InuYasha (犬夜叉) is a 2000 television anime series based on Rumiko Takahashi’s manga of the same name. The adaptation is directed first by Masashi Ikeda and produced by studio Sunrise. Staff credits also include writer Katsuyuki Sumisawa, and music composed by Kaoru Wada. The series first aired in Japan on October 2000.
Background:
“One day, ordinary ninth grader Kagome Higurashi gets pulled into the past—straight into the feudal era! There she meets Inuyasha, a half demon who was sealed by a powerful priestess named Kikyo 50 years prior. Not only is Kagome the reincarnation of Kikyo, she also has special powers in connection with the Shikon Jewel, a mysterious object said to greatly increase a demon’s powers. Awoken from his 50-year slumber, Inuyasha joins Kagome on a grand adventure in search for shards of the Shikon Jewel!”
Plot Synopsis via Anime Limited, November 2021.
Rumiko Takahashi is considered by many to be one of the biggest manga artists in Japan, with many of her works being adapted into anime form – some even had many episodes. InuYasha is a standout in the group as it was both a shonen series that would fit in with Dragon Ball and Gundam in the west, but it was also an Isekai before the genre became very oversaturated.
InuYasha, much like Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2, has a lot of episodes and also films over the years. And because of that, it does make licensing and sales a bit of a challenge. In North America, Viz Media were able to release the entire franchise across multiple sets on DVD and then on Blu-ray years later. In the UK however, the franchise barely saw a home video release outside of most of the episodes from its first season by a random distributor called Fremantle.
Which is why Anime Limited licensing the first season of the show is a big deal, because it gives the franchise another chance of reaching the UK audience. However, we do have the issue to where Anime Limited only licensed the first 27 episodes rather than the entire run, which means there is a chance the rest may not get released. We do know they are interested but for now it’s just a case of patience and how well the first season does in terms of sales.
Collector’s Edition Contents:
InuYasha is a pretty long series, but Anime Limited at the time of this write-up only acquired the first season, so the fact that they’re giving the set a collector’s edition is both a blessing and a curse.
The package is presented as a rigid box with an Amaray Blu-ray case to house the discs and alongside the case is a 20-page booklet featuring a bunch of artwork and an article from the series, and an A3-sized poster.
The artwork is free of any information or BBFC content and the info sheet covers the information and specification like previous Anime Limited releases. The collector’s edition Blu-ray set is limited to 1000 units for SRP £59.99. A standard Blu-ray was also released a few months later.
The series was one of the anime titles made available for a discount during the Summer sale (£29.99).
Physical Contents:
- Rigid Box with clean artwork and Amaray packaging
- Info sheet for specification and BBFC description
- 20-page Booklet
- A3-sized Poster
On-Disc Contents:
Distributor: Anime Limited
Released: 29th November 2021
The collector’s edition release for InuYasha Season 1 contains episodes 1-27 across three Blu-ray discs, with the encode and authoring produced by VDMS. Audio options include both Japanese with English subtitles and the Ocean Group English dub commissioned by Viz Media.
It is also worth pointing out that Viz Media’s authoring had been rather messy in recent years which has affected a lot of their titles including InuYasha, so Anime Limited was able to re-author the season with the assistance of VDMS who worked with them for Cardcaptor Sakura and Jujutsu Kaisen.
The white subtitles are locked during playback, and the regions are locked to Blu-ray players set to B.
Blu-ray Specs:
| Languages | English, Japanese |
| Audio | English Linear PCM 2.0 Japanese Linear PCM 2.0 |
| Video | 1080p High Definition Native format 1.33:1 aspect ratio |
| Region | B |
| Subtitles | English |
| Locked Subtitles | Yes |
| Discs | 3 BD-50s |
Blu-ray On-Disc Extra Features:
Disc 3:
- Interview with Japanese Script Writer Katsuyuki Sumisawa
Unboxing Photos:
Final Notes:
InuYasha Season 1 is available to order across multiple retailers in the United Kingdom. The collector’s edition Blu-ray can be acquired on Amazon UK, Anime Limited’s store, MVM’s Anime-on-Line, and United Publications. A cheaper UK standard edition Blu-ray is available to order on Amazon UK.
(Disclaimer: Amazon links are also included when available. They are affiliated so if you decide to order them, I’ll earn a small percentage if they ship which will help me with any hauls or small bills.)
The Normanic Vault 
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