Inu-Yasha 4 (big ed.)

Rumiko Takahashi – Viz – 2010 – 56 volumes
this omnibus contains vols. 10-12

So yeah. I’m still ridiculously addicted. Couldn’t put this down, read it all in two sittings, et cetera. Inu-Yasha is good stuff, and I’m amazed that it’s withstood the test of time and raises spectacularly above its generic shounen brethren when, by all rights, it should be down there with them.

Wow. The story that dealt with only Kagome and Inu-Yasha was super-sweet, my favorite so far. The two save an abused half demon from the wrath of his village by finding the real killer demon and vanquishing it in front of all the villagers. Seeing the big, scary demon calling for its mother, followed by a scene of an old lady beating up Inu-Yasha, was definitely a high point. This story also has plenty of time for lots of Kagome/Inu-Yasha moments, which I know aren’t going anywhere ever, but are sweet just the same. There’s even a little bit of character development for Inu-Yasha at the very end, where he admits it was hard growing up as a half-demon, though he never admits to feeling sorry for the one he helps out. This story was quite good, but did not involve a shikon shard nor did it have anything to do with the main plot. It was basically filler, which makes it even stranger that I liked it so much.

There were a few plot-centric stories in this omnibus, the biggest was one that involved a carefully laid trap for Miroku, a widening of his wind tunnel, and a gigantic demon face-off where Inu-Yasha’s sword powers up in one of those incredible shounen manga fights where he kills one hundred demons with a single swing. We learn quite a bit about Miroku, who, for as much of a background character as he plays, does have a fair number of tricks for staying ahead of demons. We find out a little about his past and see the temple where he grew up, and there’s also one of those trials where he decides the group is better off without him, blah blah blah. The sum of its parts doesn’t sound like much in summary, but it’s still an entertaining read, helped immensely by the characters.

A similar story about Sango occurs later on, where Naraku resurrects her dead brother with a shikon shard and Sango has a falling out/betrayal with the group in an attempt to save him. This is slightly more notable than the Naraku chapter, since everyone finally gets to meet Naraku face-to-face, and we learn that the only person he fears is actually Kagome. Interesting. The fight is… you know, lots of poison vapor and Naraku sneering. But the Sango parts are genuinely touching. More important is probably the second half of her introduction storyline, at the beginning of the volume, when she thinks Inu-Yasha killed her entire village and that Naraku is trying to help her. Obviously this… yeah, this works out okay, but it’s also got some of the better action scenes in the series so far. Sango’s fighting style is quite different from anyone else’s so far, and I’m a big fan of her exterminator costume.

There’s also a nice story where the gang fight a lone water spirit that may or may not be a Water God. It was nice to see that there were Gods in the world of Inu-Yasha, and that they are not to be trifled with. It’s strange that more haven’t appeared as of yet.

Yes, it’s still a pretty archetypal shounen action series. It does everything right, including all the usual characters. But the demon types are still really interesting, how the fights begin are always different and unexpected, and I really love the characters at this point, though admittedly there’s still not much behind their basic personalities (Inu-Yasha is prickly with a soft side, Kagome is a strong girl trying to do the right thing, Miroku is a mild-mannered monk who can hold his own and has a perverted streak, et cetera). Inu-Yasha’s my absolute favorite, and even I know there’s not that much to him just yet. The fact he has romantic feelings that he can acknowledge, and doesn’t feel the need to punch people who bring them up, is a lot more than most shounen heroes get, though.

It’s just… good. Takahashi knows how to write a shounen series, and this is probably the best example there is. And that’s coming from someone who was manga-raised on Ranma 1/2.