InuYasha: The Final Act

InuYasha: Kanketsu-hen, or InuYasha: The Final Act, is the final segment of the show that has taken the anime world by storm in 2000. The first, long, season of InuYasha was incredible when it comes to storyline and character. Everything was engaging!...except the ending of it. Having such a long air-time and not have a proper ending to it was a real downer. InuYasha: Kanketsu-hen puts everything into place, and tears in some viewers' eyes ;) Story (10) Definitely one of the more in-depth storylines in anime. The show takes you back in time, well it literally does each time Kagome goes through her family's well,to see peoples' pasts to see how everyone is connected to each other. The story picks up where the first season ended, Inuyasha and company are going after Naraku to end his evil in their world. This is the main story, but things that weren't taken care of in the first season were finally given a resting place. What I mean by this is things like "What happened to Inuyasha-Kagome-Kikyou love triangle?!?" are finally resolved and definite. Something that I would like to point out is the pacing of this continuation series. This 26 episode ending is NOT rushed, everything is greatly paced. Art (8) A definite improvement in animation, but not to the extent that it is extremely noticeable. The animation style is kept the same, which is great because I believe that having the same character animation is crucial in the overall enjoyment of the anime. An example for this would be the Minami-ke series where all 4 seasons are animated differently because they were made in 4 different studios. It had an obvious effect to many of the views, including myself. Animation is smooth and attractive, yet not too flashy. Sound (10) Music in the InuYasha series have always been great! Song likes Dearest - Ayume Hamasaki, Every Heart - Boa, Fukai Mori - Do As Infinity, and Rakuen - Do As Infinity, are great examples of the awesome music. Music is incorporated into the anime well with the timing of it, and also the selection of music they use. In fact, my first spine-chilling experience while watching anime came from this show. It was due to the mix of what was happening in the anime and the song that came with it. When I think of great music in anime I think of InuYasha immediately. Character (10) The complex relationship between Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kikyou is one of the most engaging subjects of anime that I have ever seen. The anime does a great job in taking time with character development. You do not have to worry about not understanding why things happen, because the anime explains, or has explained, why. The characters are original, that is what I love about them. I love that they all have pasts, especially Inuyasha and Kikyou. It adds so much more depth to the story. Another thing I love about the characters is the timing of their actions. They are themselves when nothing is going on, and they serious, but still themselves, when something is happening. They have dimension. Enjoyment (9) Just an absolutely fitting ending to a great series. It was well made, and while typing that I just told myself I wish I could watch this for the first time again. Overall (9) An extremely high 9 rating in my books. Recommend it to anyone, especially to those that are interested in action, romance, drama, and some comedy.

Inuyasha: The Final Act is meant to continue where its early 2000s prequel had left off in the continuing plot of Inuyasha and his allies trying to stop Naraku and his plans with the Shikon no Tama. I might as well address the major issue with this series first that comes in the form of its pacing. A good chunk of the anime is quite notable for rushing through many of the major events of the series from the manga, which include cutting out, rearranging or altering key scenes. This has the negative effect of reducing any time that could be focused on how saidevents effect the characters, developing the events that lead to key points in the series from occurring or getting into dramatic scenes. The third is especially a notable one here as a few major characters in the series die due to Naraku's manipulations, yet their deaths lack much of the emotional punch they could have had thanks to Final Act's pacing. Things finally start slowing with the pacing towards the middle of the series when Magatsuhi makes his presence felt and the final battle with Naraku unfolds. This made for the genuinely engaging high point of the series as things concerning the true nature of the Shikon Jewel are revealed and Naraku pulls out all the stops to try killing off Inuyasha and his companions in their final battle, whether through his usual manipulations or through directly attacking them. The anime adds in some scenes and developments not seen in the manga such as Kagome going through her high school exams and one of Naraku's incarnations getting some fleshing out that the manga never went into. They're decent little touches for the anime, though the latter development lacks some of the punch it could have had thanks to the fast pacing throughout a good chunk of the series. The later episodes also suffer through a few rather convenient developments that serve to make more pleasant resolutions for events in the series, particularly with the title's ending. Visually, Inuyasha: The Final Act retains the animation style employed through the first series, while sporting slightly smoother details and more moments of fluid animation this time around since Final Act's length is nowhere as large as the first series. The soundtrack retains much of the insert musical pieces used from the original series, while incorporating J-Pop themes for opener and closer sequences. The insert tracks still fit in well with key scenes, but the J-pop songs are mood killers that aren't too fitting with Final Act's mood. Overall, Final Act's a step down in quality compared to the first series. While having slightly better quality visuals and the later episodes being quite engaging for the final battle with Naraku, the title's pacing for a good chunk of its run still killed much of the buildup and suspense that led up to the latter. It's somewhat regrettable that the anime adaptations of the series had to end on an underwhelming note such as this.

Okay.... I watched this season of InuYasha after getting bored by the previous pointless season six and got COMPLETELY surprised as this was NOTHING like I had expected!!!!!!!! STORY: 9 It was REALLY good as their was minimal filler and thankfully there was much focus on the main plot. And if there was a bit of filler..... it was some entertaining one. The only thing was, everything was a bit rushed but still it was good. ART: 9 The good quality art of the original was still there. Though there was a slight difference, the art looked quite fresh and crisp. SOUND: 10 The OP and Endings were at par withthe first series, which is saying something. The ending themes were first class while the OP too was in sync with the story. Thankfully, the seiyuu hadn't been changed and one still felt connected to the story and characters. CHARACTER: 10 Though there was no significant character development, but the emotions of love, loss, grief, despair were enough to move me and... the characters FELT real. ENJOYMENT: 10 Undoubtedly enjoyable. Especially the fight scenes weren't that boring as every episode was a new turning point with a new flavour to the story. OVERALL: 10 Extra comment: If some people believe that the interest in InuYasha has faded or this series lacked feel or this series failed to excite viewers... I beg to differ. I WATCHED the WHOLE of series InuYasha along with ALL the movies just that I'd be able to watch this season of InuYasha after I was impressed by its promotional advertisements etc.