Inuyasha (TV series)

Production and release

The original Inuyasha anime ran for 167 episodes, airing on YTV, NTV, and their affiliates between October 16, 2000, and September 13, 2004. In Japan, Avex released the episodes across seven DVD series from May 30, 2001, to July 27, 2005. Viz Media handled the English dub and North American release. The show first appeared on Adult Swim from August 31, 2002, to October 27, 2006, with reruns continuing until 2014.

It later moved to Adult Swim's Toonami block from November 2012 to March 2014, when the network lost the broadcast rights. Starz offered the series on its video on demand service from September 1, 2017, to November 30, 2018. In Canada, it aired on YTV's Bionix block from September 5, 2003, to December 1, 2006.

Viz put out 55 individual DVD volumes and seven box sets. In September 2020, Funimation began streaming the first 54 episodes and all four films. Viz also released 30 ani-manga volumes—books made from full-color anime screenshots—between January 14, 2004, and December 9, 2008.

A second anime adaptation, covering manga volumes 36 through 56, was announced in July 2009. Titled Inuyasha: The Final Act, it ran for 26 episodes on Nippon TV and Yomiuri TV from October 4, 2009, to March 30, 2010. Animax Asia broadcast it in other parts of Asia during the same week as the Japanese airings. Aniplex collected these episodes on seven DVDs, released from December 23, 2009, to June 23, 2010.

Video games

Three video games based on the series were released for the WonderSwan: Inuyasha: Kagome no Sengoku Nikki, Inuyasha: Fūun Emaki, and Inuyasha: Kagome no Yume Nikki. A Game Boy Advance title, Inuyasha: Naraku no Wana! Mayoi no Mori no Shōtaijō, was released on January 23, 2003, in Japan. A mobile game for Java and Brew handsets was released on June 21, 2005.

Two PlayStation titles were released: an RPG titled Inuyasha and the fighting game Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale, the latter released in North America. For the PlayStation 2, the RPG Inuyasha: The Secret of the Cursed Mask and the fighting game Inuyasha: Feudal Combat were released, with Feudal Combat receiving an English version. An English-only RPG, Inuyasha: Secret of the Divine Jewel, was released for the Nintendo DS on January 23, 2007.

Music

Kaoru Wada composed the series' score. The original run had six opening themes and eight ending themes. The first opening, "Change the World" by V6, covered episodes 1 through 34.

Hitomi's "I am" was used for episodes 35 to 64, followed by Nanase Aikawa's "Owarinai yume" for episodes 65 to 95. Every Little Thing's "Grip!" played from episodes 96 to 127. Tackey & Tsubasa's "One Day, One Dream" served as the opening for episodes 128 to 153, and the final opening, Hitomi Shimatani's "Angelus," ran until episode 167.

The ending themes were "My Will" by Dream (episodes 1–20), "Fukai Mori" by Do As Infinity (episodes 21–24), "Dearest" by Ayumi Hamasaki (episodes 42–60), "Every Heart (Minna no Kimochi)" by BoA (episodes 61–85), "Shinjitsu no Uta" by Do As Infinity, "Itazura na Kiss" by Day After Tomorrow, "Come" by Namie Amuro (episodes 128–146), and "Brand-New World" by V6 (until episode 165). Avex Mode released multiple soundtracks and character songs. On August 3, 2005, three character singles came out: "Aoki Yasei o Daite" by Kappei Yamaguchi featuring Satsuki Yukino, "Kaze no Naka e" by Kōji Tsujitani featuring Hōko Kuwashima and Kumiko Watanabe, and "Gō" by Ken Narita featuring Yuichi Nagashima and Mamiko Noto. They charted at numbers 63, 76, and 79 on the Oricon chart, respectively.

Three more character songs arrived on January 25, 2006: "Rakujitsu" by Toshiyuki Morikawa, "Tatta Hitotsu no Yakusoku" by Yukino, and "Abarero!!" by Takeshi Kusao and Ai Orikasa, charting at numbers 130, 131, and 112. On March 24, 2010, Avex released Inuyasha Best Song History, a compilation album featuring all the series' opening and ending themes. It peaked at number 20 on the Oricon album chart and remained on the chart for seven weeks.

Reception

The series landed at number twenty in a 2006 TV Asahi online poll of Japan's top 100 anime. It took home the Property of the Year prize at ICv2's Anime Awards in both 2004 and 2005. In Animage's Anime Grand Prix, it placed third for Best Anime in 2003. At the 2007 American Anime Awards, it got nominations for Best Cast, Best Long Series, and Best Anime Feature, but lost to Fullmetal Alchemist and Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children.

A 2019 NHK survey of over 210,000 people named it Rumiko Takahashi's best animated work, with Inuyasha and Sesshomaru ranking first and third in the character category. English DVD sales passed one million copies between March 2003 and November 2004, and the first film's DVD led the Nielsen VideoScan anime chart for three weeks. By 2016, Viz Media had moved more than two million home video units. Mania Entertainment included the series on a list of anime needing a reboot, pointing to its repetitiveness as a flaw.