Dear Chibi,

Last night I finally got the chance to sit down and watch 1 of the 4 movies included in the Inuyasha Movie Collection. It’s been a while since I’ve seen Inuyasha, so I looked forward to viewing the movie with a fresh mindset. The first movie is titled “Affections Touching Across Time” which refers to the romantic relationship and feelings between Inuyasha and Kagome. Now if you ship this pairing, you’ll love this movie. There’s plenty of action and humor to entertain, but I personally found the romantic aspect the most appealing and satisfying.

Having watched 160+ episodes of the anime, I can easily say not much really happens in the whole series. Sure, Inuyasha’s Tetsusaiga becomes stronger over time, but so are the enemies. The heroes are still collecting Shikon Jewel shards and Naraku (the main antagonist) is still alive and about. What I look forward to (and what is done best) are all the little moments… the character interactions, the way Inuyasha is so protective of Kagome, Miroku constantly being a pervert, and even Myoga running away like the coward he is. Everything about this film remind you of why you loved the characters and “Inuyasha” in the first place.

Those who don’t follow the anime/manga can still find enjoyment in this film. The characters are introduced quite nicely at the start, with Kagome giving us a quick run-down of the Inuyasha plot. It’s easy to follow though the occasional side characters may leave you wanting to know more (like Sesshomaru who makes a cameo appearance but doesn’t do much in the film). It’s also refreshing to see Sesshoumaru and Kikyou converse with each for the first time (something that has not happened in the series).

The story introduces a new villain Menomaru a powerful Chinese moth yokai, whose father Hyoga was defeated by Inuyasha’s father two centuries ago. Having been awakened by a piece of the Shikon Jewel shard, Menomaru sets out to seek revenge along with his two minions Ruri and Hari. Miroku and Sango spend a large portion of the time fighting the two, while Kagome deals with the emotional struggle of her eventual separation from Inuyasha.. through time and space. This is the climax of the movie, and also the most touching and emotional. We can’t help but feel Kagome’s anguish and despair. The whole scene where she was being controlled by Menomaru to fight against Inuyasha was really well done. Although they’re always bickering and Inuyasha acts like a jerk half the time, when it actually matters… he’s not afraid to confess his feelings. “I need you…. Don’t you understand?” This single line is enough to make any fangirl squeal.

Overall, I enjoyed the film and felt like it captured the essence of “Inuyasha” beautifully. Plot-wise, it’s pretty straight forward (the villains felt a little flat being typical evil characters) but it’s a fun watch nevertheless. The soundtrack is amazing and the animation was well done. This is definitely a nice bonus for fans, and recommended to anyone curious about the show :)

Disc Review

Let’s now have a look at the DVD itself, shall we?

The Inuyasha Movie collection comes with 4 discs inside 1 regular DVD case. It has both English and Japanese audio, but I prefer to watch it in Japanese (How can anyone resist Kappei Yamaguchi? <33). I didn’t have any issues with the English subtitles and I thought it was easy to follow. The cover is reversible with a clean version on the back (without any logos or DVD info).

The menu doesn’t look particularly appealing. I understand they want to keep the coloured circles as part of the theme (yellow for movie 1), but this desaturated colour scheme fails to generate any interest or excitement. The random diamond tile patterns also feel out of place.

The scene selection is a little better with animated footage playing on the right hand side, but again, the left side leaves much to be desired.

On the plus side, the DVD also contains some bonus extras; like a image slide show, Inuyasha movie trailers and a “special Inuyasha footage” which is a compilation of clips from the animated series.

Overall, I’m quite happy with the disc and looking forward to checking out the other movies :)!

Special thanks to Madman for providing the Inuyasha Movie Collection DVD to check out.