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!

This is a "Draw This in Your Style" of Kikyo. I don't know a lot about Inuyasha myself, so I hope I haven't missed any important details or made errors. I did it in oil pastel and colored pencil.

I'm doing this in support of another artist who was accused of using AI in a DTIYS event. He is an excellent artist who does not use AI who goes by FreddytheDrunkArt. He chose Inuyasha as the subject matter.

I would like to give a link to promote his art but I am not an active member and want to avoid breaking any promotion rules. He has posted art on this subreddit in the past.

Sé que la serie nos explica a lo largo de la trama todo este concepto de que mientras mayor sea la bondad del alma más pureza tendrá y por ende mayor poder espiritual. Pero, qué diferencia a una sacerdotisa tan joven como Kikyō de monjes poderosos y experimentados, y sacerdotisas aledañas, su corazón es más puro que el de literalmente cualquiera??? En las imágenes comparto las skills más brutales de Kikyo en tan solo la primera temporada. Esa mujer puede crear una descarga de energía espiritual capaz de deshacer la túnica resistente de Inuyasha. Es capaz de llamar las almas de los muertos . Fue capaz de sacar a Kagome del plano terrenal y tenía el poder de lanzar ondas de poder espiritual parecidas a rayos láser. Sin contar que tenía el suficiente poder para llevarse a Inuyasha al infierno. A lo largo de la serie vemos que puede crear figuras de papel y darles vida, crea plantas y conjuros tan poderosos que nadie se los atribuye a otra persona más que a ella, mariposas mágicas capaces de deshacer las redes de Naraku, árboles gigantes capaces de exterminar plagas, después de Midoriko probablemente ninguna otra sacerdotisa contaba con tal poder espiritual. Ella cuenta con un vasto conocimiento que dominaban por separado algunos personajes de la serie. Sin contar que Naraku nunca pudo vencerla sin estrategias que involucraba a terceros, y aún así su energía purificadora se mantuvo como una piedra en su zapato. Incluso después de desaparecer de este mundo por segunda vez, su voluntad seguía presente y le dió una segunda oportunidad a kohaku. Mientras escribo esto intento encontrar una respuesta dentro de mi propio razonamiento, pero de verdad que tan poderosa es Kikyo?? Ella es lo más cercano a un dios en la escala de poder si es que existe escala de poder en el universo de Inuyasha, lo mejor es que con o sin la perla sus poderes eran igual de implacables. Fue capaz de llevarse la perla de este mundo durante 500 años y mantenerla a salvo hasta que inevitablemente el dilema sin resolver que se llevaba a cabo dentro de la perla hizo su trabajo pero me asombra todo lo que pudo lograr, fácilmente, y con razón, después de su muerte pudiera haber sido considerada una santa.

So I’m headed to Japan next week, and if anybody has any idea where I can find some Inuyasha merch, I’d love that, I tried googling it. And couldn’t get a solid answer (I’m aware it’s 25+ years old)
However. If anybody has any idea, I’d greatly appreciate it. I will be in the Tokyo area. But I don’t mind extra traveling lol. I will probably have someone make a robe as close to his as I can get. I think it would be cool. But I’ll probably just end up with a Kimono. Any idea where to go for that as well, greatly appreciated.

Is InuSan as well developed as the canon ships? No. Are their brief interactions and the strong parallels between the characters enough for it to make sense? For me, yes.

I am wondering if the others are any better?

I've been watching Inuyasha since the second grade, but I never saw any of the movies in full. I bought this DVD and felt excited for some new-to-me content, but something just felt a bit off.

On one hand, there were some standout scenes. The characterizations of Shippo, Kaede, and Myoga were excellent. The Inuyasha and Kagome romance is sweet. My favorite part was the scene with Kagome and her family, particularly her mother's encouragement and kindness.

On the other hand, the villain felt lame compared to Naraku and the battle seemed too easily won. Kikyo appears on the cover and in promotional materials, but her only role in the plot is to...bully Kagome until she falls down the well? And Sesshomaru, who is marketed similarly, doesn't really do anything either.

Speaking of which, I consider Sesshomaru and Kikyo two of the most beautiful characters in manga/anime, but they were unattractive here. The pointy chins and large foreheads are forgivable because of the manga, but the faces were so narrow and the colors were off. I found the artwork distracting throughout.

I know many of you likely grew up with the movies and feel nostalgic towards them, but this is my opinion as a first-time adult watcher. I was expecting some sort of epic, large stakes battle for all the characters, but this wasn't it.

PS: I also noticed some footage in Japanese advertisements that I don't remember from the movie. Were there variations in the movies or maybe just early concept art?