InuYasha (universe)

The InuYasha () universe refers to the series' collection of characters and properties that hail from Weekly Shōnen Sunday's manga and anime series written and illustrated by . The series follows a Hanyō (半妖, Half-Demon) called InuYasha; Kagome Higurashi, a time-traveling high school student; Miroku, a lecherous monk; Shippō, a Yōko (妖狐, Demox Fox); Sango, a demon slayer and her nekomata (猫股, Monster Cat) Kilala during the Sengoku period as they seek to find all the fragments of the Shikon no Tama (四魂の玉, Jewel of Four Souls) and to keep them out of the hands of evildoers, especially Naraku.
== Franchise description ==
Written by Rumiko Takahashi, InuYasha premiered in Japan in Shōnen Sunday on November 13, 1996 and concluded June 18, 2008. The chapters were published by Shogakukan in 56 collected volumes, with the first volume released in May 1997, and the last released in February 2009.
The story begins with a flashback to Feudal Japan, when the half-demon InuYasha raids a human village to steal the Jewel of Four Souls, a magical jewel that enhances its wielder's powers and can grant a single wish. InuYasha hopes to use the gem to turn himself into a full-blooded demon, but is soon stopped when Kikyō, the young miko of the village, shoots him with a sacred arrow, sealing him onto the sacred tree Goshinboku in the nearby forest. Mortally wounded, Kikyō tells her younger sister, Kaede, to burn the jewel with her body to prevent it from falling into the hands of evil. The story then shifts to modern Tokyo, where a junior high school girl named Kagome Higurashi lives on the grounds of her family's hereditary Shinto shrine. When she goes into the wellhouse to retrieve her cat, Buyo, a centipede demon bursts out of the enshrined Bone Eater's Well and pulls her through it. Kagome emerges into a strange wilderness, initially unaware that she has traveled back through time to the Sengoku period of Japan, fifty years after Kikyō's death. Other than the Bone Eater's Well itself, the only familiar landmark is Goshinboku. She finds InuYasha still sealed onto the tree in an enchanted sleep, and a group of hostile peasants who drag her back to their village. Their old priestess, Kaede, recognizes Kagome as the reincarnation of her sister Kikyō; when the centipede demon returns, Kaede realizes that the Jewel of Four Souls has also been reborn in Kagome's body. Kagome frees InuYasha so he can kill the centipede demon, but after defeating it, InuYasha again tries to take the Jewel for himself. Kaede thwarts him by placing a magical rosary around his neck, allowing Kagome to subdue him with a simple command. The Jewel of Four Souls attracts more demons, and the jewel is shattered into numerous shards that disperse across Japan. Even the individual shards are capable of granting great power, and are eagerly sought by humans and demons alike. Kagome and InuYasha set out to collect the shards and restore the Jewel of Four Souls. Along the way, they befriend Shippō, a small Yōko; Miroku, a cursed monk; and Sango, a demon-slayer with a tragic past. The group encounters many friends and foes during the adventure, including InuYasha's older half-brother Sesshōmaru; Kikyō, partially resurrected with a fragment of Kagome's soul; Naraku, a powerful collective demon who manipulated the initial conflict between Kikyō and InuYasha; and a wolf demon named Kōga, who is InuYasha's dedicated rival in both love and war.
Viz Media licensed the series for an English translated release in North America. Initially, Viz released it in monthly American comic book format, each issue containing two or three chapters from the original manga, but eventually abandoned this system in favor of trade paperbacks with the same chapter divisions as the Japanese volumes. Viz released its first trade paperback volume in March 1998. At the time, American manga reprints were normally "flipped" to conform to the American convention of reading books from left to right by mirroring the original artwork; among other effects, this caused right-handed characters to appear left-handed. Viz later stopped flipping its new manga releases, although InuYasha was already well into printing by the time this change was made. Reprints of older volumes have not been "reflipped" to match the newer ones.
Viz Media also issues a separate series of "ani-manga" volumes which are derived from full-color screenshots of the anime episodes. These volumes are slightly smaller than the regular manga volumes, are oriented in the Japanese tradition of right to left, feature new covers with higher quality pages, and a higher price point versus the regular volumes. Each ani-manga volume is arranged into chapters that correspond to the anime episodes rather than the manga. InuYasha is also licensed for regional language releases in Brazil by Editora JBC, Italy by Star Comics, France by Kana, Finland, Germany, Norway, and Poland by Egmont, Spain by Glénat, Indonesia by Elex Media Komputindo, Mexico by Editorial Vid, Israel by Aruts Hayeladim, Vietnam by NXB Trẻ and South Korea by Haksan Publishing.
Based on the first 36 volumes of the manga series, the InuYasha anime adaptation produced by Sunrise premiered in Japan on Animax on October 16, 2000 and ran for 167 episodes until its conclusion on September 13, 2004. During the anime's run, four feature films based on it released exclusively in Japan, including in 2001, in 2002, in 2003, and in 2004. Following the end of the anime's original run, the last 21 volumes of the manga series were adapted into a second anime series, , which premiered in Japan on Yomiuri TV on October 3, 2009 and ran for 26 episodes until its conclusion on March 29, 2010. Both series have also been broadcast in numerous countries around the world and received English dubs shortly after first airing.
In May 2020, a sequel series to the InuYasha anime titled was announced. Produced by Sunrise, the series takes place four years after the events of InuYasha: The Final Act and follows Towa Higurashi and Setsuna, Sesshomaru and Rin's fraternal twin daughters, and Moroha, InuYasha and Kagome Higurashi's daughter, as they journey together to discover their origins. The series first premiered on October 3, 2020, with a manga adaptation starting in Shōnen Sunday S on September 25, 2021.
== In the Super Smash Flash series ==
=== In Super Smash Flash ===
The InuYasha franchise makes a small appearance in Super Smash Flash, being represented by one unlockable character.
==== Character ====
*: The titular character and one of the main protagonists of the series along Kagome. Born to a dog demon father and human mother, InuYasha is a Hanyō who initially wants to use the powers of the Shikon Jewel to become a full demon. After falling in love with Kikyō, the miko who guards the Jewel, he changes his mind and wants to become human so he can live with her, but Naraku manipulates both of them into believing they have been betrayed by one another. Kikyō is fatally wounded, but before she dies, she shoots an arrow through InuYasha to seal him onto a sacred tree. InuYasha remains in suspended animation for fifty years until Kagome Higurashi, Kikyō's reincarnation, pulls out the arrow and frees him. After the Shikon Jewel shatters, InuYasha and Kagome travel together to retrieve its shards. As a fighter, InuYasha mainly uses the Tessaiga, a sword made from one of his father's fangs, and his signature clawing attack "Sankon Tessōh" to attack his opponents.
== Media with elements appearing in the Super Smash Flash series ==
The following list consists of media from the InuYasha universe that appears in Super Smash Flash.
=== ===
*InuYasha, who debuted in this manga as its main protagonist, appears as an unlockable character in SSF.
*InuYasha's and side attack in SSF utilize the Tessaiga, which originates in chapter 15 of this manga.
*InuYasha's up attack, down attack, and in SSF utilize Sankon Tessō, which originates as his signature attack in chapter 2 of this manga.
=== InuYasha: Fūun Emaki ===
*InuYasha's sprites in SSF are taken from this game.
Category:Super Smash Flash
Category:Super Smash Flash series
Category:Shogakukan