Inuyasha


 * This article refers to the anime/manga by Rumiko Takahashi. There probably should be an article for the titular character, but there's not. Isn't that sad.

Inuyasha (the manga version) premiered in 1996 and finished in summer of 2008. Currently, 55 of the collected volumes have been released in Japan, and they're still not done yet. 34 of these (as of July 2008) have been released in America. There is also an "ani-manga" spinoff based on the anime.

There are 167 anime episodes and four movies.

Plot
The story takes place partially in modern Japan, but the characters are found considerably more often in feudal Japan, in a period usually known as the Sengoku Jidai. Kagome, a fifteen-year-old schoolgirl, in the course of attempting to retrieve the family cat from a place he really shouldn't have been, falls down a very old well and, miraculously, doesn't break anything, but rather ends up five hundred years in the past. She promptly breaks the seal on a half-demon named Inuyasha, who is, as his name might suggest, part dog. Here's the twister: she's the reincarnation of the priestess who put him there in the first place, and she has inside her something called the Jewel of Four Souls, or the Shikon no Tama. It's a magical crystal created by a powerful priestess, and it may or may not have the power to grant a single wish.

Within twenty-four hours of getting the Jewel out of her, Kagome manages to (accidentally) shatter it into probably several hundred shards, which are scattered to the four corners of the world. Or at least Japan. Bet you can guess where this plot is going.

Yup, she and the half-demon who kinda-sorta hates her guts have got to work together to get them back and reassemble for them before the Big Bad, Naraku, can acquire it and its power. Along the way, they are joined by a young fox demon, or kitsune, a demon slayer, and a lecherous monk cursed by aforementioned Big Bad. Oh, and Inuyasha's aloof big brother, Sesshomaru (or however the heck you want to romanize his name. There are lots of variants), helps out, too. In between trying to murder his half-brother.

Frequently Targeted Characters
Sesshomaru gets a lot of Sues, usually either humans who change his mind about the whole "human inferiority" thing or demons who kick his tail six ways from yesterday. He's well-loved, what can we say? Often dubbed "Fluffy" or "Fluffy-sama," due to a certain portion of his usual outfit.

Incidentally, Inuyasha is one of the fandoms in which one is most likely to find fangirl Suethors using "Wapanese." Beware.

Missions in this Continuum

 * Agents Gunny MacDougal and Wayne Garamond (DMS-Anime)
 * "Emerald"
 * "Forgotten Forests," Part One, Part Two (crossover with Lord of the Rings)