Inuyasha!

So whilst taking a break this afternoon, I discovered that I could watch whole episodes of one of my favorite anime shows, Inuyasha (whose name literally means "friendly dog demon," which I never knew until today). I am very excited about this, because I've only ever been able to watch it sporadically over the years, and never really in sequential order. I started watching it in college, whenever I was on breaks home to visit my parents and couldn't sleep, as it was usually on at about 11pm on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim TV show. I loved the silly and sometimes romantic storyline and the costumes. The weird thing is I don't like the original Japanese version as I think the subtitles take away from the show (though I usually like subtitles), I prefer to watch the English dubbed version. 

Anyways, I have decided to watch all 167 episodes in the next year. I also possibly want to read the manga versions as well, as I've heard that they help explain some of the story loops by the sudden end of the anime series. They've also made 5 movies that I will try to figure out how they fit in. 

The show is basically about a Kagome, a 20th century 15 year old girl whose family guards an ancient shrine, tree and well. One day she falls down the well and end up in an alternate dimension of feudal medieval Japan, where demons run amok. She discovers that she is the ancient reincarnation of Kikyo, a priestess whose main job was to protect the Shikon, a powerful jewel that can make demons invincible. Inuyasha is a half-demon ,who is trying to steal the jewel, but Kikyo imprisons him on a tree with a spell (coincidently the same tree that grows near the ancient shrine in present-day Tokyo next to Kagome's house). A series of demons try to steal the jewel, which Kagome now possesses, until she accidently explodes the jewel into many many pieces. In the beginning, Inuyasha and Kagome must work together to get the jewel shards and they dislike each other, but they grow to like each other as time grows on. For more detailed info, see this Inuyasha Character Wiki. Also, if you would like to read the manga version of it, please go to this link. 

11/5/10
Watching this show over again is awesome because it makes me remember why I started watching in the first place. The show is so steeped in Japanese folklore/mythology, alongside with the fantasy of the show (alternate dimensions, time travel etc). Plus it is so interesting to see the character development as it progresses. I am currently on episode 50 and  you learn so much about Inuyasha and Kagome in particular, but also about secondary but frequent characters like Kikyo, Naraku, Miroku, Shippo and Sango. I had totally forgotten about my favorite name in the show too, Sango the demon slayer's pet demon cat, Kirara/Kilala depending on who is pronouncing it. Oh and I finally found out when the Warring States period was, so it is technically Renaissance Japan (vs. Medieval) as was between 1400-1600.