History YMMV / Inuyasha

* EstrogenBrigade: The series is primarily aimed at teenage boys since it ran in ''Shonen Sunday'', but it's also attracted a huge number of female fans due to the [[CastFullOfPrettyBoys many attractive male characters]] and the focus on the growing romance between Inuyasha and Kagome.

* MagnificentBastard: Amidst the GambitPileup of planners aiming to possess or destroy the [[ArtifactOfDoom Shikon Jewel]], these schemers truly distinguish themselves in the brutal UsefulNotes/SengokuPeriod.
** [[AloofAlly Kikyo]] was once the priestess entrusted to guard the Shikon Jewel and lover of Inuyasha until [[Characters/InuyashaNarakuAndIncarnations Naraku]] tricked them into mistrusting each other and mortally wounded her in the process. [[BackFromTheDead Resurrected fifty years later]], Kikyo nearly succeeds in convincing Inuyasha to join her in death before learning the truth of their past and sets about seeing the fractured Jewel restored to use its power to eliminate Naraku for good. When mortally wounded, she even manages to [[BatmanGambit predict the emotional reaction]] of her own reincarnation, heroine Kagome Higurashi, to manipulate her into rescuing Kikyo; and later persuades a Jewel-corrupted boy into turning on Naraku and joining her in her quest. Only killed when she elects to save the life of another rather than purify Naraku, Kikyo nevertheless leaves the heroes the means to finally destroy their foe for good while she [[GoOutWithASmile dies blissfully]] in her lover's arms.
** [[EvilSorceress Kagura]] is the second incarnation of Naraku and an intelligent wind sorceress who lures the wolf demon tribe into a trap to slaughter them, soon after revealing she is reluctantly forced into Naraku's service by him holding her heart. Seeking to free herself, Kagura [[DragonWithAnAgenda regularly attempts to pit Naraku against his enemies]], including trying to both protect the demon Sesshomaru and lure him into bringing about Naraku's destruction, forming a subtle romantic bond with him. Kagura also assists Naraku's detachment, the Infant with his schemes before being subordinated to the monstrous Hakudoshi, but is able to [[OutGambitted get the last laugh]] by tearing him apart when she knows Naraku will no longer defend him from Inuyasha's team. Finally poisoned by Naraku, Kagura spends her final moments with Sesshomaru, accepting her end with dignity and even happiness as she notes she is the "[[IDieFree free wind]]" at last.
** [[BloodKnight Bankotsu]], leader of the [[Characters/InuYashaBandOfSeven Band of Seven]], is an affluent young man and brutal mercenary who was executed fifteen years prior to the events of the series. Revived by Naraku with his followers, Bankotsu promptly massacres the lord who betrayed him for revenge and to retrieve his weapon, [[{{BFS}} the Banryu]], christening it by making the lord his thousandth kill. Setting about to his missions, Bankotsu proves that despite his [[BookDumb lack of formal education]], he is an incredibly intelligent fighter and strategist who simply believes in following his own bloody path. Upon the betrayal of his ally Renkotsu, Bankotsu manipulates him into a false sense of security before killing him to remove his Shikon Jewel shards and face Inuyasha in a battle to either win or die on his own terms where he [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepts his defeat and final end]] with his characteristic good humor.
** [[MasterOfIllusion Byakuya "of the Dreams"]] is the [[AffablyEvil friendly]] and [[AgentPeacock playful yet cunning]] final incarnation and right-hand of Naraku. With his abilities Byakuya provides reconnaissance for his father, as well as manipulating an attack on a wolf demon tribe and luring Inuyasha and Sesshomaru into battling each other for Naraku's goals. In his final outing, Byakuya collects a power to enact Naraku's final scheme--pointedly sparing an innocent who has nothing to do with his task along the way--and while playing out his role, calmly leaves himself open to attack, commenting he [[IRegretNothing dies with no regrets]], fading away having played his part perfectly.

* WhatAnIdiot: Hey Kikyo, if the bad guy is unable to kill you, don't reveal it to him or you'll probably be thrown from a cliff... No, don't give him the jewel's fragments, you are only making him stronger!

** Contrasting with Jakotsu's FoeYay to Inuyasha, his relationship with Bankotsu [[PetTheDog was much sweeter.]] Bankotsu himself held Jakotsu in high regards, [[spoiler: and was PISSED when Renkotsu killed him.]]

* FoeYay: Kikyo and Naraku. Inuyasha and Jakotsu. Inuyasha and Bankotsu. Inuyasha and Sesshomaru. Inuyasha and Koga.

* CommonKnowledge: 'Sesshomaru raised/adopted Rin' pops up often in discussions of their characters, but while Rin does spend most of the series travelling with him, the time that covers is only about a year. As protective as Sesshomaru is towards her, both in and out of universe their relationship is described as a lord and his vassal/follower, rather than father and daughter. The series actually ends [[spoiler: with Rin staying behind in a human village until she's old enough to decide whether she wants to remain in the human world or not; and it's ''Kaede'' who takes her in and raises her for the rest of her childhood, with Sesshomaru visiting her but not actually involved in her upbringing.]]

* InformedWrongness: Inuyasha, anytime Kikyo is brought up at ''all''. Anytime Inuyasha thinks about Kikyo, in terms of wondering about her plans against Naraku and the time when Naraku seemingly killed her with miasma and he wondered if she was alive or not, he is automatically treated as the one in the wrong by Kagome who gets unreasonably jealous, and also by Miroku and Sango who act as if he is being unfaithful to Kagome and must apologize to her, even though there were no romantic implications to his thoughts about Kikyo. Even though Kagome realizes her anger is unnecessary, it doesn't stop it from happening repeatedly in the manga.

** Early in the series, the heroes learns that Naraku has a vast majority of the Jewel shards, causing their goal of "gather the Jewel shards" to forever become intwined with the goal of "destroy Naraku". Given that Naraku's JokerImmunity is a major reason the series suffered such ArcFatigue, some feel it would have made for a better franchise if there was no OverarchingVillain like Naraku, and focused more on MonsterOfTheWeek-type stories like the earlier parts of the story before Naraku was introduced.

* EstrogenBrigade: With this many bishonen, it was inevitable.

** [[https://twitter.com/HelenaWayneBlog/status/1279454784563675146 It apparently got so bad]] that it made Kagome's first English actress, Moneca Stori, not come back for ''The Final Act'' following her retirement. While Willow Johnson, Kikyo's actress, did reprise her role, she never expected the character to be so polarizing which made her give up voiceover in general for a while until ''Yashahime'' came along where she returned once more.

* EpilepticTrees: Since the announcement of a SequelSeries, fans have been clamoring over who is the mother of Sesshomaru's daughters, Setsuna and Towa. According to the title, his daughters are apparently half-human, making assumptions if the mother in question is Rin. Some fans are aware of the Feudal Era's ValuesDissonance at the time, but there are some who sees the WifeHusbandry of the two being a {{Squick}} factor. At this point, [[Administrivia/RuleOfCautiousEditingJudgment this is all that will be said for now]].

* SomeAnvilsNeedToBeDropped: In-universe for Sesshomaru: 1) Compassion is a good thing. 2) You don't need your brother's sword. 3) You are NOT infallible. 4) No, really. YOU DON'T NEED YOUR BROTHER'S SWORD.

** Kagome whenever Kikyo is brought up. Any conversation between Kikyo and Inuyasha is treated as an illicit affair, even though Inuyasha only shows concern and not any lingering romantic feelings, and he and Kikyo only discuss Naraku and his plans. Despite the fact that she complains a lot about it, if she goes overboard, she stops herself. [[AesopAmnesia Although that doesn't stop it from happening a lot...]]

** [[AloofAlly Kikyo]] was once the priestess entrusted to guard the Shikon Jewel and lover of Inuyasha until [[Characters/InuyashaNarakuAndIncarnations Naraku]] tricked them into mistrusting each other and mortally wounded her in the process. [[BackFromTheDead Resurrected fifty years later]], Kikyo nearly succeeds in convincing Inuyasha to join her in death before learning the truth of their past and sets about seeing the fractured Jewel restored to use its power to eliminate Naraku for good. When mortally wounded, she even manages to [[BatmanGambit predict the emotional reaction]] of her own incarnation, heroine Kagome Higurashi, to manipulate her into rescuing Kikyo; and later persuades a Jewel-corrupted boy into turning on Naraku and joining her in her quest. Only killed when she elects to save the life of another rather than purify Naraku, Kikyo nevertheless leaves the heroes the means to finally destroy their foe for good while she [[GoOutWithASmile dies blissfully]] in her lover's arms.

** Kagome. Sometimes ''very'' justifiable, sometimes... well, not. Despite the fact that she complains a lot, if she goes overboard, she stops herself.

** Many complain that around the third or fourth season the anime begins to drag, pace-wise. This is a complaint of many of Takahashi's work - namely that they're good, [[StatusQuoIsGod but tend to go nowhere fast]]. However, this doesn't happen as much in the manga, since the aforementioned seasons of the anime are filler-heavy.

** [[MasterOfIllusion Byakuya "of the Dreams"]] is the [[AffablyEvil friendly]] and [[AgentPeacock playful yet cunning]] final incarnation and right-hand of Naraku. With his abilities Byakuya provides reconnaissance for his father, as well as manipulating an attack on a wolf demon tribe and luring Inuyasha and Sesshomaru into battling each other for Naraku's goals. In his final outing, Byakuya collects a power to enact Naraku's final scheme--pointedly sparing an innocent who has nothing to do with his task along the way--and while playing out his role, calmly leaves himself open to attack, commenting he [[IRegretNothing dies with no regrets]], fading away having played his role perfectly.

** Miroku's entire character arc of [[YourDaysAreNumbered facing an early death]] if he and the others are unable to defeat Naraku is a lot more painful after both his Japanese ''and'' English voice actors ended up being the first of the main cast to pass away.

** [[AgentPeacock Byakuya of the Dreams]] is a [[AffablyEvil playful, friendly man]] despite being the [[TheDragon right-hand]] and final incarnation of Naraku. A crafty operative, Byakuya provides reconnaissance for Naraku and manipulates a fight between Sesshomaru and Inuyasha for his master. In the final battle, Byakuya almost succeeds in tricking the heroes to their deaths with his illusions and later calmly leaves himself open to a fatal attack from Inuyasha while completing his role in Naraku's plan, serenely commenting that he [[IRegretNothing dies without regrets]] as he fades away.

** For people against the Sesshomaru/Rin pairing, [[spoiler:the fact that [[Anime/YashahimePrincessHalfDemon the anime-only sequel]] has made Rin be Sesshomaru's wife and mother of their kids has said people struggling to watch/read any of their scenes in ''Inuyasha'' again, feeling that a disturbing light has been shed on all their interactions due to it that they won't be able to ignore.]]

** For people against the Sesshomaru/Rin pairing, [[spoiler:the fact that [[Anime/YashahimePrincessHalfDemon the anime-only sequel]] has made Rin be Sesshomaru's wife and mother of their kids has said people struggling to watch/read any of their scenes in ''Inuyasha'' again, feeling that a disturbing light has been shed on all their interactions due to it.]]

* HarsherInHindsight: Miroku's entire character arc of [[YourDaysAreNumbered facing an early death]] if he and the others are unable to defeat Naraku is a lot more painful after both his Japanese ''and'' English voice actors ended up being the first of the main cast to pass away.

* ArcFatigue: A common criticism of the series, even by its fans, is that it was ''way'' longer than it needed to be. Naraku's JokerImmunity meant he kept getting more and more powerful while his MotiveDecay meant he became less and less interesting, turning him into a GenericDoomsdayVillain. The LoveTriangle between Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kikyo takes a very long time to be resolved, even though it's obvious who Inuyasha would end up with eventually and it should be obvious to all the cast as well. The story was also dragged out by Inuyasha's group being full of ChronicHeroSyndrome, helping anyone in spite of [[OnlySaneMan Inuyasha]] noting this draws them away from finding Naraku and thus the main plot. ''The Final Act'' reverses this issue, cramming more than 20 volumes into 26 episodes, at the sacrifice of one chapter involving a regenerating tree hermit demon never being adapted in favor of Kanna's character development.

** [[AloofAlly Kikyo]] was once the priestess entrusted to guard the Shikon Jewel and lover of Inuyasha until [[Characters/InuyashaNarakuAndIncarnations Naraku]] tricked them into mistrusting each other and mortally wounded her in the process. [[BackFromTheDead Resurrected 50 years later]], Kikyo nearly succeeds in convincing Inuyasha to join her in death before learning the truth of their past and sets about seeing the fractured Jewel restored to use its power to eliminate Naraku for good. When mortally wounded, she even manages to [[BatmanGambit predict the emotional reaction]] of her own incarnation, heroine Kagome Higurashi, to manipulate her into rescuing Kikyo; and later persuades a Jewel-corrupted boy into turning on Naraku and joining her in her quest. Only killed when she elects to save the life of another rather than purify Naraku, Kikyo nevertheless leaves the heroes the means to finally destroy their foe for good while she [[GoOutWithASmile dies blissfully]] in her lover's arms.

** [[BloodKnight Bankotsu]], leader of the [[Characters/InuYashaBandOfSeven Band of Seven]], is an affluent young man and brutal mercenary who was executed 15 years prior to the events of the series. Revived by Naraku with his followers, Bankotsu promptly massacres the lord who betrayed him for revenge and to retrieve his weapon, [[{{BFS}} the Banryu]], christening it by making the lord his 1000th kill. Setting about to his missions, Bankotsu proves that despite his [[BookDumb lack of formal education]], he is an incredibly intelligent fighter and strategist who simply believes in following his own bloody path. Upon the betrayal of his ally Renkotsu, Bankotsu manipulates him into a false sense of security before killing him to remove his Shikon Jewel shards and face Inuyasha in a battle to either win or die on his own terms where he [[FaceDeathWithDignity accepts his defeat and final end]] with his characteristic good humor.

** Some fans were sad to see Koga [[spoiler:leave the story simply because his shikon fragments were taken and would have liked to see him join in the final battle, considering he also held a strong grudge towards Naraku and had aquired another powerful weapon with his Goraishi. Takahashi may have wanted only the main characters to fight the final battle, though it appeared to come at the cost of contradicting Koga's personality up until that point as he had been just as eager as everyone else to finish off Naraku.]]

** [[EvilSorceress Kagura]] is the second incarnation of Naraku. An intelligent wind sorceress who lures the wolf demon tribe into a trap to slaughter them, Kagura soon reveals she is reluctantly forced into Naraku's service by him holding her heart. Seeking to free herself, Kagura [[DragonWithAnAgenda regularly attempts to pit Naraku against his enemies]], including trying to both protect the demon Sesshomaru and lure him into bringing about Naraku's destruction, forming a subtle romantic bond with him. Kagura also assists Naraku's detachment, the Infant with his schemes before being subordinated to the monstrous Hakudoshi, but is able to [[OutGambitted get the last laugh]] by tearing him apart when she knows Naraku will no longer defend him from Inuyasha's team. Finally poisoned by Naraku, Kagura spends her final moments with Sesshomaru, accepting her end with dignity and even happiness as she notes she is the "[[IDieFree free wind]]" at last.

** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdbieHYY0z0 Kikyo's theme]], an understated and haunting song that epitomizes traditional Japanese culture and aesthetics.