Episode 8: Among the Twinkling Stars

Chapters covered: 459-465

Note: NTV is still on my shit-list. They delayed the broadcast of the episode by 70 minutes. Next week will be delayed by 2 hours.

Lots of action and emotion this week for Kikyou's send-off. Despite news of anime-only material being inserted, relatively little was actually changed aside from a short scene with Loli Kaede and the predicted flashback. An instrumental version of "Dearest" (3rd ending) was used to set the tone of Kikyou's death and was quite a great choice in my opinion. Plenty of time was given by Sunrise in order to properly pull this off and they certainly did a great job of getting everyone's reactions perfect.

My only complaint is that this was done at the expense of a fulfilling battle with Naraku. It was too short and lacked the tension that the manga had. I guess this couldn't be helped since Kikyou was a higher priority for the episode.

Anyway, next week is Kouga's departure, the Hell arc, and Sessmom (voiced by Yoshiko Sakakibara). Should be interesting.

HD screencaps courtesy of 2chan/Futaba (last image is a stitched panorama)

Episode 7: The Mausoleum of Mount Azusa

Chapters covered: 452-458

(To hell with NTV for delaying the episode for an extra 15 minutes!)

Just as predicted. A literal cliffhanger ending. Sunrise accomplished everything that needed to be accomplished this week: Spiderwebs, Kohaku/Sesshoumaru vs Byakuya, Mount Azusa. They could've given another minute or two to Kagome on Mount Azusa, but I think Kagome's rant coupled with the use of  "Futari no Kimochi" that old background song whose name currently escapes me (please help me out!) really made up for it. Also, poor Kochou and Asuka.

Next week will mark the end of Kikyou. Much like how episode 124 was the defining moment of the first series, episode 8 will be the defining moment of this series. While I expect a well-done episode that not only does chapters 459-465 justice, I'd also expect that Sunrise uses the opportunity to make the scenes as powerful as possible beyond what might be necessary. This is perhaps where Patches' mention of new anime-only material for next week may come into play.

One final note: SUNRISE BETTER KEEP THE CHEST ARROW!

720p high definition screencaps:

A kind anonymous on 2ch has scanned a newly published programming guide that gives us the titles for episodes 9 and 10 as well as summaries for 7 through 10. Sunrise kindly gave us the 11th.

Episode 9: 冥界の殺生丸 (Meikai no Sesshoumaru | Sesshoumaru in the Underworld) *Hell arc*

Episode 10: 悲しみに濡れる花 (Kanashimi ni nureru hana | Sorrow-soaked Flowers) *Kaou story*

Epsidoe 11: 神無の墓標 (Kanna no bohyou | Kanna's Grave-marker) *Mirror Monster story*

Episode 6: The End of Mouryoumaru

Chapters covered: 439-448

Despite covering pretty much an entire volume this week, Sunrise managed to pull it off practically panel-by-panel and make it look beautiful.

I'd like to point out that this still doesn't make up for how poorly Mouryoumaru and Akago have been treated up until this week. Every upgrade Mouryoumaru received seemed horribly executed and done for naught. Of course, the same can be said of him with respect to the manga, but in that case, upgrades were spread out and acquired through huge battles as opposed to "I've absorbed your Kongousouha! HAHAHAHA!" or the mangled Kinka and Ginka storyline.

At any rate, I have no complaints about this week and I think both manga readers and anime watchers will be able to agree.

As for next week, I'm expecting chapters 452-457 with a literal cliffhanger ending at Mount Azusa.

Edit: Once again, Viz is showing their dedication and has the episode up on their Shonen Sunday site.

Episode 5: Yourei-Taisei's Test

Chapters covered: 416-421 (heavily adapted), 426-431, 438

The episode was more linear than previous weeks and didn't feel as rushed. Yourei-Taisei's storyline as well as the youketsu were pretty well-executed. Kinka and Ginka was radically changed and Flame Tessaiga was cut altogether. It's that not a great loss considering how much of a plot-hole the Flame Tessaiga was, but it was still a great battle to acquire it. Kai and Kouga's companions (unofficially named Ginta and Hakkaku) were unceremoniously written out of the story this week.

Preview for the next episode: We've known for weeks that episode 6 would mark the much-accelerated end to Mouryoumaru and Akago. The preview wholly confirms this and seems to suggest that the entirety of the episode will be dedicated to it with zero distractions. I hope that we can get a decent fight out of this.

Also, here are some out-of-order (I'm lazy) HD images…

Episode 4 – Dragon-scaled Tessaiga

This episode covered a bunch of chapters: 386-391, 397, 398, 432-436

Byakuya, Kai, Toushuu, Ryuujin, etc… Lot of shit.

I'm not in the mood to do a full blog post right now, but maybe later.

Edit: Next week is Kinka, Ginka, Yourei Taisei, and possibly the youketsu, senki, and Flame Tessaiga. Along with Moryoumaru's pending death in episode 6, this going to be pointless, if not a disaster. I have no idea how Sunrise intends to pull this off when everything is pretty much out of order.

Edit 2: Here's a Japanese broadcast schedule for episodes 5 through 9. Pay close attention to the fact that Daylight Savings Time ends in November this year in the US. I also added the Japanese time on the right to give you an idea of just how much Inuyasha Final Act is getting moved around and why the NTV graveyard slot sucks.

Episode 5 – 10/31 at 2:20 PM EDT (GMT-4) | 11/1 at 3:20 AM JST (GMT+9)

Episode 6 – 11/7 at 1:10 PM EST (GMT-5) | 11/8 at 3:10 AM JST (GMT+9)

Episode 7 – 11/14 at 12:30 PM EST (GMT-5) | 11/15 at 2:30 AM JST (GMT+9)

Episode 8 – 11/21 at 1:00 PM EST (GMT-5) | 11/22 at 3:00 AM JST (GMT+9)

Episode 9 – 11/28 at 2:20 PM EST (GMT-5) | 11/29 at 4:20 AM JST (GMT+9)

Episode 3: Meidou Zangetsuha

As expected, this week covered the Kitsune Youjutsu Exam, Mujina, and the introduction of Meidou Zangetsuha. Much to my relief, the pace was slowed down considerably and didn't feel rushed this week.

Quick note: A serious fansub group has picked up the series – Taka Fansubs.

Episode 4 will broadcast in Japan at 2:40 PM EDT on  October 24th.

(Read on …)

First things first, episode 3 of Inuyasha Final Act will air at 2:35 AM JST (1:35 PM EDT). Hopefully the broadcast times will stabilize soon. I hate these drifts.

With that out of the way, let's get down to business…

(Read on …)

Yes, I just made a Konomini joke. Get over it.

Anyway, episode 2 just aired and I have mixed feelings.

On the one hand, it was a visually stunning episode (well, at least the second half was) as promised. On the other hand, it completely ripped apart the manga…

The episode covered chapters 374-377, 380-382, 400, 404, and 406. For most of those chapters though, the anime simply rewrote and blended them together. Much like how Star Wars fans know that "Han shot first", Inuyasha fans know that "Kagura died first". However, Sunrise ignored this and you're not going to like how. I guarantee you that there will be a shit-storm when Viz puts up the sub in a few hours. (Edit: Wow, it's up already. Nice job Viz!)

One hint though: Souryuuha!

Edit: Next week is Shippou's kitsune youjutsu exam (chapter 506), Shippou's encounter with Mujina and her sword, Dakki (chapter 383), and the introduction of Meidou Zangetsuha (chapter 410). Additionally, according to Patches, chapters 432 and 433 with Kai will be done in episode 4.

Edit 2: For those outside of the US, you can watch the subs on ShonenSunday/hulu using Hotspot Shield (Windows, Mac with Wine, Linux with Wine) or Tor (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc).

Edit 3: If you were wondering how I got the HD images up within minutes of the broadcast, I'd like to cite my source as being the kind people of 2chan (a.k.a. Futaba, not 2ch).

Edit 4: Reminder for those watching the live broadcasts: Episode 3 will air at 1:35 PM EDT (2:35 AM JST).

Anyway, here are some HD pics in no particular order. Click to enlarge them.
(The images should be fixed, plus, I added a cool new effect called HighSlide to the thumbnails.)

(Click for full-size)

What was first speculated on 2ch.net is now fact after Sony Music Shop [1][2]  and a magazine (pictured above) have confirmed the titles for episodes 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8.

click here to show spoiler

It looks like Sunrise is doing things out of order and I don't like it.

As for the pace, it continues to be absolutely shocking.

Studio DEEN's "Umineko no Naku Koro ni" may have a contender for worst anime adaptation of 2009. If the episode titles and what we've seen so far are anything to judge by, Inuyasha The Final Act is shaping up to be quite a trainwreck.

Edit: In a bit of good news, Fey tipped me off that the anime's producer, Michihiko Suwa of ytv, promised on his blog that episode 2 will be absolutely gorgeous and legendary in nature. Thanks Fey!