Inuyasha

At this point my favourite anime series are "Noir (2001)" and Inu Yasha. The story just sucked me in and kept me captive. I highly recommend this anime to everybody. It's full of humour, I just ROFL when Kagome invokes the "sit!" spell on Inu Yasha. :) The rest of the "cast" is also very good.

With Pokemon, Beyblade and Yu-Gi-Oh gracing the small screen, it has become difficult to take Japanese Anime seriously. Thankfully, Cartoon Network has put a block of Japan's finest in their red-eye time slot, spearheaded by Inuyasha.

The general gist of the plot is Kagome, a modern schoolgirl, winds up in feudal times and must help a half-demon(Inyasha) recover the shards of a jewel of ultimate power.

One might say that Inuyasha combines the best of both Shonen and Shojo stylings. The world of feudal Japan is laced with ghosts, demons and other critters who roar, slash, dash, slice, splat and snarl, and at least one of these beasts duke it out with the title character per episode. On the other hand, there is romance, guilt, past betrayals and secrets to be discovered, not to mention sight gags and running jokes.

The visual quality is a step above pocket monsters and moon princesses as well. The show is thankfully devoid of giant sweat-drops, fountain tears and misplaced mouths.

It takes patience to watch the series, with 100+ episodes and long-running character development, it would take a fortune of DVD purchases or steadfast loyalty to the television at 1:00 am (as of this writing)to get the entire story down.

But even so, I highly recommend this show to anybody yearning for more than just flaming mesomorphs and pocket monsters.

It's a shame that viewers outside of Asia tend to shun anime as "kid's stuff". Though the Inuyasha anime series seems to be directed at a predominantly teen aged audience even in Japan, Rumiko Takahashi is a master storyteller and Inuyasha nonetheless appeals to people of all different ages, genders and backgrounds. Nobody spins a tale like Takahashi and Inuyasha is a brilliant example of her skill. Weaving a complex storyline interspersed with action, fantasy, the innocence of young love, and a cast of endearing though fallible characters, Inuyasha is a rich fantasy tale drawn from Japanese mythology and set in feudal Japan. Names and references to actual Japanese historical and mythological characters interwoven into the story gives this series added texture and richness not readily found in most graphic novels. Takahashi lightens the serious tone at times with uniquely Takahashi humor (often imitated, never duplicated) and creates credible, flawed characters whose shortcomings become endearing over time. If the animation is too childish for you, try reading the original graphic novel series, which is even more outstanding since the anime doesn't do Takahashi's comic timing any justice. Strongly recommended to those who enjoy a rich, entertaining fantasy tale.

I would like to see all of those who were complaining about how Inuyasha is a bad show and how no one should see it, create an anime/manga, publish it and see if it becomes popular or not. This show happens to be popular in many countries. You all have your opinions and I respect that, but when it comes to things like this, you shouldn't even be complaining at all because it's not like you're being forced to watch it. If you don't like this show, then move on to the next anime. It's your problem if you can't see why there are fans that actually do like the anime. So sue us if we think it's great. I'm not afraid to admit it. Inuyasha is my all time favorite anime. If you have a problem with that, I don't care. Nothing you can all say or do will change that fact. You all have your favorite shows and I have mine. We're all entitled to our opinion here and I know that. Every anime has different character designs. You can't really expect every anime to have the same character design in all of the episodes. It's bound to change somehow.

You know a series has to be good when you fall in love with a

"flawed" main character, especially an animated one (the only

other time this has happened was Vegeta from DBZ). I've only

seen the English dub on Adult Swim, but it really seems that

Richard Cox and Inuyasha the character were a perfect match; the

voice-acting is one of the biggest draws.

As for the show itself, anyone who's a fan of Buffy the Vampire

Slayer and Angel will love this. The storyline about an ancient half- man/half-demon and a young modern girl does have that base

parallel to Buffy and Angel, as well as incredibly good storytelling

that defies just as many genres. But from there it goes off on its

own particular mythologic twists and turns that make it so unique

and powerful. After every 24 minute episode I'm amazed at how

much has been accomplished and developed, all while giving a

fair balance to the cast of characters, all sharply-delineated and

possessing their own unique appeal. The scoring is equally

wonderful and often difficult to get out of your mind.

All in all, who cares about gritty or anything near that when for once

in a long time you can get swept up in the romance and fantasy

and drama of it all? This is a rare series, and one bound to get

rarer, particularly when all the networks (American at least) seem

to care about these days are reality shows or "realistic" dramas

uninterested in strong character-based plot developments. Anime

seems to be one of the last realms where you can find good

stories told exceedingly well with the emphasis where it should

always be, on the characters; that there's action, adventure,

romance, drama, or comedy is merely secondary.