7/7/2005

I can’t believe I have the strength to type this entry out after the tiring day I had. All over the city and back running errands, and then this little transcribing job I volunteered for ended up taking three hours instead of one. Ow. Luckily, I’m still a few hours away from tomorrow so I’ll keep batting at the keys and hope I get something coherent.

As long as we’re on the topic of manga idol Takahashi Rumiko (serious, I was – you may want to have a peek at the Ranma 1/2 article in the Anime section for more of her work) I thought about how underappreciated the Inuyasha manga is. Beginning in 1996 in Shounen Sunday, it’s is yet unfinished, though the corresponding anime series has come to an end. The manga is licensed in North American by Viz and is published regularly in graphic novel format, though not as quickly as the Japanese series has progressed.

The story is that of Higurashi Kagome, a schoolgirl who is pulled into an ancient well and transported back centuries, to fuedal Japan. There, she makes an at-first unwilling alliance with Inuyasha, a dog-demon who is supposedly guilty of murdering a village priestess and dozens of others before being sealed and pinned to a tree. Their goal is to regain the Shikon Jewel, an ancient treasure with mysterious powers, shattered accidentally when Kagome hits it with an arrow. The shards scatter and give power to demons that Kagome, Inuyasha, and friends found along the way must defeat in order to restore it.

Check out the great manga, or even the anime, which airs in English in both the U.S. and Canada (but I’d advise just getting the official DVD with the pretty English subtitles). It’s definitely worth it!

Links:
Inuyasha Companion
Arabuusimiehet
Sengoku o-Togi Zoushi
Viz