InuYasha

[doxiedachsie]

The Noh Mask episode shows Inuyasha's immaturity in all its glory.  It also mark the first time that Kagome hits him with multiple SITs in a row.

Inuyasha's moods:
selfish, bossy & possessive
then angry, vindictive & vengeful
to depressed & lonely
back to bossy & selfish  (I noticed that he refers to the feudal era as "home" for Kagome as well as himself)
to terrified of Kagome's anger & regretful of making her cry (but he won't apologize!)
and back to angry, and also hurt when she angrily kicks him down the well.  (His remark was so childish, "What did I ever do to you?"  duh, you just tried to bully her into dropping her obligations for you.)
then back again to proud, angry & pouting.
Yet he was curious about Kagome.  He "borrows" her math book & tries to understand it.  But he won't give it back for spite.

His best line:  "But I didn't want to see you"
  or "I didn't care what you wanted."   (Depending on the translation.)
When Kagome says that she wanted to see him after he follows her to the future.

We see him with a backache from all the SIT commands, thinking up revenge.  Funny how she gave him multiple rapid SITs later on without causing any damage.  Either he learned how to fall, or we have an inconsistency.

After recovering from his backache, he mopes in his favorite tree because it isn't worth getting up unless he can pick on Kagome.  Hmmm, depression when she is gone?

When he follows her to the future.  He plays contrary & nonchalant when she says she wanted to see him.  He then becomes immovable when she politely asks to stay for her make-up exam.  This time, she doesn't use the SIT command.  She begs.  She pleads.  She gets angry & she cries with no relenting from him, even though we see him panic over her emotions.  Finally, she literally kicks him back down the well.  Ah, yes, our boy has the attitude of a 12 year old here. 
Even to the point of spitefully saying "I wouldn't take you back even if you begged."

However childish his desire to get her attention by baiting her is, we see that he actually enjoys goading her into a frenzy.  If he has to endure a SIT, or two, because of it, that's all right.  He also enjoys having her around and loses energy when she is away.  The bond between them is definitely well established by this point. 

[doxiedachsie]

Just wanted to continue to the end of the Noh Mask battle. No matter how childish & contrary Inuyasha gets, he will run (not walk) whenever Kagome needs him. In spite of demanding an apology that he should have known he was never going to get, he didn't hesitate to jump into danger. His surprise that Kagome brushed everything off was precious.

He nearly got his arm bitten off in order to get at the Mask and fought harder than the anime let on. Also, Kagome's trust in his skills as a fighter really show up here, with Sota the cheerleader in the background. His final attempt at restoring his shattered pride by thinking he is one up & she owes him was funny, especially since she cut him down to size almost immediately. The look on his face when she did that shows how unpredictable he found her to be.

Yet, in spite of all that, he waited for her & even carried her bag back to the feudal era. Even Sota has noticed what his actions say about how he feels about her. Also, Kagome is starting to suspect that he likes her more than he says.

The future pattern of their relationship has definitely been formed. Inuyasha, by nature, is a fighter. It seems that he only knows how to express himself in that way, right now. He actually enjoys the fact that Kagome will readily rise to his challenge. Somehow, he has found a kindred spirit. Someone who will match his every move. Someone who makes life really interesting.

Knowing what we know about how his relationship with Kikyo seemed so much more mature, it's surprising to see him take such a childish approach to Kagome. But perhaps this is what he really needed. He needed to have a relationship that would grow & mature over time, a relationship where he was with an equal in every way. Kikyo was an "older woman" both physically & mentally. He could never relate to her as an equal. Kagome approximated his age & showed him so many emotions that he had never dealt with before that she was actually filling a big hole in his life.

This story arc was seemingly a minor aside, except that it displayed so much character development & set the stage for so many events yet to come. It showed so clearly where Inuyasha was emotionally & mentally at that time. Watching him grow from there as he takes his journey through life will be fascinating.

Message Edited by doxiedachsie on 03-07-2009 05:27 PM

[doxiedachsie]

This was the only time that a shard existed through time to get to the future, instead of being taken through the well by Kagome. That whole premise still troubles me. It would mean that the shard would be existing in two places at once at some point. Perhaps that realization is what kept shards out of the future, unless brought through the well, from this point on.

Message Edited by doxiedachsie on 03-07-2009 05:28 PM

[darkmaster24]

Well at the end of the main plot she had just finished Jr. high. So that puts her around 16. She went to high school during the 3 year gap at the end so in the last pannel she is most likely 19. Thats makes Sango 21 and Miroku 22.

[doxiedachsie]

That's what they say. But judging by the way time passes in the feudal era (at least the way they mention days passing & adding the numbers up), it seems more likely that 2 years passed during that time, which would make her a year older. It just points out that there are unaccounted inconsistencies. By all rights, based on Kagome's absences, she should have lost a year in school & have had to repeat a grade, which would make that estimate even more likely.

Message Edited by doxiedachsie on 03-07-2009 05:28 PM

[darkmaster24]

Yeah but keep in mind that at the time the time portal in the well is closed off after they beat Naraku Sango and Miroku have no kids. after the three year gap they have twin daughters that appear to be around 2 1/2 to 3 years old and Sango had just had there first son. So that would fit my thorey. Also I remember she graduated middle scholl with her 3 friends.

Message Edited by darkmaster24 on 03-07-2009 05:35 PM

[doxiedachsie]

There's little argument about that. Simply because they say straight out the 3 years have passed. But they also mentioned time passing in the main story line that indicates three months had already passed by the time of the Spider-head story. That's 3 months in 13 episodes. Is it reasonable to believe that the remaining 154 episodes all happened in 9 months? Also, in 3 months' time, we only get to see Inuyasha turn human only once. That means that not every transformation was shown. Also, they mentioned that it was just before rice planting season (early spring) when Kagome first went to the feudal era. We see the rice paddies flooded; but by the time Inuyasha meets Gatenmaru, they are dried out & the rice is maturing. Then some time later, they are flooded again. That means a year has passed . Also, i don't know how the school year is organized in Japan, but if Kagome started time-traveling in late winter or early spring, the school year was well under way & she wasn't just starting 9th grade. Yet she was near the end of the grade when she went back to take the entrance exam, near the end of the main plot.

The numbers just don't add up unless more time than a year is allowed to have passed during the main plot. (Also, it could be possible that passage through the well messed up the relative timelines and when the well was closed for 3 years, time passed normally on both sides.)

Also, it takes 9 months to make a baby. If the twins looked 2-1/2 to 3 years old, add a minimum of 9 months to that (time to get married, etc.) and we get more than 3 years passing.

Message Edited by doxiedachsie on 03-07-2009 05:52 PM

[CG-LOVER]

Yeah I kind of tend to ignore what they say, and just go with your kind of conclusion.  Kind of like how I ignore what they say in Bleach.  Does Ichigo really look 15 to you?

[doxiedachsie]

Now that you mention it, I would take him for 21-23 if I didn't know differently.

[CG-LOVER]

I know!  He almost looks older than me!

Edit:  On second thought, there's no doubt.  He does look older than me.

Message Edited by CG-LOVER on 03-07-2009 06:28 PM

[doxiedachsie]

I never read the Bleach manga, but I definitely know that the animators made Inuyasha look much older than Takahashi did in her manga drawings.  Can't understand why, though.  A 15 year old acting like an adult in feudal Japan is probably 100% correct.

[CG-LOVER]

I actually prefer how he looks in the anime.

[doxiedachsie]

Yeah, he is kind of handsome.  Just looks way older.

[CG-LOVER]

I think that I actually prefer the heroes to be a little older.

[doxiedachsie]

It's just that being younger would explain so much of his childish behavior.

[Martinman]

I am pretty sure a Japanese school year is a lot longer than an American school year.  I think they go to school 200+ days out of the year.

The Noh mask is probably my least favorite villain out of the entire manga...it is just so....lame.  At least the manga version made more sense though.  Since the mask was not originally in the shrine in the manga, there was no way Kagome could have sensed the latent jewel shard.  In the anime, the mask was originally in the shrine, raising the question as to why it just sat there for so long.

[doxiedachsie]

Since the mask was not originally in the shrine in the manga, there was no way Kagome could have sensed the latent jewel shard. In the anime, the mask was originally in the shrine, raising the question as to why it just sat there for so long.

Great point! I noticed that it made a lot more sense that way. Also the mask's reign of terror beheading "bad" poeple was so much more creepy than the anime "eating policemen" rampage. Also, Inuyasha's battle with the mask was more realistic. Having the mask try to bite off his arm while he tried to grab half of it was more exciting. Also, leaving Kagome as the mask's potential victim made more sense. It showed her extreme trust in Inuyasha's fighting skills & didn't make her look like a creep by putting her own younger brother at risk.

On the whole, though, I think the episode served to illustrate Inuyasha's childish behavior and really strong feelings for Kagome more than anything else. 

Message Edited by doxiedachsie on 03-08-2009 05:59 PM

[doxiedachsie]

---

Martinman wrote:

I am pretty sure a Japanese school year is a lot longer than an American school year. I think they go to school 200+ days out of the year.

---

200 days is 40 weeks (5 days per week). That leaves a 12 week hiatus. It's almost the same as the US. Summer break is 12 weeks long here. I wish I knew exactly what their school year is like. I have heard of Cram School, which is held in the summertime; but I don't know if that is voluntary, for advanced students, or involuntary, for failing students (Kagome would fall into the second class).

The real question I have is whether Kagome started time-traveling at the beginning of the school year, or in the middle.  If it was in the middle, then way less than a year passed in modern Japan while she was in the feudal era battling demons.  I know the manga states that she went to high school with her friends, but that just complicates matters because she was away for a very short time in modern terms.  However, at the beginning, for the opening & Yura episodes, it is implied that time is moving at exactly the same rate on both sides of the well.  Big inconsistency here.

How can a year or more pass in the feudal era while as little as 3-5 months passed in modern Tokyo?  High school entrance exams would not takes place just a few weeks from graduation.  The marking, application, and school selection process takes at least a few months.  Yet the exams come in the latter third of the manga after the middle of the school year had long since gone.  Is it possible that junior high goes through 10th grade?

Message Edited by doxiedachsie on 03-09-2009 03:00 PM

[doxiedachsie]

I FOUND IT!!!! 

I found the hole in the timeline.  It is in the manga (also in the anime, but not as obvious).  During the Soul Piper episode, Kagome went back to the future to attend Summer School because she had failed so many classes.  The means she was in between 9th & 10th grade!!  That then means that she would attend 10th grade before going to high school.  That means at least another year would have passed until she graduated and another 2 months before she started high school, in addition to the time already spent in the feudal era which was at least 3 months so far. 

That makes at least 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 years for the main story to take place. 

QED

Whether or not this corresponds to the actual Japanese school system is immaterial.  The manga set up this timeline, right or wrong.  If it is wrong, the there is a continuity issue with the manga.  Kagome  was either in 8th grade at the start & 9th grade at the end or she went from 9th to 10th grade; but she was definitely not in the same grade the entire time!

[doxiedachsie]

Took a little jump on the next volume.  Depending on the translation I read, Inuyasha wanted to tell Kagome those 3 words he never says (I heart U), and almost told her "ghost".  It means that his feelings for her had fully developed by then, but he was too proud to admit it.  He did mope all the way home, though, because he almost gave himself away.

[doxiedachsie]

Everybody always calls Inuyasha naive.  In the Soul Piper arc of the manga, Hojo actually catches Kagome coming out of the well & still doesn't suspect anything.

[doxiedachsie]

Just a couple of things I noticed. The manga includes a full cannabilism scene where Hiten actually eats Manten's heart to absorb his power. The anime downplays this to where he merely bites into Manten's head to both remove the jewel shards and absorb his power.

The manga also includes Inuyasha's funny reaction to Kagome admitting she stayed behind too long in order to get his sword. She constantly surprises him with her sometimes foolish gutsiness.

Message Edited by doxiedachsie on 03-13-2009 08:48 PM

[Mensch64]

---

doxiedachsie wrote:

I FOUND IT!!!! 

I found the hole in the timeline.  It is in the manga (also in the anime, but not as obvious).  During the Soul Piper episode, Kagome went back to the future to attend Summer School because she had failed so many classes.  The means she was in between 9th & 10th grade!!  That then means that she would attend 10th grade before going to high school.  That means at least another year would have passed until she graduated and another 2 months before she started high school, in addition to the time already spent in the feudal era which was at least 3 months so far. 

That makes at least 1-1/2 to 1-3/4 years for the main story to take place. 

QED

Whether or not this corresponds to the actual Japanese school system is immaterial.  The manga set up this timeline, right or wrong.  If it is wrong, the there is a continuity issue with the manga.  Kagome  was either in 8th grade at the start & 9th grade at the end or she went from 9th to 10th grade; but she was definitely not in the same grade the entire time!

---

I'll go along with that.

[doxiedachsie]

Just a short observation, human Inuyasha's eyes changed color from amber to dark, but his pupils stayed in the slit shape of his demon form instead of going round like Kagome's.

[doxiedachsie]

In the manga, there was a funny scene where Inuyasha is asking 2 kappa's about the jewel shards & getting nowhere.  The anime just had him lounging in a tree instead.  At least in the manga, he looked more diligent and the comedy was more interesting.