OK, here's the basic storyline of Inuyasha:

It's the Sengoku Jidai, the era of the Warring States. Fifty years ago, there was a powerful priestess named Kikyo, who was the protector of the Shikon no Tama, a sacred and powerful jewel that could grant demons unimaginable power. Demons came and went, trying to steal the jewel from her, but Kikyo slew them all.

Now, there's a hanyou, or half-demon named Inuyasha who also is after the Shikon no Tama, and he wants its power so that he can become a full demon. The priestess and hanyou unexpectedly fell in love. Inuyasha told Kikyo that for her, he would become a full human with the use of the Shikon no Tama, and they'd spend the rest of their lives together. Kikyo believed him, and she carried the Shikon no Tama with her on that day.

However, something went wrong.

According to Kikyo, she brought the jewel, and Inuyasha caught her by surprise and he injured her, stole the jewel, taunted her, and left.

According to Inuyasha, Kikyo shot him with her arrow when he wasn't expecting it, so he got pissed off, and he went, rampaged the village, and apparently stole the jewel from there. (Here's what I don't get: If the imposter Inuyasha stole the jewel from Kikyo, how did Inuyasha steal the jewel from the village? .. am I missing something??)

Despite her injuries, the real Kikyo caught up with the real Inuyasha, and used up the last of her power to shoot Inuyasha with an arrow, binding him to the trunk of a tree in everlasting sleep.

Fifty years came and went.

Now, in the present day, 1997, there's a teenage girl named Higurashi Kagome. On the day of her fifteenth birthday, I think, she got pulled into a well on her family's property by this centipede monster. When she gets out of the well, she finds herself pulled back into the past, in the Sengoku Jidai era. She sees Inuyasha pinned to the tree, fast asleep.

The centipede monster comes back, and tries to get this "Shikon no Tama." The jewel emerges from a cut in Kagome's body. Inuyasha wakes up when he smells Kagome's scent, even though he was supposed to be asleep forever. Kagome releases Inuyasha from the tree, and he defeats the centipede monster easily.

Another demon, a crow demon, comes along, and tries to steal the Shikon no Tama as well. He does just that, and even swallows the whole jewel. To save the village, Kagome shoots the demon with an arrow, and she succeeds, but at the same time, she shoots the Shikon no Tama into dozens and dozens of little shards.

And so, Inuyasha goes off to find the shards so he can put all the shards back together to create the Shikon no Tama so he can become a full demon. The only thing is, he can't even see the shards. Kagome, however, has the power to do so.

Since she feels partly responsible for breaking the jewel in the first place, she decides to help Inuyasha on his quest. Along the way, they make friends, and enemies. One particularly nasty enemy is Naraku, who has the power to shapeshift into different forms. Apparently, fifty years ago, he posed as Inuyasha when he stole the jewel from Kikyo, and he posed as Kikyo who shot Inuyasha when he wasn't expecting it. He wants the jewel, and if he gets it, he'll be even more powerful than he already is. What started out as a simple quest to turn a half-demon into a full demon has turned into something more complex . .