#master archer Kikyo

[inusmasha]

InuKag's contrasting backgrounds and the challenges they face in their respective worlds create a fascinating duality.

Kagome is a teenager who's juggling 2 equally important forces; Her life in the modern era and her life in the feudal era.

It's like she's in a constant transitioning state. She has to stay adapting and recontextualizing her sense of identity bc it's different day to day. She's the master archer with sacred arrows that need to shoot the bad guys... But she's also that constantly absent student taking the make up test in the back, don't bother her right now. In the past she's often mistaken for "Kikyo" if it serves the plot. What's a Kagome anyway? Tiktok audio She's just a girl in the world.

In contrast, Inuyasha grapples with his half-demon, half-human heritage, representing a different form of duality, albeit in a more physical sense.

This is why I adore the opening of the series! There's nothing quite like witnessing the initial setup. You're paired with someone, and you have to rely on each other in order to navigate this unfamiliar terrain (and like..not die lol). Each brings unique skills and perspectives to the table, necessitating observation and learning. In the process, they grow and evolve together.

Inuyasha observes Kagome as she forges connections wherever she goes, allowing them to form a powerful team capable of confronting their adversaries and establishing a new home. Simultaneously, Inuyasha offers protection and combat prowess honed during his solitary childhood survival. It's the perfect partnership between the most unlikely pair.

I just love a mirror.

[okayfinethisismyinuyashablog]

Inuyasha - Chapter 4 of 559...

Chapter Index

BE AWARE: These first few scanlated chapters are read from left to right...

Alright. Chapter 4.

Kagome has been taken hostage by some bandits and the leader of the bandits doesn't look so hot...

He also takes the jewel.

Inuyasha shows up to save...the jewel.

Turns out the boss is already dead and his body has been commandeered by the carrion crow demon.

Inuyasha grabs a bow and arrows and yeets Kagome onto his back. He tells Kagome that Kikyo was a master archer and expects her to be as well. His expectations are...not met. The carrion crow demon eats the jewel and grows into a dragon-like monster.

Not much commentary on this, but there are a few firsts in this chapter. We see the first piggy back ride, Kagome's first experience with a bow, and how the Shikon jewel can affect small demons. It's a mega powerup.

Onwards and upwards!

Chapter Index

[frogcaccia]

Kikyo's a master archer, sure, but what's her close combat ability?

[clementinesgulag]

inuyasha, handing kagome a bow: kikyo was a master archer

kagome: oh, no thank you (pulls out a glock)

[kaigashi]

‘i’m lucky ‘ / analysis.

You ever think how Kagome literally never talks about her Father, who died in a car accident? Like she never does. Either it was too excruciating for her or she was too young to know him but obviously she feels the hole. Her mother mentions him in the anime very fondly but you can tell by her face his loss crushed her. Do you ever think Kagome endeavors to be even more cheerful for her Mother so she just...doesn’t worry about how she’s a single mom? That her life is the best just having ‘Mama’ in it?

Or how as she’s gotten older she’s looked at photo albums and the pain finally hits her and the vague memory of his face is pretty much gone and she isn’t wanting for family. She has her Jii-chan, Sota and Mama. But she never had a Father in her life. Worse, he died horribly and without meaning to, left the woman she admires most in the world, her Mama. 

You ever think that as the losses and tragedy pile up in the Sengoku Jidai Kagome literally hasn’t told anyone about it? Because knowing her she’s like ‘well they live here in the most brutal period of our nation, why should I even think I remotely have it bad? I’m lucky.” 

I’m lucky, she says as she becomes more and more traumatized and gathers more scars and bruises due to having a weak physical frame, not for lacking as a warrior just not a melee warrior. Obviously we see her grow into a master archer and finally ready to harness the limitless spiritual power that never ends. 

I’m lucky, she says as Kagome, the glue that holds everyone together, starts seeing the worst of humanity and demons and still chooses to smile and love everything as best as a flawed person could. As she gets injured and emotionally and physically. As people drop like flies in front of her: Kikyo, Kanna, Kagura, innocents, not innocents, children in the worst ways.  I don’t have it bad like Sango or Inuyasha or Miroku, it’s not important what I feel about this as much as making sure they have a good support system, it’s okay, I’m lucky I’m lucky I’m lucky -- as she develops severe PTSD, nightmares and immense trauma and has to sometimes go home to dissociate and cry blindly for her Mama because Mama the images won’t stop Mama I’m in pain Mama please -- Mama --

I’m lucky, she says, I’m not gonna be selfish.

Wishlist: Kagome opening up about her PTSD episodes with her friends / her Feudal Family.

[inuyashaographer]

Manga vs. Anime – Inuyasha Edition #02 – The Carrion Crow

This edition covers Episode #2: “Seekers of the Sacred Jewel“ of the anime and Chapter #3: “A New Foe”, Chapter #4: “The Dancing Dead” and Chapter #5: “Kagome’s Arrow” of the manga.

<><><><><> Summary <><><><><>

Back at the village Kaede is working on the wound that Kagome received from Mistress Centipede and warns her about demons and men that want the power of the Jewel. Inuyasha whose lounging nearby, finds himself asked why he wants the jewel considering he is pretty strong himself, Kaede answers this herself claiming that it is because he is only a half-demon.

Growing impatient with Kaede, he slams his fist into the floorboards and demands to know how she knows so much about him. Kaede reveals that she is the younger sister of Kikyo, though so much time has past he does remember her but doesn’t recognize her, commenting that if she’s that old, Kikyo must be even older. Before Kaede remarks that she died, the very same day that he was sealed.

Inuyasha shrugs it off for only a moment, before Kaede remarks about the possibility of Kagome being the reincarnation of Kikyo, making the connection between the two.

Kagome finds herself with a large responsibility, as the villagers react to the possible connections between her and Kikyo, but worshipping her.

In a tree nearby, Inuyasha is left to ponder about the revelation that Kagome is connected to Kikyo, before catching something thrown at him from behind, looking at it and noticing it’s food, and Kagome is at the base of the tree offering to share with him.

He actually takes her up on the offer and goes down to sit beside her, but is apprehensive about being next to her, he doesn’t trust her and any attempt made by her to be nice to him and introduce herself, quickly sends him into a rant about his need to be merciless when it comes to the Jewel, his attempts lead to an accidental “SIT!” from Kagome sending him crashing to the ground.

Later that evening Inuyasha is seen waiting outside of the hut Kagome is sleeping, shooing away a crow that landed on the hut, knowing that there are more people after the jewel. After Kagome attempts to make her way back home through the well, Kaede and the others go searching around for her, hearing that Kagome is gone, Inuyasha sets out to find her, himself. As Kagome attempts to avoid and keep herself alive against the leader of the bandits who wants the jewel and is haphazardly killing his own men, Inuyasha continue rushes forward and even leaps into the hut right as soon as the bandit leader attempts to attack her. His attention turns to her, but instead of her safety, he’s more concerned with getting the jewel. Noticing the smell of a course coming from the leaders body, he attacks, swiping away the plate armor of his chest and finding the crow burrowed inside, before he rushes and plunges his hand through the bandits chest, sending the crow running, with jewel in it’s beak. His attempts stop the crow are stopped and seeing the bow and arrows nearby, he takes Kagome with him and gives chase.

He assumes that Kagome will be able to shoot down the crow because Kikyo was a master archer, this however doesn’t work out planned. the arrow doesn’t come anywhere close to the crow. The twosome continue to rush after the crow, who swoops down and steals a child. Inuyasha pursues even faster realizing that the crow can’t go very far with the child weighing him down and goes in for the kill. Kagome realizing the boy will be harm instead leaps out and catches the boy, falling to the ground with him in arms as Inuyasha is able to rip the crow apart. However even apart it’s attack persists, it’s head moving towards Kagome and the boy in an attempt to eat them, before Inuyasha rushes in and cuts through the demons head, allowing Kagome and the child to fall to the ground safely. Inuyasha calls for Kagome to tell him where the jewel is, and Kagome does, but Inuyasha finds himself unable to leap high enough to hit the crow. Realizing this, Kagome uses the foot that had grabbed onto her moments before she fell and ties it to an arrow, before she fires it. Inuyasha scoffs at the idea of her hitting the crow, before noticing the foot tied to the arrow which then connects. The arrow connects, sending numerous streaks of light flashing and blasting out across the sky.

Later, while looking for the jewel, Kagome and Inuyasha come across the head of the crow, who attempts to attack them, only for Inuyasha to kill it. Kagome notices a small glimmering hit the ground and picks it up leading both the realize that ti’s only a small piece of the jewel.

<><><><><> Characterization <><><><><>

“I need to be merciless.” More or less defines what we learn about Inuyasha going forward. The tough-guy act is just an act that he puts up around the people around him, it’s a means to protect himself from being taken advantage while using fear and intimidation to keep people from bothering him and getting to close to him. This remark interestingly comes right after Kagome’s peace-offering, possibly making him realize that he’d let his guard down just a little around her and immediately had to hype himself back up.

His bark is most certainly worse than his bite. He remarks that after the Carrion crow is defeated he will drop Kagome down to the ground below. This remark is contradicted when Kagome leaps off his back in order to save the child from the Carrion Crow, when the Crow turns his attention to Kagome to attempt to attack her her comes to the rescue allowing Kagome and the boy to drop safely down to the ground below. This would later happen again as in the very end he would again attack the Carrion Crow as it tried to attack the both of them.

<><><><><> Relationship with Kagome <><><><><>

A big theme at the beginning of the series was establishing early on that Inuyasha’s problem with Kagome came with his problem with Kikyo. The similarities between the two bothers him the absolute most, this becomes complicated when he begins to see the big difference between Kagome and Kikyo, it becomes even worse when he finds himself developing feelings for Kagome, but feels cannot act on them because of his hate towards Kikyo.

Here he cannot shake the similarities and goes on to believing that Kagome will be able to fire an arrow and hit the Carrion Crow because Kikyo was an expert archer… well Kagome’s not Kikyo, so even though she is able to fire a shot, she misses. Inuyasha retorts in the manga. “I’m sure you’re not her!” Possibly that being the moment where he realized that they were two completely different people.

That would continue going forward, everything from her to the point where Kikyo is resurrected is here to establishes the difference between Kagome and Kikyo, while developing Kagome and Inuyasha’s relationship going forward. Though Inuyasha is able to develop feelings for Kagome, the struggle between a blossoming love interest and a hate grudge gets in the way.

An interesting thing comes in when Kagome offers him the food she received from the villagers. Despite Inuyasha’s apparent mistrust of her, he actually does allow his guard down around her when she offers him food, he actually is willing to sit down next to her (albeit growling most of the time) and actually takes a bit of the food that she offered him. It’s amusing because one of the things that attracts Inuyasha to her the most is her kind and caring nature, her “peace-offering” of sorts is enough to get him to let his guard down just a little.

Kagome’s opinion of Inuyasha has always been a very big deal for Inuyasha. Previously she questioned if he was actually as strong as he claimed to be, and she is able to see this first-hand when he takes down Mistress Centipede. Here she questions what his reasoning is for being more powerful than he already is? There is no doubt in his power ever again, in fact Kagome makes it clear many times that no matter what Inuyasha will always be the strong in her eyes, this allows him to being more open to showing “weakness” around her, because she not only will not judge his weaker moments, but because her view of him will never change.

<><><><><> Interaction with Other Characters <><><><><>

n/a

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[geeklyfanboying]

"Kikyo was a master Archer. Take it in one shot!!!" "I told you my name's Kagome!!! Still Kikyo, give me your strength" @catamancycosplay and @hustleandbustlecosplay looked absolutely amazing as Inuyasha and Kagome. Inuyasha is one of my all time favorite animes by Rumiko Takahashi right next to Ranma ½ 💛 #Inuyasha #Kagome #AnimeCosplay #Cosplay #ALA2017 #NowIWantToCosplaySango (at Animé Los Angeles)