|
R1 DVD Reviews
|
|
Tuesday, 20 April 2010 00:00 |
 Another volume of Inu Yasha, another volume of filler, with Shippo suffering an ego-boosting case of mistaken identity, and the gang having to deal with a flesh-eating demon. Oh, and the small matter of a long-awaited confession of love - now, who do you think will be doing that..?
130 - Shippo's New Technique, The Heart Scar!
A family of little fox demons have been hearing stories of a famous, heroic fox demon, who travels with a group dedicated to defeating the evil Naraku and the demons he's unleashed upon the land. That would be Shippo, whose reputation seems to have suffered from a bad case of Chinese whispers - and this family wants Shippo to teach them the ways of the hero. Including the Wind Scar, if you please. Of course, the Wind Scar isn't Shippo's attack, it's Inuyasha's - so if Shippo's reputation is to survive intact, he needs to come up with an equally impressive attack of his own. And quickly...
131 - Trap of the Cursed Wall Hanging
A traveller that the gang meet along the road warns then of a village they're approaching that he claims is inhabited by demon women - he'd seen them throw the skinned remains of a body into a river, a sight that was enough to scare the bejeezus out of him. Kagome can't sense the presence of a shikon shard anywhere in the vicinity, but they decide to be on their guard, anyway. Meanwhile, an injured samurai has chanced upon the village - he's noticed the lack of men, and of children or elderly at that, but his suspicions come too late to save him from being the next victim of the villagers. Miroku, though, can sense the samurai's unfortunate demise, and goes to find out what's going on...
132 - Miroku's Most Dangerous Confession
Sango is captured by the villagers, who intend to force her to swallow a demonic egg that will bring her under the control of the cursed wall hanging. That same wall hanging is currently trying to make a snack of Miroku's flesh, while Inuyasha and Kagome have also come under attack by the villagers. Add it all up, and it spells major trouble for the gang. The demon possessing the wall hanging needs a constant supply of male flesh to enable it to return to its true form, and isn't about to allow anyone to stand in the way of its plans...
Three episodes, two stories. Getting the first out of the way, as I'm no fan of Shippo to start with - seeing him try to impress is something that never really works, as neither his appearance nor his personality lends itself to being in any way impressive. Instead, the episode tries to win you over by cuteness alone - and while Shippo isn't particularly cute, the other fox demons certainly manage to pull it off (especially the pair that do nothing but miaow), while Shippo's efforts to flirt with young girl Mizuki are also good fun. Until it all goes horribly wrong. Fairly pointless as episodes go (par for the course for Inu Yasha filler, really), but fun enough to watch.
Which brings us to the 'main event', and the title of episode 132 should tell you all you need to know about the important things that happen in the story. The main plot, of the cursed wall hanging and the people it's controlling, is decent enough as these things go but is no better or worse than any other Inu Yasha filler story. Unfortunately, you've got to sit through it all to get to the 10-minute scene where Miroku awkwardly tells Sango exactly what he thinks of her - which is well worth the wait, to be honest. Inu Yasha has made beating around the bush and not being honest about feelings something of an artform, so seeing it get to the point is well worth the wait in more ways than one. It's just a shame that you could almost put money on the whole confession scene being forgotten about as soon at the next episode begins.
Still, I can't deny that this volume was decently entertaining. Inu Yasha is definitely one of those shows that at times you love to hate, especially when it's stuck in a filler rut - but so far, this rut has produced one or two little moments that make it worthwhile, and have managed to raise a few grins along the way. Nothing spectacular, but far from being the worst that Inu Yasha has produced, either.
|
Reviews Archive 
