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im watching Inuyasha for the first time (yeah im quite a few years late lmao) and i am in love w this tsundere dumbass <3 im still figuring out how to draw him lol

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A summer swim in the new moon

This is what I imagine if Kagome brought this duck back to the feudal era and Inuyasha couldn’t help himself.

This was my August’s AOTM for patreon.

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Another translation difference I wanted to talk about is this line from chapter 558 / episode 26 of TFA. 

Both translations of the manga imply that Inuyasha is going into the well every 3 days (with the intent of going to Kagome’s world) while the anime is more vague, only saying he’s going to the well. 

So what is the truth? 

The verb used was 入る/はいる (hairu) which means to enter; to go into.

So not only was Inuyasha pining for Kagome and visiting the well every 3 days for 3 years, he also was ready to risk it all & abandon the feudal era for Kagome! 😭

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Words at the Well

A reinterpretation of the famous artwork The Meeting on the Turret Stairs by Frederic William Burton.

They were silent as they approached the well, both of them dragging their feet. It had been a long and trying day – a battle with a tribe of mountain oni had earned them a small shikon shard, but all of them had been injured in some way during the fight.

Inuyasha had already recovered from his broken nose, stoically sitting on his haunches in the carnage of the battle field while Miroku cracked it back into place for him. Now a few hours later, even the bruising around his eyes had gone. Shippou and Kirara had also gotten over their scrapes, bumps and bruises, but the humans would need a day or two to recover, both Miroku and Sango looking a little worse for wear.

Kagome had elected to go home a night earlier than planned for her test, wanting a hot bath and good night’s sleep before the long day of study ahead of her. Much to her initial surprise, Inuyasha had agreed. He’d been glancing at her anxiously the entire walk from Kaede’s hut, and when they got closer, she thought she knew why.

Neither of them mentioned the lone shinidamachū floating silently around a tree in the gloom at the edge of the forest. They came to a halt in the long grass by the well, the tension between them growing. Finally Kagome cleared her throat, doing her best to smile brightly at Inuyasha, even though she was so exhausted she could barely stand upright.

“So, I’ll see you the day after tomorrow, okay? Try and stay out of trouble while I’m gone.”

She turned, hoisting her backpack up on one shoulder and climbing up on the side of the well, but was stopped from jumping by a gentle tug on her injured hand.

“You’re gonna take care of this, right?” Inuyasha said as he looked up at her, his gruff tone in direct contrast to the gentle strokes of his fingers against hers. He glanced down at her hand, barely touching the bandage covering the cuts where the feathers from her arrows had sliced open the skin. “Make sure you wash it again, and put some of that cream on it. And you need to look after those scrapes on your knee too.”

Before she could answer, Kagome’s attention was drawn to the forest behind him, where another shining youkai had joined the first, its snakelike form twisting through the trees. Both of them seemed to be carrying souls, and Kagome pushed down a shudder, hoping neither of the softly glowing orbs had belonged to girls in Kaede’s village. At an insistent tug on her fingers, she turned her attention back to the hanyou in front of her, doing her best to smile again for him.

“Inuyasha, I’ll be fine. Make sure the others rest, and as soon as my test is done, I’ll be back.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

As he continued to gaze at her, not moving away, she sighed tiredly, her exhaustion and morbid thoughts weighing heavily on her.

“Go on Inuyasha, she’s waiting for you.”

“Don’t matter. You got hurt today Kagome. I need to make sure you’re okay first.”

“But-“

“But nothin.”

His amber eyes seemed even more intense than usual in the growing shadows, the parched yellow grass lit by the setting sun a pale comparison.

“I have a duty to Kikyou, it’s true. It’s a matter of honour, and apart from my sword and the clothes on my back, my word is all that I can call mine. Just like you go to school for those exams because that’s what your family expects. You have a duty to them too.”

He pulled her hand gently to his chest, covering it with both of his, resting his head against her arm, his voice slightly muffled against her shirt.

“But I want to know you’re okay Kagome.” His voice faltered, and he turned his head, nose pressed tightly against her arm. “I need to know you’re coming back. And I want you to know I’ll be waiting for you.”

Tears sprang into Kagome’s eyes, and she curled her fingers around his, squeezing gently, ignoring the pain.

“I promise I’m okay Inuyasha. I promise I’ll be back.”

He released her fingers with a sigh, hiding his hands back inside his long sleeves, squaring his shoulders and smoothing his earnest expression away with a scowl, as if the softness had never been there.

“O’course you will. Bring more ramen when you come back, we’re nearly out.”

Kagome grinned at him, then turned and jumped, enveloped by the eerie glow of the well.

The day after tomorrow she had an exam, which she was not looking forward to. Then Inuyasha would be waiting for her. But right now, she had a long overdue date with a hot bath.

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Quick sketch before I get in bed, since I started to rewatch Inuyasha I’ve been doing so many sketches of it ! I’m so sorry if it’s becoming annoying xD I hope you like it either way ♥  

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Hello. I wanted to ask one thing. Why is everyone, including Rumiko, saying that Inuyasha and Kikyo dated? Maybe I'm just TOO stupid and blind, because I only read the manga and didn't watch the anime, but I didn't see anything hint that they were dating... Eh, they hardly even knew each other. How long had they known each other before Naraku's trap? Or the moment where Kikyo asks him to become a human is date? I don’t understand, where is the love and trust that everyone constantly talks about? I saw something like affection for each other, but love...

Honestly when I first read the manga I thought Inuyasha and Kikyo were labeled as “exes” because it was the simplest way to explain their situation, even if it’s hard for me to see them as such since they had so few interactions pre-betrayal. I mean, even during their last conversation when Kikyo dies the only “happy memory” they have of their time “together” is still just them sitting 5ft apart while Kikyo talks about the jewel, which makes it pretty clear to me that they never really had the chance to start a romantic relationship. I think we’re supposed to feel bad that Naraku “prevented them from being happy together” but that falls flat to me when we learn that the jewel is the real villain and Kikyo’s plan to make Inuyasha human most likely would have gotten them both killed.

In the story itself tho I think it makes sense for most characters (Sango, Miroku, Shippo, Koga, Kagome, etc) to assume Inuyasha and Kikyo were “dating” before the betrayal, because they weren’t there to see it and Inuyasha never explained anything to them so they can only guess what his relationship with Kikyo was really like. Also Kagome not knowing anything about Inuyasha and Kikyo’s past is 90% of what drives the “love triangle”. Like in the Mt Azusa arc when she says “Inuyasha has a past with Kikyo that I can’t make him forget, I understand that!” she has no idea what this “past” is, and it’s one of the main sources of her insecurities. If she knew that Kikyo was jealous of how she healed Inuyasha’s heart, and how Inuyasha wasn’t open with Kikyo like he is with her, Kagome would be a lot less insecure and Rumiko wouldn’t have been able to drag out the love triangle drama for as long as she did. 

There might be some cultural differences to consider as well. If you remove Miroku groping Sango and his “bear my children” schtick, him and Sango did not have that many genuine romantic interactions before he proposed to her. From what I’ve heard romance is a lot more “subtle” in Japan, especially in a different time period. 

And finally If you haven’t seen the anime anon there’s a 1 hour long special episode that adds a lot of nonsensical “backstory” to Inuyasha and Kikyo that makes it seems like they had this long, hyper-romanticized relationship. Inuyasha gives her his mother’s rouge and Kikyo decides not to put the subjugation beads on him, which makes a lot of anime-only fans believe that they did trust each other and would have lived happily ever after if it weren’t for Naraku (which also isn’t true as I said before, since Kikyo’s plan to make Inuyasha use to jewel is the real reason why their relationship failed).  I mean, personally I’m not in the “Inuyasha didn’t actually love Kikyo he was just confused” camp, I think Inuyasha is someone who cares deeply and quickly about people who show him kindness and Kikyo was that for him so I do believe he loved her. I don’t believe Kikyo truly loved Inuyasha tho, but that’s a discussion for another day. 

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long time no dog

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I actually think the poetic moment of Inuyasha going to hell for Kagome was done on purpose. Inuyasha believing he doesn’t deserve to live at the beginning, and then deciding he wants to live so he ends up going to hell, is very on brand for RT. Just like RT’s puns, I’ve seen plot twists like that in some of RT’s earlier works like Ranma or Madison Ikkoku. Unfortunately, Inuyasha dragged on for so long these comparative moments lost their focus. A victim of its own success, if you will. Imagine if Inuyasha wasn’t a weekly monster-of-the-week and had proper breaks between arcs or seasons like modern webtoons.

I keep going back and forth between "Rumiko explicitly said that her works aren't deep so it's probably coincidental" and "that parallel/symbolism/subtext is way too good to not be done on purpose" lmao!

Honestly I think we as a fandom deserve a remaster (?) of the Inuyasha manga. You know how some people re-edit movies or tv shows so they make more sense? We should do that and also fix all the translation issues. I would cut 90% of the Moryomaru arc so the story can start wrapping up after the band of seven / Mt Hakurei arc. I volunteer to do the editing, I need someone to help me figure out the fixes for the narrative and tell me where I could upload that without getting into trouble, lol.

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Excuse me, I'm still not over how sweet and tender this scene is:

From Kagome using her scarf to wipe the sweat from his forehead...

To Inuyasha being touched by Kagome crying for him because she thought he might die and asking to lie on her lap...

To Inuyasha admitting that he lied about hating Kagome's scent and Kagome's heart racing at his confession...

(Kagome shoving him off after she realizes Nazuna heard the whole thing 🤣🤣🤣)

And finally one of my favorite moments: Kagome sleeping in that position all night with Inuyasha on her lap. It tugs at my heartstrings in a way I can't explain.

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Shippo-chan 💛✨️

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i love you obvious symbolism i love you blatant foreshadowing i love you gratuitous parallels i love you dramatic lighting i love you cheesy music. i love you media that doesn't take itself too seriously

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inuyasha is so weird and i love him for it

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down the rabbit ｈｏｌｅ

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how to tell you're living in a dystopia: working your contracted hours and meeting your job description is considered "quitting"