The appeal?

[sylvi]

This thread isn't an attack on the anime or the people who watch it, I'm just a little curious.

I have a soft spot for InuYasha, it was one of my first anime series, and when I was younger, it very much appealed to me and I loved it (however this was during its earlier years, or at least the earlier episodes. All of the ones that had the first intro opening with the ferris wheel and roses ****.)

As the series went on, I lost interest. And I got older. Now it's kind of painful to watch, especially the later episodes of it. In my opinion it has a very shallow, circular story, and the romance is incredibly cliche and immature. What I'm curious about is, what is it about InuYasha that appeals to you, if you watch it?

[Condey]

This thread isn't an attack on the anime or the people who watch it, I'm just a little curious.

I have a soft spot for InuYasha, it was one of my first anime series, and when I was younger, it very much appealed to me and I loved it (however this was during its earlier years, or at least the earlier episodes. All of the ones that had the first intro opening with the ferris wheel and roses ****.)

As the series went on, I lost interest. And I got older. Now it's kind of painful to watch, especially the later episodes of it. In my opinion it has a very shallow, circular story, and the romance is incredibly cliche and immature. What I'm curious about is, what is it about InuYasha that appeals to you, if you watch it?

Inuyasha is my BIIISHIIIIEEE!!!

/thread

Sorry, I tend to hate on most of the popular shows for precisely the reasons you outlined. It's not because they are popular, its because they are usually so bloated with filler and pointless story arcs that the characters begin to become stereotypes of themselves. *Gasp* Is Naruto acting hyperactive and immature again? Haha, thats so like him!

[GameGeeks]

Haven't watched it since it stalled in 2004 but for me the fillers where better then most long animes with at 50/50 ratio for enjoyable. That and watching Kagome yell sit was always funny.

[Yuliya]

Omg, I agree with you completely. To me, at least, it really is not the best anime. Why I still watch it is for a few select good characters. NOT Inuyasha and Kagome or Naraku, in my opinion they are the most annoying and cliche characters ever. However, Sango, Koga (Mostly), Sesshomaru (Sort of), Kagura, Rin, and my beloved Band of Seven are what make me watch the series. Especially the Band of Seven. I come on this board pretty much only for the Band of Seven because they are a bunch of amazing characters. SO much more complicated and interesting than Inuyasha and Kagome.

[sylvi]

I'm glad to see other people don't particularly like InuYasha either. I really dislike the show, but the earlier episodes have a special place in my heart. The dialogue is terrible, the characters (save for a few, and even then...) are terrible, the story is circular and repetitive as ****, and... it goes on for so damn long. OMG A VILLAGE HAS A DEMON AND INUYASHA FINDS SOME SELF-INTERESTING THING AND EITHER UNINTENTIONALLY OR DOUBLE-STANDARDLY RESCUES THE TOWN AND BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

EDIT: Also, thanks for the Naruto comment, Condey. Naruto is also terrible.

[Condey]

EDIT: Also, thanks for the Naruto comment, Condey. Naruto is also terrible.

Just doing my bit to help force my opinions down people's throats. :P

[Catelyn23]

Well, as one who used to watch the show in her teens, got bored and just now out of a sudden whim got back to see what new in this anime (because it wasn't finished when I watched that), I get exactly what you mean. I sort of into it now, but not entirely, because in my opinion, it is right what you said - it's annoyingly repetitive and dragged on, way too many fillers, the story is circular, and the characters often being dumb or annoying for the sake of comedy.

But I still watch it. I mean, not really, I hardly watch an actual full episode anymore. Now adays you can find everything in the web, and you can forward the parts that you find boring. It's not like it used to be, when I watched a full episode and enjoyed it. It isn't the same. But I still produce some enjoyment from that, untill it will die anyway (and obviously it will). I keep watching because I find the anime pleasant on the eye and the music beautiful. I like the atmosphere of the show (when they are in the feudal era) and mostly - I think the story and the characters has a lot of potential and initially interesting.

I mean, I love the idea of a main character that is half demon and half human. You can easily compare it, for example, to the half-breed or half-blood of Harry Potter (if you are familiar with that) or project it to actual relevant subject, like interracial relationships and the sort. I also find Inuyasha's characterization interesting. He is wild and insulting yet has a compassionate heart, he doesn't find his place in the world, he is turned between becoming a human (with Kikyo), a full demon or stay who he is. He is not human nor demon, I find that interesting. Then you have the whole story that I'm too lazy to detail. The starting point, IMO, is very interesting. What I don't like is how this is getting way too much complicated later, in a way that a lot happen but actually, nothing happens. The plot just twist into itself but it keeps a very firm status-quo that barely changed. The Montser Of The Week getting boring after the few first time, and the unnecessary fillers (Shippo falls in love with some human girl. Just why do we need to see that exactly?) are killing the show.

But yeah, I'm talking about what's good in it. So: interesting initial plot, interesting villains, interesting characters. Sesshomaru that is developing through the series (though painfully slow), the Band of Seven, Kouga, Kagura, and so own. The setting in a world of demons and demonic powers is interesting. And this makes me still want to watch the show. There are interesting developments, just not so much and in a slow manner, but there are. The Final Act, anyway, is suffer from the inverted problem in that matter (at least IMO) - it's too rapid and compressed where it shouldn't be, but that's another story...

[sylvi]

The one episode I really enjoyed was when InuYasha turned into his full human side, in the earlier episodes (because I'm sure it happened multiple times throughout, given the painful circular tendencies of the show). All I remember was that they were fighting some kind of giant spider, and InuYasha became full-human that night. It was actually the first episode I saw.

But yeah, I can't really agree with you Catelyn that the characters are interesting or unique, because I dislike almost all of them and they're very... static, honestly. They're dynamic in instances, but they are for the most part very static, which pisses me off. And I don't really find the setting/concept too unique either. I can't count how many anime shows incorporate some shitty demon concept in an acrid fashion, akin to InuYasha. InuYasha is just the most well-known one.

[GameGeeks]

I can agree with a lot of the points but the main problem is the length. The characters probably wouldn't be as static if it weren't for that. Should have been a hundred episodes. Maybe a hundred-fifty with the newest episodes properly paced. Though I'm taking Cate's word on that since I haven't seen them yet. The other things wouldn't be a problem if it wasn't for the stretching the show out aspect. Still, the show is initially better then Bleach or Dragon Ball Z/GT. As of right now Dragon Ball is the only anime that reached 160 episodes with very little problems. I'll admit I'm not too fond of the Piccolo sega but that's because it starts to feel DBZish. Though it's still very light. Anyways, my point is extremely long anime tend to suck and become predictable or suffer from what I call the DBZ effect which in itself is predictability.

[Wio]

OMG A VILLAGE HAS A DEMON AND INUYASHA FINDS SOME SELF-INTERESTING THING AND EITHER UNINTENTIONALLY OR DOUBLE-STANDARDLY RESCUES THE TOWN AND BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

What's your favorite anime then?
Here's the BORING plot:
OMG A MAIN CHARACTER ENDS UP HAVING SOME SORT OF CHALLENGES AND IN AN ATTEMP TO FIX THOSE CHALLENGE THEY COME ACROSS MORE CHALLENGES AND BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

And that's why I don't like your favorite anime.

Inuyasha was enjoyable because its characters (Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippo, Miroku, Sango) and its setting (Feudal Japan with demons). The actual villains (Naraku and stock demons) and overall plot (Find the shikkon shards) was its weak point. The boys watched it because they wanted to see Inuyasha fight and become powerful (Thus you had an upgradable Tetsisaiga) and the girls like the love triangles and the Sesshoumaru archetype.

This was enough to keep the young people it was aimed at entertained. To what are you comparing Inuyasha, exactly, for you to say it is bad (a relative term)?

[sylvi]

There's not many good anime shows on television, but some great ones are:
Samurai Champloo
Cowboy Bebop
FLCL

They are very common examples, but they still knock the **** out of InuYasha in both quality and practicality. They're short, but they know when to stop. And FLCL was just plain outlandish, but it had quality and uniqueness.

OMG A MAIN CHARACTER ENDS UP HAVING SOME SORT OF CHALLENGES AND IN AN ATTEMP TO FIX THOSE CHALLENGE THEY COME ACROSS MORE CHALLENGES AND BLAH BLAH BLAH BLAH

And that's why I don't like your favorite anime.

See, the problem here is that InuYasha does very little to make that plot interesting. Almost all anime/manga/even just cartoons in general have that plot. What a good anime will do is add enough interesting side-plots and obstacles to make it interesting. What InuYasha does is keep blowing the same **** out of its *** for about 200 episodes, also given that the voice-acting is terrible (not sure if this applies to people watching the subbed version) and the characters are predictable and worthless.

[Kagome]

Meh...the anime holds no real place in my heart...it was a pack of annoying lies and even more annoying side-plot lines that held no candle to the story. Got even worse when it was dubbed...but that's my opinion.

And later-with Kanketsuhen it was all fast forwarded, skipping plots and messing up time-line junk, trying to shove one too many manga into too little episodes.

I do however love the manga. That has a special hold on me because in it you can understand things better. The archs aren't as drawn out-and it was actually interesting.

Though to be perfectly honest-I beleive the FMA manga and the new anime based off it, Brotherhood, is far better than Inuyasha any day. :x

[Wio]

There's not many good anime shows on television, but some great ones are:
Samurai Champloo
Cowboy Bebop
FLCL

They are very common examples, but they still knock the **** out of InuYasha in both quality and practicality. They're short, but they know when to stop. And FLCL was just plain outlandish, but it had quality and uniqueness.

Well, there's the problem. First of all, you don't like long series, which is something that varies from person to person. Second of all, you've grown up out of the intended target age range of Inuyasha. If you showed your favorites to a younger audience, they'd most likely not be able to pick up on some of the themes and find Inuyasha to be more entertaining.

[sylvi]

Well, there's the problem. First of all, you don't like long series, which is something that varies from person to person. Second of all, you've grown up out of the intended target age range of Inuyasha. If you showed your favorites to a younger audience, they'd most likely not be able to pick up on some of the themes and find Inuyasha to be more entertaining.

I realize it's for younger audiences, I just don't understand how so many 16+ year-olds - and even adults - can watch it and not flush in frustration, that's kind of what I was asking with the thread.

[Kagome]

Well, there's the problem. First of all, you don't like long series, which is something that varies from person to person. Second of all, you've grown up out of the intended target age range of Inuyasha. If you showed your favorites to a younger audience, they'd most likely not be able to pick up on some of the themes and find Inuyasha to be more entertaining.

I realize it's for younger audiences, I just don't understand how so many 16+ year-olds - and even adults - can watch it and not flush in frustration, that's kind of what I was asking with the thread.

Technically in Japan, Inuyasha was targetted at the older teen audience. It was dumbed down totally when America got its mits on it and pretty much destroyed any cultural meaning it had hidden in it. So of course the younger generation in America would find it cool...Though who on earth would want to stay up till 1am to watch dumbed down, dubbed Inuyasha is beyond me. But there we are.

[Yukitomon]

The appeal is awesome fight scenes, duh.