Long ago, during the civil war in feudal Japan, a doglike half-demon, called Inu Yasha, attempted to steal Shikon Jewel from a village. However, he was stopped and pinned to a tree by the enchanted arrow of the village priestess, called Kikyou, where he fell into deep sleep. Kikyou, critically injured, then took the Shikon Jewel and told Kaede (a little girl then) to burn it with her remains so that it shall never fall into the hands of evil again.
In the present day, Kagome, a Japanese high school girl is pulled into the "bone gobbling" well, in the ancient Shinto shrine that her family takes care of, by a centipede demon and finds herself transported into the past, in the feudal Japan era. Kaede and the village residents, now 50 years older, believe that Kagome is the reincarnation of the deceased priestess, Kikyou, especially when the Shikon Jewel is rediscovered inside Kagome's body. During a battle with the centipede demon Kagome wakes Inu Yasha from his deep sleep and releases him from the seal to help her. Unfortunately, Inu Yasha gets a little aggressive, but with the help from Kaede's rosary, he is bound by a powerful spell to Kagome. When the Shikon Jewel is stolen again it is shattered by Kagome's powerful arrow shot into many shards. With Inu Yasha's strength and Kagome's special powers the two grudging companions must venture out and fight to reclaim these shards from demons and other evil people who wish to possess the power of the jewel for their own.

Still interested??? Venture with Inu Yasha and Kagome, as they undergo this tough journey to find the Shikon Shards, and as they meet many new friends. This action packed, yet romantic, anime is really well worth watching. It is addictive, the artwork is brilliant, and the storyline is amazing.

Inu Yasha is written by Rumiko Takahashi, one of my favorite authors. Some of her other pieces of work includes "Urusei Yatsura", "Maison Ikkoku", "Ranma 1/2", "One Pound Gospel" and "Rumik theater". The manga is released in "Weekly Shonen Sunday" (published by Shogakukan) and is still going strong. The collected version, is available, each 10 chapters long, (8 for volume 1) typically 3-4 months after the weekly Shonen Sunday release, and the first 30 volumes are now on sale. If you enjoy the series, I would strongly recommend buying it. Viz Comics is releasing Inu Yasha in english almost simultaneously with the Japanese version, and the first 15 volumes are now available.

The anime of Inu Yasha is currently being shown on Monday's at 7pm on Yomiuri TV & Nihon TV in Japan since October 2000. There is also 2 Inu Yasha movies and a third coming out in dec 2003.