Pros: Great story, great special features, great DVD
Cons: One minor one . . . the special InuYasha retrospective isn't in English; other than that, flawless.

My Take:

InuYasha gets a pretty bad reputation in the Adult Swim fanbase, probably because it's the only show on Adult Swim that isn't misogynistic and the only one that attracts a large female audience. Heck, it's the third most popular series on the whole block, and yet it gets treated like crap throughout the fanbase (heaven knows that April Fool's joke in 2004 at the AS forum at Toon Zone was painful on the eyes). In fact, many people are celebrating the fact that it's ending in September 2004 in Japan, which is completely irritating because InuYasha is one of the most stylish, well-designed, and well-written anime series out there. But hey, much of the core Adult Swim fanbase is in awe over poorly-drawn flash animation, so, whatever floats their boat. I'm not here to condemn Adult Swim fans that hate InuYasha.

I'm here to praise Viz's InuYasha: The Movie.

This is actually the second InuYasha film made, but the first one to be released in North America, with the secondary title Affections Touching Across Time. This film takes the world of InuYasha and completely intensifies the momentum created in the series. For those that have never seen the series, InuYasha is about a young ninth-grade girl named Kagome who lives in modern Japan. She has the power to travel between the modern era and the feudal era of Japan and along with a cast of characters that includes a half demon named InuYasha, sheis searching for shards from the mystical Shikon Jewel. Of course Kagome's the reason why the shards are scattered across feudal Japan (she shot an arrow through the air, and it landed smack-dab in the center of it). One of those shards ended up being in the possession of Menomaru, the son of Hyoga, a demon trapped 200 years ago by InuYasha's father. With the help of a pair of female demons, Ruri and Hari, Menomaru is determined to unseal this father's legacy spirit. His actions end up trapping Kagome in her own time. Of course, lives are in the balance as a result of his actions all leading up to the final battle between InuYasha and Menomaru. But in the end, will Kagome and InuYasha be apart forever?

Everybody who ever had a problem with InuYasha the series should drop those prejudices and check this film out. Viz has outdone themselves in this release, from menu design to something that a lot of anime distributors tend to overlook . . . extras! Like Hollywood DVD releases, Viz has included a lot of extras, from character designs to numerous trailers and commercials for the film, the end credits in its original Japanese, and an InuYasha retrospective that showed new viewers what the series is all about. My only complaint is that Viz didn't dub it into English as well, but that's just a minor complaint. Of course, the true draw of this DVD is the film itself. All the voice artists from the Ocean-dubbed series are present, though Kagome's little brother sounds like he's undergoing puberty with a few instances with his voice cracking (awwwwww!), and they all did a stellar job.

InuYasha: The Movie is the ultimate celebration of Rumiko Takahashi's feudal fantasy masterpiece. If you're a fan of the series, you need to add this to your DVD collection if you haven't already. If you're not really a fan of the series but enjoy a great fantasy tale, look beyond barriers and check out InuYasha: The Movie.