I've never read Naruto, so I wouldn't know of your tastes or what exactly you might think of as melodramatic. But in my opinion, InuYasha isn't a drama, but it's not a comedy either. Hmm...
Well, I'd start with calling it a historical fantasy with lots of action, mixed with lots of humor, some drama err... more serious moments, with some horror and mythology and don't forget the romance thrown in for good measure. Does that help? Probably not... Okay, so this is what it's about, but in order to explain it to you, I'm going to have to be spoilery. Don't say I didn't warn you.
So, we start the story in modern Tokyo with Kagome Higurashi, who is basically Attolia as a Japanese school girl. Scary? Yes. Fearless? Yes. Cruel? Not to anyone but Inuyasha.
Kagome lives at an ancient Japanese shrine where she has heard traditional tales all her life from her grandfather (who is crazy BTW). She's never believed these legends of youkai and magic jewels, until one day, while looking for her brother's cat, she gets a little too close to an ancient well on her family's land. The well, known as the Bone Eater's Well, is a portal that she has just activated to Warring States Era Japan. How did she activate it? The Shikon Jewel or the Jewel of Four Souls. (More on that later.)
She is dragged into the well by a resurrected youkai (magical creature), and finds herself 500 years in the past! Yippy!
There she meets (is captured) by an elderly priestess from whom Kagome learns she is the reincarnation of a her murdered sister, Kikyo, who died 50 years ago. And Kikyo was killed by... Wait for it...
INUYASHA!
Now, how is one killed by a title? Well, Inuyasha is also a character. A half-human, half-dog youkai, who was sealed to a god-tree by Kikyo before she died. He tried to steal the Shikon Jewel (to become a full youkai) that Kikyo was protecting, and the jewel was burned with her body when she died. Or so the story goes... (We know what that means, plot twist.)
So, Inuyasha wakes up when the youkai, who dragged Kagome down the well to begin with, shows up, and Kagome, having Kikyo's powers, removes his seal so well... she doesn't get eaten. In the process, the Shikon Jewel is ripped from her body (ouch...) and the newly resurrected Inuyasha tries to steal it by well... killing her. (But we later find, Inuyasha is all bark and no bite and was just trying to scare her into running away. Maybe...)
But Kagome is Kagome and she does indeed run away but takes the jewel with her. Now, trying to run from a super-human creature doesn't work out so well, so Kikyo's sister, Kaede (yes, she has a name), places another type of seal on Inuyasha, and IT'S EVEN VOICE ACTIVATED. Whenever Kagome says "sit" (it was the first thing she could think of she says, it was those doggy ears of his) Inuyasha goes BANG face first into the ground. Poor guy...
Now, lots of youkai want the jewel because of it's awesome evil powers. By chapter 5, the jewel is shattered into a bunch of tiny (tiny) pieces much to the distress of Inuyasha, because Kagome was trying to save it so, she kinda did something that was actually intelligent but turned out to be more powerful than she thought. You'll see...
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Part 1 (Yes, there are parts.)
Date: 10/2/10 07:33 pm (UTC)Well, I'd start with calling it a historical fantasy with lots of action, mixed with lots of humor, some drama err... more serious moments, with some horror and mythology and don't forget the romance thrown in for good measure. Does that help? Probably not... Okay, so this is what it's about, but in order to explain it to you, I'm going to have to be spoilery. Don't say I didn't warn you.
So, we start the story in modern Tokyo with Kagome Higurashi, who is basically Attolia as a Japanese school girl. Scary? Yes. Fearless? Yes. Cruel? Not to anyone but Inuyasha.
Kagome lives at an ancient Japanese shrine where she has heard traditional tales all her life from her grandfather (who is crazy BTW). She's never believed these legends of youkai and magic jewels, until one day, while looking for her brother's cat, she gets a little too close to an ancient well on her family's land. The well, known as the Bone Eater's Well, is a portal that she has just activated to Warring States Era Japan. How did she activate it? The Shikon Jewel or the Jewel of Four Souls. (More on that later.)
She is dragged into the well by a resurrected youkai (magical creature), and finds herself 500 years in the past! Yippy!
There she meets (is captured) by an elderly priestess from whom Kagome learns she is the reincarnation of a her murdered sister, Kikyo, who died 50 years ago. And Kikyo was killed by... Wait for it...
INUYASHA!
Now, how is one killed by a title? Well, Inuyasha is also a character. A half-human, half-dog youkai, who was sealed to a god-tree by Kikyo before she died. He tried to steal the Shikon Jewel (to become a full youkai) that Kikyo was protecting, and the jewel was burned with her body when she died. Or so the story goes... (We know what that means, plot twist.)
So, Inuyasha wakes up when the youkai, who dragged Kagome down the well to begin with, shows up, and Kagome, having Kikyo's powers, removes his seal so well... she doesn't get eaten. In the process, the Shikon Jewel is ripped from her body (ouch...) and the newly resurrected Inuyasha tries to steal it by well... killing her. (But we later find, Inuyasha is all bark and no bite and was just trying to scare her into running away. Maybe...)
But Kagome is Kagome and she does indeed run away but takes the jewel with her. Now, trying to run from a super-human creature doesn't work out so well, so Kikyo's sister, Kaede (yes, she has a name), places another type of seal on Inuyasha, and IT'S EVEN VOICE ACTIVATED. Whenever Kagome says "sit" (it was the first thing she could think of she says, it was those doggy ears of his) Inuyasha goes BANG face first into the ground. Poor guy...
Now, lots of youkai want the jewel because of it's awesome evil powers. By chapter 5, the jewel is shattered into a bunch of tiny (tiny) pieces much to the distress of Inuyasha, because Kagome was trying to save it so, she kinda did something that was actually intelligent but turned out to be more powerful than she thought. You'll see...