Inuyasha/Inuyasha:Final Act

Best anime on Adult Swim years ago, and also the favorite for me and my cousin.

Also love how action-y the openings are.

What? No one likes Inuyasha?

Inuyasha's old news mate. Granted, so are stuff like DBZ and Yu Yu Hakusho. I guess it was stuff like Ending Fatigue and people generally getting tired of Takahashi romance schtick that wore off its popularity on the net.

As far as the actual show goes, I haven't really watched it aside from a few random episodes, but some of the promos Adult Swim did for it were pretty good. I especially like the Ludacris song they used for the movie marathon promo, wish I could find an instrumental of that.

I also hope that The Final Act airs on [as], it's looking pretty unlikely, but I'll watch any action acquisition [as] takes at this point.

edited 30th Apr '12 7:47:23 PM by Rynnec

Eh, as I talked with some friends on another forum Inuyasha and it's Final Act are a great deal better than the ending to ranma 1/2. That's another example of here we go again trope. Barely any resolution of feelings from either Ranma or Akane. Also yeah, the promos for Inuyasha were awesome. IMO, Naraku has to be one of the most sinister and biggest jerkass villains back then for me.

Prime example of Villain Sue at work.

Eh, Naraku never came across as a villain sue to me. That's more Aizen from Bleach.

Right on both points.

Anyway, I love Inuyasha. While I saw anime like DBZ and Pokemon first, they were so Americanized that they were just cartoons to me. As such I consider Inuyasha my true gateway anime.

Is it flawed? Yes. Do I still love it? Yes. The thing that fascinates me about Inuyasha compared to every other shounen I've read/seen is that...it's not at all like every other shounen I've read/seen. The action is pretty minimal and fights are never that long. During my last rewatch of the anime I estimated the show as about 60-65% drama and romance and 45% action.

Inuyasha has one of my favorite dubs ever. Some names are pronounced wrong but the actual acting is superb. Paul Dobson has the best fucking villain voice.

In addition to Naraku, Kagome has my favorite voice and she's also my favorite main character. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2GJHa1v7QsA

And you cannot compliment IY without mentioning the amazing soundtrack.

Some favorites of mine.

Oh and did I mention the anime had amazing Openings and endings? My favorite opening.

And my favorite ending...

Viz is supposed to release the Final Act dub this year but no clue if it will get shown on [as]. Looks kinda doubtful. Viz really screwed up with taking so goddam long.

Of course I'll still buy the DV Ds but I'm a hardcore fan. I'm sure they would ahve sold more if they capitalized on the interest FA stirred up a year or two ago.

edited 1st May '12 8:38:40 PM by Nikkolas

• Do As Infinity had the best theme (I think it was the OP?) for the series.

I thought that Inu Yasha was mostly So Okay, It's Average, but even then, I still want to see the Final Act. Make it so, [as] bitches!

You can always watch it subbed on Hulu if you are in the US. Just letting people know so they can check it out if they don't want to wait for the dub.

It was the second ending.

And it is refreshing to hear people say it's at least okay. These days, Inuyasha's former massive popularity has earned it a ton of Hype Backlash.

edited 2nd May '12 12:23:09 AM by Nikkolas

So it is time to destroy whatever reputation I may have had for good taste around these parts, by admitting that I enjoyed Inuyasha quite a bit. Now that is in part due to nostalgia, it was one of the first anime I watched after DBZ (back in 2004), however it is also because I legitimately enjoy certain aspects of it, as I had to admit when I watched it recently. I had made it out to be much worse in my mind, over the years, in no doubt influenced by the countless negative opinions of it on the internet, than it actually was. Note that I am not claiming Inuyasha is a good show, objectively it really isn't that good, but that it does not really deserve the huge backlash it has received. It's fairly mediocre as far as long-running shounen shows go in terms of quality, though it is also fairly different from most long-running shounen shows in terms of structure. Which can be refreshing.

Now, I'll be the first to challenge anyone who considers one of these long-running shounen shows to be great or amongst the best anime out there, despite the fact that I do enjoy quite a few of them on a purely entertainment based level. My point is that a lot of people who are willing to look past the flaws of other shounen long-runners or at least considers them mediocre, seem to be withholding all their furore and bile for the sake of piling it upon Inuyasha.

As I said, it's structure is very different from most fighting-shounen. While DBZ, Naruto etc. is often structured in ”arcs” with new enemies introduced that surpass former enemies in terms of strength/threat level, Inuyasha opts for the same main villain throughout. More importantly, in a lot of fighting shounen the fighting itself is much more in focus with long battles chained together by a mostly continuously building plot in the form of serial storytelling. Inuyasha also has a definite continuous plot, but each episode/chapter is more likely to contain its own main focus as a separate adventure. On top of that the battles are generally shorter and less focused on. The series is an adventure-action show, not an action-adventure show. Now, I am generally a fan of serial story-telling, in fact it is what drove me towards anime in the first place, however it is not inherently superior.

I liked that Inuyasha kept it's main focus on one villain, rather than suddenly having a new villain show up who by far outstrips the former ones. This also meant that the villain, Naraku, had a personal tie with each and every main character, being a fully integrated part of their back-stories. Despite what others have said, I actually thought Naraku was a pretty good villain, though he did get kind of boring after Mount Hakurei.

Now the main bad point of the show is obviously that it repeats itself far too much, with characters seemingly going through the same development again and again. In addition to that, it's simply too drawn out and it really should be a good 10-20 manga volumes shorter. In which case it would be much better, because I actually think the main story is fairly decent. On a related note, while the story does repeat itself, I do think that it has enough changes in surrounding circumstances that it doesn't feel as though nothing is happening, but your mileage may vary. The chapters which have nothing to do with the main story and which are not interesting in and of themselves are the worst part.

What really makes or breaks this show to most people is the characters: If you hate them, it's gonna suck. If you enjoy them, then you can probably tolerate the weaker parts for the sake of the character interactions and the fairly badass moments a lot of them get down the line. I enjoyed almost all the characters, with some exceptions (Koga is fucking annoying), so I had fun with it. A lot of people complain about Kagome and/or Kikiyo, but I actually found both characters fairly enjoyable in their own right. A lot of the criticisms of them seem to come from a willing lack of trying to empathise. That said, the whole love triangle got old fast, Takahashi has only ever written one romance that I can say I like, which is that of Maison Ikkoku. I did however like the setting, I thought the magical version of feudal Japan gave a lot of good opportunities for interesting stories with vague inspiration from Japanese folklore. Most shounen series are just as drawn out, it's just that they are drawn out by never-ending battle scenes rather than shorter, somewhat repeated stories and themes. One is really not worse than the other, in my opinion. I liked most of the drama which I felt had some real pathos here and there, though I disliked how a lot of it was repeated. I thought the comedic timing was pretty good as well, but then again Takahashi was originally a comedic author.

Overall, it's just not that bad to me and for a variety of personal reasons I enjoyed it. Is it on my list of greatest anime along with Legend of Galactic Heroes, Monster, Rose of Versailles etc.? Hell fucking no. But it's not on my list of irredeemable crap either.

On Final Act, I liked it more than the main show, mostly because it was very condensed, thus taking out one of the show's main problems; the fact that it's ridiculously drawn out. Also, a lot of the more badass character moments happened in the part of the manga that it covered (Yes, I'll admit it, I have an adolescent admiration for the badassness of Sesshoumaru, so sue me).

Spoiler warning: Not to sure about the actual ending, in general it was OK, but trying to make you feel sympathy for Naraku and making the shikon tama the implied real villain, was completely misplaced in my opinion and weakened Naraku's character as a villain.

edited 2nd May '12 6:24:48 AM by Mathias

Now I feel like skipping straight to Final Act.

Add me in the list of people who enjoyed Inuyasha. Like others have said, its far from the best but it doesn't deserve the amount of hate directed at it.

Because I started reading when the manga was almost over, I didn't have much issue with the pacing. So that might have factored into my enjoyment somewhat.

edited 2nd May '12 6:20:26 AM by burninganimefan357

@Mathias

I don't blame you for thinking it's shameful to like Inuyasha. I used to think that way until I found how trollish the opposition that call the show "crap" are. For one they use troll logic like anyone who likes Inuyasha is a "furry". Also "rational" like Inuyasha isn't as bad ass or a jerkass he proclaims to be in the beginning of the show. And Naraku is called "fail". It wasn't too long ago I consulted you guys on this, and trust me, it's not worth thinking too hard about. In addition the people that use these arguments perfect examples of Opinion Myopia (these people being Naruto forums OBD people).

I'm only going to touch one bit of their asinine arguments: Inuyasha in the beginning of the show was about to kill Kagome had Kaede not stepped in. Until character development settles in Inuyasha he wouldn't help a village plagued by a demon unless a shikon jewel shard is involved. Will hit any kid who pisses him off enough. Later in the show he still does.

On another note Naraku is one of the most underrated anime villains of all time. Seriously manipulating Kikyo and Inuyasha against each other he had 50 years of free time to harass the hell out of his enemies run rampant on the world. I repeat 50 years.

What makes things even more spectacular about the finale:

Even though he's the one responsible for pulling most of the strings in the end it turns out he's another person who is being manipulated.

That shocking new revelation made me see the Shikon jewel in the same win level as The One Ring from LOTR.

edited 2nd May '12 2:18:11 PM by Couchpotato20

Mathias is right on the ball with his assessment that liking the character is what makes you an Inuyaha fan. Inuyasha does not have a very interesting plot on the whole but it really isn't trying to have one. There are no big twists or long running mysteries. The plot is centered firmly on the characters and their development as well as their interactions with each other.

I loved Kagome because i found her to be an admirable depiction of a teenage girl. I'm not a girl of course but I know other girls who think Kagome is quite realistic. Now I know plenty of people who will countr with "being realistic doesn't mean being likable" and you are right. It's very much a YMMV thing. I got irritated with Kagome's jealousy at points too ya know. It's just that this is only an aspect of her charactr, just like it's an aspect of most real people too.

I liked her character on the whole is my point but it's very much a YMMV thing if you can look passed her (intentional) flaws and like her anyway.

oh and I should mention that I love Jakotsu.

Isn't he adorable?

edited 2nd May '12 6:25:01 PM by Nikkolas

Inuyasha vs Bankotsu has to be one of the best fights of the series. Shit was just so totally kick ass.

It was pretty cool. Bankotsu actually had a much more impressive death in the anime compared to the manga.

What is weird to me is why all the Inu haters always say "the Band of Seven was the best thing about Inuyasha." I guess because it's the most conventional and "typical shounen" arc of the series but I never found it terribly special. Not bad of course but not better than the first few seasons.

The Inuyasha movies were pretty weak though. I bought the Limited Edition set off Amazon because I wanted the soundtracks which were included with the films. I liked the third one the most but none of them were that spectacular.

Also in case you guys didn't know, Moneca Stori (Kagome) and David Kaye (Sesshomaru) won't be reprising their roles in Final Act's dub. I'm disappointed since I loved Ms. Stori as Kagome.

edited 3rd May '12 2:15:20 AM by Nikkolas

@Nikkolas

I prefer the anime over manga by a lot. Things were too simplistic and nothing too grand.

It's because most Inuhaters always expect the stereotypical type of formula of a final battle. The Inuhaters I've debated with on another forum favor series like Samurai Deeper Kyo and Saint Seiya. If you've seen both series then you would know how redundant the final battles of both series and the secret of the big bads are.

Even though the Band of the seven was one of the highlights of the series for me Final Act became a close first favorite arc. Inuyasha's acquiring the Meidou Zangetsuha was pure win. It became even more win when Sesshomaru (my favorite character in the series) finally found a Worthy Opponent in the character Magatsuhi. Someone who could back up his shit-talking. If people watched the Band of the seven arc closely they would have noticed had Sesshomaru not been in hostage situation he could have easily trounced the whole group. Bakusaiga is by far one of the coolest weapons ever seen. ^^

Also yeah it's saddening that Moneca Stori and David Kaye won't be reprising their roles. T.T What the hell do they have to do besides reprise one of the best animes shown on Adult Swim? I looked at David Kaye's VA history and it said that he was doing work for that mediocre ass new Scooby Doo show. Seriously? He would rather do that then Inuyasha?

EDIT:

Sesshomaru vs 1000

Most win by Sesshy in Inuyasha: Final A Ct

edited 3rd May '12 7:12:57 AM by Couchpotato20

Well, Mystery Inc. probably pays the bills a lot more than The Final Act would. Besides, I also think he's the new voice of Chase Young in the Xiaolin Showdown revival, and I think he's going to get a role in Transformers Prime. Now, I don't care much for Prime, but Kaye's role as Megatron in Beast Wars is what put him on the map, so he has a lot to owe the franchise, so I don't blame him for working on that over Inuyasha.

@Crimson Knight

Eh, I suppose so. But Mystery Inc is such a prime example of a poorly crafted Scooby Doo show. If Kaye really wanted to work on a show which is awesome and would pay the bills he should've worked on Thundercats 2011 or Ninjago (with Inuyasha costar Paul Dobson).

edited 3rd May '12 11:37:34 AM by Couchpotato20

But Mystery Inc is such a prime example of a poorly crafted Scooby Doo show

Lol, what?

Well, I can certainly see why one would think that due to all the Romantic Plot Tumor's. However, other than those, Mystery Inc is an otherwise good show, the romance aspect is holding it back is all.

From what I've seen of the show Fred is a complete moron. lol

Plus the Hex Girls are not as awesome as they were in the movie.

Out of all the mediocre shows on CN Ninjago totally comes across as the more awesome show. And yeah, as you said Nik Fred is a total moron. It's like the idiocy from Fred's days in A pup name Scooby Doo caught up to him.

Are people in this thread really calling Mystery Inc mediocre!?!? It's the best Scooby Doo series BY FAR!!!