That was a hell of a post Ari, and when I read it I knew I was the only person on Earth capable of matching its length with a decent response (I tend to have incredibly long posts).Arigatomyna wrote:Kearly, who was kind enough to take the time to explain what she thinks about the anime - instead of just which character she thinks is hottest. I respect that, so I treated her with the same indepth response she gave me.
Just to clarify something, I may seem like a girl, but I am a guy. A big, tall, dark haired guy. I was a captain on my high school football team and even played a year of College football. Knowing that you thought I was a girl, I wonder what went through your mind when I said I was rooming up with a womanizer! Talk about making a bad image for myself.
I think that gender distinction is important because it is probably the reason I don't see certain aspects of Inuyasha the same way you do. I think you are largely right about Kagome, but I would label her behavior something other than immature. And if she really is immature, I'm willing to cut her some slack; she's 15 years old!
A lot of animes use teenage girls, and her behavior does not strike me as unrealistic for a girl her age or really any different than the overwhelming number of teenage girl portrayals seen anywhere really. If you have a gripe about female portrayal, it should be against society.
For the record I am one of the people who was frustrated by the Vahn Hitomi "instant" love in Escaflowne (nearly ruined an otherwise incredible ending). For some reason I bought the Kagome/Inuyasha instant love though, they have a definite charismatic chemistry. Also, instant love is tolerable if it done upfront, but outrageous when suddenly sprung upon us at the end of an anime! I am a believer in instant love myself, its the only form that love has encountered me in my life. Seeing it in an anime, granted if its done right, does not set off alarms in my head.ArigatoMyna wrote:But that's the main problem - when did she supposedly fall in love?
As far as their relationship, aren't you letting off Inu yasha too easily and giving Kagome too much of the blame? From my perspective, I was scratching my head and wondering how Inu Yasha could be such an inconsiderate idiot, your attempt to excuse him was noble, but I'm not buying it. I would have figured it out after the first time I got yelled at. My blame for Kagome comes with her over-reaction to Inu Yasha. Considering Kagome's young age and inexperience, her reactions are understandable to a degree. Inu Yasha also comes from a background lacking experience (despite his age), so its inevitable that their relationship will get ugly from time to time. I suppose I could agree with you that the show makes Kagome look worse, since its often the reactor who gets grief and not the instigator. As I see, both parties are to blame, and from a guys perspective I actually find myself with more respect for Kagome than for Inu Yasha, which is rare for me in male female anime relations (poor Ranma!, poor Keitaro!, hehe).
Maybe I'm as crazy as she is, but for reasons I outlined in my previous post I don't find her unreasonable at all. The path she is taking is the only path available for her own personal happiness. As we know, Inu Yasha probably has stronger feelings for Kikyo than for Kagome and he even volunteered to die so that he could be with her. (to be honest, I kind of wish he did. Would have definitely put an interesting twist on the series early on)Arigatomyna wrote:I know they made her [kikyo] unreasonable on purpose.
I normally find strong female characters annoying. Strong women I have known in real life are usually really mean/cold to me. I don't know why exactly, but I found Kikyo's strength and independent nature more attractive than her looks. Boy its really weird explaining it...Arigatomyna wrote:She's almost too strong.
but suffice to say I really liked it. Lol, thats an interesting take. I like it.Arigatomyna wrote:"trump card"
I feel like I'm wasting time clarifying something that we both agree is a plot device, but here goes:Arigatomyna wrote:Well explained? It may have been the poor subtitles in the version I saw, but they never explained why Inuyasha only went berserk *after* he had the sword that keeps him from going berserk. Why? Was he never in a life or death situation where his demon instinct could come to life in a survival first rage?
We have not seen most of Inuyasha's life before his encounter with the living Kikyo. It is possible that he had used this power back then, and it is also possible that he was never deeply threatened during this time (the likelier possibility). Inu Yasha acquires the Tetsaiga in episode 5. He was not seriously threatened by lady centipede in episodes 1 and 2 and was not near death during his encounter with Yura of the Hair in episodes 3 and 4. The entire anime, the group had encountered some tough fights, but it was not until they encounted Josenki (spelling), the mindreading T-rex like encarnation of Naraku, that it was evident that Inu Yasha and company were screwed. After the Tetsaiga breaks, its becomes only Inuyasha's 3rd battle without it, his first in about 40 episodes. During the battle, Inu Yasha is probably the closest to death that he has ever been in any fight, the only battle without the Tetsaiga that this is the case. It did seemingly come out of nowhere, but looking back it is supported by his history; if he has an occasional human weakness (new moons), then its reasonable to expect a demon weakness as well. It was explained in detail by a tree demon (who was inquired by Sessomaru) after it occurred, so we weren't wondering what the hell happened during his "fits" from that point on. Thats what I mean when I say it was well explained.
Its still running, both anime and manga, unless the anime is ending right now that is (I've heard rumors).Arigatomyna wrote:I didn't realize Inuyasha wasn't finished when I started it. I didn't find that out till shortly before I quit watching.
Ah! So thats why you kept harping on fanservice in a relatively clean anime. I was about to say, if you think Inu Yasha has fanservice you need to watch a few echi comedies like Golden Boy, Love Hina, or Tenchi in order to gain some perspective.Arigatomyna wrote:What appealed to the masses? Aspects of the anime meant to appeal to the masses. That's my definition of fanservice - plot devices and characterizations meant to appeal to the fans, and taken to extremes to guarantee they appeal even stronger to those fans.
But seriously, thats an interesting and viable definition. Not exactly the "dictionary version," but it works just the same.
Reading this the second time, as I responded to it, I realized something. One of the reasons you dislike Inu Yasha is that you see it as a romantic comedy. Who could blame anyone for seeing Inu Yasha in this light; it comes from Rumiko Takahashi after all, her previous 3 animes all being strong, well done romantic comedies.Arigatomyna wrote:The romance *could* have been great, but it didn't ring true to me (on Inuyasha's part it did, later on in the series after he started to return her feelings). Kagome was too predicatable.
As a romantic comedy, Inu Yasha is incredibly flawed. I say this because the main love story doesn't have the feel that other Takahashi' relationships have had, a feeling of real love. Inu Yasha and Kagome make a decent couple, but they are nowhere near as fun to watch as Ranma and Akane, Ranma and Ukyo, and particularly Ranma and Shampoo, not to mention the Kuno duo. Godai and Kozue in Maison Ikkoku is another fun example too.
I like Inu Yasha because of its winding storyline and incredible bredth of characters and storylines. Sango interests me more than Inu Yasha does, Kikyo interests me more, Sesshomaru interests me more, Naraku interests me more, I could go on. The main story arc is only a fraction of the anime to me, and the love interest between Kagome and Inu Yasha has always felt like background noise for this reason. In fact the only love story I have felt in the plot are the unpredictable and non-formulaic ones, namely Kikyo and Inu Yasha. I also particularly liked it when Kikyo seemed to be flirting with Naraku, especially considering Naraku/Onigumo's past. His infatuation for her was the reason Onigumo became Naraku, and set the entire anime into place. I also enjoyed seeing Miroku with the young girl who loved him and wanted to have his child. We suspect one-sided love (which I always find interesting), but we also see that Miroku at least cares for her enough to not give in to her irresponsible desire.
Considering the quality of the supporting characters and side stories, there is a ton of potential for a 10 episode climax. All those stories weaving together could be something very special (what will become of Kikyo? Is Naraku really pure evil or will he be defeated by his human soul?). It could be a very special ending if it is given even halfway intelligent writing.Arigatomyna wrote:I'll wait and see and just hope they at least make the ending a great one.
