#the Inuyasha filler episodes are iconic

[creative-hanyou-girl]

Yet another beautiful InuKag moment that Sinrise deprived us of. I wonder if we'll ever get a IY reboot that actually LIKES InuKag and tell their story the way Rumiko intended it. A girl can dream😩

Rewatching Inuaysha and god no wonder ppl in the anime assume him and kagome are together like 99% of the time

With the way those two act (taking into consideration the time frame too) I almost forget they still aren't dating every ep😭

[thefrostqueen]

Hanyo no Yashahime

Season 1 Review

It’s review time

Hanyo no Yashahime is the sequel to the classic anime InuYasha, in which a teen from present day travels back to Feudal Japan where demons and magic are very much a reality. The sequel follows the children of the main characters from InuYasha and puts them on their own adventure to save the world.

Note: All opinions are my own. This is a critical review of entertainment media, and will include criticism. If you do not agree, then simply ignore.

The Plot

Early on, it was established that Towa and company would seek out the dream butterfly and get back Setsuna’s dreams/sleep. Treekyo told them they would have to defeat Sesshomaru and Kirinmaru. After many episodes, this plot line was unimportant and almost discarded. Passing and fleeting, the true motive of the girls quest is sporadic and mentioned sparingly, and for many episodes it seemed they were only there to slay high level demons.

Mysteries and questions were extremely abundant and established early on, and as the episodes went by, it was clear they wouldn’t be answered. At least this season. One thing the fandom has noticed is how many questions there are, and how in some crazy way sunrise managed to withhold all answers and key plot points from the plot for so long. Treekyo? Not that important apparently. Her prophecy? Never mentioned again. The dream butterfly? Seen not explained. It’s connection to Kirinmaru and Zero? Contradicted in the show. InuYasha and Kagome? Just as forgotten as Moroha when there is a fight.

The pacing of this show was all over the place and inconsistent, providing too much focus on filler in some episodes and not enough plot in others. And in the episodes where we got to come back to the main story, we would get info dumps. I mentioned in my mid-season review how info dumps are cheap in the scheme of writing and plot outline, and I’ll say it again because I was surprised as the episodes went on how inconsistent everything was getting.

Now, don’t get me wrong, InuYasha had lots of fillers too, but unlike Yashahime, they established a lot of exposition and plot within the first 12 episodes; we got the main characters and their ambitions/conflicts, the main villain, the dual antagonist (Sesshomaru, at least he was a villain for a bit anyway) and the basics of the magic system was established and explained. Yashahime did set up the character’s goals, but the character’s quickly seemed to forget them, while in InuYasha their goal of finding the jewel shards was always at the forefront of the majority of the episodes. The main villain was supposedly Kirinmaru (his careless attitude throughout most of the show did not provide the antagonistic “high stakes”) and he sent demons to battle the girls, but the girls were so overpowered and perfected their powers so quickly that the demons provided no real challenge or added any stakes or drama.

The ability/powers of characters were retconned. This was odd and not something I expected. One of the most notable examples is how certain abilities are apparently genetic and inherited through dna instead of through the swords that harbored them like the original series established. An example is Moroha’s “Crimson Backlash Wave” where it mimics the ability Tessaiga has where it sends an opponent’s own demonic attack right back at them, destroying them with their own demonic energy. Moroha does not use Tessaiga, she uses Kurikaramaru. The backlash wave was said to be unique to Tessaiga, and only able to be used with Tessaiga, but that lore was weirdly chosen to be retconned. It is unclear wether or not this will be expanded upon in season 2.

In episode 19 of Yashahime, there was blatant homophobia and transphobia. No excuse, there was. InuYasha also had homophobic and transphobic characters. Yashahime could have changed that, but it perpetuated that instead, and it was extremely disappointing. In episode 20, Shiori, a beloved character from the original series, is shown changing into her human form during a solar eclipse. Yashahime chose to whitewash the character by lightening her dark skin. In InuYasha, several characters had darker skin, like InuYasha himself, and when he turned into his human form, his skin would stay the same. There is no excuse for this. Both of these episodes blighted Yashahime’s potential to step away from those things, but it continued to do it instead.

The final episode of the show was fast and full of unanswered questions. The dream butterfly was still not explained, Rin did not wake up, InuYasha and Kagome were not even mentioned, let alone released, and Kirinmaru parented Towa and Setsuna better than their own father. Zero flees, using spider silk (she strangely has many parallels with Naraku, even down to spider imagery) and sets herself up to be the main villain. And Setsuna dies, and Sesshomaru doesn’t seem that worried at all. It was interesting however to see Kirinmaru fight the girls, and he basically began teaching them about their moves and powers. Another interesting aspect was how Sesshomaru is apparently, potentially, time traveling. He shows up and hands Towa the Tensiaga, and the rain stops, and when she takes it, the rain starts again. Towa looks up and it is shown Sesshomaru has vanished instantaneously.

The Characters

Towa Higurashi: In the first two episodes, Towa was portrayed as a tomboy who kicked ass and cared for her family. She was confident and had ambition. Once she came to the feudal era however, her entire personality changed. Her surroundings and the people/beings she met were indeed something she had never encountered, but she suddenly became a moralist, and cautioned Setsuna and Moroha to never fight, despite she herself being notorious in modern day for fighting bullies and bad people. It is almost like her fighting persona in modern day had never happened. Overall, it felt her character was overly gullible, and though she meant well, her sudden drop from “school fighter” to “naive moralist” was odd and seemed to contradict the character they set up in the first three episodes.

Setsuna: Like father like daughter, Setsuna retains her father’s most iconic personality traits, and is focused on her ambitions and remains cautious around people and demons alike. She was, perhaps, the one out of the three princesses to have the most backstory and character focus (despite Towa being the main character) The mystery of her connection with the dream butterfly was genuinely interesting, though it did feel like it dragged on for too long in certain aspects (some lore even felt contradicted) Writing wise, Setsuna felt the most consistently written character of the three girls, both in personality and in development.

Moroha: The perfect mix of her parents, Moroha has had little to few familial relationships and friendships in her life. Her goal of earning money seemed petty at first, but when Moroha finally got her own episode, it was revealed to have a deeper meaning. That episode highlighted Moroha’s strength and perseverance. What was a poor move on behalf of Yashahime’s writers was the strange choice to constantly omit Moroha from vital fights (and even basic fights) It happened pretty much every time, and Moroha was never around for key information about her parents or their quest. It is unclear why her being there for the information would be a bad thing. Her relationship with Towa and Setsuna was shallow, and their bonding had no real emotional impact. In fact, Towa and Setsuna openly mention how they need her for her abilities, not because they like her. The one episode they tried to make them bond fell flat due to the lack of build up and relationship development.

Conclusion

Hanyo no Yashahime was inconsistent and fell flat with several character relationships and motivations. Plot point execution was sporadic and lacked emotional depth and coherent understanding, leaving viewers more confused than awed. Characters from InuYasha were out of character and felt hollow; some of them were not even involved as much as one would think and one didn’t even show up. Kirinmaru is perhaps the most interesting new character to come out of the series, and his respect for the Great Dog Demon has led him to enter a deal with Sesshomaru, and even protect the three princesses. This contradicts several actions he took, and makes a compelling mystery in certain aspects. In conclusion, the show felt rushed and lacked emotional and character depth, and presented several problematic and harmful themes.

Note: Again, all opinions are my own. You are free to comment, but please be respectful.

[inukag]

Hi friend! I'm kind of new to the IY fandom and I love your blog. It's great to hear so many analyses and posts on this series. What are your thoughts on the anime specifically? Love it, hate it? It's personally one of my fav anime, but I know people have their own opinions (particularly comparing it to the manga). :)

Hello! Welcome to the fandom, I hope you’re having a good time despite the chaos, lol.

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with the Inuyasha anime. I read the manga first, and I remember not really liking the anime when I first watched it. I remember not liking “Change the World” specifically, I thought it was a really cheesy song (I do like it now lol). The manga has gore and nudity, and most of that is censored in the anime so it felt more childish. It took me.. at least 10-15 episodes before I felt like I was really enjoying it.

A big issue I have with the anime is that the writers made a lot of nonsensical, useless changes that end up affecting the progression of Inuyasha and Kagome’s relationship, Inuyasha’s character development, and Inuyasha and Sesshomaru’s relationship. For inukag, it was especially early on when they are just starting to build their relationship. I talked about it a bit here in my list of inukag moments, but basically episode 21 is missing a moment where Inuyasha establishes that he wants to have Kagome by his side, and episode 23 is missing an important discussion that clearly puts the “love triangle” to rest. There’s also several scenes later on where Inuyasha initiates romantic moments, or at least reciprocate, that were changed in the anime. I think all of that lead to people thinking Kagome is “clingy”... When in the manga their relationship is definitely mutual. When it comes to Inuyasha and Sesshomaru’s relationship, there’s a great post about the differences here. I think the anime in general made Inuyasha dumber, more violent/impulsive, and they really dragged the whole “he wants to become a full demon” thing for too long, when he gave that up pretty early on in the manga.

But the anime added a lot of moments that I do love, like the conversation between Mama Higurashi & Kagome in episode 48, Kikyo saying goodbye to Kaede when she died, the meido kiss etc. The filler episodes are also generally nice, fun episodes that are a nice break from the more plot heavy stuff. Some of my favorite episodes are filler, the Cultural festival ones! But I don’t really like the ones that try to be too serious or introduce new lore, like the “Plot of the Walking Dead”, the “Panther Devas” arc and "The Sacred Jewel Maker” for example. 

I don’t know if it’s an unpopular opinion but I do like The Final Act (the last season). The pacing in the first few episodes is wayyyy too fast, but they skipped over a lot of the Moryomaru arc and he’s my least favorite villain in the series so I wasn’t too disappointed. There’s a few nice chapters that I wish were animated, like the Medicine seller one or the Nikosen arc, but in general I think they nailed the important moments.

When it comes to animation and art style, it is very inconsistent. Some episodes are stunning (any episode that has Shouko Ikeda or Kumiko Takahashi as animation director is *chef’s kiss*) but some art styles also weren’t so great. One that comes to mind is Rie Nakajima, who did episode 31 (Jinenji’s episode) for example... Sorry to this animation director, lol. You can find the list of animation directors here if you’re curious, it basically changes every episode so it can be a bit jarring at times. 

I LOVE the work of the voice actors. I watched the Japanese dub first and then the English one, and I honestly love both. People complain about the English dub being bad, but it’s honestly a masterpiece compared to the dub in my first language (French). The English dub is great and has so many iconic, hilarious lines.

Also, the soundtrack is amazing! I think all characters have songs that really suit them, and some songs give me chills when I think of the moment where it was played (like the song The End of the Shikon Jewel for example).

So yeah, overall I think Inuyasha has a very enjoyable anime but I will always prefer the manga when it comes to characterization!

[cynthiaandsamus]

Custom Toonami Block Week 52 Rundown

Code Geass: Mao closes in on Lelouch but as we learned from Mad Pierrot in Cowboy Bebop never corner yourself in an amusement park if you’re a childish demi-god manchild, the cheery shit will fuck you up. Also Villetta’s tits are in this episode.

Inuyasha: We’re still in post-Backlash Wave filler town this week but we get a good look into Miroku and Sango’s relationship when Sango finds out Miroku can actually take some shit seriously and has a lot of reverence for the dead and grieving. Also Sango’s Hiraikotsu gets damaged so she can be shipped off next episode to fix it while the rest of the gang relive a filler adaptation of a manga chapter from before she joined.

Yu Yu Hakusho: Yusuke has to convince his mom and not-girlfriend not to burn his body because the almighty toddler in the sky can’t just give him a new body to slip his soul into, this isn’t magic it’s just magic. Anyway Yusuke in Kuwabara’s body, hijinks ensue, and Keiko is a doll and loves Yusuke so much and it’s great.

Unlimited Blade Works: It’s time for the season one finale and oh boy did a lot of stuff happen. The first like third of this thing is basically an Uzaki-chan episode, like that weird kind of anime episode that just feels like it was endorsed by the Tokyo tourism board to get the anime-watching youth out into the city and go do things by portraying cute anime girls doing it. Then everything changed when the CGI Water Skeleton Nation attacked. So Saber isn’t Shirito’s waifu anymore she’s Castergiku’s waifu now and no one seems all that bothered by it except Shirou. Also Caster’s gonna cheat and pull an SAO and skip the last thirty levels of the game and fight the final boss and this is probably all going to get very confusing very soon.

Gurren Lagann: It’s finale time and for Gurren Lagann that means standing on top of galaxies and throwing kamehamehas with the force of the big bang itself in a show of scale that has been unmatched in anime since. It’s all really dumb but at the same time it always puts a big dumb smile on my face to watch this finale, it really is something and this fight is one of the most iconic in anime history I think. Also Nia dies, everyone gets old except Leeron because the gays don’t age. It was a lot of fun coming back to this series, it makes no god damn sense but its energy is unparalleled.

FMA Brotherhood: The government quickly realizes creating an army of zombies to fight wars for you wasn’t such a great idea because they’re, well, zombies. The Homunculi star getting paired up for their final fights, Envy gets his body back while Sloth fight the Armstrongs, for some reason even though Olivier can swing Alex around by his shorthairs, during a non-comedy fight all her DPS can’t do much against a Tank. Al gets out of the Earth Dome Jutsu and prepares for probably the coolest fight in the series against Pride and Kimblee.

Attack on Titan: Reiner finds out this his armor isn’t so armory and unlike Sheer Heart Attack he does have weaknesses. Eren’s like “We’re literally standing in my tragic backstory there’s no way I’ll lose” and they all gang up to kick Reiner’s ass for being a racist asshole.

Well Gurren Lagann ends this week, meaning I have to find another replacement for a slot on the block. The Gurren Lagann/Kill La Kill slot is all about wacky fun and over the top hot-blooded action, some candidates for replacement have been Akame Ga Kill, Konosuba, and Panty and Stocking, but I’m open to suggestions. I want to keep the block somewhat balanced in terms of themes so something along the same vein would be good but next week will be a new premiere and that’s always fun!

[wannabefamous-otaku]

and my thoughts....

I finally finished the anime Bleach and I even beat my friend! We both started it this year together and I just finished it tonight!

Bleach is an iconic 00s anime, that came out when I was in elementary school. Back then I had to sneak turning on Adult Swim every Saturday night or watch 3 part videos on Youtube. For me though, Bleach was just too long, just like Naruto, Inuyasha, One Piece. My attention for anime at the time couldn’t make it past 50 episode. So being able to watch all of Bleach on a binge was great! I feel that it has stood up to the ionic-ness of 00s anime and would recommend it. 

Now with that being said, I would say I didn’t complete the anime, after the New Captin Shusuke Arc I couldn’t continue watching the filler seasons. After the plot gets to Hueco Mundo the filler arcs took me completely out of the story and it made me feel a type of dread watching them. My momentum was  slowing down and I was unhappy with the anime. So I skipped the remaining filler arcs and powered thru.

My favorite Arcs were when the gang just gets to Hueco Mundo and Arrancar’s Fight Arc and the baddest Downfall of Aizen. These Acrs are where I think Bleach is at it’s best, its a good peace and great fight scenes. But I gotta say I have issues with the overall anime. There are just way to many characters and way too many plots. Everyone having a matching fighting partner was so repetitive and dragged out too long for some of the characters. I hated when the Arrancar’s came to the world of the living to fight the Captains, it was just too long and not epic enough.

Now I also want to say, it isn’t a bad thing having all these characters but (and I 100% know this is anime only and there is probably so much more detail in the manager) but I wish they put more of the details in! What’s with Gin and Rangiku, Momo and Toshiro, is there more back story on Kisuke and Yoruichi!? What’s Kisuke’s bankai, the Visors are now back as Captains?! WHAT WITH ICHIGO’S FATHER!? THE DADDIES! I need more back story on Ryuken’s power and hate for Uryu!

I am seriously missing these things! But my biggest beef with this anime is that they made Orihime USELESS. This was super sad and painful for me and I feel like it just continued the tone for female characters in anime, hot, kinda important but not overall helpful enough. I really wish there was something more to her and yes in the final season she can reflect an attack but that’s the FINAL SEASON. I also wished there was just some more romance in the anime, it was very power of friendship throughout and nothing was specifically shipped (other than Orihime’s confession to an unconscious Ichigo).

Now onto the final season, it was very disappointing. I was rolling HIGH after Aizen was defeated and was at peak commitment to the anime/story. Only to be faced with yet another filler arc that I didn’t even bother to watch a single episode of because I HAD to continue the main plot...

The final season was incredibility predictable and I lost all the heat I just had. I felt like I was waiting for the "big” reveal. I was getting worried counting down the episodes, like that’s all I get? This is the arc they are cancelling the anime on?! There were a lot of parts I liked, mainly in the beginning when Ichigo is forced to reflect on his new life, I love that he is selling himself for sport teams (the side jobs thing was super stupid and I still don’t see how that fits at all). I liked the toughened Orihime that wasn’t going to be a burden anymore. There was some good stuff but I still felt that the last season/arc was just poor writing and more repetition which lead to it being so predictable. Like, SIKE we’re actually evil! Fooled you all, AGAIN! ....

I found zero amount of comfort in the last episode and thought that it was super cheap to the anime fans. I really wish there was more than Ichigo looking up to the sky and fading to credits... like I don’t think we deserved that one Viz Media.

While there are so many parts of Bleach I loved and  feel it should be watched at least once, but that’s all I can recommend, once. I will not read the manga and I will never watch it again. If I ever have any questions I’m just going to look up info on the Wiki Fandom.

Now, I am looking forward to the new season this year even tho I have no idea what it is about but I hope I will get that comfort that I feel was lacking in the last few episodes leading up to the end. Anyway, onto the next anime!

[chsamuseum]

The Beautifully Devastating “Cowboy Bebop”

Last month, I decided to watch a TV show that was on my to watch list for awhile: Cowboy Bebop. Cowboy Bebop is a Japanese anime science fiction television show that aired in 1998 in Japan and later aired in the US in 2001. Set in the year 2071, the show follows the lives and adventures of a bounty hunter crew traveling through space. Referencing many genres, including science fiction, film noir, and western films, the show has recurring themes about identity, loneliness, and the struggle to get away from your past.

Growing up, I didn’t watch anime shows with the exception of Pokémon and Sailor Moon, which were part of the mainstream TV shows of the 1990s. I loved cartoons (and still do) but this medium of animation was not something that appealed to me when I was younger. I didn’t know people who watched anime and as a third generation Asian American, I associated more with white culture and didn’t want to identify with Asian culture. It wasn’t until I was in graduate school that I was introduced to anime and it immediately sparked my interest. What started this newfound appeal? Inuyasha and Naruto. What pulled me into both were the incredible storytelling, characters, and themes specific to each show. After I got into these shows, I wondered what anime to try next. This led me to Cowboy Bebop. 

Cowboy Bebop is considered one of the most significant anime shows of all time, particularly due to its ability to appeal to an international audience and garner an interest into the anime genre. Cowboy Bebop changed the game for anime series with its storytelling, animation and soundtrack. After watching the series, I can agree that it is an amazing show. As a film buff, I enjoyed the various references to popular TV shows and films such as Alien, 2001: a Space Odyssey, John Wayne Western films, Bruce Lee films and more. Throughout the series, I felt that the main characters were realistic, as well as the struggles  they are trying to overcome. For example, Faye Valentine, one of the crew members, was cryogenically frozen for over 50 years due to a space shuttle accident and woke up in the future with amnesia and a massive debt to pay for being cryogenically frozen. Another crew member, Spike Spiegel, has a complicated past, struggling with losing the love of his life but also having newfound freedom from the criminal organization he was once apart of. Beyond the characters, the storyline of Cowboy Bebop keeps you intrigued and wanting to know what happens next, while also having stand alone episodes that you can enjoy but does not feel like a “filler” plotline (I’m looking at you, Naruto!). 

I highly recommend anyone that enjoys film and television-whether you like anime or not-to watch Cowboy Bebop. In the beginning, you will be hooked by the iconic theme song. By the end of the show, you feel deeply for the characters and can relate to their experiences of the pain of loss, the uncertainty of life, and feeling trapped by circumstances outside of one’s control-a beautifully, devastating finale that will forever change your perception on anime.

-Written by Brienne Wong, CHSA’s Registrar. Brienne is an avid movie and film viewer.