25 Years Ago, The Biggest Anime Isekai Was Born

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While Inuyasha’s original manga debuted in 1996 from creator Rumiko Takahashi, the anime adaptation from Sunrise premiered four years later in the year 2000. The story following the titular character, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo was often not considered an isekai at first, but the parameters of the story clearly made it an example of one of the earliest examples of the sub-genre. Specifically, the teenage Kagome found herself being transported to the supernatural past, encountering Inuyasha and the demonic threats facing the world to help fit the Isekai bill. Ever since debuting in Japan, the Isekai anime has become one of the most successful anime to hit North America, thanks to the help of one big platform.

Inuyasha arrived as a part of Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim in 2002, playing late at night under the adult-oriented programming block that allowed the show to air all of its moments free of censorship. Much like Dragon Ball Z and Cowboy Bebop, the Isekai hit wild heights, and even to this day, there are still memes shared online when it came to the anime’s ending that would play late at night for years. Garnering close to two hundred episodes across the original anime series and its follow-up, Inuyasha: The Final Act, the franchise also released several movies to help expand on the supernatural terrain. Of course, Inuyasha’s story didn’t end here.

The Sequel That Introduced The Next Inuyasha Generation

Following the conclusion of the anime in 2010, Inuyasha stunned the anime world when it was announced that a sequel series was in the works. One decade later, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon introduced the daughters of both Inuyasha and Sesshomaru in a surprise follow-up that many didn’t expect. While Yashahime didn’t hit the same “heights” as its predecessor in either popularity or episode length, as the sequel series housed forty-eight episodes in total, it continued the world’s story in some surprising ways. Unfortunately, when this sequel series ended, there has been no word of Inuyasha’s world making a comeback since.

This isn’t to say that the series ended in such a way that it couldn’t return, as Towa, Setsuna, and Moroha were last seen venturing to the sea to explore new worlds and tackle new challenges. However, creator Rumiko Takahashi does have another big project in the works for the anime world. Takahashi’s latest manga, Mao, first began in 2019 and has continued dropping new chapters to this day. While Mao isn’t a series that takes place in the same universe as Inuyasha and Yashahime, it has a wildly similar art style and focuses on the supernatural with its titular character. The manga is also spawning an anime adaptation set to arrive next year from Sunrise, as Takahashi and the anime studio clearly have had a good history with one another.

Luckily, watching the original Inuyasha isn’t too difficult, especially thanks to Pluto TV. The platform not only allows anime fans to revisit the series, but the outlet has a 24/7 channel devoted to the supernatural story. The first season is also available to watch on Amazon Prime Video, with the entirety of the anime also housed on Tubi. The sequel series, Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, is available on Crunchyroll, rounding out the full story from creator Rumiko Takahashi. Even if we never see Inuyasha return with new stories, the isekai universe won’t soon be forgotten thanks to anime fans’ love of the world.

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