DVD
InuYasha
Volume 1

Starring (voice): Koppei Yamaguchi, Satsuki Yukino, Noriko Hidaka and Hisaka Kyada
Fabulous Films
RRP: £24.99
FHED2012
Certificate: 12
Available 16 April 2007


Kagome Higurashi, an average ninth grader, gets pulled into an ancient well by a demon, bringing her 500 years in the past to feudal era.. There she meets InuYasha, a half-demon who seeks for the shikon Jewel to make himself a full- fledged demon. With InuYasha and new friends, kagome's search for the jewel for Four Souls begins.

The story at the centre of InuYasha centres around a time travelling middle school student and her friends as they jump through time searching for the shikon jewel to make sure that it doesn't fall into the hands of the evil Naraku. Based on the original Japanese manga by Rumiko Takahashi, this DVD represents the first 12 episodes in what would become a 167 episode anime series which ran in Japan between 2000 - 2004. Unfortunately, while the manga is still going strong, the TV series was cancelled in mid-story.

Episodes include:

The Girl Who Overcame Time and the Boy Who Was Just Overcome: Kagome, your average teenage girl, is happily leading a normal life in contemporary Japan. However, on her 15th birthday, a mysterious centipede demon emerges from an ancient well on her family's property and drags her back through the well to a world of feudal Japan.

The Seekers of the Sacred Jewel: InuYasha, released from the tree by Kagome, has only one desire: to get his claws on the jewel of Four Souls and use its powers to become a full demon. Kagome, free but homesick, runs off into the forest to find the Bone Eaters Well she fell through, hoping that she'll be able to return to the world she was taken from.

Down the Rabbit Hole and Back Again: With the Shikon Jewel shattered, each shard has the ability to increase a demon's powers. InuYasha is not happy at the thought of having to collect the scattered pieces of the Jewel, Kagome upset climbs through the Bone Eaters Well and goes home.

Yura of the Demon-Hair: InuYasha convinces a reluctant Kagome to return and help find and cut the strand of Yura's hair. Shooting an arrow of purity Kagome reveals the source of Yura's power: a haunted comb used to untangle the hair of the dead before burial.

Aristocratic Assassin, Sesshomaru: Sesshomaru, InuYasha's full demon half brother, is after the family inheritance, a powerful sword called the Tetsusaiga. Meanwhile InuYasha is miraculously reunited with his human mother, who supposedly died long ago.

Tetsusaiga, The Phantom Sword: Kagomme, unable to move, sees that the reflection of InuYasha's mother in the water has no face. Sesshomaru is just using the this fake mother to lure InuYasha into revealing the secret whereabouts of the Tetsusaiga.

Showdown! InuYasha vs Sesshomaru: To everyone's surprise Kagome is the only one able to retrieve the Tetsusaiga from it's resting place. Sesshomaru, intrigued but disgusted with Kagome, and his half brother ImuYasha, transforms into an enormous, poison-gas spewing dog-demon and lashes out against them.

The Toad Who Would be Prince: With Sesshomaru temporarily out of the way, InuYasha and Kagome set off in search of the shards of the Jewel of Four Souls in an attempt to reunite its powers. A young samurai they meet along the way leads them to a castle where a vengeful toad demon has possessed the reigning prince.

Shippo and the Thunder Brothers: Night is settling on our travelling heroes when suddenly a blazing foxfire appears. The fires are a demon trick perpetrated by Shippo, a mischievous little fox demon, whose father has recently been killed by two Thunder Brothers demons called Hiten and Manten. Shippo has a cunning plan to steal the Jewel Shards from InuYasha and Kagome.

Phantom Showdown!: InuYasha seeks out the Thunder Brothers in a bid to rescue Kagome. Before long InuYasha has to summon up his courage and battle against Hiten. Kagome masters Shippo's shape-changing tricks to transform him into a bow and arrow in order to battle Manten.

Terror of the Ancient Noh Mask: After the encounter with the Thunder Brothers, Kagome becomes homesick and is ready to leave the choas-bound medieval time that InuYasha lives in. Kagome returns home just in time to discover that one of her family temple storehouses is on fire.

The Soul Piper and the Mischievous Little Soul: InuYasha spots a ghost called the Soul Piper, leading the souls of the dead children with his tune. Wise Myoga, the flea, explains that when the Soul Piper's eyes are closed the children are on their way to heaven. But should the eyes begin to open, a child is headed for a fate far worse.

Extras include cast list; line art gallery; English promo; Japanese promos; and textless opening and closing titles.

This is a pretty impressive series, which will appeal to anyone who is a huge fan of Japanese anime shows. The fact that you get 12 episodes spread across two discs also make it great value for money - most anime shows that are released usually contain only three or four episodes.

Certainly worth checking out.

Nick Smithson

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