#inuyasha meta

[shinidamachu]

It's absolutely beautiful how there were three very significant moments in Inuyasha's life where he was at his lowest and we could feel the sun like a presence on each of those times because Kagome was there. Starting with when they first met.

After years facing prejudice and leading a lonely existence, Inuyasha let his guard down with someone just long enough to see — what he thought was — them turning against him and sealing him away.

He was dead to the world, frozen in time and his heart was the coldest it has ever been. That's where the sun comes in, because every sunrise means a new awakening and a new chance to begin again.

Its warmth melts away the worse of winter and allows spring to finally come. Without sunlight, there's no light to guide you. There's no life at all. Kagome woke him up and brought him back to life in every possible way.

And even though Inuyasha literally never saw it coming — still oblivious to her arrival — it's clear from the get go the role she's bond to play in his life: his own personal sun, lighting up the darkness of his days.

The second time it happens, Inuyasha was consumed by grief, guilt and the heartbreaking realization that he'd have to let Kagome go, despite it being the last thing he wanted to do.

After he can no longer postpone saying goodbye, Inuyasha walks to the well, feeling miserable under the shadows of the trees, only to find Kagome already there, waiting for him and bathed in sunshine.

I love how he gets blinded by the light because that's what happens when we spend too much time in the darkness: it takes time to get used to something burning that bright. Until Kagome, he was not used to people staying or loving him unconditionally — with the obvious exception being Izayoi.

He then steps into the daylight to get to her and after they work things out, Kagome takes him by the hand and guides him forward. Inuyasha squeezes her hand back and catchs up so they're walking side by side. They're both under the light now and they're moving on.

There were many instances in the series where Kagome's voice or the mere thought of her was enough to snap him out of dark spells and certain death, leading him back to the light, to life.

At last, after three years of darkness, there's the moment when Kagome finally comes back to him, because the sun will always rise again.

In a way, this is what those three scenes are all about: Kagome returning to him again and again. Only the first time it was as the piece of his soul he didn't know was missing, finally finding the way back home.

One of the openings — or was it a closing? — even nodded to the notion of Kagome being his sun: she dissapears and takes all of the light with her, leaving Inuyasha in the dark, alone and lost.

And thinking about Kagome in this context is even more meaningful when we take into account that Inuyasha's literal darkest nights — the moonless ones — are his human nights, because when the morning comes, when the sun comes, he is free to be himself again and regains his lost strength, much like he does in battle when he thinks of her.

#Inuyasha #Inuyasha meta #Inumeta #Inukag #Inukag meta #Kagome #Kagome Higurashi #Sidposting

[fuedalreesespieces]

one thing that always gets me whenever i read inuyasha modern au fics is that inuyasha is supposedly "the slacker" or the guy who doesn't try hard on anything academia related, and that always struck me as odd bc you're telling me inuyasha wouldn't be competing with, say, koga for rank 1? that he wouldn't study his ass off in the subjects he's actually interested in? that he wouldn't pour his everything into extracurriculars he cares about? he has his aloof moments in canon but ultimately he's a hard worker and i think that trait should be reflected in aus!

plus if we're thinking about the setting here, inuyasha's canon behavior is greatly influenced by his upbringing (and later lack thereof). putting him in an environment (modern au, lack of youkai discrimination) where his talents are cultivated instead of looked down upon would give us a very different character. it's always interesting to me whenever i see canon-typical inuyasha behavior in an au where his mom is alive because it suggests that his mistrust and gruff behavior are just part of his personality and not largely a result of childhood events. i feel like modern aus are an opportunity to see how he might have grown if not for the death of his mother + father & the consistent threat looming over him as a child. what would his personality be like then? how would his first meeting with kagome go considering that? his dynamics with his older brother? his goals? it's something that could be explored in a fic taking place in the feudal realm but it's kind of difficult to just subtract the discrimination aspect that comes with that setting...just things to think abt ig!

#also saw a reblog so IM CLEARING MY NAME LMAO #koga would not even be in the top five #he was just the first person who came up when i thought of inuyasha competing w someone lol #also needs to be said that i haven't read that many modern au fics #probably because i'm not the biggest fan of em #but this is just smth i noticed from the ones i read #i also see a lot of miroku and inuyasha being besties in these fics #which isn't bad or anything but i feel like he'd be friends with sango before miroku since they seem to mesh better #also to clarify i am NOT hating on fics that do any of the things i mentioned #headcanons are headcanons and ppl should have fun! #this is just my opinion lol take it with a grain of salt #i've only ever written like three inuyasha fics and haven't even finished the manga so i'm no expert on his character #anyway enough of my rambling #inuyasha #inuyasha a feudal fairy tale #inuyasha meta #inumeta #sango inuyasha #koga inuyasha #kagome higurashi #miroku inuyasha

[officialinuyasha]

Why did Rin name them "Towa and Setsuna"? - The meaning behind their names

I received a question about their names. The meaning behind Moroha's name will be in another post. Since these were things we previously covered I'll have the master post on Towa and Setsuna's name here -

In Yashahime Episode 15 Rin says "Towa and Setsuna" to their names. In Japanese - Towa and Setsuna mean One Moment and an Eternity. It's also said in each episode. "Towa and Setsuna, between us half-demon twins, two worlds exist at the same time; Human and Demon, Feudal Era and Present Day, Peace and War, Joy and Sorrow, Dreams and Reality, Now and Forever, and finally Love and Hate. A Feudal fairytale, Yashahime. We'll keep moving forward, overcoming the hurdles of destiny."

Katsuyuki: — What is the origin behind the names “Setsuna” and “Towa”?

**From the outset, I came up with “Setsuna” using “setsu” in “Sesshōmaru”. I chose the name “Towa” so that it would pair with “Setsuna”. https://ayuuria.tumblr.com/post/684458629287542784/yashahime-translation-official-guidebook

Setsuna means “moment” while Towa means “eternity”. - Hence, a pair.

Katsuyuki-san said that "Setsuna is a black Sesshoumaru" and Towa is "White Sesshoumaru" they are Yin and Yang.

https://www.tumblr.com/officialinuyasha/629334377576464384/this-was-a-translation-collab-between-esther-xiao Katsuyuki: "Setsuna and Towa inherited the "yin" and "yang" of Sesshomaru, respectively, but at the same time both yin and yang exist in Towa and Setsuna. Half-demons are self-contradicting existences, and that is the subject that has been passed down."

Rumiko also mentioned this https://ayuuria.tumblr.com/post/667032838479265792/yashahime-translation-official-guidebook

"Sumisawa-san told me “Towa is a white Sesshōmaru and Setsuna is a black Sesshōmaru”"

You can also find "Rin to Sesshoumaru" theme song in Towa's theme song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9lofIKeL_0

The voice actors said Setsuna and Towa's relationship seems to reflect on Sesshoumaru and Rin's - https://www.tumblr.com/officialinuyasha/646757262237597697/staff-thoughts-on-sessrin

"Towa seems to close that gap like *that person* (Rin" "Their relationship seems like that of their parents" "If you look at Towa, I think you can figure out who the mother is"

Their names are black and white, past and present, human and demon, one moment and an eternity. A pair.

#inu yasha #犬夜叉 #inuyasha #yashahime #sessrin #sesshoumaru and rin #sesshomaru and rin #inulysis #hanyou no yashahime #yashahime princess half demon #inuyasha meta #inu meta

[karingu]

inuyasha is kagome's scratch post lol

(I had this sitting in my drafts for like 7 months so I'm finally giving it a prison break.)

I thought about what I felt Kagome gets out of her relationship with Inuyasha, since I think it's pretty clear what he gets out of the relationship with her...

Kagome is already sort of at a good place. She knows her worth, what's worth her time, and doesn't need a Man™ (or any person) to satisfy anything she "lacks"... we all know she was just vibin before slipping into the feudal era.

But compared to the other suitors in her life (Koga and Hojo)... Inuyasha doesn't quite treat her like a princess. Of course, he loves her and would do anything for her, but he doesn't exactly grovel at her feet either (I mean, he's tsundere max x5).

(This panel is pretty early on in Ch. 44, but basically summarizes their dynamic lol.)

Some people would prefer to be treated like a princess, but I don't think bad azz b*tch Kagome does. Inuyasha pushes back, fights her a little, he has a little pride, and Kagome is the same to him, but never to a point of no return, and they both trust each other to know they can handle criticism. They humble each other. Kagome seems to get a bit of satisfaction from that.

If she were with Koga or Hojo, I imagine it feels like a cat scratching at a smooth pole. It doesn't satisfy her. Whereas when she's with Inuyasha, it's like scratching... you know, at a scratch post. There's a right amount of resistance.

He's also a good guy, and that helps.

So it's not so much that Inuyasha fulfills an emotional need — he simply complements her personality. Meanwhile, he's not all fight; he's gentle in their moments alone later on, he keeps his promises, believes in her, reminds her of her worth when she's feeling insecure, and always shows up for her no matter what, which includes unsolicited visits to her house or room.

He's a kind person and also a protector of not just her, but everyone she cares about.

Kagome knows she is safe with him, just as Inuyasha knows he is safe with her.

#and um he's kinda babygirl :3 #my:inumeta #inuyasha #kagome #kagome higurashi #inukag #inuyasha x kagome #inuyasha meta #inumeta #inuyasha manga #inuyasha anime #my:posts

[heikeee]

no but i need to scream into the void or i'll go mad. listen. kikyo wasn't a bitch. i don't think the way she was written did her any justice; it just makes her easy to hate. and don't get me wrong, this isn't about her relationship with inuyasha or kagome at all, i just want to talk about her as a character because she is one of the most complex of them and she needs to be looked at with more empathy.

i've said it before and i'll say it again: her whole thing is that she is tragedy personified. think about it. everything, and i mean every single thing that could have gone wrong in her life, HAS gone wrong. she had a difficult upbringing, having to raise her little sister and having to shoulder the burden of being the sole purifier of the shikon jewel (which constantly put her and her village under threat). she was never dealt an easy hand to begin with. then, she finds solace in love, tries her best to think of a way of unraveling herself from her duties to live a free life, while still caring for others selflessly: she took in onigumo, and he betrayed her. by pretending to be inuyasha, he had her think that her lover had betrayed her as well, and succumbed to wounds inflicted by him (or so she thought), while sealing him to the goshinboku.

the last wish she spoke of was to take the shikon jewel to the beyond with herself. later, kagome finds a way to actually destroy the jewel, which was what kikyo had intended to do but couldn't. in her heart, her last wish was to see inuyasha again. the jewel corrupts this wish and grants it in the most fucked up way possible.

her remains are robbed from her grave and she is brought back to life with NO agency on the matter, by someone who wanted only to exploit her powers. now, untethered from from her past duties, she is finally free to experience emotion. and that includes bad emotions. so anger, resentment, jealousy, contempt, loneliness, selfishness (and that's part of being human). every unfulfilled wish, the unfairness of it all. she spends the rest of the series navigating this undead existence, the duality of not belonging anywhere, constantly torn between doing what is right and what needs to be done to reach her goal, having no choice but to consume souls of recently departed girls to have the energy to fight her only fight (destroying naraku), all the while helping villagers and kids, and even the inugang, despite not wanting to align with their agenda at first. she contemplates sacrificing kohaku, yes, but ultimately her redemption is that she chose to save him instead of purifying the jewel in the end. she showed that she trusted the inugang to finish what she couldn't, and chose to spare another life, if possible (she says so herself in ch441)

it is very difficult to relate to someone that doesn't give access to her vulnerable side very often. her and sango are the two characters who had it the hardest and were forced to make the most difficult decisions out of everyone. but we love sango, even when she chose to sacrifice rin, even when she contemplated killing kohaku then herself, because we know where sango's heart lies and how torn she is about all of it. kikyo, on the other hand, is stoic and hardened by her life (and also post-life), but ultimately her biggest trait was kindness. we don't get to see her cry and be like woe is me about it, something that could've made us more empathetic towards her like we are with sango.

my point is kikyo deserves to be looked at through kinder eyes. she is a complex character, and she requires a bit more analysis and compassion to actually see who she really is. my tragic girl

#sorry to be a kikyo apologist but i just love my tragic girl! #and i'm honestly not against her being portrayed as a cynical evil bitch in fan works either tbh. i like her when she's bad too #she plays a great villain! #also this has nothing to do with me shipping inukag #or inukag being endgame in the story #my girl deserves a break #she's a tough nut to crack is all #and i will say this: yes she doesn't like kagome. in her shoes i wouldn't fucking like her either! LOL #but i'm not in her shoes so i also love my girl kagome. i can like both of them #i contain multitudes #kikyo meta #i guess this counts as meta? #inuyasha meta #kikyo #i am so afraid of getting hate please just block me if you disagree

[born-for-eachother]

Inuyasha didn’t really see any benefits to being human (even when he resigned to being one permanently for Kikyo) he constantly was anxious and wary of others he didn’t really trust. That was until he met Kagome. She was the first person he trusted. He also deduced that humans are very stubborn creatures. Humans are also very determined. He thanked his human mother (Izayoi) for those traits. Because those traits translated to his determination in protecting Kagome.

“…I have someone I have to protect, and that’s why I can never give up.” Inuyasha, movie 3

What started off as a power trip to make himself stronger, changed into making himself stronger for her. This is especially true after he turns full demon. He wanted to hold on to his humanity.

Ergo, long story short, Kagome helped him realize the benefits of being human while still being himself. (A half demon)

#I honestly truly believe Inuyasha would have come to regret his decision in becoming human permanently #the panic? #he’s always wanted to protect loved ones #anyways I hope this all makes sense lol #inukag #inuyasha #kagome #inuyasha meta

[inkydeeeeeeew]

@inuvember day 17: after Sesshomaru FAILS to murder Kagome, she gives Inuyasha the sword so he can fight.

We never really get any point at which any of the events of these couple of chapters are really processed. Like, 1. Kagome tries to take off Inuyasha's clothes. 2. We hear a bit about Inuyasha's backstory. 3. Inuyasha goes off but himself to sulk and Kagome goes after him to see if he's okay. 4. Sessh shows up with Inuyasha's dead mother in CHAINS wtf dude. 5. The mom gets free and he leaves her with Kagome to protect while he goes after Sesshomaru. 6. Mom uses some mom magic to transport Inuyasha and Kagome to another place. 7. Inuyasha is confronted by his younger self. 8. Kagome saves him from being fully consumed by the mom. 9. Sesshomaru attacks Inuyasha, but the fake mom throws herself between the two to protect Inuyasha. 10. Sessh gouges out one of Inuyasha's eyes. 11. They go to Inuyasha's dad's grave. 12. Sessh seemingly murders Kagome. 13. Somehow Kagome is alive. 14. Inuyasha activates The sword and cuts off Sessh's arm.

Like wow that is a lot of shit to go through in fairly short order. I know he's kind of obsessed with the sword after this, but damn a lot of heavy shit just went down!!

Anyway, yeah.

#inuvember #inuyasha #kagome #Inuyasha meta #meta

[uptoolateart]

Why there's actually NO love triangle in Inuyasha (looking at the story from an eastern perspective)

So, this is going to be one of my long posts - bear with me!

I see a lot of debate about Kikyo vs Kagome, and I wanted to share some thoughts on the love triangle aspect of Inuaysha. Although I am white British (originally American), I was raised with an Indian religion – and despite leaving it about 20 years ago, it never fully leaves your system. And I really think you really need to look at Inuyasha from an eastern perspective to understand the Kikyo / Kagome thing.

So, let’s first look at why I personally had such a problem with Kikyo in the beginning – and then we’ll look at why we have to see her in a different way.

I have two problems with Kikyo. The first is that she was a high priestess of the village, known to be so powerful that she was entrusted to purify the shikon jewel, and so forth. She dealt with demons on a daily basis. She knew better than most that they often took on dual forms and they were deceitful. And yet the instant ‘Inuyasha’ attacked her, she didn’t so much as blink at it. She accepted his betrayal without hesitation – which tells me she never truly trusted or loved him.

Exhibit B – her proposal to use the crystal on him, to make him fully human. Essentially, this would have eradicated the world of one more demon – she was slaying him under the guise of love. It was a means to de-claw him, which to me is symbolic of stripping away all his passion and strength - everything that makes him him. He would have been tamed and weakened and in her hands. It’s pretty realistic, because a lot of women fall for the ‘bad boy’ and then work hard to domesticate him until he is unrecognisable. I just don’t like it.

So, to my mind, Kikyo didn’t really love him. She didn’t accept him for what / who he was. He was fatherless, his mother died when he was young, and he had to look after himself in a cruel world of bullies and bigots. He naively fell for the first suggestion of kindness because it was the first he ever had of it – but it wasn’t sincere.

She sealed him to the Tree of Ages and the world moved on, while he remained frozen in an older time. I see this as metaphor for Inuyasha being emotionally and mentally stuck, unable to move forward from his trauma. This is why (apart from just being a demon) he doesn’t age. Kaede is an old woman and he’s still the young naïve reckless kid in desperate need of love and acceptance, unable to grow.

But Kikyo never grew either. She died and sealed away the crystal in her grave, freezing the whole moment in time. She still had lessons to learn – they both did. And this is what leads us to Kagome. She is drawn back to Inuyasha because they have unfinished business from a previous lifetime.

When Kikyo is first resurrected, her soul is removed from Kagome’s body and returned to its former body, Kikyo. But this is not how it should be – that soul is ready to move forward. It’s had time to learn lessons. In fact, an interesting question would be: what was that soul doing for nearly 500 years? Because it had to have gone through other incarnations between the feudal period and modern Tokyo. In that time, Inuyasha remained stuck in one moment, unable to grow, while his lover’s soul reincarnated again and again and learned the lessons it needed to learn in order to go back and resolve this matter.

So Kagome drags her soul back into her modern body – but leaves one crucial piece behind in Kikyo’s resurrected body: her hatred / anger. Kikyo is then a walking body of rage. Symbolically, we are seeing the soul (now in Kagome) leaving the past in the past and wishing to move forward, without the anger it held onto for so long. The anger then gradually becomes purified, we could say, through the infusion of other dead souls mixed in to keep Kikyo’s body alive a while longer. She gains the experience of other souls, to heal that anger so that it no longer lingers in the world.

However, as long as Kikyo is present, Inuyasha cannot move forward. It isn't so much about her as an individual - because we have to remember she's already there as Kagome. Kikyo's presence is a symbol of the guilt and anger Inuyasha needs to let go of. He is still emotionally stuck to the tree.

Kagome has had other incarnations to teach her the wisdom of letting go of those emotions. Her special innate skill seems to be healing – as Kikyo, she was a healer, but now she is even more so. The very birds flock to her. She is also a seer. She sees not just the shikon shards but into people’s hearts. She can read the emotions in their faces. She sees their vulnerability, and their worth, underneath all their bravado and anger. Her kindness touches people. She might struggle with algebra, but she has innate wisdom from lifetimes of experience. She is an old soul. In many ways, although Inuyasha is 200 years old, she is at least 500 and therefore older, despite appearing younger. This works in a way that ‘Twilight’ never did, because of the reincarnation angle.

Kagome is patient – she’s been patient for 500 years, after all – and continues to be there, waiting for Inuyasha to let go of the past, symbolised by the phantom of Kikyo.

This is not really a love triangle – Kikyo and Kagome are the same person. Kagome learns to realise this. At one point, she finds herself in Kikyo's memories of the day she was killed, and Kagome even yells at Kikyo something to the effect of, 'That's not him! He would never do that! Why can't you see it!?' This is her remembering her own past life and reflecting on how blind she once was. But not anymore - she has learned, and she is a seer.

Kikyo is not a threat. She is a figment of the past, and both Inuyasha and Kagome need to let that past go. This is symbolised when Kagome is tested and held over the cliff by a fake Kikyo, and Kagome has to let go of her hand and declares that she doesn’t need to worry about her – she is enough in herself.

Inuyasha finally comes to see that it’s time to move forward. This is him overcoming trauma, pain and anger. He doesn't simply move on with Kagome once Kikyo dies for good - this is him releasing himself from the past and moving forward with the same lover, but in her older, wiser form. This is the moment that the anger dies. All that matters about Kikyo lives on as Kagome. He isn't choosing one over the other, because there is only one woman.

By the end, when Inuyasha has faced his demons (Naraku and more), he is a whole person and finally able to embrace true love. Kagome, as well, in all these incarnations has learned to accept and love for real. She doesn’t want to de-claw him anymore. She never wants him to go full human, but also doesn’t want him to go full demon – because it is vital that we find balance between our animal and civilized sides. It’s a Buddhist notion, this treading the middle path. Inuyasha is the ‘perfect man’ (I mean that as the western magical term), in the sense that he is equal parts beast and human / instinct and intellect. Neither aspect overwhelms the other – and Kagome is the one who teaches him how to walk this path and be whole.

Kagome gives Inuyasha the acceptance he needs to love himself and therefore love her and see love in others. At the end, when he declares to the demons in the crystal that he was born to meet her and she was born to meet him, he doesn’t just mean as Kagome – he means first as Kikyo and now as Kagome. Their karma is entangled. They have been on this path for 50 years (for him) / 500 years (for her). They share a thread of fate. However, it wasn’t their time, 50 years ago. Neither of them was in the right mental place for it to work, yet. And so it was all put on pause, allowing her time to grow, learn, and come back and teach him what she learned along the way, through all those lifetimes of experience, so that they could both grow together and finally be together. I even like to think that now he might begin to age, because he is no longer emotionally stuck to that tree.

When Kagome’s mother so quickly accepts that it’s time for Kagome to leave forever, this is such an eastern viewpoint, as well. Growing up on the location of a shrine, she clearly understands that this is not really her daughter – this is an old soul who incarnated as her daughter in this particular lifetime, and it is now her time to go back and do what she was born to do. She doesn’t belong to her mother. She was on loan, so to speak.

The ending reminded me so much of a novel I’ve read a few times called 'Mipam' by a Tibetan lama named Lama Yongden. It’s quite an interesting story, again about a romantic couple and their fate throughout incarnations.

So Kikyo is bothersome – but it’s because she is the immature form of Kagome before the benefit of 500 years’ worth of lives / experience. As a soul, she learned love along the way, to the point of becoming someone who can love nearly anyone and anything. Kagome forgives so much – including Sesshomaru and Kouga, who are rather abominable, if you think about their beginnings in the story. I see Kagome as a bodhisattva (another Buddhist concept), choosing to incarnate even when she no longer has to, in order to pass on her wisdom to others and teach everyone the path of love. And in true bodhisattva fashion, she isn’t really aware of it during this lifetime – she is humility.

So there you have it – a love triangle…but between two people! Inuyasha never chose one woman over the other, because they are the same - you can’t have Kagome without Kikyo. Kikyo struggles with it because she knows that part of herself will be gone forever (the anger). Kagome struggles with it because anger is hard to release, and yet she just wants it gone already! But they are not distinct characters, if seen from an eastern philosophical perspective - which we have to do, because the foundation of the story is that Kagome is Kikyo’s reincarnation.

That perspective is essential to understanding what’s happening, who they both are, and the ending / the path everyone takes. Inuyasha has that revelation by the end and accepts that she will return to him because they have been on this path for so long, and been separated before – by death, no less – and she still came back to him.

And when Kagome dies, I can only imagine he will wait for her to return to him in some other form, or he will die too and join her somewhere - because they were not simply born for each other as Inuyasha and Kagome but as their two souls underneath those physical forms.

#inuyasha fandom #kagome x inuyasha #inuyasha x reader #inuyasha x kagome #inuyasha #Inuyasha analysis #Inuyasha meta #inukag #inuyasha and kagome #kagome #kagome higurashi #inuyasha x kikyo #priestess kikyo #anime and manga #manga and stuff #rumiko world #rumiko takahashi #inuyasha fanart #kagome fanart #Inuyasha thoughts

[viva-el-belt-libre]

Thinking about how Naraku interacts with members of the inugang. No big revelations, just thoughts.

InuYasha and Miroku are easy. There's some story to both. But since with InuYasha it's a more personal beef because of Kikyou, and Naraku taking InuYasha's appearance (and of course because he's the main character), there's a lot more targeted harassment towards InuYasha. Plus, there's the whole "similar people following completely opposite paths", with both of them being hanyous and all.

Miroku is more of a detail. Let's neutralize him kind of thing. Heck, he probably didn't even remember there was somebody with a wind tunnel running around until Miroku joined InuYasha and Kagome. There had been years without any sights of Naraku, to the point where Miroku hadn't even encountered him himself. So aside from the few times Miroku actually gets close to sucking Naraku in (or when he was used to kill Hakudoushi), Miroku is not really a thread nor particularly interesting. He does use Miroku's traumas sometimes though, but that is usually because of Sango.

Sango is kind of an outlier, because he had absolutely no reason to go after her. Her village had jewel shards, he wanted the shards and on the way to getting them he found out he really likes torturing her. For seemingly no particular reason.

Sure, she can be useful when he tries to get her to kill/betray InuYasha, but other than that? It seems like he only brought Kohaku back for shits and giggles. Yeah, he can be useful, but hardly more useful than the average incarnation. And if you are going to make an undead warrior, it would be more logical to choose an experienced one, instead of a child (like the band of seven). The only added bonus was suffering. Because he's into that.

Kagome gets taunting too and has no backstory, but Naraku is also scared shitless of her. So the targeting is always more of an attempt to get her out of way, or fuck up her powers (which always backfires anyway), and if he can get the jewel tainted while doing it, great. Even though he's obsessed with Kikyou, that was never what he felt for Kagome. The only similarities between the two for him is that they are powerful AF and can fuck him up.

#meta #InuYasha #inuyasha meta #naraku #inuyasha manga #inuyasha anime #kagome #sango #miroku #just random thoughts

[okayfinethisismyinuyashablog]

So, uh...I guess it's head canon time...

I was thinking today about the whole fanon idea of life extension for the human counterpart in a human/demon couple, and in this kind of arrangement, the human always gets a pretty good deal with extended life and wellbeing while there is not really any negative side for the demon. But that got me thinking...

In Inuyasha, we see 3 hanyo. We've got Inuyasha, we've got Jinenji, and we've got Shiori. And we also have a situation where all three demon parents died well before the human parents. In Inuyasha's case, his dad died sealing a dragon. In Shiori's case, her dad got murdered by her grandfather. In Jinenji's case, I don't think we know what happened to his dad, but he's definitely not around at the point where we meet him and his mom, and his mom was MUCH younger when they were together.

ALL OF THIS IS TO SAY...what if, when a human and a demon get together, there are negative consequences for the DEMON instead of positive consequences for the human? And what if those negative consequences hasten the death of the demon? What if there is a preoccupation or even a weakening of the demon's powers, and this makes dying after getting together with a human much more likely?

It would kind of make more sense why hanyo are so reviled by demons. SURE, IT COULD JUST BE FANTASTICAL RACISM, but it COULD also be fantastical racism with a side of the existential dread of accepting mortality for a human loved one. Like...that would kind of make all demon/human pairings somewhat star-crossed from the get-go. And maybe humans just care differently and in a somewhat irresponsible way, so demons just try not to get attached to them and most straight up avoid human interaction. And all these orphaned/half-orphaned hanyo serve as very visible reminders of the fear that if they succumbed to a love like that, it would mean their days were numbered...

🤔🤔🤔 I dunno, I'm just spitballing here.

#inuyasha #inuyasha meta #Inuyasha head canon #Head canon #Mates #Inuyasha mates #Hanyo #Hanyou #fanon vs canon #I dunno it's a Monday and I'm sleep deprived and over-caffenated #I was really thinking about the ending of Light Me a Lantern because that story lives rent free in my head and I'll never be the same #Jinenji #Shiori #Cultural materialism meets anime

[dyaz-stories]

I feel like Kikyo hates Kagome on the basis that she exists solely because shes her reincarnation and she got to life the kind of life Kikyo never have. Which would explain a lot of things, but it just makes me hate her even more. She was despicable to Kagome, who didn't choose to be her reincarnation and if she's angry at her for shattering the shikon no tama.. that's fair but she gave the shard to Naraku so she has no room to talk. No wonder Kagome wanted her dead or gone one time.

Long reply, under the cut! (I realize that Tumblr does that automatically now but you never know)

Also, as a warning, this post is critical of Kikyo, so while I'm open to conversations about interpretations of the character, you should feel free to skip it if you think it might be upsetting to you! I know it can be unpleasant to see a comfort character being criticized and I don't want people to read things that would make them feel bad.

There's definitely an element of truth to that, at least at the beginning of the manga, though how much it actually has to do with Kagome being Kikyo's reincarnation is up for interpretation. In their first interaction, Kikyo is pretty dismissive of Kagome because she sees her as an extension of herself basically.

I don't remember it coming up again though, but I could be mistaken because it's been a while since I've read the manga!

Kikyo's problems with Kagome do stem from her... maybe not living the life she wanted, but doing things she wanted to do, but at that point Kikyo sees Kagome as her own person (and I'd argue that's part of the problem, actually, but that's, again, up for interpretation).

The thing is that I, personally, don't really mind that as character motivation? Like obviously it's shitty, but I like Kikyo having this fundamentally, though ugly, human emotion. It makes sense, it works well with her. I was rereading these chapters and I thought, again, that Kikyo was such a good villain in the beginning. A tortured, tragic one that you could have empathy for, sure, but a villain nonetheless. I hate her in these chapters, but it's the good, fun (though infuriating lol) kind of hate, and I totally get why other people would like her. I mean, look at how villainous this is:

Again, could 100% be wrong but I don't remember her talking about the Shikon no Tama breaking, though you're right that it would make sense since that was her life's work and she had done everything she could to ensure the Jewel wouldn't hurt people again.

After that, Kikyo slowly gets worse (as a person, not as a character), up until the moment when she does the unforgivable: she tries to kill Kagome and gives Naraku the shards. That part is still interesting to me, because it's a profoundly selfish decision to make, and it shows how far she, someone who had been selfless her whole life, had come. She wanted to be the one to purify the Jewel and to kill him, herself, probably out of pure personal satisfaction (I'd argue she/Rumiko tries to make it look selfless but... it's just not).

My problems with her as a character mostly come after that, precisely because that stuff is dropped completely by the story. After that, Kikyo's dislike for Kagome is kinda just... there? And her motivations for it become a lot more blurry, which I find annoying. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that Rumiko should have spoon-fed us everything. I like having to think about things, in general. But it doesn't mean it was well-handled. Like, when Kagome saves Kikyo's life, this is Kikyo's reaction:

And like, okay, the whole thing is that Kikyo thinks that Kagome wouldn't have wanted to save her, and Kagome didn't even have to think about it. She would never have let her die. My problem with that is that I can't think of a reason Kikyo would have to expect Kagome to do that that doesn't require you to look for complex explanations that aren't all that supported in text. So I can say, "well maybe Kikyo would have hesitated so she's projecting it on Kagome" (which we never see) or "Kikyo knows that she's tried to kill Kagome so it would make sense if Kagome wanted her dead" (which hasn't been addressed for over 150 chapters at this point), but I can't come to a satisfying conclusion... Even worse, the actual answer that makes the most sense in text, I think, is "Kikyo thinks that Kagome would be willing to sacrifice her so there wouldn't be interferences between her and Inuyasha" which just feels super shallow to me when these two have much more legitimate problems than 'you're a problem between me and my boyfriend >:( '. (That's because by then, Rumiko has almost completely reduced their conflict to... boys problems.)

So, that's the thing. Kagome never really wanted Kikyo dead or gone. Whenever there was a risk Kikyo could die, she always did what was necessary to ensure it didn't happen; this isn't the only example of that.

Was Kikyo super shitty to Kagome at times? Absolutely! And I think it's completely fair to dislike her for that. I know I do. I also think that your interpretation of it makes total sense and is definitely somewhat supported in canon. But to me, this weird, almost apathetic dislike that we're shown in the second half of the story is a much bigger problem.

#inuyasha #anti kikyo #it's not really but that way if you've blocked the tag you won't see it #inuyasha meta #inuyasha analysis #my analysis #asks #anon #i realize you weren't necessarily asking a question but i still hope my answer makes sense ;-;

[shinidamachu]

Hello ma’am at Wendy’s; could you analyze some inukag scenes in the first movie? 😍

I could talk about how Inuyasha was strugling in the first battle — to the point of Shippo stating he's hopeless when Kagome isn't around — and how he headed back to it with renewed energy once she got there.

I could talk about how he bickers with her the entire time, but it's always so gentle while constantly carrying her away from danger — bridal style, no less — and asking her in that soft voice we don't ever hear him use with anyone else if she is alright even though he was the one just getting his ass beaten.

I could also talk about how he follows after Kagome when she runs off, supposedly to "give her a piece of his mind" yet doesn't deny it when Shippo counter arguments that she got him wrapped around her finger. I could. But that's just our everyday Inukag, so here are the scenes I feel like are worthy discussing on a deeper level.

When Inuyasha found Kagome after she accidentally cut herself, he got closer, wanting to take a better look at her wound, but for a second there Kagome forgot about her injury and really thought he was going to kiss her. You can see her surprise at his sudden proximity and then the disappointment when he goes for her hand instead.

Then he took her finger to his mouth, to the place where his fangs are, without overthinking it or fearing any judgement, simply trusting that Kagome wouldn't be scared or disgusted by the gesture, by him. And she never does. What really makes this scene, though, is that Inuyasha is completely oblivious to the effect his actions are having on her so far or just how intimate they actually are.

Kagome's safety is his number one priority and Inuyasha feels comfortable enough with her to follow his instincts without reservations, so he doesn't quite realize the romantic implications because it's natural to him, to them, to be this close.

Then Inuyasha uses Kagome's favorite handkerchief to patch her up. Considering she sounds more upset about him ripping it to do so than surprised that he has it in the first place and that he doesn't seem embarrased to have it at all, my guess is that she must have gifted it to him at some point.

And even though he claims it's just a piece of cloth, the fact remains that he carried it with himself for who knows how long — probably because it smells like her — and kept it intact despite the many battles, that is until she needed it as a bandage and we get visual confirmation that Shippo was right: Kagome literally got him wrapped around her finger.

Flash forward to the bridge scene, where Inuyasha thinks he's seeing Kikyo at first, then notices is actually Kagome in priestess clothes and runs to her. If you ask me, it's pretty telling that he'd only mistake the two of them when Kagome isn't acting like herself.

I love his reaction to realizing Kagome is there, safe and sound. He's just so genuinelly happy and relieved to see her. Those aren't emotions we're used to get from him. Plus, he worries about her being pale and insists that she gets back to Kaede's so she can get more rest.

Then when Kagome hugs him, he apologizes — which we also don't see him do often — for not getting to her sooner, thinking that's what earned him that hug. And he returns her embrace in true Inuyasha fashion: tight and cradling her head.

That's when Kagome pulled this little trick and I think two things are worthy noticing. One, she managed to break free from the mind control long enough to tell Inuyasha to get away. That's quite impressive. Two, when confronted with the idea of Kagome betraying him, Inuyasha came to the only possible conclusion that she was under a spell, never once doubting her.

He makes one attempt to reason with her, pleading for Kagome to snap out of it, but when that fails, he doesn't even try to immobilize her or adopt a defensive stance, he just runs, flat out refusing to lay a hand on her, the opposite of his fighting style.

And even though Inuyasha knows Kagome is being controled, I still appreciate his reaction to hearing the one person who makes him want to live telling him to die. Not to mention how it brought back some very unpleasent memories. Speaking of which...

What's interesting about this scene is that, again, Inuyasha knows this is Kagome attacking him — although against her will — but the very idea of her hurting him is so inconceivable that Inuyasha tries to make sense of it with the situations he has experienced before.

Then Kagome explained she has no control over her body and just can't stop, begging him to run again before it's too late. Inuyasha, however, wouldn't hear it.

"I'm not running. Not without you. I won't leave you behind."

And honestly, who would have blamed him if he had run? Certainly not Kagome. She understands better than anyone just how difficult reliving those old traumas must be for him. Yet he would rather stay and die by her hands than leave without her.

That's why she fought so hard against the spell here, in a way she couldn't quite fight when it wasn't Inuyasha's life on the line. Until the very end, she refuses to be the one to cause Inuyasha the same harm he has suffered before. But she ultimately fails.

It's only after Kagome realizes what she's done that she manages to break the spell. It's very meaningful that she screams his name the exact moment it happens and that her eyes were full of tears even before she shot that arrow.

She runs to Inuyasha and wraps him into one of my favorite Inukag hugs ever. The position they're in is so intimate, it's like she wants to melt into him and protect him from the entire world while begging him to say something and open his eyes, chanting how sorry she is.

It also parallels the scene in the beginning. Same spot, similar situations. Except where once was Kagome injured, now is Inuyasha and where once was him patching her up, now it's her who is taking care of him.

Kagome doesn't let go of Inuyasha for a good while and when Kikyo tells her to return to her own time, since she doesn't belong there, Kagome answers that she won't, that she can't leave Inuyasha — echoing his words from earlier.

Even after Kikyo explains that once the well it's covered over, Kagome won't be able to return to her own world anymore, she is still reticent about leaving Inuyasha and Kikyo has to literally force her out.

"Inuyasha! My hands can't touch him anymore. My voice can't reach him anymore. I won't see Inuyasha ever again."

I absolutely love how classic Inukag this quote is. You have Kagome saying his name twice, a mention of touching, which is a huge part of their love language, a nod to her voice reaching out to him, which is a recurrent theme for them and "I won't see Inuyasha ever again" as opposite to our many "I want to see Inuyasha once more."

Another thing I love is how this scene mirrors the one when Kagome first meets Inuyasha: unconscious against the Sacred Tree, her hand reaching out to him. Except then she ended up saving him later and now she was the reason he was there.

Then we finally get to the reunion scene, the heart of "Affections Touching Across Time" which by the way is such a great name for the movie! Not only is it poetic, but it also paints Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship as the transcendental love story that it is. As if no matter the circumstances, it's inevitable for the love the feel for each other to find its way back to them.

Inuyasha wakes up and Kagome is his very first thought. For her part, Kagome is also able to feel Inuyasha through the tree.

"I can feel him. I can feel Inuyasha."

They start to talk even though they're years and years apart, Kagome asking if he is okay and Inuyasha brushing her worries off as usual. He then says he's surprised she isn't there and when Kagome says she came back home, he teases her about being scared.

Kagome denies it and I believe it's because she was initially thinking about the dangerous situation they were in, but then images of Kikyo telling her to go home and kissing Inuyasha flashes through her mind and she admits that e was right, that maybe she did run away.

She did get scared, but not of the danger they were facing. She was scared to find out Inuyasha was truly in love with Kikyo and that, since Kagome hurt him, he would be better off without her around.

Once Kagome explains that to him — minus the Kikyo part — Inuyasha gets up despite his wounds and tries to make his way to her, but Kagome meets him half way.

@kitramune pointed out that Inuyasha smiles at her reaction because not only he knew she would do so, but he also expected her to in order to pull her into a hug.

"I need you with me, Kagome. Haven't you realized that yet?"

Their hug is also a perfect replica of the original one, their very first one. From Inuyasha having a wound on his chest to catching Kagome completely off guard, first pulling her towards him then embracing her tight.

The scene is a masterpiece overall. The music, the dialogue, the voice acting — both in japanese and english —, the emotional conflict. It keeps me wishing it had happened in canon every time I watch it.

And I can't in good conscience leave the ultimate trusting exercise out of this. That Kagome trusts Inuyasha enough to jump into his arms from great heights it's pretty amazing in and out of itself, but the reason her confidence in him is so high is because he delivers it every time. It's all very reciprocal.

And even though Inuyasha complains about her being reckless, I love that he doesn't even bother to sheathe Tessaiga — his most valuable possession — too focus on catching Kagome in the gentlest way possible.

Last but not least: the extra scene. In the beginning of the movie, we hear Grandpa Higurashi say that the Sacred Tree would blossom every single year without fail, until five hundred years ago, when Inuyasha was put under a spell and fixed to its truck, to which Kagome replies that now its flowers are blooming again because she set Inuyasha free.

The blossoms represent just that: a counterpoint to the snow that once fell over them. They're both pretty but where the snow is cold, the petals are warm. Where one is winter, the other is spring. Where one is the end of a cycle, the other is rebirth, it's life.

I hope putting Inuyasha on the shadows and Kagome on the sunny side of the tree was a conscious creative choice here because it accentuates their personalities and the yin and yang dynamic of their relationship, on top of being aesthetically pleasing.

I especially enjoyed how reassuring and straight forward he was here, like it was a given that he would be there for and with her even if it couldn't be physically, like he couldn't fathom any other way.

And of course, there's the way Inuyasha is so aware of her and constantly worried about her well being, noticing how exhausted she was and being concerned she might collapse while having a severe injury on his own chest.

HONORABLE MENTIONS: Sango telling Kagome to be careful and Kagome replying that she'll be fine because she'll be with Inuyasha. The villain saying "I've never seen anything more pathetic than a half demon cuddle by a mortal girl" and Kagome going "why? What's wrong with us being together?" Kagome still feeling awful about hurting Inuyasha and thanking him when he insisted that "it's barely a scratch."

#I've watched the Inuyasha movies once each #And I never really planned on revisiting them because to be honest I don't particularly consider them canon #Plus the animation was atrocious at times #So I figured I'd just rewatch the most memorable scenes whenever I feel nostalgic #But I watched the whole thing for you Kat #And I actually had a great time doing it #Inuyasha #Sidmailing #Affections Touching Across Time #Kagome #Kagome Higurashi #Inukag #Inumeta #Inukag meta #Inuyasha meta #Kagome meta

[officialinuyasha]

New Moon VS Human Form - Shingetsu VS Saku

The subtitles have a translation issue. Myouga here says "This is Saku." Saku is the ability. Shingetsu - 新月 - Does mean New Moon in Japanese. Saku - 新月 is also another word for New Moon. However, Myouga here is using two different words to distinguish between them. So in that conversation: Saku means the ability of half-demons to become human and Shingetsu means New Moon. That every half-demons human form can vary like Jinenji, Izumo and Naraku. The original context that the series previously established remains the same.

#犬夜叉 #inuyasha #anime #manga #inu yasha #yashahime #hanyou no yashahime #yashahime princess half demon #inulysis #inu meta #inuyasha meta #yashahime meta

[karingu]

inuyasha had a knife through his heart

tw: death and grief

Tacking onto what I had wrote about Kikyo's passing (in this post)... a huge reason why I felt Kikyo's existence was so painful is that her character embodies a senseless death, forcefully drawn out for a long time.

Inuyasha and Kikyo, when Kikyo was still alive, didn't have any reason to hate each other. All they did was love each other. But one day, everything was taken away from them for no reason other than Onigumo's greed. It was senseless. No rhyme or reason.

Kikyo was supposed to cease to exist that day. Inuyasha was intended to be sealed forever that day. Both their lives were supposed to end that day.

However... while Inuyasha was granted his life again, Kikyo was not.

When Inuyasha discovered what really happened that day, it was as if a knife got wedged through his heart. In life, when we lose someone, we might feel stabbed in the heart, but the knife is taken out immediately. For Inuyasha though... it remained because Kikyo was resurrected.

A part of his mind suspended in that moment he lost her.

At first, he bled. But he began to fall deeply in love with Kagome, opening his eyes to a new life... yet his heart could not love freely, for the knife was always still there. The blood may have stopped flowing, but so as long as Kikyo still existed, his wound could never close.

For nearly ~420 chapters and 150 episodes, Inuyasha lived with that knife through his heart. It was only when Kikyo passed on, the knife... was finally removed.

It was painful. He bled once again, even more than before...

But now, the knife is no longer there.

#grief is so fucked up #my:inumeta #inuyasha #kikyo #kagome #inukik #inukag #inuyasha meta #inuyasha manga #inuyasha anime #my:posts

[clown-cult]

Ugh....the plain misogyny in the iy fandom. Kagura and Kikyo are bad, bitches, sluts and not worthy of love. But its okay for our man Sesshomaru even though he is the same just in male form. He deserves the most purest angel 🙄. Had Sessshomaru been a girl, he would have got the same hatred that Kikyo and Kagura gets.

THIS ^^^^

In some ways (not many but some) it’s for the best that Sesshomaru wasn’t Inuyasha’s sister all along.

If you changed nothing about Sesshomaru except his gender, left his actions, motivations, choices and lines all the same but now as a woman, he’d be one of the most hated characters in the show, only coming second to Kikyo, especially by the rampantly sexist standards of fandom that have only started changing in recent years.

#misoginy #Inuyasha meta #sesshoumaru

[kitramune]

I'm having feels again so bear with me, but Inuyasha is not that dense. He knows exactly what Kagome feels when it comes to having to somehow be compared to or live up to Kikyou. Their friends get that she has a complex, but I'd argue they don't REALLY get it. Inuyasha REALLY gets it. He is a hanyou. A torn existence that will always be compared to either a human or a youkai depending on the prejudice. He understands the pain of being compared and coming up short in people's eyes. This is why you canonically will NEVER see him compare the two in any direct way, and especially not to Kagome's face. Quite the opposite, in fact.

Hell, I imagine if he'd been there to hear, it, Kikyou's "you are me" comments would have pissed him off. It's more than romantic drama or average teen coming of age angst. It's about identity issues. Inuyasha and Kagome are more alike than a glance would let on, and me, I love that and how it ties into some of the deeper themes. (Which ARE especially important to teenagers, don't get me wrong.)

#Inuyasha #InuKag #analysis #meta #this is also why the “Inuyasha just sees Kagome as Kikyou's replacement” discourse really gets my goat #Inuyasha would never