The series begins with Kagome Higurashi, a fifteen-year-old middle school girl from modern-day Tokyo who is transported to the Sengoku period after falling into a well in her family shrine, where she meets the half-dog demon, half-human Inuyasha.
After the sacred Shikon Jewel re-emerges from deep inside Kagome's body, she inadvertently shatters it into dozens of fragments that scatter across Japan.
An anime original sequel spin-off television series, titled Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, aired for two seasons from October 2020 to March 2022.
Five hundred years later, Kagome Higurashi lives on the grounds of her family's Shinto shrine, with her mother, grandfather and younger brother.
On her fifteenth birthday, Kagome is dragged into the enshrined Bone Eater's Well (骨喰いの井戸, Honekui no Ido) by a centipede demon and sent back in time to the Sengoku period in 1546.
The Shikon Jewel manifests from within the body of Kagome, who is Kikyo's reincarnation, and she desperately frees Inuyasha from the tree to kill the centipede demon.
Later, Kagome inadvertently shatters the Shikon Jewel into many shards with an arrow, and they scatter across Japan and into the possession of various demons and humans.
Inuyasha obtains his father's sword Tessaiga, which places him at odds with his older half-brother Sesshomaru, the wielder of Tenseiga.
During that time, Sesshomaru settles his feud with Inuyasha to enable his brother to perfect Tessaiga to its optimal abilities.
Kikyo sacrifices herself to give life to Kohaku, and Naraku collects all the shards to restore the Shikon Jewel.
As he is slain by Inuyasha and his allies, Naraku reveals his true desire for Kikyo, despite his hatred towards her, and he uses his wish to trap himself and Kagome inside the Shikon Jewel before dying.
In contrast to her previous comedic works such as Urusei Yatsura (1978–1987), Maison Ikkoku (1980–1987), and One Pound Gospel (1987–2006), Takahashi wanted to create a darker storyline that was thematically closer to her Mermaid Saga stories.
[12] Takahashi published a special epilogue chapter, titled "Since Then" (あれから, Are kara), in Weekly Shōnen Sunday on February 6, 2013, as part of the "Heroes Come Back" anthology, which comprised short stories by manga artists to raise funds for recovery of the areas afflicted by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami.
When Toonami became a block on Adult Swim, Inuyasha aired there from November 2012 to March 2014, when the network announced that they had lost the broadcast rights to the series.
[38][39] On August 25, 2017, Starz announced that they would be offering episodes of the series for their video on demand service starting on September 1 of that same year, where they were available until November 30, 2018.
[67] The series began broadcasting in the United States and Canada on Viz Media's online network, Neon Alley, on October 2, 2012.
[69] In May 2020, an anime original sequel spin-off television series was announced, titled Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon (半妖の夜叉姫, Han'yō no Yashahime), which follows the journey of Towa Higurashi and Setsuna, Sesshomaru and Rin's fraternal twin daughters, and Moroha, Inuyasha and Kagome's daughter.
[70][71][72] The series is produced by Sunrise, with direction by Teruo Sato for the first season and Masakazu Hishida for the second, and main character designs by Inuyasha author Rumiko Takahashi.
[70] The cast includes Sara Matsumoto as Towa Higurashi, Mikako Komatsu as Setsuna, and Azusa Tadokoro as Moroha.
[72] Viz Media announced the rights to digital streaming, EST, and home video release of the series for North and Latin American territories.
In the film, Inuyasha and his friends confront Menomaru, a demonic moth warrior brought to life by one of the shards.
In the second film, Inuyasha the Movie: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass, released in 2002, the group seemingly kills Naraku for good and returns to their normal lives, only to encounter a new enemy named Kaguya, a character based on the literature The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter.
In it, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru forcefully work together to seal the evil Sō'unga, their father's third sword, when it is awakened from its sheath.
[80][81][82] Three more character songs were released on January 25, 2006 – "Rakujitsu" (落日, Setting Sun) by Naraku, "Tatta Hitotsu no Yakusoku" (たったひとつの約束, That's One Promise) by Kagome Higurashi, and "Abarero!!"
[90] Inuyasha's sword, Tessaiga, has appeared in Monster Hunter as a craftable weapon using items gained from a special event.
[93] In 2000, a Japanese live-action stage play ran from April through May in the Akasaka ACT Theater in Tokyo, around the same time the anime series began production.
Izawa described the faults of the series as subtle and minor; feeling that the action sometimes seems to drag a little and that some of the characters are too familiar to those from Takahashi's previous works.
She called its balance of action, conversation, and "reflection" perfect, and noted it had plenty of character development for the main cast, sans Koga.
Kenny stated that Takahashi's genius lies in her "endless improvisations on the standard elements" by adding new enemies and monsters she forces the heroes to up their game and grow as individuals.
[119] The English DVDs from the series had sold over one million copies between March 2003 and November 2004, with the first film's DVD topping the Nielsen VideoScan anime bestseller list for three weeks.