06.18.08
The end of Inuyasha
After 12 years, 56 volumes, and over 550 chapters, the final chapter of the Inuyasha manga (chapter 558) has been released, completing Rumiko Takahashi’s longest series. I’ve been avidly following the Inuyasha story since the anime was released in the US in 2002, and although its been one of my favorites for many years, I’m both relieved and a bit sad that it’s finally over…
Before I talk about my opinion of how the series ended, I just wanted to lay out some helpful info: the Inuyasha manga series has been running in Shounen Sunday in Japan since 1996, and of course, has now ended in 2008 at chapter 558. The anime series began in 2000 and ended in 2004 with a very inconclusive ending; it basically stopped the story at around volume 36 of the manga because the anime was too close to catching up with the manga. The anime began airing in the US in 2002 and ended in 2006. Currently, Viz is up to volume 33 of the English version of the manga, with 34 and 35 slowly on their way. I began writing individual chapter reviews of the Inuyasha manga starting at chapter 482 when the series hit its 10th anniversary, but I had to stop at chapter 520 because I no longer had the time to keep them up.
But although I no longer write individual chapter reviews of the manga, I of course had to make one final Inuyasha manga-related post since the series has finally reached its greatly anticipated conclusion. About a year and a half ago I wrote a post about why a new Inuyasha anime needs to be made in order for the series to regain its former popularity, since it now has more than enough manga material to work with. I also talked about how the quality of the manga has deteriorated since the anime ended, and now that the manga itself has finally ended, my opinion hasn’t really changed much. Personally I think that the Inuyasha series was absolutely brilliant and endearing until around volume 41, when it began to becomes less and less interesting. I won’t go into detail about why, since I already addressed that in the previous post, but lets just say that from volume 41 and onward, the series had its good story arcs and its boring story arcs, but it never went back to the excellence it used to be. It seemed like this latter half of the series was used by Takahashi-san to experiment with different possible ways to end the series, thus it just seemed kind of scattered and she began making up new subplots instead of trying to tie them up.
And finally now, we have the series finale. First of all, the main villain Naraku, who has “died” a number of times in the series only to come back again, is finally killed in chapter 552. I guess a unique aspect of Inuyasha when compared to other long-running shounen series’ is that it’s kept the same main villain all these years. Because of this, I would suspect that Naraku’s death would be all the more epic, but personally I thought it was kind of lame. Instead of feeling totally relieved and happy that one of the most hated and evil villains of all is finally defeated, out of nowhere Takahashi throws in a bit of sentiment about how he only wanted his wish of being with Kikyou granted. After years of portraying Naraku as a heartless bastard who only had base desires for Kikyou, we’re just now suddenly supposed to feel a shred of sympathy for him? I don’t know, but that was the impression I got. If she wanted Naraku to be a more complex character instead of pure evil, she should have given us evidence long before this. Personally, I think Naraku should’ve gone down with a huge bang, and Takahashi should have added one of her humorous filler chapters of the gang having a party and celebrating his defeat! XD But oh well, it could’ve been worse I guess ~_^
And as for tying the whole series up in the last chapter, considering all the characters and subplots Takahashi had to work with, I think she did an okay job (though definitely not perfect). The last chapter was about 40 pages instead of the usual 20 so that helped a lot. To make things easier, let me divide the series conclusion into good points and bad points…
Good points: First of all, while Naraku’s death was mediocre, I thought the “death” of the Shikon Jewel was really awesome. Instead of selfishly making a wish on the Shikon Jewel for Inuyasha to save her or to return to her world, Kagome instead chooses not to choose, because she knows that Inuyasha will save her without her having to wish for it (she instead wishes for the Jewel to disappear). To me this was a very unpredictable and interesting ending for the Jewel. And in the last chapter, we finally get to see Miroku and Sango settle down and have their kids, and we also get a good idea of how the remaining main characters will spend the rest of their days. After reading the few chapters before this one, I was afraid that Inuyasha and Kagome would never get to see each other again, and Kagome would be forced to stay on her side forever. So I was really relieved that in the end they got to be together after all, thus answering a question that fans have had for many years. Also, Kagome calling Sesshoumaru “Onii-san” (and the look on Sesshoumaru’s face at that moment) was priceless XD
Bad points: As could be expected from a long-running series with numerous characters and subplots, I felt that some characters and subplots in Inuyasha were left with insufficient development, or were just plain pointless. For example, was it really necessary for Inuyasha to get all those new attacks for Tessaiga in the latter part of the series when he uses the majority of them maybe once or twice? And what was the point of Kouga getting a new attack when he was written out of the series not too long after, and doesn’t even get to appear in the last chapter? And also after all this time, we never hear a thing about Kagome’s father (the anime mentions him but not the manga). Other minor characters such as that kid with the freaky eyes in chapter 493, and even Sesshoumaru’s mom and Houjo-kun lacked a proper conclusion. And there are probably other characters and subplots I forgot about that were lacking but I guess Takahashi wrapped up the main ones well enough. Another thing, I thought that Kagome’s sudden disappearance from the Sengoku Jidai in the end was really lacking: there should have at least been a few pages showing Inuyasha, Shippou, Miroku, and Sango grieving about not being able to see her again. I mean, the five of them have been traveling around together all these years, and suddenly she’s gone and they didn’t even get to say goodbye. Instead, the last chapter just jumps to three years in the future already with only minor flashbacks, and we don’t even see any rejoicing when she finally does come back…so yeah, there definitely should have been more emotion in the ending.
And although Inuyasha and Kagome do indeed end up together in the end, one has to wonder if this would have been so if Kikyou hadn’t died. Inuyasha never actually chose between Kagome and Kikyou…Kikyou was already dead when he ended up with Kagome, so does he now love Kagome more than Kikyou? If Kikyou were to suddenly come back, would he then be conflicted again or would he loyally stay with Kagome? Inuyasha never actually chose one over the other so it could still be argued that the only reason Inuyasha chose Kagome in the end is because she’s the only one of the two left (if Kikyou was still around, this may have been different). Another interesting fact is that even in the last chapter we never see Inuyasha and Kagome kiss (they did in the second movie but that’s not canon and it was hardly a passionate kiss), while Kikyou and Inuyasha have kissed a couple of times before, and quite passionately. Inuyasha and Kagome still haven’t even outright confessed their love…I wonder if Takahashi-san purposely left it debatable whether Inuyasha truly chose Kagome over Kikyou or not.
One last thing I was kind of confused about (though maybe someone can clear it up for me), why, after three years, was Kagome suddenly able to go back through the well? This whole time she and Inuyasha have been missing each other and visiting the well, so why after three years did the well suddenly become connected again? Not sure if I missed something about this but it seems really questionable ~_^ I always predicted that after the Shikon Jewel is destroyed, the time slip on the well would close and Kagome would be forced to remain on her side. It would then be Inuyasha who chooses to go back to her world and live as a human, instead of the other way around. I kinda like my ending better but oh well ^^,,, Perhaps now that the manga has ended, a new anime series will be on the way.
Well, to sum things up, Inuyasha is the only one of Takahashi’s series’ that I’ve read all the way through and I’ve heard that she’s infamous for not writing good endings. But I’m at least somewhat satisfied with the ending of Inuyasha. Actually, the only other series of hers that I’m familiar with is Ranma 1/2, and though I think it’s hilarious, sometimes it gets too silly and slapstick for me. The reason I like Inuyasha so much is because even though its not a comedy series, it has humor that’s more realistic and character-driven, and not as hyperbolic. Also, being one long, continuing story instead of stand-alone episodes like Ranma, together with Takahashi’s brilliant ability to create endearing characters, you’ve got a series with great character development and an intricate, fascinating storyline. Thus Inuyasha was my favorite series for nearly 5 years. Although my interest in it has been decreasing in the past year (mostly due to the manga not being as good as it used to be) it will always be one of my favorites and I’m so glad I was able to follow Inuyasha and the gang all the way to the end of their amazing adventure.
bluemist said,
June 18, 2008 at 10:59 pm
I got tired of Inuyasha even before the anime ended, I feel it was giving me lesser and lesser character development as time passes, until I prematurely stopped watching by the 100th or so episode. Having the same main villain all this time (Naraku) is kinda a double-edged sword, it’s indeed unique to shounen series but having so shallow a character like that is quite boring.
Moreover, Inuyasha has a more filler-feel than other shounen series with actual progression. So Inuyasha and party goes to one place, meets characters and enemies there, then finish whatever goal and move on. There have been so many characters and subplots, in that you may like some of them and would have wanted a follow-up later, only to find out that it’s taking too long for that to happen or maybe Rumiko Takahashi is not writing those arcs in anymore.
That said though, I would still want to return to this series and continue where I had left off. Maybe an announcement of new anime would build it up in me.
Inuhanyou said,
June 18, 2008 at 11:35 pm
Okay 2 things.
1. I’m sure you remember a while ago on mount azusa when Kagome had to get Kikyou’s bow right? Remember that little revelation she had? That explained it quite nicely i thought. In the end, that whole triangle between Kagome, Kikyou & Inuyasha was not an issue, there was never any danger of Kagome losing Inuyasha to Kikyou, it was her own self doubt and about her abilities and ability to live up to the legacy of her past self that made her go emo about it.
On Inuyasha’s side as well, i’m pretty sure he knew what was what, I mean really, Kikyou’s death was sudden and tragic, and it hit Inuyasha right in the heart, he was guilty alright because it was partly his fault, and he probably did have feelings for the girl, but i’m pretty sure he knew that trying to be with Kikyou, after she died, was an impossible dream. Like he said after her final passing, she wouldn’t want them to be sad for her, but happy that she was finally at peace..in the third to final chapter Inuyasha relfected on what Kagome did for him, to stack that up against the memory of Kikyou..it just wasn’t going to happen.
2.It is implied that Inuyasha & Kagome are connected through time & space, like inuyasha said, being born to meet him, it wasn’t just the fate of being absorbed by the jewel that lead her to the sengoku, which is why whenever she wanted to see inuyasha really bad, it would open so she could be with him. That’s what i got out of her being able to cross for the final time anyways..
Need anymore explanations just ask :P
Ashley Hernandez said,
June 19, 2008 at 2:43 pm
Wow!! I have to say I agree with you all the way. Recent Inuyasha chapters were not Takahashi’s best (the scene where Kikyo died I felt was really weak), her endings are usually weak (Ranma had a terrible ending in my opinion), and there were some characters I was really missing at the end! I also thought that Inuyasha would go back with Kagome to her own time (but I also thought that Inuyasha would have wished to be human as well, since Kikyo once said that the Jewel would disappear on a pure wish like that). I mean aren’t they messing with the past if they stay there? And another thing, what was with the pointless interlude of three-years? I mean it is true Kagome was 15 at the start of the series and is 18 at the end, but did she even have to back to home time for three years and not come back until the three years were up? I know Takahashi is very good about teens not getting married or having sex, but when you think about it, Sango must have been 16 when she married Miroku and Kagome really didn’t need to finish her education if she went to live in the past. Another thing, the fact that Kagome is wearing Kikyo’s outfit at the end. Is she still a priestess? Cause if she is, how can she possible be married to Inuyasha? They can’t have or kids. Priestesses can’t have kids or they would lose their spiritual powers! (Although when you think about it, if the two of them had kids, then wouldn’t those kids be 1/4 deamon?). These are just the annoying rantings of nerd like myself. >
Karen said,
June 22, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Yeah, the final chapter was kind of lack-luster, IMHO. I kind of figured Inuyasha and Kagome would somehow end up together, but we didn’t get to SEE anything between them when she finally was able to return to him! That was such a disappointment for me. I would have loved to see him grab her and kiss her before she could finish one sentence (or even the other way around because I think Kagome would be more likely to actually do something like that.) I mean, he’s MISSED her terribly for 3 YEARS - the woman he loves!! And all he does is hug her and call her an “idiot” when they are finally reunited? What was that all about?!? Meh. I agree that it lacked a lot of emotion. I don’t understand why we didn’t even get a kiss in the finale. It just left a gaping hole in my hopes for a great ending. I wish they would continue the anime, and perhaps some day they could tweak the story a bit and give us that missing emotion and that final wonderful kiss between our hero and heroine.
Rishi said,
June 23, 2008 at 2:20 pm
Well…Rishi stopped reading after volume 20…but then Rishi cheated and read the last 2 chapters online. :D It was sad…and Rishi thinks that maybe it’s because Kagome made a selfless wish that she was able to return? And the fact that Kagome and InuYasha were at the well at the same time…this doesn’t make any sense…
Eh! Rishi loved the ending. That’s what counts.
kyra said,
June 27, 2008 at 6:24 pm
the sesshomaru rin thingy was LAME. i wanted to know sesshomaru’s fate so bad. LAME. LAME. LAME. AWFUL ENDING!!!!!!!
Inufan said,
June 28, 2008 at 5:14 am
I think what you have presented here is a very unbiast page of Inuyasha truths. And Takahashi really did leave the ending ambiguous. It keeps you wondering.
Yovanka said,
July 7, 2008 at 10:40 am
I discovered inuyasha about a year ago. I was on maternity leave and sleep was something I used to do :-) I turned to cartoon network and the music was what drew me to it I watched it all night even twice and if I missed an episode I would relly get upset. I have been reading it online since the anime finished so suddenly. The end as good I enjoyed it yeah I wish there was more romance and Inuyasha going over to human world which would have made more since and becoming human but it was good all the same I wish they would make the anime again and take it from where they left off and maybe changed the end a little to show some emotion from these characters we have grown to love. I guess I will just have to continue with naruto and bleach until a new Inuyasha is made
evelyn said,
July 18, 2008 at 9:08 am
omg i know all of this i read the last chapters at one manga .com try it if you want it and good job but is the anime tv show going to continue i need answers help me please
Lambert said,
August 10, 2008 at 4:35 am
Shrine maidens are supposed to be virgins but priestesses and priest can and do marry. They even have larger than normal families. As for the ending of Inuyasha, it sounds perfectly sweet to me. The unspoken nature of the Kagome relationship was what made it different than the Kikyo relationship and to change that at the end would cheapen it, right? Inuyasha was scarred from what happened with Kikyo so he was afraid to openly display his feelings for Kagome and even when they became obvious to everyone, they were already in the habit of not displaying them openly. Having a three year separation wasn’t just about making sure Kagome was 18 or that she finished school, it was a testimony to their pure love.
Akai said,
August 15, 2008 at 5:52 pm
I have to agree that Inuyasha started to lose its charm some time around chapter 41 but for me it wasn’t the fact that the story lines began to have less depth, it was the mere fact that Takashi-san kept on rubbing the same stupid things in our faces. For example we constantly had to deal (when Kikyou was still alive) with Kagome second guessing herself and wondering if she would ever be as good as Kikyou. Yes, she would always make clear that she was her own person and not just Kikyou’s reincarnation but in reality you always knew she felt less important in every aspect. Also I pretty much got tired of every chapter discussing Naraku’s true intentions and how he could be defeated, heres a though JUST DO IT ALREADY. I don’t know, most chapters leading up to the conclusion just appeared to be fillers that were suppose to somehow tie in with the big picture but they truly never did. It was a weird combination of one large story line but with a different monster of the week type of thing.
Ever since watching Ranma 1/2 I have always suspected that Takashi-san has a hard time wrapping a series up in a decent way (don’t even get me started with Ranma). Although this time around the ending seems like something everyone can be happy with, it clearly isn’t. Ironically even though she tried to tie any lose ends up we are still left wondering a lot. For instance why don’t Inuyasha and Kagome act like people that are in love? Honestly she still has tons of room left to conclude the series properly. Heres an idea, how about an OVA showings us Kagome and Inuyasha married and then showing us what happened during the 3 years they couldn’t see eachother. Makes us believe they want to be together!
As for your question on why they couldn’t cross over in the end, it’s right there in the last chapter of the manga. As Kagome is standing over the well wishing to see Inuyasha she begins to realize the reason the time portal has closed is because within her heart she did have dark feelings that got worse during the 3 days she and Inuyasha were gone. During that time she felt bad because she knew that her family was worried and scared and she felt guilty about it. So, when the well opened up and she was able to get back she was just relieved to be home with her family. Inuyasha makes a similar comment to Kaede-baba, saying he knows that he isn’t the only important person to Kagome and that is why she went back to her time. Basically Kagome had to decide whether she wanted to give up her life in her time to be with Inuyasha or just stay in her time after she completed her mission (destroying the jewel). Once she did she went back. Does this answer your question?