InuYasha

## InuYasha *InuYasha* by Rumiko Takahashi — the legendary creator of *Ranma ½* and *Maison Ikkoku* — is one of the defining manga of its era: a sweeping historical fantasy romance that ran for 12 years in Weekly Shonen Sunday and remains one of the most iconic series in the medium. Kagome Higurashi is a modern Tokyo girl who, on her fifteenth birthday, falls through the ancient well in her family's Shinto shrine — and emerges five hundred years in Japan's feudal past. There she finds InuYasha: a half-demon who is pinned to a sacred tree by a magical arrow, sealed in slumber. When Kagome accidentally shatters the Shikon Jewel — a powerful magical artifact — into hundreds of shards scattered across feudal Japan, she and InuYasha are forced into an uneasy partnership to collect them before the villainous Naraku can reassemble the jewel and use it to become an all-powerful demon. Their quest grows to include companions: the lecherous monk Miroku, the demon slayer Sango, and the fox demon kit Shippo. Takahashi's genius lies in her ability to balance comedic bickering between InuYasha and Kagome with genuine emotional stakes, a rich cast of recurring villains, and a slow-burn romance that kept readers invested for over a decade. At 558 chapters, it remains a monumental achievement in long-form shonen storytelling.