Heartwarming / Inuyasha

As a Moments subpage, all spoilers are unmarked as per policy. You Have Been Warned.

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• After the battle with the Thunder Brothers in episode 10, Inuyasha sees Kagome and Shippo enveloped in a blue flame. Convinced they're now spirits on their way to the afterlife, he rushes up to Kagome and begs her not to go. Thankfully the flames were just some protective foxfire from the fur pelt belonging to Shippo's father. Once he discovers this Inuyasha denies everything, but it's far too late.
• Episode 12 of the anime, Kagome going out of her way (and nearly getting trapped in the underworld) to help the vengeful spirit of a little girl reconcile with her family.
  • Mayu's final scene with Kagome, showing off the kimono her mother made for her right before she leaves with the Spirit Piper to head to the afterlife.
• The ending of episode 31, Inuyasha opens up to Kagome about how hard his life was as a half demon. She is, of course, happy that he told this to her honestly, because it's clear as day how much Inuyasha trusts her. Inuyasha himself realizes that he's not alone anymore, because Kagome is by his side.
• It's not so clear in the anime, but the manga strongly implies that Inuyasha and Kagome from volume 7 and onwards subtly became a couple. When Kagome is injured in their fight with Sesshomaru, Inuyasha realized he became terrifying for her well-being and later gives her a tender hug before forcing her back to her world then blocking her way of coming back. He later compares the feeling of knowing Kikyo died to being the same should Kagome die, further implying it's the part where he realizes he loves Kagome. Meanwhile, Kagome realizes how much she misses Inuyasha when on the other side and eventually manages to come back, desperately returning the hug he had given her earlier. Later, (in a part that was only in the manga) Inuyasha tells Kagome before she goes back to her world to get supplies that he wants her "next to him". Afterwards, they seem to acknowledge that they're sort-of in a relationship now, they just keep a low profile about it.
• Another one occurs when Miroku and Sango encounter Kagura inside Mt. Hakurei and Sango is knocked unconscious in episode 118. In order to protect Sango, Miroku baffles Kagura by using his kazaana in spite of the multitudes of poisonous insects which were supposed to prevent him from doing so, severely poisoning himself before escaping carrying Sango over his shoulder, and shielding her with his own body when he collapses.
  Miroku: "Heh, who do you think I am!? If in exchange, this beloved girl can live longer, then I don't need my life!"
  • This is followed soon after by a scene in which Miroku, having collapsed from all the poison he took in while protecting Sango, asks her to continue without him and survive. Sango vehemently refuses, throwing herself over his body and declaring tearfully that she'd rather stay and die with him.
• Kikyou and St. Hakushin. A quiet and broken Dark Magical Girl vs. a totally embittered Barrier Warrior. The Dark Magical Girl wins... via giving the Barrier Warrior a Cooldown Hug and helping him to obtain peace and relief after years of pain and suffering.
• When Sango is tempted to steal the Tessaiga in order to save Kohaku, Inuyasha wakes up and expresses concern for her (not knowing what she was up to but still). He says that while he knows he has to kill Kohaku, he is actually concerned for her feelings. Especially for someone like Inuyasha who usually just rushes into the heat of the battle, he actually is hesitant because he cares about Sango.
• The end of the first season opening when Inuyasha is walking all alone in the forest, lonely, and he then sees the full-grown Kirara coming toward him with all his friends on her back. Kagome reaches down and picks him up. They all smile down at him as if saying 'You'll never be alone anymore!' and he smiles back, realizing this. Aww!
• From the second movie: "Inuyasha, I love you. I love you as a half-demon!"
  • Immediately after, Kagome and Inuyasha kiss for the first time. But because Status Quo Is God, their relationship returns to normal at the end of the movie, bickering and all.
• From the third movie, Inuyasha's parents. Rather than calling the Inu no Taisho "Danna" which was standard for women of the time and means "master" his mother calls him "Anata" which means "dear". It shows they were truly in love and were equals, unheard of at the time. Probably had the strongest romance of any couple in the series.
  • Also from the third film, after Takemaru stabs Izayoi during Inuyasha's birth, clearly attempting to kill the child, Izayoi still manages to give birth to Inuyasha, alive and well. Her focus was on her child and she used what was left of her strength to give birth to him.
  • There was also the end when Takemaru was fighting Inuyasha, the child he attempted to kill and he has visions of Izayoi. He realizes that she wanted him to live and that he always loved her, allowing him to die in peace.
    • After the battle is won, the soul of the Inu no Taisho appears and expresses his pride in his sons after they worked together to defeat So'unga, saying that there is nothing more he wishes for them to learn.
• Sesshomaru's Pet the Dog episode with Rin. Very early in the series, Sesshomaru is recovering from his fight with Inuyasha and is surprised a little girl is bringing him food and is smiling to see him. We're shown that she's an orphan and is abused by the villagers for stealing food to give to Sesshomaru. She's eventually killed when Koga's wolves wipe the village out. When Sesshomaru goes on his way, he finds Rin's lifeless body on the ground and while saying that it was a test for Tenseiga, he obviously was repaying her kindness to him. He even props up her body while waiting to see if it worked, and gasps in surprise when it does. Rin became his Morality Pet afterwards.
• After Jaken is cut in half, Sesshomaru decides to resurrect him after discovering his body. He merely tells Jaken to pull himself back together, so they can get going. Jaken is in tears knowing his master cares enough to save his life.
• When Inuyasha first learns to master the Wind Scar/Kaze No Kizu, he uses it in defense against Sesshomaru, resulting in Sesshomaru being sent flying far away with grievous injuries. Afterwards, Toutousai points out that Inuyasha hadn't swung Tessaiga with all his force, meaning he hadn't been willing to kill his older brother, no matter how much he might hate him. Inuyasha, of course, denies this.
• Sesshomaru's remorse over getting Rin killed when traveling to Hell and his inability to save her. This is basically the pinnacle of human emotion from the most stoic character in the series. It's not so bad that he cries, because he never would, but seeing him get even this remorseful is nothing short of amazing. It gets even better when she's brought back.
  • Jakken openly weeping over the same event, stating to Sesshomaru's mother that he isn't simply crying for himself, but is rather shedding the tears that he knows that Sesshomaru himself would shed were he not such a stoic person. Where Sesshomaru's normal response to Jakken trying to speak on his behalf would be threats or hitting Jakken on the head, Sesshomaru's complete lack of a response says very clearly that Jakken has it exactly right.
• As sad as it was, Kagura's death was beautiful and heartwarming as Sesshomaru goes to her in her final moment, knowing full well that the scent she believed he had mistaken for Naraku was her. He is the last thing she sees, and she dies happy.
  • Made even more heartwarming by the fact that he tells her that he knew it was her. Not only is he the last thing she sees she also realizes that the ever so stoic Sesshomaru cared enough to come see her in her final moments. To top it all off, it seems like Sesshomaru wanted to save her using Tenseiga.
• The implication in the anime that what made Kanna finally show SOME semblance of emotion wasn't just that Naraku sent her against the InuTachi to die but that he personally killed her sister Kagura. For all of her apparent apathy, not even Kanna could take that lying down. In fact, it's implied that the two had a very close relationship, as they're often seen together. Even in the second movie, where they thought Naraku was dead, they remained together.
• Bankotsu and Jakotsu drinking sake on the porch as the sun sets. Jakotsu hands over the sacred jewel shards he's collected, never even considering the possibility of keeping them for himself as the rest of the Shichinintai seems to be doing, and Bankotsu is visibly touched, embracing him and declaring him "the only one in the world I can really rely on." It's the last time they ever see one another.
• Kikyo giving up on the easy way to defeat Naraku to save Kohaku's life permanently.
• During the "demon rats" storyline, when Sango is tearing herself apart blaming herself for not being able to kill Kohaku while Naraku is using him as a puppet, Miroku places his hand over hers and gently reassures her:
  Miroku: It's all right. That's what it means to have a human heart.
• When studying for her exams back at home, Kagome falls asleep on her books. She wakes up to find blanket around her and Inuyasha sitting on her bed. She starts to cry in joy, but he freaks out thinking he did something wrong. When she says it's because she's happy to see him, he doesn't seem to know how to reply, glancing around and giving a weak , "Ah...okay."
  • This is also the same part where the two nearly share their first kiss. While the manga leaves it somewhat ambiguous, the anime removes any doubt as they come close to touching lips before Sota suddenly barge in to interrupt them. A massive cry was heard in the fandom.
• The few times it's revealed that Inuyasha and Koga deep down actually care about each other, such as when Koga might defend Inuyasha in a fight (while claiming it was accidental) or when Inuyasha reveals his human form for a second to protect Koga, and on another occasion is relieved when Koga turns out to be alive after his fight with Ginkotsu.
  • Also when Mt. Hakurei (which was used as a protective home for Naraku while developing a stronger body) collapses, Inuyasha and co. have managed to escape when Kagome realizes that Koga is still trapped inside and will end up being absorbed by Naraku. Inuyasha proceeds to return to save him, without Kagome even asking.
• In the anime, Rin wants to stay together with Sesshomaru, but eventually realizes that her lifespan will be much shorter than his and asks him if, after she has died, he'll remember her. His reply is a stoic, "Such a foolish thing."
• So, so much of "The Tragic Love Song of Destiny", but one moment stands out in particular. Early on in their relationship, Kikyo secretly prepares to fit Inuyasha with the same beads of subjugation Kagome will use in the future. However, when they meet the next day, he first gives her a small shell of lipstick his mother left him before she died. Kikyo is so profoundly moved by this gesture that she can't go through with it, pretending to have forgotten the "gift" she promised him and electing instead to trust him.
  • Had she gone through with it, the trigger word she was going to use would have been "Beloved."
• One story has Inu-Yasha looking for a powerful shield-casting demon, which he must kill to give his sword the power to break Naraku's protective barriers. He discovers that the demon is actually a little girl who's half-demon, and who's being forced to protect her demon grandfather to protect her mother. While her grandfather thinks humans are worthless, though, it's revealed that his son, the girl's father, really did love her mother and had threatened to leave his clan if the other demons didn't honor his wishes and leave his wife's village alone. At the end of the story, Inu-Yasha turns down the chance to use the girl to power his sword, insisting that he'll just find an even stronger shield demon. The girl, as thanks for helping her, gives him a jewel that powered her abilities. Breaking it gives his sword the power it needed.
• Season 4 Episode 90, "Sota's Brave Confession of Love", depicts Kagome's little brother Sota trying to muster up the nerve to approach a girl he likes, and he turns to InuYasha for advice. While one would expect the hanyou to be the last one to turn to for advice of this sort, InuYasha genuinely shows support and treats Sota as if he were his own kid-brother. Ultimately, Sota does approach the girl and she willingly accepts his affections, further compounding the warm-fuzzies.
• The fact that even though Kohaku was being mind-controlled, he still didn't kill Kagome or Rin because he cared about them and the fact that he couldn't forget Sango even after his memory-wipes shows just how much he cares.
• Chapter 335 (or the last episode of the original anime) when Inuyasha and co. are trapped inside a stone oni's stomach. Inuyasha uses shikon shards in his Tessaiga to make it stronger, but it ends up corrupting him and making him transform. Kagome's reaction is to run to Inuyasha even as the acid in the area will burn her legs. Her presence purifies the shikon shard and stops Inuyasha from transforming, and Inuyasha asks Kagome that she keeps holding him while he tries Tessaiga again.
• The ending when Kagome starts permanently wearing the miko clothing. It might also symbolize how Inuyasha has truly moved on from Kikyo as seeing Kagome in those clothes doesn't bother him anymore.
• One of Inuyasha's final lines in the series: "Kagome taught me how to smile, how to believe in people! Kagome was the reason I could make friends and rely on those friends! To shed tears for others, to understand true strength and kindness... they're all things I learned from Kagome! Kagome was born to meet me! And I too... for her sake..."
• The loyalty between the Inu Tachi. As vitriolic as they can be, they do really come through for each other when needed. They even all settle down together in Kaede's village, becoming life long friends.
• In a second instance when Inuyasha loaned his robe to Kagome, he apologized that it's disgusting since the insides are stained with his sweat and blood. Kagome replies that nothing about Inuyasha is disgusting. Considering Inuyasha's insecurities about his half-demon nature, that's probably the nicest thing she could ever say to him.
• Episode 89 of the anime may or may not be filler, but it's a really cute episode. Kagome, unlike most of the times where her illness is fake, actually comes down with a cold. Her friends visit her, Hojo seems half-ready to confess his feelings, but Inuyasha manages to hunt down medicine ingredients from all around, and brews a medicine of liver from quite a few animals and a lot of herbs. This kinda doubles as awesome because the medicine is badass, and he basically singlehandedly curbs the out-of-control monster problem resulting from Naraku leaving the area.
  • Later, once Kagome's friends finally do meet Inuyasha (who is currently hiding his ears). They all warm up to him almost instantly. Even stating as an afterthought that poor Hojo never really stood a chance. Rather impressive, considring every time Kagome had brought up Inuyasha in coversations. The girls had all assumed he was a terrible boyfriend, and continually advisded her to dtich him and hook up with Hojo.
• It's very sweet how accepting Kagome's family is of her adventures as well as her relationship with Inuyasha. Especially after Inuyasha spent his whole life without a secure family. Mrs. Higurashi even acts as a substitute mother for him.
• The whole last episode.