History Manga / Inuyasha

* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Kagome being consistantly compared to Kikyo fostered a minor inferiority complex within Kagome. When she was alive, Kikyo was the most powerful priestess of her time, while Kagome has never had to use any spiritual powers, battle demons, or shoot a single arrow until she was dragged into the feudal era. Since she's Kikyo's reincarnation, Kagome has these unrealistic expectations thrust on her that she cannot possibly hope to live up to.

* AndThenWhat: Near the end, Byakuya asks Naraku what wish he will make on the Shikon Jewel after he has killed Inuyasha and the rest; he admits he isn't sure. [[spoiler:Later Kagome correctly guesses that he had already made a wish but the Jewel didn't grant it.]]
* AndYourLittleDogToo: Naraku, who is behind almost everything bad that happens to, well, ''everyone''.

** Inuyasha still has unresolved feelings towards his undead former girlfriend Kikyo, also feeling guilty and believing he must die with her as atonement, and Kagome (who is Kikyo's reincarnation) leaves him after seeing the two talking but then she remembers the party needs her and returns. They come to an understanding of the feelings they have for each other but their relationship stays basically the same. Near the end of the series, after Kikyo dies (this time for good), InuYasha is able to move on and finally realizes he can allow himself to love Kagome. They still don't progress much until the very end.

%%* AloofBigBrother: Sesshomaru
%%* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: Sango suffers from this.
%%* AlwaysSomeoneBetter: Kikyo, for Kagome.
* AmazonChaser: Sango is wanted by both Miroku and Kuranosuke because of her beauty ''and'' her strength. Inuyasha as well because his love interests, Kikyo and Kagome, are both known for their bravery and fighting abilities.
* AmbiguousSituation: In the ending, it's left ambiguous as to whether or not Kagome [[spoiler:can use the well to travel through time anymore after she returns to the Feudal Era [[IChooseToStay for good]], but it's implied by her tearful farewell to her mother and Sota's conversation with his friends that she can't. In any case it is very unlikely that she would even want to try in case she gets stuck in the modern era again.]]
* AmplifierArtifact: The Shikon Jewel is shattered by accident by one of Kagome's arrows. Other demons that get even one or two shards get a comparatively large power boost. Naraku collects all the shards for reassembly into the intact Jewel for the purpose of becoming the ultimate youkai.
* AnatomyOfTheSoul: The soul is divided in two: Kon and Haku. Kon is the heart (will) and Haku is the power that moves the body:
** Moryomaru is just a bunch of dead youkai body parts animated by Haku. When Akago is inside of him, he provides the Kon.

* AnchoredShip: Both Inuyasha/Kagome and Miroku/Sango are Type 1.

* EvolutionaryPressureCooker: BigBad Naraku, a demon with a poison/corruption theme, was originally created when [[FlorenceNightingaleEffect a wounded bandit whom Kikyo treated in a cave lusted after her, and called for nearby demons to give him the power to make her his]]. The cave ''de facto'' became a kodoku, with the demons devouring him and each other to birth Naraku as a conglomeration of them all. Naraku later attempts to create a powerful new body for himself through a more literal kodoku by sealing demons within a mountain and forcing them to fight it out.

** Even while fighting and talking about killing people, Yura remains playful and flirty.
** Bankotsu is laidback, illiterate and treasures loyalty. He also finds killing to be his calling.
** Jakotsu is a murdering psychopath, but he's also incredibly bubbly about his crushes and is loyal to Bankotsu, being genuinely one of his few friends.

** [[spoiler:Kagura's]] death is quite tragic: decides to save Kohaku knowing well that neither Akago nor Naraku will be happy with the betrayal. [[spoiler:Naraku mockingly returns her heart before fatally poisoning her with his miasma. The heroes and even Sesshomaru rush to try to help her to no avail. She dies in a field of flowers, with a smile in her face for Sesshomaru being there, and her last thought being "I am the wind, as free as the wind."]]
** The heroes try to convince [[spoiler:Kanna]] not to throw her life away and upon her demise, Kagome feels sad for her, having realized that, despite everything Naraku said, [[spoiler:Kanna truly ''did'' have emotions and wanted to live]].
* AlasPoorYorick: In the manga, during Goshinki's attack, at one time the only two surviving kids are hugging the severed heads of their parents.
%%* TheAlcoholic: Mushin and Yakurou Dokusen.
%%* AllAmazonsWantHercules: Kagura, for Sesshomaru.
* AllegedLookalikes: Everyone initially compares Kagome to Kikyo. They may technically have the "same" face (as it turns out they have the same soul), but when the series suffers from OnlySixFaces and Kikyo and Kagome purposefully differ in hair style, habitual facial expressions, skin tone, and age, they don't look alike at all - at least, not any more alike than any other two random characters you could pick out. The manga did have Kagome [[http://mangahere.co/manga/inuyasha/c001/6.html start off with blunter bangs]], making it easier to see why she was compared to Kikyo, but in the anime there was no such luck, to the point it's almost an AdaptationInducedPlotHole.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: Every [[HalfHumanHybrid hanyou]] in the story, including [[TheHero Inuyasha]] himself.
* AllPartOfTheShow: During a school festival episode, [[YouJustRuinedTheShot Inuyasha unwittingly interrupts Kagome's play]] by challenging the male lead to a duel, then slays a watermelon demon that suddenly appears, then jumps through a hole he made in the ceiling while carrying Kagome, and none of the {{Muggle}}s in the audience realize this was unscripted. When Kagome's friends got to meet Inuyasha, one of the things they asked him was if Kagome asked him to do that.
* AlmightyMom: Sesshomaru's mother is a plot device designed to help Sesshomaru's CharacterDevelopment by achieving something almost no one else in the manga managed to do - [[BreakTheHaughty putting him in his place]] in the most brutal manner possible.
* AlmostKiss: Inuyasha and Kagome almost shared one before being rudely interrupted. [[spoiler:It was the closest they got to a kiss in the manga. ''The Final Act'' [[ReunionKiss fixed that.]]]]

Perhaps she should've paid better attention, for on her fifteenth birthday, Kagome is dragged down her home's ancient well by a centipede woman who demands Kagome hand over the Shikon Jewel, a sacred gem that can grant both wishes and tremendous power to any who possess it. While the jewel can potentially be used for good, it's more often used by those with evil intentions. As such, it's a common target for greedy demons who crave power. While Kagome manages to temporarily fend off the centipede woman, it's a reawakened Inuyasha--a half-human, half-dog-demon boy--that finishes it off.

Following the jewel's reappearance comes demons of all shapes and sizes vying for ownership. This will be easier than expected when Kagome accidentally shatters the jewel into thousands of tiny shards. With demons becoming more powerful left and right, Kagome and Inuyasha set out on a journey to collect all the shards. During their travels, they pick up the fox demon child Shippo, the handsy monk Miroku, the demon exterminator Sango, and her nekomata companion, Kirara.

''Inuyasha'' (犬夜叉) (sometimes stylized as ''[=InuYasha=]'') is a historical fantasy {{shonen}} {{manga}} by Creator/RumikoTakahashi. It was serialized in ''[[Magazine/ShonenSunday Weekly Shonen Sunday]]'' from November 1996 to June 2008, finishing with a total of 558 chapters compiled into 56 volumes. Creator/VizMedia holds the license to translate and print the series in America. As of 2009, the English release is available as a collection of 18 omnibus volumes. Volumes one to 16 contain three volumes each and volumes 17 and 18 contain four each.

%%* TwoDVisualsThreeDEffects: Pops up rarely, though the worst case is a scene in ''The Final Act'' where the grass was computer animated, and not lighted the same way as the hand-drawn parts.

%%* AccidentalPervert: Inuyasha. Just how many times has he seen Kagome naked?

* ActionMom: [[spoiler:Sango is a mother of three and still works as a youkai exterminator whenever her friends need a helping hand.]]

%%* ActionHoggingOpening: One or two.
* ActuallyADoombot: Before he obtains enough shards, Naraku utilizes golems to interact with his enemies so he won't put himself at risk of being killed. Once he gets powerful enough to create his own minions, he stops using them, prefering to have ''them'' fight in his stead or just generally do the dirty work for him until he's powerful enough to do it himself.
* AdaptationExpansion: The manga gives very little information on Inuyasha and Kikyo's backstory other than briefly implying that they had fallen in love once. Some of Kikyo's comments also suggests that she hadn't been able to soften Inuyasha's heart and they had never kissed (until she did so in present-time). The anime episode "The Tragic Love Song of Destiny" expands greatly on their story to show how the falling in love happened with Inuyasha becoming kinder around her and culminating in them sharing a kiss, the opposite of what the manga suggested.

** The anime makes the assertion that Kagome needs jewel shards in order to use the well, whereas the manga says no such thing. Later in the series when Kagome loses all her jewel shards and can still use the well, at first the anime tries to cover for itself by claiming Sango had a secret stash that Kagome could borrow, but later just quietly forgets about the whole thing and lets her use the well without any.
** Shippo grabbing Tessaiga in a filler episode, you know, the sword that has an anti-youkai barrier that's pretty important to the plot. Possibly justified if the barrier doesn't affect truly benevolent youkai.
** The story is about the Shikon Jewel trying to renew its cycle, having the souls of a powerful miko and a composite of several youkai and a human, [[spoiler:and needing similar souls, like Kikyo/Kagome and Naraku]]. All of this information is either left out or outright changed in the anime during the Jewel explanation.
* AdaptationNameChange:
** Played straight with Amari Nobunaga, who was called Takeda Nobunaga in the manga. However, upon discovering that Takeda Nobunaga was a real person, his surname was changed to Amari in the anime... which they then made into a joke.
** Many other characters who were originally [[NoNameGiven nameless]] in the manga were given names in the anime, including:
*** Ginta and Hakkaku, Koga's two henchmen
*** Yuka, Eri, and Ayumi, Kagome's three friends from school
*** Ah-Un, Sesshomaru's two-headed dragon
*** Izayoi, Inuyasha's mother
** In the Latin American dub, Kagome's name was changed to Aome due to "Kagome" sounding too much like a vulgar phrase. Her name is also changed to "Agome" in the Brazilian Portuguese dub, along with Miroku who had his named changed to "Miroki", for this same reason.
* AdorablyPrecociousChild: Despite being younger than Inuyasha, Shippo possesive a level of emotional maturity that Inuyasha lacks. Of course, Shippo is still throughly a young fox demon and he won't say no to a good prank, especially if Inuyasha is on the receiving end.

* OnlySixFaces: There are in fact Only Four Faces - Young Woman, Young Man, Old Woman, and Old Man. The difference between the first two and last is also debatable. Kikyo and Kagome are the only two characters that have [[{{Reincarnation}} any business looking alike]], but they look like every other young woman, and [[{{Bishonen}} even some of the men]]. Ironically, Kikyo and Kagome are two of the more distinct comparisons, given the differences in hairstyle, skin tone, and default facial expressions in the anime. The manga has a few exceptions... all of whom are used for gags (i.e. the servant boy who was acting as a replacement sacrifice, Youreitaisei, etc.).

In 2000, an anime adaptation titled ''Inuyasha'' or ''Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairytale'' (戦国御伽草子 犬夜叉, ''Sengoku Otogizōshi Inuyasha'') began airing on October 16th. It was produced by Creator/{{Sunrise}} and stopped at 167 episodes. Five years later, a continuation titled ''Inuyasha: The Final Act'' (犬夜叉 完結編, ''Inuyasha Kanketsu-hen'') began airing on October 4th, 2009. ''Final Act'' ran for 26 episodes, adapting the volumes of manga that its initial run didn't cover. Both seasons received an English dub and home release by Viz Media.

* AccidentallyBrokeTheMacGuffin: Kagome shoots an arrow at a crow youkai carrying the Shikon Jewel, but the arrow hits the jewel itself. This shatters the jewel into many, many tiny peices, each peice scattering all over the surrounding area. The primary myth arc of the manga then becomes a quest to find all the shards to make the jewel whole again (at least up until Naraku's introduction).

** Shippo grabbing Tessaiga in a filler episode, you know, the sword that has an anti-youkai barrier that's pretty important to the plot, possibly justified if the barrier doesn't affect truly benevolent youkai.

* AlasPoorYorick: In the manga, during Goshinki attack, at one time the only two surviving kids are hugging the severed heads of their parents.

* AllegedLookalikes: Everyone initially compares Kagome to Kikyo. They may technically have the "same" face (as it turns out they have the same soul), but when the series suffers from OnlySixFaces and Kikyo and Kagome purposefully differ in hair style, habitual facial expressions, skin tone, and age, they don't look alike at all - at least, not any more alike than any other two random characters you could pick out. The anime has it worse, so that it's almost an AdaptationInducedPlotHole there.
** The manga did have Kagome start off with blunter bangs [[http://m.mangahere.co/manga/inuyasha/c001/6.html]] making it easier to see why she was compared to Kikyo

* ArtifactOfDoom: There are... a lot of this in this show.

** Hakudoushi possess white hair and is just as manipulative as his progenitor, Naraku. Ending dozens of lives, human or otherwise, in pursuit of his goals means nothing to him.

* ArmourIsUseless: Inuyasha and Sesshomaru both wear TwentyFourHourArmour (Inuyasha's magical fire-rat robe and Sesshomaru's breastplate), but it seems to grant very little actual protection, especially later in the series. By this point both are practically juggernauts in battle, so presumably anything that's going to hit them is a strong enough attack to bust through armour anyway.

* BirdsOfAFeather: Inuyasha and Kagome, despite significant difference in personality: Both can get a little hot under the collar, especially with each other. They have a mutual dislike from running from fights. They can get easily jealous, can be stubborn and absolutely terrible at controlling or expressing their emotions. They also can't stand if anyone outside their group intends to do the other harm, physically or emotionally.

For much of her existence, Kagome Higurashi's life has been rather tranquil. Living in a residential Shinto shrine alongside her mother and younger brother, Kagome has gotten accustomed to her grandfather's seemingly bottomless tales of {{youkai}}, an ancient well, and a wish granting jewel. So used to them, in fact, that she's managed to tune them out completely.

Perhaps she should've paid better attention, for on her fifteenth birthday, Kagome is dragged down her home's ancient well by a centipede youkai woman who demands Kagome hand over the Shikon Jewel, a sacred gem that can grant tremendous power to any who possess it. While the jewel can be used for good, it's more often used for evil deeds. As such, it's a common target for greedy youkai who crave power. While Kagome manages to temporarily fend off the centipede youkai, it's a reawakened Inuyasha--a half-human, half-dog youkai boy--that finishes it off.

Once the dust from this encounter has settled, Kagome learns that she's the reincarnation of Kikyo, a powerful priestess that died with the jewel in her grasp and believing that Inuyasha betrayed her. Inuyasha himself believes that Kikyo betrayed him, and this misunderstanding is what led his first love to use an enchanted arrow to pin him to a tree for fifty years. Kikyo had hoped to take the Shikon Jewel into the afterlife with her, but somehow both Kikyo and the jewel have been reborn as and into Kagome.

Following the jewel's reappearance comes youkai of all shapes and sizes vying for ownership. This will be easier than expected when Kagome accidentally shatters the jewel into thousands of tiny shards. With youkai becoming more powerful left and right, Kagome and Inuyasha set out on a journey to collect all the shards. During their travels, they pick up the fox youkai child Shippo, the handsy monk Miroku, the youkai exterminator Sango, and her nekomata companion, Kirara.

Kagome and her newfound friends aren't the only ones on a quest: a malevolent entity called Naraku also wants to complete the jewel for his own nefarious purposes. In addition to this competition, most of these travelers have personal scores they want to settle with the manipulative youkai. While finding the shards begins their journey, the only way it'll end is once Naraku is dead and the jewel gone for good.

''Inuyasha'' (犬夜叉) (sometimes stylized as ''[=InuYasha=]'') is a historical fantasy {{shonen}} {{manga}} by Creator/RumikoTakahashi. It was serialized in ''[[Magazine/ShonenSunday Weekly Shonen Sunday]]'' from November 1996 to June 2008, finishing with a total of 558 chapters compiled into 56 volumes. Creator/VizMedia holds the license to translate and print the series in America. The format of the English release has changed a couple times, with it currently being available as a collection of 18 omnibus volumes. Volumes one to 16 contain three volumes each and volumes 17 and 18 contain four.

* CallBack: The last opening song, ‘Kimi ga Inai Mirai’[[note]]君がいない未来, ‘A Future Without You’[[/note]], uses some phrases and titles from other opening and ending songs.

* DeliberateInjuryGambit: Inuyasha lets Sesshomaru impale him through the chest, taking advantage of the moment and ripping off his older brother’s arm to get Tessaiga back.

* DistressedDamsel: The anime likes putting the female characters in distress much more than the manga does, especially Kagome and Rin. In the manga, however, Kagome's last true kidnapping was by the hands of the baby. After that she becomes a full-on ActionGirl, [[spoiler:saves Kikyo's life, defeats Naraku alone ''while burning in the flames of Hell'', gets her ultimate weapon and her last part of CharacterDevelopment after facing the shadows of her heart before ultimately killing Naraku ''and'' the Shikon Jewel.]] Rin isn't really kidnapped much, given the length of the manga, but the final time she's kidnapped lasts for quite a few chapters [[spoiler:since it's the final battle.]]

* Literature/JourneyToTheWest:
** A ShoutOut only found in the anime version is the appearance of a Boar Demon named Chokyukai, who claims to be a descendent of Chohakkai, aka "Disciple Pigsy". He also has a monkey and a scrawny kappa as his slaves, and claims that they are descendents of Shagoyjo (aka "Disciple Sandy") and Son Goku (aka "Monkey", aka "Sun Wukong"). Kagome has to explain to Inuyasha and co. that Chokyukai is talking about the famous tale of a Monk who travelled to India alongside a pig demon, a water demon, and a rebellious monkey god to retrieve sacred sutras.
** The main characters mirror the Journey's main characters to some extent. Inuyasha just like Goku is bad tempered, is set free from a long curse at the beginning, has an elongable weapon, has animal traits and is subdued by a talisman which is under control of the person he's protecting. Kagome, like Tripitaka, is on a quest for a sacred item, is the reincarnation of a noble soul of the past, is the preferred target of demons and is helpless compared to most other characters. Miroku and Sango have some traits in common with Pigsy and Sandy respectively.

* LoveDodecahedron: There are so many love triangles that include the two main protagonists that it inevitably results in this: Inuyasha/Kagome/Kikyo, Inuyasha/Kikyo/Naraku, Inuyasha/Kagome/Koga, Kagome/Koga/Ayame, Kagome/Inuyasha/Hojo, and then we have Inuyasha/Jakotsu.

''Inuyasha'' (犬夜叉) (sometimes stylized as ''[=InuYasha=]'') is a historical fantasy {{shonen}} {{manga}} by Creator/RumikoTakahashi. It was serialized in ''Weekly Shōnen Sunday'' from November 1996 to June 2008, finishing with a total of 558 chapters compiled into 56 volumes. Creator/VizMedia holds the license to translate and print the series in America. The format of the English release has changed a couple times, with it currently being available as a collection of 18 omnibus volumes. Volumes one to 16 contain three volumes each and volumes 17 and 18 contain four.