History Manga / Inuyasha

Japanese [[OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent Ordinary Middle School Student]] Kagome Higurashi, granddaughter of a Shinto priest, has the ability to climb down into an ancient well on the grounds of her grandfather's shrine and, in doing so, TimeTravel to [[TheTimeOfMyths allegedly-feudal-Japan]]; this sounds cool until you learn that {{Youkai}}, goblins, vengeful ghosts, malevolent wizard-priests, short-tempered twelve-foot-tall ogres, and all manner of other creepy-crawlies are everywhere and you can barely swing your arms without hitting one of them. Significantly, this is one of the few Japanese fantasy anime that ''isn't'' set in a pseudo-medieval-European fantasy world; just about ''everything'' in it is based on Japanese myths and legends. Another noteworthy difference from most anime is that almost all of the characters who are supposed to be Japanese humans are actually depicted with black hair, instead of other HairColors.

%%* SimpleStaff: Miroku's shakujo.

%% * ImpliedLoveInterest: Sesshomaru and Kagura.

* IdiotBall: Shippo in episode 50, unintentionally provokes Inuyasha into using the Tessaiga which was hard to use after being reforged, while for once he was trying to be pragmatic and use his claws against Kagura's weak demons prior to the big slip of the tongue.

* ImpliedLoveInterest: Sesshomaru and Kagura.

* HealingFactor: Everyone with youkai blood. Sesshomaru [[UpToEleven ups this to eleven]] later on in the series, [[spoiler:which results in him being able to regenerate his missing left arm.]]

Kagome happens to be the {{reincarnation}} of Kikyo, the {{miko}} that Inuyasha once loved fifty years in his past, who just happened to be the one who fired a sacred arrow which sealed him to a sacred tree and essentially killed him. Kagome's arrival in the past is pivotal in that she is the one who releases Inuyasha from this "death" by pulling the arrow from his chest; her connection with Kiyko allows her to perform this otherwise impossible feat.

%%* BandageBabe: Sango.

* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: Inuyasha's group, especially for the setting and time period. Let's see, an outcast violent [[HalfHumanHybrid hanyou]], a cursed lecherous monk, a broken female [[DemonSlaying youkai exterminator]], a bratty {{kitsune}}, a [[{{youkai}} nekomata]], and a weird clothed girl with {{miko}} powers she doesn't really know how to use.

* AwesomeMcCoolname:
** Sesshomaru's name is written with kanji meaning "kill," "life" or "genuine," and "perfection," a combination which could be interpreted to mean something to the effect of "perfect killer" or "complete destruction of life."
** A number of the [[CallingYourAttacks attack names]] also qualify, first among them ''Meidou Zangetsuha'', which means "dark path of the dawn's moon blast".

* AnimalJingoism: PlayedForLaughs with the animosity between Inuyasha and Shippou. In Japanese folklore, dogs and foxes hate each other and more than one secret {{kitsune}} wife has been outed by the clueless husband's loyal dog. Inuyasha is [[BrattyHalfPint Shippou's]] favourite target for pranks and practising his magic on, so Inuyasha tends to [[HairTriggerTemper bite back]].

* {{Kitsune}}: Shippo. One episode featured an Inn full of them.

* HimeCut: Many, notably Kikyo (benevolent priestess) and Sango (YamatoNadeshiko); interestingly, Sango's hairstyle fits the three characteristics better when she's in casual attire because Kikyo uses her sidelocks to create hair loops. Inuyasha's mother also had one, being a hime herself. Combined with RapunzelHair.

%% FoeYay was moved to the YMMV tab. please don't add it back here.

%%* CanisMajor: Sesshomaru and his parents' true forms.

* EmbarrassingCoverUp: The excuses for why Kagome is missing so much school are usually provided by her grandfather and consist of a cavalcade of increasingly implausible health ailments, many of them more common to the elderly than to a teenage girl. Kagome inevitably finds it very embarrassing when she goes back to school and is questioned by her friends about her latest illness.

** Inuyasha's sword, Tessaiga, explicitly has the ability to get stronger by killing things and gaining related abilities. note It has to be a strong opponent though. After mastering the Backlash Wave, all of the Tessaiga upgrades were based on this, one way or another.

* NippleAndDimed: May come as a surprise to those more familiar with the anime, but the original manga isn't afraid to show partial female nudity on occasion (e.g. Kagome is shown topless when she undergoes a cleansing rite early in volume one). Even makes for FanDisservice once when a short-term villain comes in with a female demon done up like an Indian dancing girl, then punches her head off to punctuate a point to another character.

Kagome happens to be the {{reincarnation}} of the {{miko}} that Inuyasha once loved fifty years in his past, who just happened to be the one who fired a sacred arrow which sealed him to a sacred tree and essentially killed him. Kagome's arrival in the past is pivotal in that she is the one who releases Inuyasha from this "death" by pulling the arrow from his chest; her connection with his past love allows her to perform this otherwise impossible feat.

* HumanMomNonhumanDad: Almost always the case for any half-demon who appears in the series, starting with Inuyasha himself and also including Jinenji and Shiori. The only exception is the one-shot filler episode character Gyuoh, who is the offspring of a human man and a cow demon.

* 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 [[CruelToBeKind brutal]] [[LackOfEmpathy manner]] [[DeathIsCheap possible]].

** Naraku means "abyss", [[{{BFS}} Tessaiga]] literally translates into [[ImpossiblyCoolWeapon "Iron]] [[AncestralWeapon Crushing]] [[EmpathicWeapon Fang"]], Sesshomaru translates into something like [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "perfect]] [[AwesomeMcCoolname killing]] [[NobleDemon circle"]] (Yikes) and Miroku is the Japanese name for the future Buddha.

* PortalStatuePairs: Two giant statues (Gozu and Mezu) guard the gate to the demon's netherworld and come to life whenever approached. They state that if anyone wants entry to the netherworld, [[SuicideByCop they must first be slain]], as Kagura found this out the hard way. The statues however, let Sesshomaru pass through freely due to him owning the Tenseiga, a sword that has the ability to cut down anything that's [[TheUndead not]] [[AnimateInanimateObject technically]] [[AnimateInanimateMatter "alive".]]

''Inuyasha'' is an enormously popular manga and anime series by Creator/RumikoTakahashi. The manga was serialized from 1996 to 2008 in Magazine/ShonenSunday, while the anime ran for seven seasons (167 episodes) on Japanese television from 2000 to 2004. Creator/AdultSwim aired the final episode of a very decent English-language dub in October 2006 and continued to air it in the very early Sunday morning slot almost continuously (the only other show to have run longer on [as] is ''Anime/CowboyBebop'') until 2014. In Canada, the dub aired on Creator/{{YTV}} where it was one of the channel's most popular anime shows. Inuyasha and several other supporting characters from the show appear in the MassiveMultiplayerCrossover game ''VideoGame/SundayVSMagazineShuuketsuChoujouDaikessen''.

** Also, one of the last powers to be introduced before the FinalBattle, [[spoiler:[[ChainReactionDestruction Bakusaiga]]]]. As soon as it's introduced, characters begin observing that Naraku doesn't stand a chance against it. As a result, the plot almost immediately ensures that it can't be used even for most of the final battle. At the end, when it's finally unleashed, it's unstoppable. [[spoiler:[[NighInvulnerability It still doesn't even scratch the Shikon Jewel though due to the fact the Shikon Jewel is a soul-based creation that cannot be defeated by any sword]].]]

* MistreatmentInducedBetrayal: Naraku kept Kagura's heart in his possession at all times as insurance against betrayal. Kagura got so sick of Naraku treating her like a slave she actively colluded with the good guys anyway. Probably remembering the end that [[spoiler:Kagura]] came to, Kanna gave Naraku the metaphorical finger by [[spoiler:dying of suicide as ordered, but without taking Inu-Yasha and his TrueCompanions with her. [[DeathEqualsRedemption She even gives Kagome advice on Naraku's weakness]] [[SubvertedTrope when one shard]] hits her eye]].

* ResurrectionRevenge: After getting resurrected against her will, Kikyo swears vengeance against Inu-Yasha, blaming him for causing her death.