Inuyasha - Season 7 (2002)
Inu Yasha DVDs
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Yes, this anime was over-hyped. Yes, the fanboyism was tough to
stomach. Yes, it aired on adult swim. Inuyasha's popularity was
tremendous...so tremendous, in fact, that there was bound to be a
backlash in the otaku community. A considerably large reactionary
anti-Inuyasha group arose within the community of anime fans which
claimed that Inuyasha suffered from lame writing and bad animation.
Well, guess what? It does...at times, anyway.
That said, Inuyasha deserves its place on anime's top shelf. Why?
Several reasons...first and foremost is the artistic vision of
Rumiko Takahashi, the author of the original manga. Her vision,
which the creators of the anime reproduced quite faithfully, paints
a marvelous fantasy set in the feudal era of Japan. Blending
Japanese mythology with images of both Buddhism and Shinto,
Takahashi's vision is unparalleled in anime. This combined with her
tight plotting, clever storyline and composer Kaoru Wada's first
rate soundtrack make Inuyasha a true triumph in not only anime but
in film altogether.
Now for the negative...Inuyasha did suffer from logistical problems
during its production. The creators of the anime wanted to reproduce
Takahashi's manga faithfully and did just that--that is, until the
anime caught up to the manga storyline. Then, the anime creators
were forced to create "filler" episodes that had little impact on
the central stories or characters until enough new manga material
was released. This does grow tiresome but it shouldn't take anything
away from any of Inuyasha's many marvelous episodes. Another problem
is the anime's ending, or lack thereof. The fact is, the anime
caught up to the manga once again and the creators decided that,
rather than run the anime into the ground with another season of
filler, they should pull the plug. Although this left many fans with
a bitter taste in their mouths and pleased the haters, this actually
was the right thing to do. The anime had been very faithful to the
manga up until this point and the creators did not want to stray
from that path, so they chose the path of artistic integrity and I,
for one, am glad they did. This enabled the Inuyasha anime to end
while it was still popular and also enabled it to retain its
artistic sincerity. I have chosen to read the remaining manga (Inuyasha
ran for a whopping 56 volumes!) to experience the rest of the story
as Takahashi intended.
In summation, don't believe the haters...Inuyasha really is a great
anime and even though it has its flaws, if you really give it a
chance, there is no reason why you couldn't enjoy it. I know that I
will buy this seventh season when it is released--I purchased the
first six, after all. ;)
