How about we change things a little? In the past, I’ve brought you reviews of various movies you could find in theatres, on TV or in a local rental shop. This time around, though, let’s go for an actual TV series.
Japanese animation, also known as Anime (pronounced ana-may), has greatly influenced American pop-culture in the past ten to fifteen years. The “Dragon Ball” series have been popular shows longer than just about any Anime cartoon in America, and more recently some American cartoons such as “Teen Titans” are being done in Anime style. Other shows such as “Pokemon” and “Yu Gi Oh” are popular with both children and adults as well.
The one particular Anime cartoon I’d like to focus on is “Inuyasha,” which can be seen on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim. I first started watching this show shortly before Christmas break just because there wasn’t anything else interesting on at the time and, well, I’m a cartoon fanatic.
Kagome (Kah-go-may) Higurashi is a fifteen-year-old Japanese girl in middle school whose family is in charge of a sacred shrine in Tokyo. While searching for her cat near the “Bone-eater’s” well (a well that was rumored to devour the dead bodies of demons), a demon emerges from the well and drags Kagome in with her. By some turn of luck, she gets the demon to release her and lands at the bottom of the dry well.
Climbing out of the well, Kagome finds herself in the middle of many rolling hills and next to a great forest. Looking around, she sees no signs of Tokyo at all; no buildings, no loud noises and no shrine. From a distance, she sees the “thousand year old tree” which is also on the lands of her family’s shrine. Walking through the forest towards the tree, she finds a white haired boy pinned to the same tree with an old arrow. The strange thing about this boy is that he has dog’s ears. After she has a sudden urge to touch his ears, a group of men from a nearby village and take Kagome captive, thinking she is either a demon or someone from another village wanting to make war.
High Priestess Kaede (Ky-aid-eh) is called to reveal her as a demon but finds that Kagome looks exactly like her older sister, High Priestess Kikyo (Keek-ee-oh), did 50 years ago. After they are attacked that night by the same demon that dragged Kagome into the well, Kaede is certain that Kagome is the reincarnation of Kikyo.
Kagome leads the demon away from the village and into the Forest of Inuyasha, the half demon boy pinned to the tree. The demon, Mistress Centipede, catches up to her right as Kagome finds that Inuyasha is now awake. She starts to panic, thinking no one is going to come to her rescue and is also annoyed that Inuyasha keeps calling her “Kikyo.”
Villagers show up to help fight off the demon, but Mistress Centipede succeeds in pulling the Jewel of Four Souls from Kagome’s body. This jewel has the ability to add great strength to any demon who possesses it and make it very difficult (if not impossible) to defeat them. This is also the same jewel that Kikyo had taken with her to “the other side” when she died after pinning Inuyasha to the tree to prevent it from falling into the hands of demons. The demon swallows the jewel, and rather than be crushed by her, Kagome pulls the arrow from Inuyasha’s shoulder and frees him.
It takes a short time for Inuyasha to defeat Mistress Centipede, and now he is after the jewel so he can become a full demon. He chases Kagome to a bridge where she drops the jewel, but at the same time, Kaede has placed a necklace around Inuyasha’s neck and tells Kagome to “speak the word of subjugation,” a word to hold his spirit. At first she doesn’t know what word to use, but seeing his ears, says “sit boy,” and Inuyasha is drawn to the ground and through the bridge into the river below.
That’s not the end of Inuyasha, though. He still wants that jewel, which is now being protected by Kagome. He sticks around, no longer much of a threat, and tries to think of ways to get the jewel.
The very next day, Kagome is captured by some bandits whose leader is being controlled by a carrion crow (a demon-like bird). The bird eventually gets the jewel away from her and eats it. As it grows in size, Inuyasha and Kagome try to get the jewel back from the bird. Kikyo was a master archer, but Kagome’s skills leave something to be desired, and she continually misses. The crow, who feeds on the flesh of humans, picks up a small boy from a bridge and carries him off. Inuyasha jumps at the crow and breaks it into many pieces that fall into the water below. He tells Kagome to find the jewel, but she is more focused on saving the boy who cannot swim. As she returns the boy to his mother, the bird begins to form back together. The crow takes flight again, and the only part not attached is one of the feet which is still grasping the boy’s clothing. Kagome takes the foot and ties it to an arrow which she shoots toward the crow. The arrow hits the jewel, breaking it into many fragments and sends them out in all directions.
Now Kagome and Inuyasha must search through Feudal Japan to find all the shards of the sacred jewel and keep them safe from any power-hungry demons who might want to use the jewel’s power, Inuyasha included. Kaede says they must work together because only Kagome can see the shards within a body, and only Inuyasha has the power to take it from that demon or person. Along the way, they come across many allies and enemies, and Kagome begins to learn of Inuyasha’s past and his history with Kikyo.
It’s definitely not a story for everyone. The timeline of it goes about as slowly as “Dragon Ball” (i.e. each episode might depict only part of a certain day, and it usually ends in a cliffhanger of some sort), and the multiple storylines can be a little difficult to follow. This isn’t a “child’s cartoon” which would be a given for just about anything on Adult Swim.
I won’t say it’s my favorite cartoon, but it holds my interest. If you’re interested in Anime cartoons in general or just don’t have anything to do at about 11 P.M., check it out. You may also be able to find episodes at video stores like FYE or rental shops like Family Video or Blockbuster. I’ve also read that some movies were made for the series, but this also may mean that it is just multiple episodes spliced together to make one long continuous stream. I can’t guarantee they’ll be there, but it’s worth a look.
This is the final one that actually went to print.
I’ve never really been interested in Japanese cartoons, more often known as Anime. I once tried to get into Dragon Ball Z with a couple of friends, but it held my interest for only a couple of weeks. After missing a few episodes, I was completely lost in the storyline.
Recently, however, I’ve begun to watch a show on Cartoon Network’s “Adult Swim” called “Inuyasha.” I actually came along the cartoon completely by mistake. I would tape shows off of TV while I was at work or sleeping, and one night when I went to watch the next episode of “Batman,” “Inuyasha” was in its place.
Now I was a little upset at first because Cartoon Network is always changing the time “Batman” is aired, and it takes me a while to figure out the new time, if there is one at all. Then I started to watch what I taped in its place. Although few new cartoons catch my fancy, this one had me intrigued.
“Inuyasha” centers around Kagome (Kah-go-mey) Higurashi, a present day Japanese schoolgirl, and Inuyasha, a half human-half demon from Japan’s Warring States Era. Kagome travels back in time through a well hidden on the grounds of her family shrine and discovers that she is the reincarnation of High Priestess Kikyo (Keek-ee-oh). Kikyo had been the protector of a sacred jewel, the Jewel of Four Souls, which brought great powers to demons. After a fight with a centipede demon, which in the process also freed Inuyasha from the tree that Kikyo had bound him to 50 years prior, the jewel is torn from Kagome’s body.
Inuyasha tries to get the jewel from Kagome, but after it is stolen by a demon bird, Kagome shoots the bird with an arrow and subsequently breaks the jewel into many pieces. At first, Kagome wants to go home and leave everything in the past, but after a confrontation with a girl who controlled many strands of deadly hair, she realizes that this jewel is too dangerous to be left in the hands of demons.
Kagome and Inuyasha decide to work together to get the jewel shards back and in the process, come across many colorful characters, ally and foe alike. Between Inuyasha’s full demon half brother, Sesshoumaru, and the girl chasing monk, Miroku, there is plenty of competition for the jewel shards. Add to the story a possible romance between the two lead characters, and you’ve got a full storyline; action, drama and romance.
Okay, even if you’re like me and not into Anime, take a shot on this one. You may just surprise yourself. It’s aired at 11:30 P.M. on Cartoon Network, and although hard to find, there are English dubbed DVDs available.
