Inuyasha was that special anime I loved deeply. I remember they always repeated it on TV up to the episode where Inuyasha killed the bandits after transforming into a monster, and then they'd go back to the first episode. When I was about 12, I looked up Inuyasha on YouTube and watched it all the way through for the first time. From then on, it became my safe haven. I watched it once or twice a year (I'm 28 now), which means I've seen it about 20 times.
Like I said, Inuyasha became my refuge. Whenever I went through stressful times in my life, watching it lifted all the weight off my shoulders: it was just Inuyasha and me at that moment. That was the case until about three years ago. I don't know what happened—maybe my frontal lobe finally finished developing—but the last few times I watched the anime, I started to really dislike Inuyasha regarding Kikyo, to the point of thinking he didn't deserve Kagome, that Kagome was too much woman for him, and even wishing she would leave him and return to her world. I even started to sympathize more with Koga.
I want to clarify how I felt as a child: watching the series, I perceived the pure and immense love Inuyasha felt for Kagome. I didn't analyze other factors; I only saw how he took care of her, how he missed her, how he always wanted to be with her, and how he never left her alone, not even when Kagome returned home. His uncontrolled jealousy towards her was enough for me to understand that he loved her.
Regarding Kikyo, I never fully understood what Inuyasha felt for her. I knew he didn't love her like he loved Kagome, but I was confused about exactly what that feeling was. As I grew up, I understood it was guilt for what had happened to her. Since the anime doesn't make it clear, that was my interpretation, because I'm someone who pays more attention to actions than words, and Inuyasha's actions always told me his heart belonged to Kagome.
I should also clarify that I really disliked Kikyo, but not because of Inuyasha or the love triangle. I disliked her because of how she treated Kagome at the beginning: she stole the Shikon Jewel, let her touch the roots, didn't thank her when Kagome saved her from Naraku's poison, giving her more time to live, and never apologized. Furthermore, she gave shards of the Shikon Jewel to Naraku, strengthening him and making everything more difficult for Inuyasha and his friends. She never took responsibility for that.
I should also clarify that I really disliked Kikyo, but not because of Inuyasha or the love triangle. With all this, a wave of hate was directed at Kagome, calling her "crumbs," "second choice," etc. Honestly, if I already had issues with Inuyasha, this made me even angrier, to the point that I went two years without watching Inuyasha, breaking my annual tradition. Until one day I read a comment from someone defending Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship, explaining that it's not like that in the manga and that Sunrise directly affected their relationship.
So, as a last attempt to hold on to a story that was my safe haven for more than half my life, I decided to give it one last chance so I wouldn't be left with such a huge disappointment.
I read the manga, and to my surprise and relief, I felt excited again like when I was a child. I loved Inuyasha again, but this time the Inuyasha from the manga. I realized that as a child I was more right about her feelings than when I grew up watching only the anime. The manga makes clear what the anime omitted: Inuyasha felt guilt towards Kikyo, but he loved Kagome. I understood his psychology better and realized that there wasn't a love triangle, but a narrative triangle.
Inuyasha: He had zero self-confidence. He was rejected by humans and demons alike; he had no place in the world. Kikyo was the first to give him the opportunity to belong, with the help of the Shikon Jewel. Then, due to a trap set by Naraku, into which they both fell because of their lack of trust, she died. Inuyasha believes that trusting her was wrong. Then Kagome arrives, treating him without prejudice and with immense kindness. By the time Inuyasha realizes it, he's already in love with her warmth. With her, he's happy, his heart is relieved, and his soul finds peace (all this said by himself).
Inuyasha: When he discovers the truth about Naraku, the real conflict arises: he feels guilty for Kikyo, for not having trusted her, for her being the first woman to see him and for her dying without finding peace. Inuyasha doesn't doubt who he loves or who he wants to be with; he doubts whether he deserves to be happy with Kagome while Kikyo can no longer be happy.
Kikyo: She was a woman with an enormous responsibility she didn't want. She longed for a normal life and identifies with Inuyasha because, although human, she couldn't live like one either. She falls in love with him, tries to heal her broken heart, but Naraku intervenes. She believes she has been betrayed, acts out of pain, and dies full of resentment.
Upon being resurrected, she sees that Inuyasha has changed, has healed with someone else, and has moved on with his life. It's normal for her to feel hatred and jealousy. She makes serious mistakes: she tries to kill Kagome, she manipulates Inuyasha using his guilt. Without justifying her actions, in her redemption arc she improves her relationship with Kagome, helps against Naraku, and understands that Inuyasha's heart no longer belongs to her, although she holds a special place in his heart. She knows that the Inuyasha she loves is Kagome. It made me very sad to see her accept that things aren't the same anymore and that someone else did to Inuyasha what she wanted to do. I can't say I love her, but I did feel more empathy for her in the manga. I'm glad her soul was saved; she didn't deserve to continue suffering, nor did she deserve to die only to return to hell.
Kikyo's resurrection was more necessary for Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship than for Naraku's plot (considering that she was the one who helped him gain more power). Thanks to that, Inuyasha—and we—understand that his feelings for Kagome are genuine and not because she resembles Kikyo. Inuyasha perfectly distinguishes between the two loves: the one he felt for Kikyo and the one he feels for Kagome. He experienced two different kinds of love, and Kagome's was unique, profound, and unrepeatable. And every scene afterward in which Kikyo appeared strengthened Inuyasha and Kagome's relationship. I loved seeing Inuyasha searching for Kagome to explain that the reason he was seeing Kikyo was only to check on her. Inuyasha was so sweet, caring about Kagome's feelings.
Kagome: She was always my number one. Seeing her even more heroic, sensible, loving, understanding, and kind in the manga was incredible. There's not much to say: the anime did her a disservice. She's a noble, strong, and brave character. It's no wonder Rumiko Takahashi has said that he's the purest character she's ever created.
Yes, I still have issues with the anime: the unfair filler that turned the conflict into a love triangle, the removal of key scenes between Inuyasha and Kagome, and the extra prominence given to Kikyo, taking away important moments from Kagome. Honestly, I think Kikyo was Sunrise's favorite, and Kagome and Inuyasha suffered the most, both individually and in their relationship.
I switched from an annual anime review to an annual manga reading. Maybe someday I'll get over the changes and be able to enjoy the anime like I used to, but for now I'll just enjoy its openings and endings (amazing songs).
Something that still intrigues me is how, as a child, I understood Inuyasha's emotions better than when I grew up. As a child, I didn't analyze the story with so much logic or so many labels; I simply observed how he behaved. I saw who he was searching for, who he felt at peace with, who he protected even when it wasn't necessary, and who he missed when they weren't around. My interpretation was more intuitive and emotional, based on his actions, not on speeches or external conflicts.
As I grew up, I began to rationalize everything: the past, the guilt, the "duty," Kikyo's suffering, and the narrative that the anime itself reinforces. This made me lose sight of something very simple that my younger self did see: that Inuyasha wasn't confused about who he loved, but confused about whether he deserved to be happy. He wasn't hesitating between two women; he was hesitating between allowing himself to live or punishing himself for the past.
I think that when we are children, we understand certain emotions better because we don't filter them through complex moral judgments or social expectations. We recognize safety, warmth, and happiness when we see them. As an adult, the narrative noise of anime and external interpretations made me doubt that initial intuition. Ironically, manga restored that clarity.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I just wanted to vent and see if anyone else has experienced something similar.
Wow, I really liked everything you said and I completely agree with you 👏
Thanks, I wanted to vent and know if I was the only one who had gone through that 😅
So I was rewatching the very first episode of the anime this week. Something that hit me is Inuyasha feels really different in the dub vs the sub. Even the words said are different. I wonder if that's part of the problem. He says some things in the dubbed version that I suspect come off a lot worse then the subtitled version.
I've learned from many other anime that it's better to watch them in the original language with subtitles because a lot of information is lost or changed in translation.
I speak Japanese and watched both in its entirety. In the Dub Inuyasha comes off more as a confident dude who needs anger management lol. In the sub he comes off as a loud, bratty , immature guy with anger on the side.
There's also a difference between the love kikyou had for Inuyasha vs the love kagome has. kikyou wanted Inuyasha to use the jewel to make himself a human, she basically wanted him to change who he was for them to be together. Kagome accepts him as he is, she even is to one who helps him calm down when he's gone berserk.
That's right, Kagome came into Inuyasha's life without prejudice and helped him heal and accept himself for who he is. And this is the main reason why Inuyasha was able to trust Kagome so quickly and fell so deeply in love with her; as he himself says in the end, it was Kagome who taught him the true meaning of love and friendship!
Kikyo didn’t want him to change who he was, she needed him to. They could not be together as long as she was needed to guard the shikon jewel. Her ability to protect the jewel from demons was already weakening because of her love for Inuyasha. She knew that a truly pure wish could purify the jewel. Well, at least that’s what she believed. Kikyo knew that Inuyasha wishing to become human in order to be with her would have been a very pure-hearted wish. He’d be giving up his demon side, something that he values very much. With the jewel purified, she would no longer be bound to it as a priestess. The manga is subtle about this because it is aimed at teenagers, but they could not embrace, kiss, or do anything. She needed to be pure. Like her body. They absolutely could not be together as long as she bore the responsibility of guarding the shikon jewel. Kikyo never cared that Inuyasha was a half demon. It was just her best idea for purifying the jewel.
Logically it makes sense. But maybe that's just her find the justification for it. Surely she could find another answer or try to find another Miko to replace her, something that was gonna happen at some time because she wouldn't live forever. The fact that naraku was able to fool them both is because they didn't trust fully in each other. She didn't trust the yokai in him. Of course thats probably because how she was raised and the environment that she grew up with. So unfortunately she can't love him fully and have a healthy relationship with him, sadly. Kagome comes from a place that has no yokais so she has no prejudice against him.
Kikyo was irreplaceable at the time. They didn’t trust each other yet because their relationship was quite short. Plus, they both had very traumatic lives. It’s not like they were happy people with healthy childhoods who were pitted against each other. Inuyasha didn’t trust her either because of how humans had treated him in the past. They were both prejudiced. Yes, Kagome had no prejudices against demons.
That's my opinion too. They couldn't have a healthy relationship because of their circumstances. It's tragic love. In the end they couldn't get past their differences, specially kikyou since Inuyasha was willing to become a human for her
Very tragic. :( He was also going to become human for them. The both of them. That’s how they could be together. He wanted to be with her. At least, that’s how Kikyo thought the shikon jewel worked. From what we learned later on about the jewel, I don’t think it would have granted that wish properly.
That's the thing at least in the anime there wasn't anyone who could replace her. Remember the episode where the jewel is brought to Kikyo? The ability to purify the jewel and the sacred arrow seemed unique to her. Naraku used information he had to exploit their trust, it's because they trusted each other he was able to destroy them.
Which is incidentally exactly why she wanted to use the sacred jewel to turn Inuyasha human. Not only would she be relieved of her duties but Inuyasha would no longer be tied to an identity that only brought him pain and trauma.
Honestly, Naraku was able to destroy the trust they had because he wasn't that strong. He tried it before with Inuyasha and Kagome, and it never worked, and it never would have.
Inuyasha didn't need to change; he needed to accept himself and be accepted as he was. Obviously, I'm not judging Kikyo; she wanted to do what was best according to her logic, turning him into a human. Inuyasha didn't want to stop being a half-demon; he wanted to belong somewhere, even at the cost of abandoning his identity, which isn't healthy.
It didn't work with Kagome and Inuyasha BECAUSE of the situation with Kikyo. It's not about her wanting him to change its about them creating a life together OUTSIDE of what they knew.
With Kagome it was always going to be different because she's a different person. She didn't live a life of trauma and horrible like Kikyo and Inuyasha up until that point.
I guess you guys forget about him choosing to become a full demon...
He would’ve hated being a human too since we see how he gets during his human nights with all his natural senses and powers dulled and cut in half, it genuinely makes him feel physically uncomfortable, Kikyo was basically asking him the equivalent of permanently disabling himself.
He was completely on board with it. He would have rather been a human with Kikyo than a half demon without her. She wasn’t forcing him to do anything. He was a completely willing participant.
It's not so simple, right? I think Rumiko is really good to write complex characters. Maybe except for naraku there are very few that are purely evil or good (among those that have their background explored). She believes it is the right thing to do and she thinks she's doing it for him but he only thinks about becoming human because of her. Humans have hated him too for being yokai. Ultimately it's a selfish desire, I think someone says that in the manga that the wish wouldn't have consumed the jewel as they thought it would.
Why couldn’t Kikyo make a pure wish on the Jewel herself? Why did she need Inuyasha to be the one to do it? Face it, she was cowardly to some extent and wasn’t sure if her theory was 100% accurate so she needed a guinea pig to test it out.
Because that was the most pure-hearted wish she could think of. Inuyasha would become human, something which he initially was going out of his way to become the opposite of. He would be giving up his treasured demon side to be with the woman he loves. A massive sacrifice. Kikyo had no equivalent wish. She wasn’t even remotely cowardly. She didn’t think it was a theory. She completely believed it to be true. She was very certain that this would be how they could be together.
But an even more pure-hearted wish would be for her to wish for something like world peace, or actually think up the right wish and wish away the Shikon Jewel from the world once and for all.
Wish for world peace? It was the early 1500’s. She had no idea that there wasn’t world peace. She was probably barely aware of the existence of other countries. And that’s not a pure hearted, selfless wish. She’s not giving up anything at all. In fact, she would be only benefiting from that wish. It’s not sacrificial in the slightest bit. The only way that would work is if world peace directly harmed her and went against her desires.
Wishing away the jewel would not have been a good idea based on the information Kikyo had about it. Once it was purified, it could be safely used. The magic was far too powerful to throw away. It could be very beneficial in the future. Of course us as readers learned near the end of the series that that’s not how the jewel works.
Yes, not only to change him, but also to benefit herself. She was kind hearted as a person, but still very much of her time.
Some have even claimed that Kagome still trying to get through school in spite of everything is Kikyo's desire to be normal projected through her reincarnation.
THEY ARE NOT THE SAME PERSON!!
I specifically mentioned that Kikyo's resurrection exists to make it clear—to Inuyasha and to the reader—that they are not the same person nor do they seek the same thing. The manga insists on this difference time and again.
Furthermore, in Japanese culture, education is very important, and for Kagome, dropping out of school wouldn't be consistent with her character or the context in which she grew up. Kagome wants to finish school because she is a modern, responsible girl with her own life plan. No responsible person would drop out of school or want to repeat a year, especially not Kagome, who was among the top 30 students in her school. That says a lot about how dedicated she was.
Because it’s meant to be a deconstruction/subversion of the reincarnated lovers trope where the former and future incarnations are treated as just the same person. Rumiko Takahashi was trying to shine a light and poke all the holes on just how unrealistic and absurd this trope is (since realistically being born into a whole new environment with a new family would drastically change a person). This is what Rumiko does and what makes her works so good and stand out from the rest of anime and manga, she frequently likes to take currently trending and popular tropes in the anime world and put her own unique twist on it, poking fun at the trope and pointing out it’s own inherent absurdity in a very tongue-in-cheek satirical manner. She did it with the battle shonen and harem genre tropes for Urusei Yatsura and Ranma and she does it with reincarnation and destined lovers for Inuyasha.
Furthermore I don’t think we’re meant to take Kagome being Kikyo’s so literally and the reincarnation aspect is more meant to be a metaphor for commentary on how unhealthy it is to look for your ex in your new lover and try and use them as a replacement.
Among the top 30 students? Where was that said?
I think it's chapter 24 of the manga, her friends mention that she's always among the top 30 students in school.
Another thing Sunrise omitted about Kagome.
Like I told you, Sunrise was hurting Kagome's chances!
https://preview.redd.it/v14bcouxc8cg1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af2a557a5c6aabd533a1058af1964ff96324d056
Mira!
I just read the whole thing and oh my god, I went through a similar phase on 2025 on my 4th rewatch, I'm 29 and of course I see things differently and analyze more than when I was a teen watching it, and although I know Inuyasha truly fell in love with Kagome regardless of Kikyo; watching some scenes and some dialogues he said I started doubting and thought hmm maybe it wasn't like I knew... and believe me I felt ODD watching it lol I had this weird feeling like when an illusion you held dearly just shattered ? I know it's strange lol but that's how it was. Then I finished the anime and like you said, Inuyasha's actions spoke freaking loouuuuder than whatever he said in the earlier episodes. And I think I love it even more now, now that I put myself in the 3 characters' shoes (especially Inu's) and I see things more clearly now. I am reading the manga as we speak (for the first time) and I'm really excited since I know IY's character is better handled there. So basically yeah, I support your feelings and they are valid, I'm glad you found your way back to the story!
Much of what Inuyasha said and did is only in the anime, believe me, you'll be relieved not to find certain scenes in the manga! I hope you'll share your impressions of the manga here!!
I know! I'm still pissed at Sunrise for some of the dialogues/scenes and for pushing the love triangle too much and for too long... And thanks! I'm very eager to finish it, I will share my thoughts here for sure :)
One of the best reviews I've ever read on anime here. Thank you for taking the time to write this.
Thanks for reading all of this, it was long!
I hope you can read the manga!
I'm actually really interested to read the manga now. Plan to!
I'm glad to hear it! :)
This is so interesting because we went through the same experience since we watched the anime as children, then we grew up and started seeing things from a different perspective, and were upset by people's negative comments until we read the manga, which clarified everything. And now i can't see the anime the same way anymore. Not that I hate the anime, but the manga really shows the development of the relationship between Inuyasha and Kagome better. Basically, I agree with everything you said, including that Kagome is also my favorite 🥰
There are about three of us who had the exact same experience. I, for example, get incredibly angry in the anime when Inuyasha says "my Kikyo"... he never says that in the manga. Nor does he ever see Kikyo reflected in Kagome; that doesn't happen in the manga either. And when the anime shows Kikyo "helping" Kagome spiritually from within, that doesn't happen either: Kikyo never helps her that way in the manga.
Ironically, over time I started to get excited every time Kikyo appeared, because I already knew what was coming next: a scene of Inuyasha looking for Kagome and taking her somewhere else to explain that he's not going to see Kikyo romantically, but only to make sure she's okay. And also because I knew that, a chapter or two later, Koga would appear 😂 In short, I love the beautiful love that Inuyasha and Kagome built once again ♥️
I felt very much like you when I first rewatched Inuyasha as an adult and also when I first read the Manga while waiting for the Final Act to come out.
Sunrise really did Inuyasha dirty. And through the lens of today hes quite toxic. He always criticizes Kagome, never really gives her props, keeps his feelings hidden and yelling at her. When in the Manga we get far more of his thoughts, how he sees kikyo and kagome as 2 different people and he loves kagome.
The anime played up the love triangle so much, but it just pissed me off so much because Kikyo was so unapologetic in her vengeance when she first came back, but then always treated everything with Kagome as a test and never was kind to her, even after time passed. I hated Kikyo as a kid and felt for Kagome, but as an adult I felt a little more compassion for Kikyo, imagine getting resurrected and seeing your love move on and you're just a walking corpse with the guy who originally killed you dead set on killing you again and tormenting your love...
So I'm now more conflicted. But I want to reread the Manga more than having Sunrises terrible twisting of the story stuck in my head. Inuyasha remains my happy place, but the reasons have definitely shifted as we got older.
It still happens to me; the distorted story of Sunrise still affects me, that's why I resent the anime.
Regarding Kikyo, I understand her better now, but I still don't like her. She was really mean to Kagome when Kagome hadn't done anything to her, and she was also mean to Inuyasha, manipulating him with guilt. But here I understand her a little. Even so, I'm glad she didn't continue burning in hell and ascended to nirvana. In the end, she was a victim who became a perpetrator, but she had her redemption arc.
It wasn't even a love triangle; if you analyze it closely, it's a narrative triangle. A love triangle implies that Inuyasha would want to be with both of them at the same time, missing the other one when he's with one. But that wasn't the case. He loved Kikyo, but we never saw him missing her and wanting to be by her side. We only saw him miss Kagome when she wasn't with him, going to her house to look for her because he missed her, counting down the days until Kagome returned. Kikyo's situation was a narrative triangle; her indecision was between being happy or punishing herself.
Anyone who reads the manga without being attached to the anime will realize that there was never a love triangle. When they both accepted their feelings for each other, there was no other love between them; what existed was trauma, low self-esteem, Inuyasha's belief that he didn't deserve to be happy, but not another competing love.
I'm in the process of rewatching the anime for the first time in nearly 20 years and I absolutely agree that rewatching as an adult is a wholly different experience than as a kid (in my case as a 12-14 year old)
Maybe it's because I just psychoanalyse on principle, but I find myself doing the inverse to OP. Back when I was a kid, I was furious with InuYasha's apparent indecisiveness between Kagome and Kikyō. It was obvious to me that Kagome was the correct choice and I didn't understand why InuYasha was constantly hurting her by going back to see Kikyō.
Now though, I can see the guilt and pain on his face. I can tell he's not doing it out of love, but a sense of responsibility. I notice more how immediately he snaps to attention whenever Kagome is upset or in danger or hurt.
She's his absolute priority, superseding Kikyō in many cases (who knows this and has to use trickery or wait until Kagome isn't around to talk to him so he's not distracted).
Kikyō is a bitter, earth-bound soul and I absolutely feel more empathy for her now. Don't get me wrong I still dislike her for her actions, but it's more muted, since at the end of the day, she's nothing but a ghost and a memory. (And she knows it)
You're absolutely right, that's very obvious in the manga. His love for Kagome is unparalleled, but his guilt is overwhelming. Every time he sees Kikyo, he relives the trauma.
Well, what you mentioned is interesting. I hadn't thought of it that way, but it's true that Kikyo is the one who always calls him at night xD
Me too, I don't like Kikyo, but I feel sorry for her, and to a certain extent, I understand her revenge and manipulation of Inuyasha. What I didn't like about her was how rude she was to someone who had absolutely nothing to do with it (Kagome). That's what bothered me.
Kikyo literally died because Inuyasha ended up prioritizing Kagome and left an incredibly weak and injured Kikyo with Naraku on her heels alone just so he could go to Kagome at Mt.Azusa and couldn’t let Koga be the one to do it, lmao!
You just convinced me to read the manga lmao
I was going to say the same thing! OP’s frustrations with the anime are mine as well. It’s interesting to hear how different the nuances in the relationships are in the manga.
Please read it! You won't regret it!
I was looking for two things: to vent and maybe convince others to read the manga hahaha
Hear me out this could be a hot take. I have consistently watch and loved tons of anime from childhood to now (Now being 31) and I think a lot of these feelings and changes in us is how we perceive women characters even if we are women ourselves.
It’s pretty ingrained in us as kids, especially of that era to either blame the woman or be indifferent to her. She’s annoying or an obstacle. But then as an adult you kinda realise just how short end of the stick these women characters get.
Misa Amane, Sakura Haruno, Kikyo, so many you either hate, dislike or are indifferent too you realise how much trauma they have or how intelligent and strong they are or even the wasted potential not because of them but because of writers just not caring.
Kikyo was huge for this retrospective thinking either because we became adults or because now a days a TON of female characters are getting deep analysis explorations and respect they should have gotten 10-20 years ago because HEY TURNS OUT IT’S COOL TO LIKE WOMEN
The thing about Kikyo is that you can like her and at the same time accept that she was a perpetrator.
Or you can dislike her and understand that she was a victim of circumstances.
She is both victim and perpetrator; you can feel more or less empathy for her without justifying her bad actions.
Yeah exactly! She’s a three dimensional character and we can understand why and how she got there. Same with Misa Amane from Death Note.
Kikyo definitely got the short end of the stick. The manga explains that because of Kikyo’s love for Inuyasha, her spiritual powers were weakening. More and more demons were getting close to the village. She was weakening. The manga is subtle about this, but when Inuyasha and Kikyo kiss and embrace for the first time when she is undead (ignore anime filler that shows them doing this when she was alive), she comments about how they were unable to do this when she was alive. She needed to not only be a virgin, but to be incredibly pure. Like they couldn’t even kiss. Meanwhile, Miroku can have sex, fall in love, and not have his spiritual powers at all affected.
This was proven to be a false belief on the part of Kikyo though and merely an example of her own inner weakness and failing for seeing feelings and love as “weak.” After all we see with Kagome that her love for Inuyasha does the opposite and only serves to make her stronger, she is still able to be a Miko and does so even while married and no longer a virgin.
False? It was Naraku himself who said that the demons were able to get so close to him because Kikyo’s powers were weakening due to Inuyasha.
Right, but it was false in the sense that’s a universal rule that applies to Priestesses/Monks across the board, it only happened in Kikyo’s case because that was a personal failing for her.
That was not a universal rule at all. It directly applied to the shikon jewel. Even the slightest bit of weakness would make keeping the entire jewel purified impossible due to how immensely powerful it is. Kikyo’s powers were still incredible, they just weren’t powerful enough for the shikon jewel because falling in love makes your heart vulnerable. It exposes you. It can bring great strength, but also moments of weakness and pain.
I wouldn't say she got the worst of it; at least with the resurrection she was able to save her soul, which is what I felt most sorry for. In the end, it was positive for her to heal and be able to ascend to Nirvana.
For me, Inuyasha got the worst of it. He had suffered the contempt of humans and demons for about 100 years, and then he carried the guilt and trauma of what happened to Kikyo, followed by the helplessness of not being able to protect her, and to top it all off, he believed he didn't deserve to be happy with Kagome because he thought he had to atone for his mistake with Kikyo and die. Imagine finding the person who gives you peace, joy, relief, the one with whom you are happy, and believing you don't deserve them!
Likewise, for me, Inuyasha suffered the most and for the longest time. Kikyo suffered her last moments of life, and then when she was resurrected, it was beneficial for her to save her soul, and she wandered around for about six months. In contrast, Inuyasha suffered his entire life and only became aware of everything afterward. He not only suffered the contempt of others, but also self-loathing, survivor's guilt, and he took responsibility for his own pain and Kikyo's. He felt bad about being happy with Kagome. Thank God Kagome is so good that she understood him and helped him heal. So, I agree with you; Inuyasha was the most affected, but in the end, everyone had their happy ending. 😄
Ohhh saving this to read it later
Does InuYasha still kiss Kikyo before she dies for the last time like in the Final Act anime?
Yes, that happens around chapter 460 when she dies.
Why did he kiss her?
Inuyasha kisses Kikyo as a farewell, not as a romantic act. She is dying, and he needs to close that chapter without guilt. It's a way of acknowledging that what he felt was real, allowing her to die in peace, even though he's already in love with Kagome. It's not a romantic choice; it's an emotional closure, something very different from a romantic kiss in the Western sense.
Besides, Kikyo always wanted to kiss him, and the only time she could, Inuyasha froze, so her dying as a free woman was a very thoughtful gesture.
The context changes quite a bit and feels different in the anime because of the Sunrise filler episodes, which make Inuyasha seem insecure about his feelings until the very end. This isn't the case in the manga.
So if Kaede dies and he couldn't have prevented it, he'll kiss her too? Nope. Nice story but there were feelings there in the manga for sure -- Maybe not as strong as portrayed n the anime-- but there were feelings there . You can't tell me if Totosai died and it was inuyasha's fault and Inu felt guity about it, he'd kiss Totosai too as a guilt ridden "farewell".
Hahahaha, well you can think freely.
I usually give manga Inuyasha much more grace when it comes to his actions with Kikyo, but tonguing Kikyo right then and there right in front of Kagome yet?! Even if was only because Kikyo was on her deathbed that just wasn’t appropriate in the slightest, Kikyo herself didn’t even request it as like a final token or something, Inuyasha did it all of his own volition! Boy…
Well, he didn't kiss Kikyo in front of Kagome. In the manga, he explicitly asks to be left alone and they go to a hill. In the anime, they animated it as if they stayed in front of the group, but that wasn't the case.
Yes, it wasn’t done in front of the group. But it wasn’t even her last request or anything. Kissing Kikyou was his own personal decision that he took upon himself. I’m not a shipper of either couples, but you can’t tell me that he didn’t have feelings . We can give grace ( his feelings for her were definitely not as strong as in the anime, we can see that )but facts are still facts.. feelings were there point blank. like Don’t piss on my leg and tell me it’s raining.
I won’t defend Kikyo’s other actions towards Kagome which were incredibly petty, but to be fair to Kikyo here I always interpreted her refusing to thank Kagome was because she could sense Kagome didn’t really want to save her and was only forcing herself to do it because it was the right thing to do/for Inuyasha’s sake. I mean why should she be nice to someone who she knows clearly dislikes/resents her and is jealous of her? Kikyo doesn’t owe Kagome anything, and vice-versa for Kagome. IIRC she does eventually reconcile with Kagome during her final death after she sees that Kagome managed to overcome her jealousy with the test at Mt.Azusa, but by then it was too late to truly mend the relationship.
Even Rumiko admitted in an interview that she only really brought back Kikyo in order to get Kagome to realize her feelings for Inuyasha, otherwise she never would’ve. Because Rumiko mainly writes tsundere romances her characters have a lot of pride and have trouble being honest about their true feelings, so she always brings in rivals to get them to basically force acknowledge their feelings for each other.
They mischaracterized her too in some instances, such as making her pull a knife on Inuyasha in episode 47 and having her still act hostile towards him even after she found out the truth about Naraku, I don’t think they favored anyone (aside from maybe Sesshomaru), I think they exaggerated the love triangle and flanderized all the characters to look worse than they are just to generate clickbait and drive up viewership. Audiences are known to be attracted to drama and mess, even if they say they ultimately hate it it’s like a trainwreck you just can’t bring yourself to look away from, what do you think gets more attention in the media the feel-good stories where everyone is behaving nicely or the sordid celebrity tabloids that reads like an episode from Jerry Springer? Sunrise is a business and a corporation first and foremost, they’re not doing it for the art like Rumiko Takahashi is, their first and main concern above everything else is finding the strategy that most generates the greatest amount of revenue for their IPs and will keep people coming back for more, and they found the perfect one in creating and exaggerating the love triangle. I hate to admit it but they were right and it did prove successful to some extent, what’s the one thing even casual viewers or non-fans are most aware of when it comes to Inuyasha? It’s reputation as being one of the anime’s with the most dramatic and messiest of love triangles.
This is the second time I've read that, and it's completely false. I don't know how they reached that conclusion when Kikyo herself explicitly states that there were no doubts in Kagome's heart and that she felt her warmth. She even states that if Kagome had had the slightest doubt, she wouldn't have been able to purify the poison in her body. In other words, Kikyo herself confirms that Kagome acted of her own free will and with a sincere heart.
Kikyo doesn't thank her simply because she didn't want to, not because she doubted Kagome's intentions.
In fact, it's later when Kagome reflects on what happened and realizes that the girls were testing her the whole time, as if she were capable of refusing to save Kikyo. That's when Kagome gets upset, because she understands that Kikyo assumed she might NOT save her out of jealousy of Inuyasha. That's why Kagome explodes at Inuyasha, telling him it's all his fault, and then feels foolish that they think that way about her. Kikyo, once again, testing her.
Yes, that interview is real. But analyzing the story, it didn't only serve Kagome's purpose. It was also crucial for Inuyasha: thanks to Kikyo's presence, he realizes that he can love Kagome for who she is, not because she resembles Kikyo. He can completely separate them as individuals and realizes he is capable of loving again and, in fact, experiencing a different kind of love than the one he felt for Kikyo. The love he develops for Kagome is not a repetition of the love he felt for Kikyo; it is different, more mature, healthier, more intense.
Actually, Kikyo is even worse in the manga. The anime, by making her more hostile at certain times, ends up creating the false impression that if Inuyasha doesn't stay with her, it's because she doesn't want to, when in reality it's he who doesn't choose to go with Kikyo.
They only changed one or two specific scenes, like the one with the knife. But they omitted much more serious things from the manga, such as Kikyo's true intention to kill Kagome by throwing her into the lava. Instead, they added heroic scenes that don't belong in the manga, like destroying Naraku's puppet when in the manga it was Kagome who did it.
Furthermore, they gave her emotionally intense and romantic scenes with Inuyasha that don't exist in the manga, while removing or minimizing key moments in the development between Inuyasha and Kagome. There was clearly narrative favoritism.
With Sunrise, we already know that money was the priority, but the question is: at what cost? Was it necessary to remove canonical scenes of the protagonists to add others that don't exist in order to achieve success? Even if it doesn't actually advance any relationships, it does damage the story. It's not an innocent change: it directly affects the perception of the emotional development of the main characters.
But wouldn’t this contradict Kagome needing to be tested at Mt.Azusa and the bow feeling heavy for her because she always had doubts in her heart at healing Kikyo?
Yes, Kikyo being revived and existing as her own character in the story separate from Kagome is also an example of Rumiko attempting to subvert and deconstruct the “reincarnated lovers” trope so common in anime, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: So many times these sorts of romances fall flat for me because they come off feeling really forced and contrived as you’re left wondering “does character A really love character B for themselves or only because they’re the reincarnation of their past lover and anyone could’ve been their reincarnation and they would’ve loved them all the same?” Inuyasha as a series manages to avoid this issue by reviving the former incarnation and having her exist at the same time as her current one with a completely different personality whom Inuyasha is caught between the two, so it makes Inuyasha’s choosing of Kagome all the more meaningful since this way we know without a shadow of a doubt that he does love her for herself and not just as a replacement for Kikyo since he still ends up choosing her even while he still has the real deal around.
Good point, in retrospect perhaps even that knife change actually ends up making Kikyo look better in regards to Inuyasha? I’ve always said that Kikyo in the manga is meant to be a more serious take on the stalker yandere rival girl Rumiko always inserts into her stories who’s obsessed with the male lead and tries to blackmail him into contractually obligating himself to her which results in misunderstandings with the tsundere main heroine who he’s actually into. Sunrise made InuKik look more mutual than it actually is.
Regarding whether this contradicts what happened on Mount Azusa:
It doesn't contradict it. On Mount Azusa, Kagome doesn't hesitate to save Kikyo; what happens there is something completely different. Kagome was tainted by Naraku's webs, and what she faces isn't the real Kikyo, but the Kikyo that exists in her heart: the cold, distant, and hostile version who treated her as if she were inferior.
That Kikyo doesn't represent a moral dilemma ("should I save her or not?"), but rather Kagome's insecurities. It's only at that moment that Kagome realizes something important: Kikyo was jealous, not because Inuyasha had forgotten her, but because Inuyasha could be himself with Kagome, spend time with her, and be more open. Kagome understands that she knows Inuyasha in a different and deeper way than Kikyo does.
That's why that scene works as an emotional release. Kagome has always been the only one insecure about Inuyasha's feelings; Inuyasha, on the other hand, never doubts what he feels, he only carries the guilt. Mount Azusa doesn't contradict helping Kikyo, but rather explains Kagome's internal conflict.
And this is where the anime fails: the scene of Kagome hanging from the cliff while Kikyo watches her loses its impact because it replicates a trauma that was never properly animated. In the manga, Kikyo does try to let her fall into the lava, which makes that image a direct confrontation with that fear. By changing it to Kikyo letting Kagome touch the roots, many anime viewers missed the emotional depth of the scene.
Regarding Kikyo's resurrection serving more for Inuyasha and Kagome: Exactly, that's why I say it serves much more for the development of the relationship between Inuyasha and Kagome. Not only does it help Kagome recognize her feelings, but it also allows Inuyasha—and the viewer—to clearly separate Kikyo from Kagome. The problem is that many fail to make that distinction. I suppose it's a lack of understanding. They share an origin, but they don't fulfill the same emotional or narrative function.
Regarding the idea that Kikyo pushed him away
Yes, that interpretation ends up benefiting Kikyo, because even today it's still said that Inuyasha would have gone with her if she hadn't pushed him away. And that's simply not true. In both the manga and the anime, Kikyo changes her attitude toward Inuyasha; she becomes softer, even more emotionally open. And yet, Inuyasha never stays with her. He never chooses her. He only goes to see her to make sure she's okay or to get information about Naraku.
That makes one thing very clear: it's not Kikyo who's preventing them from being together, it's Inuyasha who no longer wants to return. And the anime, by softening or altering certain moments, contributed to distorting that reality.
This reflects on so many levels how Inuyasha has made me feel throughout the years. When I started reading the manga, as it aired before Kanketsu-Hen, it changed my perspective on how Inuyasha felt and acted
Did you read the manga around 2005?
Around 2006, most likely. At first, I only read after what was covered in the anime, then I did my first complete read when Kanketsu-Hen first aired. But I was a teen so I would participate in the fandom fights supporting Kagome, a lot haha. I started seeing the complexities of their relationship and feelings on my first re-read when I was in college.
I'm currently doing my third re-read and with each I find more nuance to what Inuyasha felt and the love he showed Kagome, feeling heartbroken by Kikyo's tragic situation, a lot of what you described in your post