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| ...You're just saying words that sound cool |
However, I am glad that I finally get to see the character whom I know nothing about except that all the fangirls went crazy for him back in the day. And I can kind of see why; the way Sesshoumaru acts in this episode bills him as Inuyasha 2.0: Faster, Stronger, and Edgier. There’s also the interesting parallel with how Sesshoumaru is seeking out something from his father’s grave in order to gain power while Inuyasha wants the Sacred Jewel. But aside from hair color and having the same dad, it looks like the similarities end there. Despite all of Inuyasha’s claims that he’s a “bad guy,” Sesshoumaru doesn’t even bother with big proclamations and goes straight for the kill.
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| Literally in a few cases. And this was just over wanting a boat. |
It also takes a particular type of calculating villain to agree to a plan that involves tricking your target into believing that their mother is back from the dead. I say “agree” because I’m not sure how much of this was Sesshoumaru's idea or his weird frog person lackey’s, but in either case that’s still pretty messed up.
Clearly there are a lot of issues in this family. Inuyasha reacts more strongly to hearing about his mother—even though it was just a compliment—than he did to hearing about Kikyo’s death. It’s also mentioned later on that he was orphaned pretty early in life. How long has Inuyasha had to deal with being half human and half demon all by himself? The human world obviously doesn’t want him (the village was perfectly fine leaving him pinned against a tree for fifty years), and thanks to Sesshoumaru’s cold treatment of someone who shares the same father as him it looks like the demon world isn’t too fond of him either. The show doesn’t seem to be hinting at a grand romance between Inuyasha’s parents either—it’s possible that he has never been wanted by anyone.
And while this is all fascinating backstory, I’m still confused about the pacing. I don’t dislike Inuyasha’s character, but four episodes is not nearly enough time for me to get attached enough to want to know the details about his past. I’m much more interested in what his relationship was with Kikyo, since that seemed relevant to what was going on with the Sacred Jewel.
Then again, maybe I’m a bit off track and the point of introducing Sesshoumaru and pieces of Inuyasha’s backstory is not to create sympathy but to provide context. And not just context for the viewers, but for Kagome too. She seemed genuinely surprised throughout this episode that Inuyasha was half human and half demon, which I thought was a little silly at first. But then I remembered that until the previous episode, all Inuyasha said to Kagome was either in the form of an insult or demanding the Sacred Jewel from her. I don’t think he’s stated to Kagome that he wants it in order to become a full demon, unless I’m already forgetting something. I only remember it because that’s one of his first lines before being pinned to the tree.
But that still leaves a question—why become full demon when Inuyasha demonstrates that he has a lot of fondness towards the human world, even if he won’t admit to himself? Does he think his demon powers make him too much of an outcast in the human world, but he doesn’t want to give them up? Or has something else happened in his past that hasn’t been revealed yet that made him make up his mind?
For now though, that’s still a mystery that waiting to be solved. As for the rest of this episode, it leaves off on another cliffhanger with Kagome frozen and unable to warn Inuyasha that he’s not really talking to his mom. Sesshoumaru sure does play dirty.
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| Those kids ship it |
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