Inu-Yasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale | Rumiko Takahashi
Rumiko Takahashi is now my idol, and only because of Inu-Yasha. This HAS to be the best manga/comic book I've read. I've heard that all of Rumiko Takahashi's work is amazing, and that IY (by several reviewers' opinions) isn't as good as some other things she's done (for a list of the Takahashi works I know off the top of my head, refer to the bottom of this review). If that's true...I'd love to see other things she's done. Ok, now for a brief synopsis of the story line (shorter than the one on the message board where I kept going off on irrelevant tangents):
IY is set in the "Warring States" era of Japan, and also in the current time (it fluctuates, because two of the characters are capable of time-travel through a well). Kagome Higurashi (a Japanese school-girl from the present time) is pulled into a well on the property of her family shrine, and is yanked back through time (500 years ago, if my memory serves me well). She meets a half-demon (dog demon) named Inu-Yasha, who was "killed" by Kagome's preincarnation, a priestess named Kikyo. Inu-Yasha desires a jewel called the Shikon no Tama (The Jewel of Souls, or the Jewel of Four Souls, as Viz has translated it) so he can become a full demon. The Shikon Jewel is shattered, and they spend the rest of the story (that I've read, anyway, which is up to the 20th graphic novel) finding the Shikon shards, and fighting the demons that have found them and come to possess them.
I'm not going to include any more information here, because most of the things I know could be considered spoilers by picky people. =( If you want to know more, e-mail me, or look on the message board, because there's a little more information there. Oh yeah! I forgot! Inu-Yasha has just recently (last fall) been turned into an anime! It's only out in Japan right now, but it should be out here soon...I hope. For now, go buy yourself some fansubs.
Rated: P3-13 to R, depending
Rated as above for: Scenes depicting extreme gore and violence, nudity, and slight language
List of Rumiko Takahashi's Anime/Manga Works
Lum Urusei Yatsura
Maison Ikkoku
Rumic World
Ranma 1/2
Mermaid Wood
Laughing Target
One-Pound Gospel
Dust Spot
Laughing Target and One-Pound Gospel were stories IN Rumic World (a collection of short stories), and...um Dust Spot might have been to. I really don't remember =( There could also be more of her work out there that I don't know about -- and there probably is. If anybody knows of it, e-mail me and I'll post it up there. Thanks! =)
-Veggie
