Inuyasha - Kagami no naka no mugenjou (2002)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Toshiya Shinohara

Writers:

Katsuyuki Sumizawa (screenplay)
Rumiko Takahashi (story)

Release Date:

28 December 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Animation | Comedy | Romance

Plot Keywords:

Anime

Cast

Kappei Yamaguchi	...	Inuyasha (voice)
Satsuki Yukino	...	Higurashi Kagome (voice)
Kôji Tsujitani	...	Miroku (voice)
Houko Kuwashima	...	Sango (voice)
Kumiko Watanabe	...	Shippou (voice)
Noriko Hidaka	...	Kikyo (voice)
Kenichi Ogata	...	Myouga (voice)
Toshiyuki Morikawa	...	Naraku (voice)
Akiko Yajima	...	Kohaku (voice)
Toshihiko Nakajima	...	Hatchi (voice)
Yuzuru Fujimoto	...	Mushin (voice)
Yûji Ueda	...	Hojo (voice)
Kaori Shimizu	...	Yuka (voice)
Yûki Masuda	...	Eri (voice)
Nami Okamoto	...	Ayumi (voice)

Also Known As:

Inuyasha the Movie 2: The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass (USA) (DVD box title)

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

Shogakukan Production

Quotes:

[Kagome is surrounded by falling petals in Inuyasha's mind]
Kagome: I love you...

Movie Connections:

Followed by Inuyasha - Tenka hadou no ken (2003)

Soundtrack:

Ai no Uta

Wonderful, but too short

The movie starts with the supposed killing of Naraku and then introduces a new enemy: Kaguya, who used Naraku's helpers Kanna and Kagura to free herself from her 1000-year prison. Her coming will mean an eternal darkness. She is supposedly the tennyo from the old legend of the angel who lost her feathered robe and was unable to return to her home in heaven.

Inuyasha and the gang gets drawn into all of it when Kagura and Kanna appear to steal a part of the Fire Rat Robe that Inuyasha wears (wouldn't it have been safer just to slay a Fire Rat and rent a seamstress to make a robe of it, I wonder... doesn't Kagura and Kanna fear Inuyasha now that he has supposedly killed their old boss?). Anyway, Inuyasha and the gang also meet an ancestor of Houjou-kun, who posesses the tennyo's robe that Kaguya desires. They figure out what's going on and decide to prevent Kaguya from being unleashed.

The basic plot is sound, but the movie suffers slightly from involving too many of the IY-characters. Kikyou's scenes are completely unnecessary - the only thing they accomplish is remind us that she is wierd. The Kohaku-story was slightly far-fetched, but given it's final developement, it passes for accetable. At this point, I'm just thankful they didn't try and squeeze Sesshoumaru into the story as well.

The problem with the movie is that it's slightly too short. Another 5-10 minutes would have been enough to let the plot sink in and allow the viewer to understand what is going on. For instance, the quick 2-line explanation given as to why Kanna and Kagura starts serving Kaguya doesn't make any sense at all.

This movie is, despite its flaws, excellent. It has the regular nice IY-humor, the characters feel deep and real and the Kagome/Inuyasha-relationship is warmer than ever (*sweeet*). The badguy is somewhat shallow and single-minded, but she makes up for it in style. She feels even more powerful than Naraku.

This movie is a must-see for anyone who whatches the tv-series. It contains some really longed-for moments and the action is superb.

Don't miss it!