InuYasha Episode 26 Discussion

ruffymaru said:
Myuga was left out of the barrier the first time. I wonder if it has some meaning.

0451 said:
Surprised that the mystery surrounding the main plot device of Inuyasha, the Shikon jewel, was cleared so early. Or at least some parts of it. There's still the mystery of why Naraku wants this jewel. And if he wanted it, he could've gotten it way sooner. But he didn't. In other words, the plot thickens.

Now that the main plot about Inuyasha has been established it looks like we're moving back to the monster of the week formula from next episode. All it took was 26 episodes. I don't have anything against this formula but after 26 episodes of mostly main plot it kind of kills the pacing when the story moves on to side plots.

WatchTillTandava said:


You effectively just ended what could be considered the extended introduction and prologue, bringing all our main characters together and providing some fleshing out of their respective purposes and reasons for forging common purpose (not that there won't be more fleshing out later down the line). Now, the real journey begins! Remember as well (I know I mentioned or at least alluded to this in a previous post), the monster-of-the-week-esque episodes may not (usually don't) advance the obvious plot on the surface in major overt ways - that is, the shikon no tama reassembly plot as it can become impossible at points to know exactly how well that's progressing. But they still always or almost always advance the characters from micro steps to gargantuan leaps. So it becomes this question of perspective in terms of what is actually held to be the true or most important plot by the individual viewer. The characters' internal and interpersonal development can serve as the true plot and then major external developments outside of the core gang's day-to-day can come on as a radical and abrupt shock to the status quo.

But yeah, the series will be frustrating for those who want the status quo shaken up and even overturned a lot. I think I love it because I often crave the opposite in a series - familiarity and repetition (when connected to the characters), so Inuyasha is perfect.

0451 said:
I don't have anything against slow pacing if it's done right. It's just that I was skeptical since the last anime I watched Ranma 1/2 also had an excellent intro in the first 20 or so episodes but the rest of the 100+ episodes were mostly mediocre. So far Inuyasha seems different and I'm liking it.