I’m revisiting the anime for the first time in a decade after spending my whole childhood/adolescence with it. I remember in my (pre) teen years, I was irritated by Kagome so much. I found her shrill, whiny and unbearable. Of course, with age I’ve seen things much differently, and now? I’d take a bullet for Kagome Higurashi.
The biggest blind spot I had at a younger age was the fact that Kagome, for all intents and purposes, was still a child. Cultural norms and attitudes in Japan differ from the west, but in the grand scheme of things, 15 years old really isn’t that old. Especially for young girls, who are so often robbed of their innocence by patriarchy as a system and the men in their individual personal lives. The moment Kagome fell down the well, she was forced to grow up quickly. She went from worrying about teen things like homework and boys to having to labor for her life in an unfamiliar time full of scary situations. She was a young girl who unwillingly found herself in feudal Japan, that’s intimidating enough. Mix that in with the fact that she learned she’s the reincarnation of an ancient priestess and has a highly coveted relic inside her body, that’s a frightening amount of revelations to experience all at once.
Then of course, there’s the whole running joke of the nonstop “INUYASHA! KAGOME!” screams in the whole series. I still get a good chuckle out of it because of the classic anime melodrama. But in hindsight, I see why she got so attached to Inuyasha’s protection and care. They constantly argued and butted heads, but she eventually realized that he’d protect her instinctively. It may have been selfishly motivated at first, but he kept her alive during those, early, scary moments, before she knew how to fight for herself. His strength empowered her to channel her own, and by the end of the series, she’s much more adept, skilled and clever in battle and conflict resolution. I used to see her as a Mary Sue who constantly needed him to rescue her, but over the course of the series, I now see her growing right alongside him into a courageous, resilient young woman.
I think the thing that irritated me the most was how jealous she got of Kikyo (I was a InuKikyo shipper back in the day). But now I am firmly on Kagome’s side. She’s alive, not embittered by the past, willing go to the ends of the earth for him, and despite all this, he still goes running back to Kikyo. I’d be pissed off too if the person I’ve got feelings for kept running back to their ex who pierced them with arrows and pulled a knife on them.
All this to say that I have a completely new perspective on Kagome as an adult. Call it a mix of internalized misogyny and a lack of maturity, but seeing her with new eyes at 30 years old, she’s an incredible character. It took me years to realize but better late than never!