Customer Reviews

Inu-Yasha : A Feudal Fairy Tale, Vol. 4

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

First off, let me just say this: Inu-Yasha is my favorite Takahashi manga to date! Second, I think you get a pretty good plot summary from Amazon and the other reviews, so I won't go into that. However,I will say that with plot and characters both, Takahashi surpasses all her other manga series. Personally, I thought that Lum was a bit out there, Mermaid Scar a bit too gory, and Ranma 1/2 was too repetitive, but in this title, it's as if Takahashi has taken the best from all of her series and decided to part with the worst (not that there was much of that anyway!). She's finally perfected the blend of action and romantic comedy. Inu-Yasha and Kagome as the reluctant couple complement each other perfectly--Kagome is mature in her actions, yet not in her feelings, and Inu-Yasha, while aware of what he feels, can't get past his somewhat juvenile behavior. I'm happy to say Takahashi-san has ironed out the flaws that persisted in the relationship between Ranma and Akane. Kagome is smart, independent and *very* likable, but she isn't violent or unforgiving or unwilling to listen, like Akane sometimes was. She's more than capable of standing up for herself, but she doesn't have to put others down to do it. Finally, a heroine who can put up with her guy! I'm very impressed with her--she can see past Inu-Yasha's hostile exterior and be kind to him in spite of his insults (though by no means being a suffering saint!). It's also refreshing to see the characters grow--Kagome started out slightly ditzy, but as she found herself having to deal with demons and monsters, she quickly shapes up and becomes reliable in a crisis, stable and in control. She's also sensitive and caring. On to Inu-Yasha. He seems at first to be a Ranma-type character--unable to express his feelings, hurting the ones he loves by accident, yet as the manga progresses, you see he has much more depth to him. Inu-Yasha has a rather unfortunate past with Kikyo, and that's the thing stopping him from fully accepting his relationship w/ Kagome. His past also leads him to be suspicious of mortals, and his heritage adds yet more complications to his emotional outlook. As a half-demon who fights agains his humanity, he's really a much better person than even he knows. I must say it was very surprising to find out that he's quite aware of his feelings for both Kikyo and Kagome--he just can't bring himself to put them out in the open. One thing I love about this manga is that we can finally *really* emphasize with Inu-Yasha's distrust of women and Kagome's frustration at not being able to get closer to him. In Ranma, it was hard to take the characters or their feelings seriously--the situations were always so wacky and bizzare that they spoiled and refuted any really dramatic moments. But here, you can really feel Kagome's ache for something more, and Inu-Yasha's bitter reluctance to commit. Another factor is the much more mature storyline, with gripping action that leads you to exclaim and sometimes hold your breath in anticipation as you flip the pages. Finally--if you felt some of Takahashi's other titles were too repetitive--that they settled into a pattern and stayed there--I'm happy to say that _this isn't the case_ with Inu-Yasha. Just as you think the story's beginning to be in a rut (about Volume 4)--Takahashi introduces a whole new aspect to the plot, dealing with passion, trust, heartbreak and betrayal in a surprisingly serious way. This all starts out in Volume 5, and only gets better from there on. This isn't quite the light-hearted comedy Takahashi-san usually serves up, but with still plenty of laughs in between. So even if you found some of Takahashi's other works not to your liking (but especially if you did!) here comes a manga with something for everyone. Buy it already!

This is a really awesome book. Especially with the thunder brothers--Hiten and Manten--who kidnapped Kagome. Inu-Yasha is forced to fight not only to keep the shards, but to hide a secret I think even his own heart was keeping from him, by saving Kagome. It's sweet with the scenes and the tension between the strong, Shikon-Jewel-souped-up, full-demon Hiten against Inu-Yasha; Shippo, as little as he is, trying to help; Kagome trying to set some memories right with the little one. Even though our hero is only half-demon, he is--as one of the chapters says--a half-demon is better than one.

Pacifing the angry soul of Mayu gives you a chance to see Kagome's really strength and determination. Guess Inu-Yasha does need her, huh? (And not just as a shard detector) Though you don't see him nearly as much in this little story of the book, he's still a big focus.
This one deserves 5 stars; you can call me bias, don't care.

(By the way, will somebody ever slap Hojo with a stick of knowledge? Because if someone says they slapped him with a stupid stick, I'd disagree. I'd still disagree if they said he was beaten with it. I'd say he had a severe fall down the whole dang tree!!!)
CYAS!

I wouldn't recommend reading this book if you haven't at least read the first book, and even then this might be confusing. It begins with a continuation of the confrontation that began in the third book. Kagome has been kidnapped by a pair of demons, the Thunder Brothers, but she manages to convince them that she'd be of more use to them alive than dead. They find Inu-yasha because they want the shards of the Shikon Jewel that he has, in order to increase their own demonic powers. In the second half of the book, Kagome is back in her own time period and trying to survive school. Unfortunately, she can never seem to get anything done without something supernatural appearing. Kagome has to somehow get a dead girl to find peace before the Tatari-mokke, a demon that plays with the ghosts of newly dead children, opens its eyes. The girl will go to hell if she can't find peace before then. The second part of the book is, I think, the first time that Kagome and Inu-yasha have ever done anything that didn't give them the possibility of recovering a shard of the Jewel. Rumiko Takahashi handles the death of a child and the idea of learning forgiveness very nicely in that second part.

This book is a definite MUST-BUY for all Rumiko Takahashi fans, like me, or even just a manga fan. The story is interesting and it was easy for me to get hooked on it. Ever since I've been introduced to this manga, I have also given it to my friends to read and they all loved it. Before you read Inu-Yasha, though, you might also want to consider buying Ranma 1/2 to get you into the manga spirit. Ranma 1/2 is also by Rumiko Takahashi. It is easy reading, hillarious, and another MUST-BUY. I've read several reviews before I wrote this and Inu58 had mentioned an Inu-Yasha translations site, for those who want to get ahead and read their way up to book 13, which is what Japan is up to at this moment. The page is an excellent information site for new inu-yasha fans and those loyal fans who have to go through a painful week of waiting for a new translated chapter. For those who only know Pokemon, Sailormoon and Dragon Ball, I will have to say that ALL of Rumiko Takahashi's works are way better than any of those other manga. Unlike those, Rumiko Takahashi actually includes funny scenes and excellent drawings instead of tasteless humor and bad artwork.

So, try this out (you may want to start with book one) and you are guaranteed to enjoy it as much as I have!

I have to say that Inu Yasha is the BEST manga I have read! Just wonderful! The graphics may not be absoulty goregous but they are good enough to follow the story through in such away you become addicted! Kagome is also a WONDERFUl main character, she not your basic clutzy, ditzy, not-school-smart heroin that the other books have sterotyped to our leading ladys. I couldn't reccommened this manga enough! Yea, it maybe high-priced but its defentally worth it!

It basicaly continue from volume three, then has a short story when Kagome go back during her time and meet a dead girl! Read it!!!!!!!

I love the Inuyasha series! I am a fan of Rumiko Takahashi in general, but I think this is her best series yet! Ranma nibun no ichi was great, but this is even better! I wish Viz would hurry up and release them quicker. I've read up to manga 13, and Viz is only up to 4!

Inuyasha is a rough-speaking demon, and Kagome is the level-headed girl who's forced to team up with him. Somehow they manage to work together and become friends. Maybe even more...?

Inuyasha is a change from Takahashi's other series - it's her first long-serial attempt at an action-type manga. (versus Ranma and Ikkoku, which were romantic comedies) As you read it, you can feel all the classic Takahashi elements are there: the humor, the characters, the moments of tenderness and embarrassment, and the romance. ^_^ A nice series for all readers.

In her fourth volume of Inuyasha, the pace of the story slows down - as you're reading it, you sense that this series is turning into one of those "monster-of-the-week" kind of things, and not much happens to really further the overall plot. The second half of the book is a spooky ghost story, kinda out of sync with some of the other stories that have happened in the series so far. You can tell Takahashi's experimenting to see what works best.

Still, the series is great, and it gets better as it progresses in later books. Keep any eye out for them! ^_^

Takahashi is really the "Queen of the Romance Comedy" all the way. Her stories will intrigue you, Captivate you, And just plain get you hooked. Another of her series I can't put down! Keep them comming Rumiko-sama, I can't wait to see what you come up with next!

Actualy Im 13, I just had to say Im 12 to do this form.

This was a pretty good book. Its Manga, Main-Gah, a Japanese comic-book, er, "Graphic Novel." This is by the same guy, I meen Girl, as the one who did Ranma 1/2. Her name is Rumiko takahashi... Or some thing like that. She is a really great artist, and does the best art in any manga ever! Now for the plot:

A girl named Kagomi- Kah go mee, I think,- is in present day Japan, but falls down her familie's anchient-Sacred well, trying to get her little brothers cat out. She wakes up in Feudal Japan with a demon centapede after her!

There she meets a strange half dog-Demon boy named Inu-yasha, who beleives her to be the incarnation of Kragomi,a Preistess of the Shikon Jewel, The women he once loved, the woman who killed him once...Or did she? He is on a quest to find the Shikon, for in will make him a full demon. Unfortunatly Kagomi breakes the Jewel, scattering the peices over all Japan. Now the two, A rude young dog-demon boy, and a modern schoolgirl, must team up to recover the jewel shards.

Warning- Japanese manga is very different from U.s comics:

More Blood, less violence.
Plenty of rok'im sok'm fights.

Better artwork, better plot, less dialoge.

Due to Public baths, they have nothing against bare umm...you know. This is kinda embarasing for me, but, I'd advise moms against letting any one under 12 read this, maby 15 for boys. It's not really nasty, just embarrasing. And there is barely any of it in there.