess who keeps the Shikon Jewel, is in love with the half-demon Inuyasha. However, they fall into a deceitful trap and betray each other. Inuyasha steals the Shikon Jewel, but the dying Kikyo pins Inuyasha to a tree with a sacred arrow. Per Kikyo’s will, her body is cremated along with the Shikon Jewel, which disappeared from the era.
Five hundred years later, Kagome Higurashi lives on the grounds of her family’s Shinto shrine, with her mother, grandfather and younger brother. On her fifteenth birthday, Kagome is dragged into the enshrined Bone Eater’s Well (骨喰いの井戸, Honekui no Ido) by a centipede demon and sent back in time to the Sengoku period in 1546. The Shikon Jewel manifests from within the body of Kagome, who is Kikyo’s reincarnation, and she desperately frees Inuyasha from the tree to kill the centipede demon. When Inuyasha threatens her, Kikyo’s sister Kaede subdues him with a magical bead necklace to keep him under control. Later, Kagome inadvertently shatters the Shikon Jewel into many shards with an arrow, and they scatter across Japan and into the possession of various demons and humans.
Inuyasha obtains his father’s sword Tessaiga, which places him at odds with his older half-brother Sesshomaru, the wielder of Tenseiga. Inuyasha aids Kagome in collecting the shards and dealing with the threats they come across. On their journey, the presence of Naraku, a spider half-demon who was responsible for manipulating Inuyasha and Kikyo, comes to light. While pursuing Naraku, Inuyasha and Kagome recruit the young fox demon Shippō, the perverted monk Miroku (whose hand was cursed by Naraku), and the demon slayer Sango and her two-tailed demon cat Kirara. Sango’s clan was killed when they were tricked by Naraku, and her younger brother Kohaku fell under his control. Over time, Inuyasha enhances Tessaiga into stronger forms while defeating his enemies. His team is loosely allied with Sesshomaru, whom Naraku attempted to manipulate, the resurrected Kikyo who plans to purify the Shikon Jewel if all shards are collected, and Kōga, the leader of a wolf demon tribe who seeks to avenge his comrades whom Naraku killed. As Inuyasha and his friends journey together, he and Kagome begin to fall in love with one another, which is complicated by Inuyasha’s lingering feelings for Kikyo.
Desperately hunted by his enemies, Naraku temporarily removes his heart and wounds Kikyo. Kohaku, having been previously killed but later revived by Naraku and kept alive and under his control by a Shikon Jewel shard, eventually regains his free will and memories, and attempts to escape Naraku’s group. During that time, Sesshomaru settles his feud with Inuyasha to enable his brother to perfect Tessaiga to its optimal abilities. Kikyo sacrifices herself to give life to Kohaku, and Naraku collects all the shards to restore the Shikon Jewel. As he is slain by Inuyasha and his allies, Naraku reveals his true desire for Kikyo, despite his hatred towards her, and he uses his wish to trap himself and Kagome inside the Shikon Jewel before dying. Revealed to be sentient, the Shikon Jewel intends for Kagome to make a selfish wish so that she and Naraku will be trapped in an eternal conflict, thus prolonging the Jewel’s existence. However, with Inuyasha by her side, Kagome wishes for the Shikon Jewel to disappear forever, allowing her to return to her time with the well sealed, and she and Inuyasha lose contact for three years.
In that time, the Sengoku period changes drastically: Sango and Miroku marry and have three children together, Kohaku continues his role as a demon slayer, and Shippō trains to make his demon magic stronger. Back in the present, Kagome graduates from high school, and manages to get the Bone Eater’s Well in her backyard to work again. She returns to the Sengoku period, where she reunites with Inuyasha, marries him, and continues to train with Kaede and become a topmost-level priestess.
