Inu-Yasha:
A Girl's Best Friend
Reviewed by:
Alex Barry (April 22, 2003)
Cover: Volume 2 gets a similar cover treatment as the first
DVD release, highlighting the bright and colorful artwork from the
series against a muted purple background. Kagome and Inu-Yasha are
once again the main focus of the front cover, but this time they are
accompanied by Yura of the Hair. The back cover lists a tiny bit of
the story as it stands from the end of volume 1, the titles and numbers
of the three episodes featured on the disk, and a good selection of
screenshots from them. The spine is still black and compliments the
deep reds in the logo very nicely. Unfortunately, a volume number
is still absent. At least it's consistent with the first volume...
Audio: : Inu-Yasha continues to please with crystal clear sound
and a superb score. Quite a few new tracks are featured in this volume,
most of which really set the scene that they correspond to. There's
one scene in particular, toward the beginning of episode #5, where
Kagome is riding her bike from the Bone Eater's Well to the village,
that has some very enchanting music involving what sounds like a flute
(as you can probably tell, I don't know much about musical instruments).
It sets the mood for such a moment of calm in her often hectic adventures
just wonderfully. Regarding the voice acting... I've said it before
and I'll say it again: You either love the dub for this show or you
hate it. Thankfully, there are now a few more reasons to love it.
David Kaye delivers an excellent performance as Sessho-maru, and Paul
Dobson was a solid choice for the role of Myoga. However, there's
always the subtitled track included for anyone who prefers the Japanese
performances.
Video: The animation and color look just as lush and lively
in these three episodes as anyone would expect from this series. The
atmosphere seen here is a bit darker than before, and therefore the
overall color palette seems less vivid. However, the character design
continues to excel as new characters are introduced, and the lighting
effects are looking better than ever. Despite the increased usage
of computer-enhanced special effects, technical errors are minimal
to nonexistent. Some instances of aliasing were present during one
of the panning shots, but it was easily overlookable. My hat goes
off to Viz for another clean and vibrant transfer.
Extras: The extras department has never really been a strong
point for Takahashi's English releases, but Inu-Yasha has thus far
sought to change that. Included on this disk are three "Japanese promos"
that are actually short commercials for each of the three episodes,
a line art gallery, and cast list for all the English and Japanese
voices. Nothing to write home about, but it's still nice to see these
included. Sadly, the textless versions of the opening and closing
songs that were present in the previous volume have been scrapped.
I'm not sure why the decision was made to leave them out, as I doubt
they could have taken up that much disk space, and they were something
that most fans enjoyed watching. I guess what is included is better
than nothing, though.
Content: While "Down the Well" featured some captivating storytelling
elements as well as some charming interaction between the main characters,
"A Girl's Best Friend" focuses more on action and sets the series
up for a long string of back-to-back 'fighting' episodes (many of
which span multiple episodes). That's not to say that the series looses
its flavor; quite the opposite, in fact. By broadening its range of
content, Inu-Yasha appeals to a more action-craving audience as well
as the romance enthusiasts, and proves that it is more than just a
one-trick pony.
The first episode on this disk takes place directly after the end
of the last episode of volume #1, with Inu-Yasha trying to find Kagome
so that she can help him defeat Yura of the Hair. He discovers that
she made it back to her own time, and after a quick trip through the
well, barges in on Kagome and her family right in the middle of dinner
(much to the chagrin of Kagome's grandfather). In an effort to keep
her family safe, Kagome agrees to come back with him to the feudal
ages. Before long, the two find their way back in time and reach Yura's
lair, where a battle for a Shikon shard ensues. Besides marking the
first of many major showdowns between Inu-Yasha & Kagome against a
power-hungry demon of some sort, this episode is when Kagome really
proves her usefulness when it comes to hunting the jewel shards, and
even in aiding Inu-Yasha in battle.
Next up are the first two installments of a three-episode story arc
involving Inu-Yasha's elder brother, Sessho-maru. While Inu-Yasha
is gruff and oftentimes reckless, Sessho-maru is quiet and reserved,
although considerably more callous. In his quest for absolute power,
Sessho-maru comes looking for the "fang", a sword which is rumored
to have the ability to slay a hundred demons in a single blow. After
discovering that Inu-Yasha has awakened from his fifty-year-long slumber,
he decides to find his younger brother and get the blade's location
from him. Meanwhile, Kagome ponders Inu-Yasha's half-demon heritage
after seeing him react oddly when asked about his mother. Before her
questions are fully answered, Sessho-maru and his servant Jaken spring
a trap to trick Inu-Yasha into unknowingly revealing the location
of his father's tomb, where the sword 'Tetsusaiga' resides.
After Sessho-maru gains access to the tomb (through a black pearl
in Inu-Yasha's eye, oddly enough), he learns that a spell was placed
on the Tetsusaiga by his own father to prevent him from taking it.
And while Inu-Yasha is immune to the spell, even he is unable to pull
it out of the rock that it was embedded in. Both brothers, now confused
and enraged, clash within their father's gigantic bones to determine
who is superior. There's some excellent use of lighting and some dynamic
camera angles to be seen during the fight, although it doesn't last
very long before Kagome accidentally pulls the Tetsusaiga out with
ease, an action that surprises everyone including Kagome, herself.
While everyone is in a state of shock, the episode ends. It's an uncomfortably
abrupt ending to the second disk, but I'll admit that it does do a
good job of making you want to buy more, just to see how things turn
out.
Out of these three episodes, it's difficult to pick a favorite moment
as there is so much satisfying content here. A lot of the story seemed
to revolve around Inu-Yasha's relationships in some way, whether it
be his possible feelings for Kagome, the pain over the loss of his
mother, or his fierce rivalry with Sessho-maru. It's the same kind
of concept that is approached through many different angles, and always
manages to be interesting and heartfelt. It's rare that fans are given
so much to chew on so early in a series of this length, and it can
only make you appreciate Rumiko Takahashi's strong capabilities as
a storyteller.
Aside from lacking any decent sense of closure, "A Girl's Best Friend"
is another solid volume of Inu-Yasha that fans of the series should
definitely pick up. Anyone looking for some exciting action sequences
and intriguing plot developments won't be disappointed.
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