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R1 DVD Reviews
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Friday, 15 January 2010 00:00 |
 Time to take a brief look at another season of Inu Yasha, and by most accounts this season is the best of the bunch - unless the new second series throws up a surprise or two. With the Band of Seven, aka the Shichinintai, forming the focus of most of this season, I'd have a hard time disagreeing...
The great curse of Inu Yasha is filler, of course (something the new series shouldn't have to contend with, now that the manga is finally done & dusted), and the first two episodes of this season would fall into that category. There's good filler and bad filler, though, and these two eps are definitely in the "good" category - in the first, while Garamaru isn't much of a villain, his method of attacking the gang leads to an opportunity for some decent little dream sequences that definitely raise a smile, while the second sees Miroku's lewd tendencies finally coming back to haunt him. It doesn't hurt that Koyuki's not the complete villain that she's at times painted to be - there's a definite bittersweet tinge to the episode's resolution that rounds it out nicely. In short, neither filler episode leaves you wishing you hadn't bothered.
After that, though, we get the appearance of the first of the Shichinintai (although Kyokotsu isn't identified as such for a while). Back when I was watching the *cough*fansubs*cough* of Inu Yasha, the Shichinintai arc was by far my favourite segment of the show, so it's fair to say I'd been waiting for this point for quite some time now, and it was no disappointment once it finally underway. Kyokotsu isn't physically the weakest of the bunch, but he's also perhaps not the best indicator of things to come - other members of the Band of Seven will go on to cause far more problems for Inuyasha and the others, and with Naraku, Kohaku, Koga and Sesshomaru all hovering on the edges of the story there's plenty of opportunity for the sort of set-pieces that really make Inu Yasha worth watching - visually spectacular, but not so long that you get bored with them.
The Band of Seven are an interesting bunch. We'll not dwell on Kyokotsu as he doesn't last long, but the other six are all worthwhile. First to put in an appearance is Jakotsu, a cross-dressing sword-wielder who takes an immediate shine to Inuyasha and displays all the jealousy of a woman scorned when Sango dares to intervene in their battle. I like Jakostu - he's got just the right mix of fighting power and batshit craziness that makes a villain something special, and his obsession with Inuyasha only adds to the appeal - this is one of the Seven who's going to be with us for a while and create quite a few problems, and that's definitely a good thing.
Next up is Mukotsu, a poison master who's just creepy and who I'm not going to say too much about, as Sesshomaru deals with him in very summary fashion. In fact, Sesshomaru's appearance in the arc is far more big a deal for me - I'm a long-time fan of Inuyasha's big brother, and will happily cheer any showing of his, despite that fact that he's nominally one of the bad guys. The only disappointment here is that Mukotsu is so easily defeated - it does rather undermine the hype that surrounds the Shichinintai (as did Kyokotsu), but then he wasn't exactly used to people being able to withstand his poisons. Ooops. Sesshomaru is still looking for Naraku and Kohaku, wanting to teach them a lesson after their kidnapping of Rin, a quest which doesn't quite fit with the big man's usual demeanour but is a noble motive and one that could be useful to Kagome and the others.
After that there's Ginkotsu, who reminded me a lot of Kikuchiyo from Samurai 7, a warrior who's now more machine than human and packing enough firepower to really do some damage. He's another one whohangs around for a while as he's pretty much unstoppable, as Inuyasha learns the hard way, but doesn't have quite the appeal of the others. It's hard to relate to a big lump of metal, and while he has the appearance of Kikuchiyo, he's definitely lacking in the personality department.
Rounding out the group we get the completely untrustworthy Renkotsu, who seems to be using the opportunity that Naraku has given him and his comrades as an excuse to make his own grab for power; Suikotsu, a man with a split-personality that makes him rather more interesting than your average serial killer; and leader of the bunch Bankotsu, who wields a halberd that's almost larger than he is and who rules his comrades with the rod of iron. Not a bunch of people that you want to be messing with. There's a lot of fighting throughout the arc - it's what the Band of Seven do, after all - but in keeping with Inu Yasha's usual form the battles are kept reasonably short and entertaining, which earns bonus marks from me. The ever-growing crowd of fringe characters that gathering as events progress also keeps the interest up - with Koga, Sesshomaru and Kohaku on the scene early on and Myoga arriving mid-arc, you just know that Kikyo and Naraku's other cast-offs can't be far away. It's almost a case of "the gang's all here". Sure enough, Kikyo does eventually turn up - I'm not usually much of a fan of hers, but her appearance adds to the sense of foreboding that goes along with the Mt Hakurei side of the arc - she knows exactly what it's like to be a dead person walking, she knows that there's a price to be paid for what the Band of Seven are, and goes on tom play a lead role towards the end of the arc.
The Shichinintai aren't acting on their own, either - they're backed by none other than Naraku himself, who has raised them from the grave with the power of his tained shikon shards. That means they owe him a certain loyalty (although nothing more than a very basic level), but it also means that the search for Naraku comes to the fore as much as the Band of Seven do. At the centre of the search is Mount Hakurei, a holy mountain guarded by a barrier created by the late Saint Hakushin, a barrier that can purify any demon who passes nearby - making it a difficult location for Inuyasha and Shippo to work in. That barrier is something of a mystery to start with, as you have to wonder how Naraku enlisted the help of a man as holy as Saint Hakushin was reputed to be. It's Kikyo that finally reveals the reasons behind that in a short story thread that got my full attention. The way she deals with Hakushin shows that, against all the evidence we've had so far, she does have a personality in there, a person who cares and who can still empathise with the people - or reincarnated corpses - that she meets. Knowing about what then happens to her later in the season, I'm just hugely sorry that she only became a likeable character this late in the day.
With the Shichinintai eventually vanquished and the Mt Hakurei barrier broken, the focus of the show shifts back to Naraku for the first time in damn near two seasons - we've waded through a lot of filler to get to this point, and I can't really claim that it was worth the wait, as his chosen method of revival seems once again to be so far "out there" that you just roll your eyes at how little sense it makes. Even when he finally makes his appearance in fully-restored form, complete with finery that would given Sesshomaru's outfit a run for its money in the style stakes, there's no feeling of "yes!", of feeling that we can get down to business - you just know that he's going to pull some stunt (again) and slip from the gang's grasp without anything good being accomplished.
He's also up to his usual scheming, of course, which this time revolves around a little bundle of joy that's seen being removed from Mt Hakurei by Kagura, who still seems to be on her best, loyal behaviour after the stern warning she received last time she tried to double-cross her master. That the bundle she's carrying will eventually turn out to mean trouble, there's no doubt, and we don't have to wait long to find out what it is. Never one to do his own dirty work, Naraku has created a new offshoot for the gang to deal with, in the form of the nameless infant who speaks with the clarity and knowledge of an adult, and who has the ability to use the darkest feelings of his victims to tie them to him in some rather unpleasant ways. The problem with most of Naraku's offshoots - Kagura being the exception that proves the rule - is that they have very little in the way of personality, and the infant follows that pattern. He's just not all that interesting to watch, and with him set to be the focus of the show's next story arc, you can work out why this is the point where I stopped watching Inu Yasha the first time around.
But while the meeting of Kagome and the infant takes up most of the final disc in the season, it's not the main event. That happens in the prior episode where, unusually for a show like this, a fairly major character finds death in a way that seems to be permanent. The victim is Kikyo; Inuyasha's repsonse is predictable, in that he goes to search for her, to confirm her death or prove the opposite; while Kagome's descent into angst is equally predictable. One the one hand, her feelings become the route by which the infant is later able to exert influence on her; on the other, it's prissy teenage hormones running riot in a way that we've already seen so many times over the course of the series so far that it's already become tired. Yes, what happens to Kikyo is a major event, but the way the aftermath of it is dealt with almost cheapens it and makes it less significant than it should have been.
Still, despite some failings towards the end of the season, there's a whole lot here that's enjoyable, and moreso than any other season of the show until now. Impressed? Entertained? Check, and check. It also doesn't hurt that this is one of the larger seasons (9 volumes of the original releases, split over 5 discs in the set), and for the same price as the smaller seasons. It really is a case of "what's not to like?". Well worth picking up.
For full episode summaries and screenshots, check our reviews of the individual releases:
» Volume 34: Children of Snow
» Volume 35: The Band of Seven
» Volume 36: A Half-Demon's Tears
» Volume 37: Two Souls, One Body
» Volume 38: Battle on the Sacred Island
» Volume 39: The Black, Impure Light
» Volume 40: Divine Malice
» Volume 41: Naraku Reborn
» Volume 42: Farewell My Beloved
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