Inuyasha Story Time

They're here!

Good job, Shippo.

He has to.

April 16th, 2008. Author's note:
"Q: Sensei, what is one of your "small pleasures"?
A: When I'm not working, I like to watch TV and read."

I own this volume :-)

I am gonna post the fifty-sixth volume of Inuyasha.

I feel like you should've said "the fifty-sixth and final volume" or something

Cool, we got a spread of that group shot. Kohaku and Rin are admittedly a lot less visible. Jaken's completely out of sight.

Villainous talk.

Cool! I'm really of two minds about this. I might've done that for the other series, but doesn't that sort of give away the story a bit? I guess only original magazine readers don't get that aspect spoiled.

I guess this counts as another form too.

Though I guess you could argue that it isn't really Naraku at this point.

Original title is 落下. It means fall or drop. This is a nice powerful word though.

April 23rd, 2008. Author's note:
"Q: Please tell us what has inspired you recently?
A: I saw Houbekki (aka Saraba, waga Ai Haoubekki or Farewell My Concubine) recently. Yukio Ninagawa is awesome."

OP did it, madman

Wonder if he was always slowing floating that way or he only started after a certain point.

I like that one lock that's curving upwards

Q: What is the best movie of the last two or three years?

A: Dororo and Sin City. More recently, Elizabeth: The Golden Age.

that's quite the variety

Inuyasha! What's taking you so long?!

inuyasha please don't disappoint your brother this soon after the grueling process of begruding respect that you both went through...
you'll get punched again at this rate

Nowhere to stand. Need to fight.

is he going to fight while falling?

No new name for this variation.

meido zangetshu-ha #2!

kagome shoot him!

kind of want an edit where kagome's arrow is replaced with a gun lol
also i love how inuyasha's ears are still in frame teehee

did naraku miss or did inuyasha somehow dodge mid-air...

the miasma... it's solidifying!

goddamnit bros the miasma won't quit!

ENTER

lands on shippo

how long has inuyasha been falling for...
GODDAMNIT MIROKU
i know it's the end but still!!

Maybe the sexiest Sango has looked ever

Her tits do look extra big there

Original title is 奈落の死. It means the same thing.

Per Furinkan, Takahashi's eighth editor on Inuyasha, Shunsuke Moteki, listed this chapter as his favorite chapter. I'll post the relevant excerpt from this article after the dump.

May 7th, 2008. Author's note:
"Q: If a museum had an exhibition on any subject, what would you want it to be about?
A: I would probably like to see something about mammoths."

Cool spread.

The vanishing arrow from before.

...

He admitted it. It wasn't just Onigumo's lust towards her.

Thank you for the play-by-play Kagome.

wait a minute...
oh my god >I guess only original magazine readers don't get that aspect spoiled.
i hightly doubt that, it was probably openly advertised that it would end

I guess this counts as another form too.

yikes! where is spanishbro? what would this even be? forma diablo?

he finally let the jewel devour his soul

there was another layer of merging with the jewel...

OH NONONONONOONOO RUMIKO SISTERS... how can you ever recover?

Original title is 井戸の異変. This appears to mean "The Anomaly at the Well" or "The Strangeness of the Well".

May 14th, 2008. Author's note:
"Q: If you could make one law, what would it be?
A: Probably something to make people grow their own food and be self-sufficient."

?!

4th chapter Naraku dies

Feels too sudden

Only 5-6 chapters left

Feels too rushed as ending AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH

...

!

Ah, right. Hence why Shippo reacts to that bit of news.

subtle comedic panel

Magatsuhi disposed like nothing

It's like the 3rd villain that didn't deserve

May 21st, 2008. Author's note:
"Q: Could you tell us what is a book that has made you cry?
A: The volume of Inusenryuu where his pet dog died."

Welcome and thank you OP

Original title was just 闇 or "darkness". Seems the family doesn't care to pretend she's just sick in bed for the girls.

Also, Furinkan has this note:

"This issue is a tribute to Mitsuru Adachi for selling 200 million copies of his works throughout his career. Various artists congratulate him and here's what Takahashi, who listed her favorite series as Cross Game and Touch had to say... "Congratulations on selling 200 million copies. That's very impressive, Adachi-sensei. We've both been working together here at Sunday since the same era, which has always been encouraging to me, and is a fact I'm very proud of. As you pass 200 million, please take care of your health and keep drawing more manga. I'll do my best to keep up.""

Adachi and Rumiko will work together on an autobiographical manga in 2009 called "My Sweet Sunday", which I'll be posted alongside Rinne Vol. 1. They take turns describing their time as manga fans and creators.

May 28th, 2008. Author's note:
"Q: Sensei, who is one of your idols?
A: Hanshin's Akahoshi."

so can someone explain what was Naraku's wish because I still don't get it.

The Death of Naraku

Yeah right.

June 4th, 2008. Author's note:
"Q: What would you like most right now?
A: NHK's "Shin Hakkenden" complete DVD set (since I never see it)."
Furinkan's note: "Takahashi last discussed Shin Hakkenden way back in Shonen Sunday 1994 volume 17."

This would've been around Ranma 1/2's 317th chapter, which Furinkan linked here.

Shippo...

So did they just come back from hot baby-making sex or are they waiting until Inuyasha and Kagome make it back?

We've had a lot of scenes like this, but it is great as a cover.

June 11th, 2008. Author's note:
"Q: Of all the presents you've gotten up until now, what is the most memorable?
A: My first fan letter (even now I think it's delightful)."

A fitting special soundtrack for the last episode’s title card, “Tomorrow”.

youtube.com/watch?v=L0bVQVceRUk

The anime’s final episode had a bunch of special ost tracks that do not appear elsewhere in the anime.

So Naraku was just an angry incel?

Naraku = seething incarnation. In every front

You now remember Koga.

rumiko didn't

ba-dum-tss

That was the last page of the previous chapter. I got confused. Sorry! Anyway, this is the first page of the actual final chapter. It starts with a page. The next page has the cover on it.

Also, I was curious what "the master" was translated from and it was translated from "亭主ど". As in "the husband", from context.

June 18th, 2008. Author's note:
"Q: Tell us about a good store that is near your home.
A: I want to thank you for continuing to read Inuyasha for such a long time. I was able to do it because of your support. Thank you."

She obviously had to ignore the question here. The question is asking all the manga creators but Furinkan included it anyway for completion's sake.

3 years and Rin still looks the same. Kids grow crazy fast that age

The final cover. Pretty. And no, this isn't a depiction of what is currently happening in the story for obvious reasons.

It's over...

not yet... just... a little more...

What's this japanese obsession around having a couple separate right at the end for years and then be reunited in the last pages?

It demonstrates fidelity

Track for the epilogue:
youtube.com/watch?v=Leo3g_PAMCc

Yeah but they miss out on years they could've spent together

that's the opening!
by the same artist as fukai mori by the way

Yah, but they also used it for the three-years-later-where-they-are-now recap at the end of the final episode.

I'll never consider this one of the best endings out there, too much dragged out and anti-climactic shit, but I still really love Inuyasha and enjoyed the journey to it.

Thanks OP, what a ride. Inuyasha has a very special place in my heart

"It was the summer of my fourth year with the company when I was assigned as an editor for Rumiko Takahashi, a woman I had longed to work with.

I was very excited as Inuyasha was coming to an end, so I came up with my own ideas for the extra stories leading up to the final battle with Naraku, and proposed them to her. "If you do this and do that, and then do this, and then do that..." I think it would be a great climax to the four or so chapters!

Takahashi-sensei was delighted and said, "That's wonderful!" However, the name that week turned out to have a completely different ending than I had proposed. I said, "Sensei, I'm so happy with what you submitted. The last part of the story is very interesting, but... it doesn't connect to the second story I just proposed!" Then she said, "Moteki-san, I have a proposal for you."

"If we follow your suggestion, Moteki-san, the last part of the fourth chapter will certainly be very exciting. But the three chapters leading up to that point will be just a "fill-in" chapter. I draw manga for the readers who pay 230 yen every week to buy Shonen Sunday to enjoy each and every chapter, and I don't want to make them read three weeks of "uninteresting connecting chapters" in order to make the next four interesting. Let's think about next week again next week." I was shocked by these words from the soul of the quintessential weekly manga artist.

And so Inuyasha continued to unfold in unimaginable ways until the final chapter, which came in first place in the reader's survey. The one page I chose was the one where the last boss, Naraku, utters the last words from deep his soul in his final moments. Hakushin's last scene at Mount Hakurei (in volume 28) is also very good, but Inuyasha has many great "I'll tell you when it's time" scenes!
Inuyasha 8th editor - Shunsuke Moteki (茂木俊輔)

Takahashi: Did I really say such a wonderful thing? I can't remember at all. Thank you very much for being Inuyasha's last escort."

Consider the following: Inuyasha's final 2 volumes against Naraku. But drawn by Hagi

RIP

That was the editor interview that I mentioned. I couldn't fit anything else into the post.

Also, I find it funny that Rumiko said "It was great, but it would mean a lot of boring setup chapters" and just did her own thing anyway. I also find it funny because presumably, Rumiko had the set up with Byakuya cutting Kagome for a while so she presumably already had a plan in place for the ending of that chapter.

I remember someone saying that Rumiko's being a bit funny here seeing as there are definitely less than exciting chapters, but I think that that comes with a more holistic view of "oh, does this fight actually matter?". There's definitely exciting fights and drama in every chapter. At times at the expense of the actual narrative, admittedly.

She was free

Not to be a spoilsport but Naraku's final battle was kinda meh. He just became really big, swallowed everybody, tried trapping a couple characters with illusions and then eventually... accepted death?
Nothing we kinda didn't see a million times already in previous volumes.

I didn't like Naraku himself or his fight, but I liked the scenery and character interactions the giant flying spider caused. The one place to see the full power of Sesshomaru's sword.

Koga and his pals didn't even get a mention, goddamn.

I'm going to post the final two wideban extras. This one is in regards to Naraku. Have to split it over two posts. Fixed some typos by Furinkan's translation.

"Onigumo, the Human Soul at the Core of Naraku

When I think about Naraku, I think that, at his core, he was still human. He started off as the bandit Onigumo, and I think he was never able to completely remove that part of himself. He was a human being until his final breath, albeit evil.

Naraku did horrible things to Inuyasha and party countless times. He knew how to make humans suffer because he himself was human. This understanding was why he was able to cause humans such grief. His humanity was where all his ideas came from. Even more, he never aspired to stain the world with evil. He just wanted to harm a certain few, and if others were harmed in the process he didn’t mind. That was the extent of his heart. He attacked only those whom he had chosen. He was fixated on Kikyo, and along with her came a fixation with Inuyasha. Looking at him this way, he was an extremely simple man, wasn’t he?

Unfortunately for him, Naraku had no one to call an ally. Even his aspects, made from a part of himself, betrayed him. Personally, I loved that about him. That he couldn’t even trust his own aspects. That said, I don’t think he was ever really sad about it. I mean, it’s not as if he wanted allies to begin with. He only wanted Kikyo. Naraku’s heart never softened. He was a demon, unquenchable in his loneliness and human in his weaknesses. That’s why, after killing Kikyo, he seemed to just completely stop caring about anything. He adopted a manner of hatred towards everyone and everything."

I dug the decompressed pacing of this series, the ending feels abrupt with no epilogue or anything but I guess thats how it goes with manga.

Other half of wideban extra.

"Naraku was the basis of the entire story.

I think the reason Naraku wanted the Shikon Jewel is that he wanted to rid himself of his own soul. I think he wanted to be a true demon, unlike the half-demon that he was. I don’t know for sure though, even looking back at the story now. What I do know is that he wanted complete control of the immense power of the Shikon Jewel.

The story of Inuyasha would not have worked without Naraku. I never considered killing him off halfway through the story only to reveal an even bigger, badder villain. I knew he would play his part straight to the end. What happened between Naraku and Kikyo formed the starting point for the events of Inuyasha. He needed to be there for the ending as well."

at last, time for twins

or was it triplets? I can never remember

with no epilogue or anything

the last chapter is all epilogue
a lot of manga do that or even less with only the last few pages of the final chapter being epilogue

It really got hurt after becoming so repetitive; didn't feel the apex of a great adventure in a manga that was all about being an adventure and didn't feel like the final confrontation against the final boss either

Even his aspects, made from a part of himself, betrayed him.

Except Byakuya. He remained chill to the end.

Here is the final wideban extra. This one is in regards to Inuyasha as a story as a whole. Have to split it over two posts.

"Inuyasha, the Shonen Manga I Always Wanted to Make

Inuyasha was the shonen manga I’d wanted to create since I was a little girl, a story that really felt shonen manga-esque and didn’t always need a punchline. My desire to try something like that was a dream of mine, and where Inuyasha got its start. I worked for a shonen manga publication, and while a loved writing comedies, I wanted to try something where comedy wasn’t the focus.

I chose the Sengoku Era because I thought it would provide a setting that was easy to use. I could have just had people fighting demons with swords in the present day. Maybe that would have even been better. But I think setting it in the Sengoku era made things less extreme. If it were set in the present, I don’t think I could have drawn all those people getting killed. It would have been too much. And if demons were running rampant in the present day, the amount of damage to the surrounding buildings and such would have been much more dramatic. All of this is why I chose the folktale-like setting that I did. It made for a much more readable story. And all that armor and stuff made for a more visually appealing package. I had only dabbled in period drama up to that point with Fire Tripper and parts of the Mermaid Saga, but I’d never done it proper. I love them, though. I like drawing kimonos and traditional garb more than drawing modern clothing."

Other half of wideban extra.

"I got everything I wanted out of writing Inuyasha.

I think i was able to wrap up Inuyasha fairly well. Kagome was able to go to high school, which is something I really wanted to make happen. Tests and entrance exams came up from time to time throughout the story, and after all that, it seemed unfair if I didn’t give her the chance to go to high school. Also, I knew that allowing her to forever be able to travel between the two eras as she pleased was something I absolutely did not want to do. Letting her to go to high school was a good compromise to her choosing to stay in the Sengoku era in the end. I think her high school life was pretty normal. I think just the fact that she was able to go was the important part. And three years later, after graduating, she’d return to the Sengoku era, where Inuyasha was waiting, as well as Miroku and the others.

Inuyasha was my story-focused manga, and I was able to include in it everything that I wanted. I left nothing out. I loved writing it. I am both happy and relieved that it ended properly and with care. I really got everything I wanted out of it."

Given how much she struggled with figuring out what to do with Kagome, I wonder why she didn't just keep the well open. But I'm not Rumiko Takahashi. I can't answer that.

Goshinki

Kageromaru

Juromaru

Kagura

Kanna

Hakudoshi A

Hakudoshi B(aby)

Byakuya

Which one was the best one? Waifufags need no apply. I like how they're seven like the capital sins and they portray Naraku's evolution with his mechanic shitting them

Agreed, the big round floating spider was pretty bad. Maybe there should have been a sequence where it tore up the countryside with Naraku's newfound power from the Shikon jewel to establish it as a threat? It just seemed super nonthreatening, like Naraku's ultimate goal was just to transition to a big round floaty gigaspider and nobody really needed to feel threatened after all.

Naraku had no one to call an ally

Poor Naraku :(

They all get mogged by the one and only queen of Inuyasha

Maybe don't treat your allies like shit, huh

OP just posted the relevant interview: Naraku never cared about causing destruction or achieving world domination. He wanted Kikyo for himself and that meant hurting her friends and allies.

Here's the 30th wideban cover.

Hakudoshi Baby, Kagura, Kanna are my faves. In that order.

Gintama storytime actually completed

Now Inuyasha

wow

or achieving world domination.

early series naraku managed to have an entire demon slayer squad killed while posing as a young lord (and then becoming the new lord by killing the "father" who was a demon)
with his abilities and manipulation, and the general level of fodder human soldiers and fodder demons, he could've carved out a nice chunk of japan for himself
but he'd rather mess with people like miroku's granpda lmao

The anime had him and Ayame getting married.

It also remembered Jinenji.

kai and his little brother are there too :-)

Is she canon?