Inuyasha
Inuyasha (犬夜叉, lit. “Dog Demon”) is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. The series begins with Kagome Higurashi, a fifteen-year-old middle school girl from modern-day Tokyo who is transported to the Sengoku period after falling into a well in her family shrine, where she meets the half-dog demon, half-human Inuyasha. After the sacred Shikon Jewel re-emerges from deep inside Kagome’s body, she accidentally shatters it into dozens of fragments that scatter across Japan. Inuyasha and Kagome set to recover the Jewel’s fragments, and through their quest they are joined by the lecherous monk Miroku, the demon slayer Sango, and the fox demon Shippo. Together, they journey to restore the Shikon Jewel before it falls into the hands of the evil half-demon Naraku.
Inuyasha was serialized in Shogakukan’s Weekly Shōnen Sunday from November 1996 to June 2008, with its chapters collected into 56 tankōbon volumes by Shogakukan. In contrast to the typically comedic nature of much of Takahashi’s previous work, Inuyasha deals with a darker and more serious subject matter, using the setting of the Sengoku period to easily display the violent content while still retaining some comedic elements.
The manga was adapted into two anime television series produced by Sunrise. The first was broadcast for 167 episodes on Yomiuri TV from October 2000 to September 2004. The second series, Inuyasha: The Final Act, ran for 26 episodes from October 2009 to March 2010, covering the rest of the manga series. Four feature films and an original video animation have also been released. Other merchandise includes video games and a light novel. A sequel anime television series titled Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon premiered in October 2020.
Viz Media licensed the manga, the two anime series, and movies for North America. Both Inuyasha and Inuyasha: The Final Act aired in the United States on Adult Swim (and later on its revived Toonami block) from 2002 to 2015.
The manga series had over 50 million copies in circulation as of September 2020. In 2002, the manga won the 47th Shogakukan Manga Award for the shōnen category.
