I've loved Inuyasha for a long time, but I haven't gone back and read it in a while. It's a rare thing that you go back to something you've loved for a few years and taken a really good look at it, so at first I was a little apprehensive about the idea of revisiting Inuyasha, on the off chance it might not have aged well. But when I got the courage up...
It was even more awesome than I remembered!
So I've decided to share my re-reading of the manga on my blog, if anyone happens to read it. But here's the thing; I'm going to be reading the chapters at random. I'll choose a chapter from the results of the custom random number generator online and write down my thoughts on that particular chapter. Why? Because linear progression is for losers!
Today's chapter is... 216!
The best panel in this chapter was definitely this one here:
She looks so pissed! And rightly so. After all, she just learned that her grandfather killed her father. But I am amazed at how accurately that emotion is expressed in this panel, and how it contrasts so completely with her confusion and crying earlier in the chapter. Very well done!
I really love this chapter for a lot of reasons. The first I think is how Inuyasha talks to Shiori. He recognizes that she's a child, but he's also trying to give her a level of agency in her fate. He is talking directly to her and all but ignoring the taunts of her grandfather as he holds her over everyone's heads - literally. ;) He wants to give her choices, something that her grandfather isn't doing, because her grandfather isn't concerned with how she feels. He's just using her, but it's obvious that Inuyasha cares about how she feels and what she wants, and I think that was a very great way to show how caring Inuyasha really is, and how empathetic he can be toward others like him.
The second reason is how caring Inuyasha is towards the people he doesn't even like. The villagers were being complete dicks, talking about Shiori like she should die just because she's the daughter of a youkai, but he later tells them to run away and get down. He really has a lot of compassion for people, even when they've actively pissed him off in the past. He shows it in subtle ways throughout the manga, and this is one of those ways. I really enjoyed the writing of his character here.
Speaking of the villagers wanting Inuyasha to go ahead and kill Shiori too, this is the second story about how hanyou are treated in communities of humans, but the first where we get to see how a hanyou is treated in a community of demons as well, and it really is obvious here how utterly alone they would feel. Jinenji's story only managed to cover being ostracized from the human half of heritage, but this one covers both. I really feel like Inuyasha is a story about race at its core, and it handles the subject respectfully and meaningfully.
I recall something in an interview I read in which Rumiko Takahashi, the creator of Inuyasha, said she was glad that Inuyasha was such a big hit in America, but she had primarily written it for Japanese audiences. I don't think she is quite aware of how accessible these characters are to the world over. Sure, it's obvious this story takes place in ancient Japan with Japanese customs and culture, but these characters are people before everything else, and this chapter illustrates that so well. They are so easy to relate to because they show those core emotions that we've all experienced and understand, and it doesn't matter where you grew up or what culture you come from.
Another reason is Shiori's character design. I really like how she looks. She's cuddly and I want to hug her!
Well, one chapter down, 557 to go!
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