Missing Nostalgia: Inuyasha Episode 6--A Parent's Love?

I have a bone to pick about the Unmother’s role in this episode.

(A/N: This post contains some disturbing and graphic images. Please read with caution.)

Picking up from last episode’s cliffhanger, the first half of the episode focuses on Inuyasha’s struggle against the monster who is pretending to be his mother, who is identified by the Flea as the Unmother (I haven’t talked much about Flea yet because he just seems like a walking exposition machine for now). He says that the Unmother is looking to “fill a void,” and she goes about it literally—

Once again, I NEED AN ADULT

I mentioned a few posts ago that I’ve been impressed by the monsters and demons that Inuyasha has introduced so far. All of them have been creepy while still incorporating original designs that I haven’t seen before in an anime. The Unmother is great addition and feels like an appropriate monster to watch as it gets closer to Halloween.

The difference between her and the other monsters and demons shown so far is her tragic backstory, revealing she was born out of grief and loss. This makes her subversive actions towards Sesshomaru a bit more understandable; all she wants is an abandoned kid, and they’ve handed one over to her. Breaking him for the sake of a secret goes against her reason for existing. However, at the same time, what she desires will result in Inuyasha’s death.

Which is why I don’t understand why Inuyasha was so enraged that Sesshomaru killed her on accident when the Unmother flung herself in front of his attack. She was drowning him by suffocation and trying to completely absorb him just a few minutes ago, yet the episode plays this off as a selfless act of love.

...I don't know about you, but my mom doesn't try to absorb my soul

Inuyasha’s anger at what Sesshomaru did to the Unmother is also presented as the major reason why he wants to continue going after Sesshomaru, despite the fact that that he’d just called out the monster for what she was not that long ago. Also, the plot already gave him a perfectly good reason to be angry: apparently his father’s tomb was in his eye the whole time (which I guess works because magic) and Sesshomaru takes it out of him by force. From how Inuyasha has acted so far, it feels more like he’d want to go after Sesshomaru just to get him back for tricking him rather than claiming it was because of how the Unmother went out. That wasn’t even a calculated attack on Sesshomaru’s part—the Unmother willingly threw herself in the line of fire.

On a different note, I’m getting more curious about Inuyasha’s father. He was introduced last time as a “demon among demons,” and his huge bones alone make him intimidating. Also, no one makes direct note of it, but the inside of his skeleton is filled with what looks like hundreds if not thousands of human skulls—if he was the kind of demon who would have a child with a human, then why kill so many people?

This is just a guess for now, but I feel like Inuyasha’s father valued secrecy and wanted his power to die with him. Why else go through such convoluted means to keep his weapon of choice sealed? The Flea claims that this was because he wanted Inuyasha to have the sword, but then why hide the fact that his tomb was hidden inside Inuyasha? Also, neither of the brothers end up being able to release the sword—Sesshomaru is unable touch it for long, and Inuyasha can’t draw it from the pedestal.

That was anti-climatic

In the end, it looks like the sword goes to Kagome, which is the coolest possible outcome. To be honest, I wasn’t sure why she was present for most of this episode; with the way the first few episodes went, I was convinced that she was the main character, but since Inuyasha’s backstory started up she’s just been…around.

Although I liked that she was quicker on the uptake than Inuyasha

Despite my complaining about strange motivations and the story not seeming to know what to do with its characters at times, I am liking the pacing. A lot happened in this episode, and this arc still isn’t over! I’m excited to see what Kagome can do with the sword, if she does anything at all. And maybe after this they’ll go back to finding the pieces of the Sacred Jewel?

In the meantime, there are some Unmother images I need to remove from my brain

Images are from Neon Alley via Hulu.com. Please support official simulcasts.

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