*writes while reading*

Mischevious Miroku.

I recognize sei from when my sensei uses it.

Oh, I forgot to say this for the last chapter, but I believe you read 七七 as "seven-seven", because "seventy-seven" is 七十七.

Quite frankly, Inuyasha needs to grow some brains. Geez, who would pull the lever!?

Hahaha, nice one Shippou, making IY pity you.

Well, I guess this arc is over. It had some funny moments… but it looks like things will be serious again starting next chapter.  

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Quite frankly, Inuyasha needs to grow some brains. Geez, who would pull the lever!?

I don't think it has anything to do with his intelligence level. He pulled it because he was curious, and because he knew there'd be no danger to it. It isn't as if IY took this thing seriously.

Shippou needs to grow up and stop biting the hand that feeds. He's had zero development since his first appearance. The 'crying' card he pulled in this chapter was just low. The more he does stuff like this, the less respect IY is going to have for him. Considering his tragic background, you think he'd be a bit less spoiled. IY is rarely antagonostic towards Shippou unless Shippou initiates it. I thought everyone, save Kagome who didn't do much, and Sango who just gave Miroku what he deserved- came off really obnoxious during this arc. IY was the least of the offenders, but Miroku and Shippou's behavior was downright bad. I'm really glad it's over, as long as it doesn't go back to swords.

  

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"That moron pulled it"

*laughing* 

Also enjoyed the joke page. ;P
 

  

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Haro: You make some good points. I did think the crying card was a bit low. :/

Still funny chapter, but I'm really looking forward to moving on. ^.^ 

  

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Yeah, Shippou hasn't really progressed at all, I'm getting tired of his crying fits and inability to really contribute anything besides fighting Inuyasha over food.

Loved the joke page too!

It's my first post, love this place I appreciate all the hard work everyone does!!

  

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Let's lay off Shippou. He's a bratty seven year old and a shounen mascot, maturity should not be expected nor character development. He's a stereotypical younger brother, antagonizing Inuyasha.

Loved when Sango was swarmed by a horde of Kitsune Miroku's. To funny.

I wonder where we are headed next, I bet it's a serious arc, but now that there's no spoiler we just have to be suprised.

  

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p.s. Kagome really needs to get better at disciplining Shippou though. She get's mad at Inuyasha when he's mean to Shippou, but not when it's the other way around.
  

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Yeah, I thought these chapters would be Shippou humor to ease our minds from the swords drama. Though one could consider it an "upgrade" because Shippou did get to show off some of his fox tricks. XD

Overall, this chapter was good for a laugh. I really did enjoy it because a humor chapter is very good for you after a meh sword arc.

I wonder what's coming next, though…

  

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haha i found that fantastic, really brightened up my depressing exam riddled day… its a welcome break from the swords battle…which never ends

i hope the next arc is a Naraku one, we havent had too much action from him lately… but who knows!

  

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I'd hazard a guess and say that the next arc may be Kagome-centric.

Also, I'm not sure whether "Hitomiko" is being used as a word or a name. It can be either. 

  

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Blah.  

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I wonder what "miko who has been supposed to die once" is supposed to mean. Is it a priestess from the past who reappears (even if she makes her first appearance as a character)? Whatever happens I have a very good feeling about the next arc!  

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DavidK: Kagome doesn't really get on IY's case for the Shippou thing anymore though. In this arc, she didn't get on his case and osuwari him until he whacked the other kids. In 499, she osuwaried him for whacking Kohaku but ignored the Shippou stuff. At the end of the Kao arc, IY mocked Shippou and Kagome just completely ignored it. I think the last time she got on his case for Shippou was the Mujina arc about 125 chapters ago. think she realizes it's something Shippou starts more often than not anymore.

….PleasepleaseKagomearc

  

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David, you wanna know what scares me?

Kikyou keeps flashing through my mind whenever I think about a "dead miko"… 

  

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Starks: It won't be Kikyou. I'll eat my foot if it is. Okay I wont, because RT's writing has been kind of scary lately so it's not outside the realm of possibility. However, Kagome's already had an arc where she had to 'face' Kikyou, so I can't see it being some doppelganger of Kikyou. Of course the real Kikyou dissolved.

Plus, Kikyou died more than once. XD

  

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i hope ur right haro… no more kikyou please!!!!!!

  

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Starks: Kikyou was the first thing I thought about when I read the preview. Haro's right though, Kikyou died, RT made it definitive, and unless Uresue rises from the dead and re-re-birth's her. If it is Kikyou this manga will have officially jumped the shark, and I'll wash my hands of it. The thing is, unless it's a new character, how many dead Miko's have figured into the plot? Only Kikyou and Midoriko.

I have this feeling it will be like the St. Hijiri arc, it will be dead obvious who it is, but it won't be spelled out for a chapter or two. That's not saying I think it will be Kikyou, but I think it will be handled in a similar way.

  

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Sandpiper: There would be no point in Kikyou returning. Kagome had the Mt. Asuza arc for her emotional catharsis to get over the insecurities caused by Kikyou's presence. Kikyou then left Kagome the bow, as well as the duty of defeating Naraku- thus placing complete faith in Kag.

Obviously it wouldn't be Kikyou herself, but even some kind of doppelganger or illusion would really undermine all of that. Kagome doesn't need to be tested with Kikyou again. She's already done that.

…Midoriko? RT never did show her face. Doesn't 'hito' just mean person/human though? Huh.

  

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I could be wrong but it can mean bandit as well.   

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I'm willing to bet that there will at the very least be a passing reference to Kikyou.  

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Starks: I won't take the bet, because I agree. I'm sure there will be.  

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List of canonical mikos:

Kikyou, Kaede, Tsubaki, Kagome

  

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Starks: What about Midoriko?  

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Yeah, forgot about her… <_<

Anyway, I'm glad Rumiko abruptly ended this mini arc. The last thing this series needed was a drawn out tournament starring Shippou. 

  

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This arc ended up just what I needed. A nice little break between sword arcs and dead miko arcs, but not so long that it got annoying. I wish RT had done this between Shishinki and Kohaku arcs.  

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DavidK: But we got 494, which was much nicer.  

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Haro… Chapter 494 was an anomaly… Just like chapter 411.

  

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But at least they had character development, unlike the past ten chapters. >>  

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Well this arc was meaningless and redundant but I guess sort of entertaining.  Still I wish they would stick to the main story and character development, at least the Inu meidou upgrade arc had some development on the part of Sess…obviously after such a serious battle heavy arc there needed to be some humor which this arc had but it was hallow outside of that. 

Shippou is the same as always, and his brutality towards Inuyasha (who's done more for him than any other character) is a bit distasteful.  What was also distasteful was Kagome "sitting" Inuyasha which is always real annoying.  Inu is not a dog, but a humanoid dog demon it is both demeaning as well as probably physically painful.  Also Inu didn't deserve it at all, he was being assaulted by Shippou and  assumed shippou's kitsune friends were also involved.  Then again maybe I am taking all of this too seriously, the author's intentions were not to make any of these characters look bad but just to make the audience laugh in which she was somewhat successful.

I hope the next arc deals with the main story. 

  

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JakenSama: So Sango beating on Miroku like eight times in this arc was okay but Kagome sitting IY once for hitting some kids they don't even know isn't okay? Please. It causes Miroku more pain to be hit in the head with a boomerang than IY to be lightly sat. He barely hit the ground. If this were 'serious' he'd have several concussions by now. It's a physical comedy joke.

  

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He'd have several concussions by now= Miroku.  

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I look forward to the next arc, I did enjoy this one….a good breather. Of course I find some of it annoying, but hey I have seen worse. My favorite part is when Sango tossed her "sink bomb" ball to rid Miroku of the kits he was "aiding", it cracked my up.

I do think the next arc will be Kagome centered. It could be anything, from a reflective piece about past events to a discovery about the jewel. It seems a little late in the game to add another character, RT doesn't exactly follow the rules though. You just never know.   

  

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Sorrel: Might be a oneshot character though. I doubt she'll add any recurring characters, but we could get someone new that's here only for this arc ala Sessmom.  

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Fluffette was a shocker… I can't name any other one-shot in the series that carried the same amount of "WTF!?!?!?!" as she did.  

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I miss Fluffette.  I'd like to see her return sometime.

Well, this chapter was certainly…interesting.  I realize that Shippou's just a bratty little shit, but he definitely needs a good ass whooping like kids his age.  You shouldn't pull crap like that on your closest friends.  Shippou caves into peer pressure too easily, just like other kids. 

Honestly, I'd like to see some character development for Shippou in the guise of "growing up".  Geez.

Yay for next arc if it is, indeed, Kagome-centric.  I'll be happier if it actually pertains to the main storyline in some way (it should).  I'll admit that the title didn't give me a Kikyou vibe; it gave me a Midoriko one.

  

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This Shippou arc was short but sweet. I do think it was paced too quickly and should have been given an extra week.  

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Haro: Sango was justified in her actions.  As much as I admire Miroku's pimpitude, Sango has every right to be very upset.  Kagome had no right, Inu was perfectly justified.  He is just painfully assaulted by shippou, then sees him with other kitsune, anyone would assume that the other kitsune had something to do with it.   

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Also we don't know if Inu was "lightly" sat, we have no idea how hard the sit was.  Just like we don't know how much force Sango hits Miroku with.  

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Jaken, according to the raw, it was a "soft" sit.  

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Oh, sorry I apologize.  I didn't know, but its still demeaning.  I would rather be hit than treated as a dog. Anyways the main point was justification.  Ah…but who cares, all this is in the name of comedy.  

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I seem to recall a fanfic where the repeated sittings bore a consequence.  Inuyasha was up in a tree doing something secretively, Kagome bitched about wanting to see what he was doing, he refused, she sat him, he screamed…turned out that her sitting caused him to drive a knife into his heart; he'd refused to show her what he was carving because it was a surprise gift for her.  I remember that they had to get a special serum to place over Inuyasha's wound because the sap that covered the knife was poisonous to him; he could've died.

The sittings can't be pleasant, but then you're not exactly smiled upon when you go around bopping kids on the head.

That said, it's all just comic relief, anyway.  It isn't meant to be taken seriously.

  

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Jakensama:  I do agree with you that Sango was at least justified in this case to hit Miroku because, well, as much as I like him as a pimp he's enagaged and shouldn't he be more faithful?  He acted like a dog in these chapters.  The little foxes were urging Shippo on in his trickery of Inuyasha so sitting Inuyasha really isn't jusitified because their behavior caused his reaction in hitting him.  Whatever, everyone has to act OOC once in a while.

Can't wait to see what next week's chapter is about.  It could be a cool looking character, a la Shishinki, but maybe better and will actually progress the storyline without contradicting it.

  

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i think given shippoes age it is easy for kagome to asses blame on inuyasha and take arguments one sided. shes the type of person that would go for the tears of a small child, and David where did you get that shippo was seven i dont believe his age was ever given  

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Alexis: RT released a guide book in Japan called Inuyasha Okuki Kaiden. She gives the ages of all the major characters. As it was written by RT it is considered canon. The age of the demons are given in terms of maturity and Shippou's age is given as seven. Go to the Inuyasha Companion at http://www.Furinkan.com/iycompanion, click on miscellaneous and then questions or answers. A full list of ages is given towards the bottom.

Haro: Chapter 494 was much better, but it was only one chapter, after all the Shishinki nonsense I could have used a little more fluff.

  

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Jakensama: Miroku… deserves it? So Sango can control Miroku's actions and that's okay? I agree he did in this chapter and honestly agreed with Sango's actions, but IY wasn't justified in beating up some little kids either, no way. Making a false assumption/hitting first asking questions later is certainly not justifiable if Kagome's response isn't. That's imho, a silly thing to say. And IY was already sitting down so yes it was a 'light sit.' It utterly boggles me that people take that danged rosary seriously. Especially since she uses it so seldom anymore. Girl can't catch a break.  

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Cute and meaningless! A nice respite- for us and for RT, probably- from more serious endeavors.
A few silly observations:
1. The views of the inn from outside with the spirits swirling really reminds me of the "Ninja Kid" game for the original Nintendo. Had to share that.
2. Was that Goshinki's twin conjured up with the other baddies?
3. Am I nuts, or is Miroku drawn excessively dreamy in this chapter?
4. If Shippou can do all this kick-ass stuff, where has it been all this time? Just kiddin' -I know he's a kiddie.

Re: the Osumari debate- these chapters, in my opinion, seemed to be designed to remind us of the characters' personalities after all the recent "rewriting of history." I mean, everyone behaved according to his/her individual gimmick traits. Or maybe more of a "let's not take ourselves too seriously" gesture?

Well, next week… Kaede: The Untold Story in 7 chapters?? Er, let's hope not!  

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Haro:  Yea the sit is for laughs but Kagome really didn't need to sit him in that instance, and apparently, I didn't find that sit funny to say the least.  I'm all for sits when Inuyasha gets out of line, but this time he wasn't.  Those kids deserved hits because they resorted to trickery.  I'm sure she knew, as well as Inuyasha, that they were the ones who were urging Shippo to use tricks on his friends.  If anyone should've been punished, it should've been Shippo and his litle fox friends.  Thankfully she didn't use another sit command on him afterwards because Shippo was clearly initiating the fights.  

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Haro: As mentioned by NP2, the other Kitsune were at fault as well, so Inu was perfectly justifiable in his actions.  I know you like Kagome, but she isn't perfect.  Her sitting Inu was wrong, but in actuality if we look at these manga creations as real it is always wrong.  The problem with the sit thing is just how demeaning it is.  Inu is always ragged on by others about being a mere hanyou, as somehow lower than all other humanoid beings and being forced to sit like a dog is just further insult.  Imagine if someone could just "sit" you whenever he or she felt like I doubt if you would ever think it justified.  If Kagome really cared for Inu, realistically she would remove those prayer beads around his neck (hmm seems a lot like a dog collar doesn't it?)   Again as said before this is all for humor purposes and the author doesn't expect us to look at these antics seriously (Miroku's pimpin', Shippou's rude practical jokes on Inu, "Sit", etc.)
  

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Why use sit? Doesn't a swift kick to the nuts accomplish the same task?  

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Wow…. despite my liking from being away from sword upgrades… this whole arc was rather… pointless.

Maybe I missed it, but what exactly is Shippou gonna get from getting this Senior Rank thing??  As far as I can tell, really nothing in the end, not even a pat on the back or any real appreciation from the other Kitsune youkai.  Nada.  Not to say that this arc wasn't drawn out and getting annoying, unfortunately it was, but then just to abruptly end it like that.  This added nothing to the storyline, and yes I know other arcs like this have been in the series before and in the past I have enjoyed them… but for the past year I think that…. RT is getting dry of ideas.  I mean this Manga has been going on FOREVER, when she already hinted it would end several times and keeps extending it.  Don't get me wrong, I love the characters still with all my heart, but I feel they need a respite.  I wanna see the manga finally get to things that matter for these characters, instead of keeping extending this storyline with sword upgrades, and meaningless arcs.    ._.

Did anybody see where the original plot fell too? >.>

  

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Jakensama: Physical abuse in real life for hitting on another woman is not 'justifiable' either, and personally you'd find it far more difficult to justify smacking someone for hitting a child then for hitting on another woman. Even if the kid started it. IY hit a kid. This isn't okay irl. I don't care what the kid did to him.

But that aside, this isn't real life. IY has been okay with coming clean with Kagome. If Kagome cared for IY? Wtf? She's saves his life with them. If it were 'demeaning,' we would know. Clearly RT doesn't mean it to be and imho you're reading way too much into it. I am sure the idea that idea has never even crossed her mind. It has nothing to do with my feelings on Kagome- who yes is not perfect, and I enjoy the flaws she does have.

It's that ever since I got into anime/manga, it's been a HUGE pet peeve of mine when people get uptight about the classic 'smack your guy around' mechanic featured in so many manga/anime. Way before I ever got into IY. The fact that people harp on a less popular character for it, and then forgive the at times cruel and even murderous actions of other more popular characters, speaks volumes. Taking the slapstick vibe too seriously is imho often used to justify harping on a character people are looking to dislike. Akane, Winry, Kagome, etc- the list goes on. These characters aren't abusive or cruel. It becomes a point where you go 'if this weren't a manga, this wouldn't happen.' It's just how she expresses slapstick. All characters who people nitpick their physical comedy trait while forgiving far more questionable actions from other cast members.

My problem with Shippou is that he always initiates it, and that's where it crosses the line into irritating. Kagome never initiates it. It's just a comedic reaction. The fact is that Sango repeatedly went after Miroku, Shippou bullied IY constantly, IY returned the favor, and Miroku spent the entire arc acting rather deplorable. And Kagome's one little osuwari is a problem?

  

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I should add that I think a lot of people don't take target audience into consideration when analyzing the series. The fact of the matter is that the InuYasha manga has a target audience of kids and preteens. Yes, it has older fans- but Shounen Sunday isn't targeted to adults or older teens. There are other magazines for that. Just like a Disney movie or a children's cartoon, even if you like them, there are bound to be humor moments that just don't work for you because you are older. Slapstick is something that's easy to grow out of.

Added to that, it's a repeat gag that spans fifty volumes of manga. Of course it might get old, although it's obvious she's really used it less and less as the series goes on. I never found the osuwari that funny, but it also never bugged me because it's just one of those things that's obviously there to appeal to the kiddies. I bet the kids who read it find it hilarious, just like they probably find these imho unfunny Shippou arcs hilarious.

 
I can't imagine RT's mindset being anything but this- InuYasha= dog hanyou. Let's have some jokes about that Kagome sees ears—>thinks dog and as such in the heat of the moment when she's about to be clawed says 'OSUWARI.' The command sticks. It's not a matter of being demeaning, nor is it intended to be, it's just a pun. If something bugs IY, we know it. He hardly even protests the osuwari anymore the rare times it does happen. Also, he's never expressed it to be painful in the manga. The scene where she splats a boulder on him just plain didn't happen in the manga. The anime overdoes it, and I agree it's inappropriate often times there. I think it bugs him far less than it does the fandom.

  

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and personally you’d find it far more difficult to justify smacking
someone for hitting a child then for hitting on another woman.

**Far LESS difficult rather. 

  

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Then again, it could be a miko that Sango or Miroku has heard of that no one has seen in a long time and is believed to have died. As you said Haro, it could possibly be a one-short character. Or not knowing the context of this appearence, perhaps it appears to the group as a vision, in a dream.

No, this story did not add anything to the plot. No one learned anything or grew in anyway. RT may have a few wrinkles to work out yet before she starts to tie up loose ends, it may have been not only a comic relief from the more serious chapters yet to come but a stalling tatic…..(shrugs) we will probably never know.  

  

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I really hope that next arc would be about  Midoriko and the history of the Shikon.

However I think you are all forgetting about the dark miko Tsubaki. Maybe because the anime showed how she died. However this make her even more suited for the title of next chapter

  

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Snow: I didn't forget her. She did not die in the manga though, and the preview specifically states 'a miko who has died once before.' That outrules Kikyou since she's died more than once, and leaves only Midoriko or a new character.  

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Haro, you'd make me a favour if you never ever reply to mine comment. All your past replies have been in denial. This makes me believe that you have narrow point of view and you try to impose it on everybody else. I could have tried to widen it, however I don't want to start long and futile threads. I avoid answering your comments, please return me the favour.

Tsubaki wasn't mention in this thread,  Kaede was mentioned, so I just  filled the gap. I did said I hope it is not her and she have died in the anime (and when I say something is in the anime it means it is only in the anime)…
In another blog (that I avoid because it usually contains detailed spoilers) I see that other people have thought about the same possibility.
Not to say that the translation we have contains "supposed to"…  and I'm not so naive to take the translation literally.

Sorry for wasting your time. 

  

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OH MY FILTHY GOODNESS!  Kill Shippo now!  It's times like this that I know that I am hooked…really though…she really has all of us wrapped around her little finger if she can get away with this crap OMG!  Writing shippo arcs immediately after a sesshomaru arc!  Flibbity boosh ba doosh!  This scumbag shippo has needed death for like….for freaking ever!  Ya know…I bet Takahashi has got something planned for the little runt like jumping in front of a shotgun blast aimed at Kagome or something…well maybe not that heroic.  Naaa….

Aight I got one story that would be appropriate.

Aight here's the premise:  (Miroku and Inuyasha get back from another one of their late night drunken charades…much to the chagrin of their two lady friends.)

Kagome:  EH!  EH!  What the f**k is this over here?!?!  Boozin it again eh?!  Sit boy!

(Inuyasha is not affected by the word.)

Kagome:  Where's your freakin necklace bitches?!

Inuyasha:  I pawned that shit for booze money yesterday…

(Immediately throws up right there on the ground….real bad…there's all kinds of chunks of…something…floating around in a pool of booze.)

Inuyasha:  Oh my god I feel so much better now!  Score baby!  Flibbity boosh ba doosh!

(Miroku has been blatantly staring at Sango's chest since the two boozers returned…and Sango notices…BOOST!)

Miroku: If I go crazy then will you still call me superman?!  If I'm alive and well will you still be there holdin my hand?!  Wanna take a walk, milady?

(Keep in mind that A:  Miroku is a pimp.  B:  Sango is mad hot for Miroku.  C:  For reasons previously explained both are frickin rediculously horny for each other…it's that simple.)

Sango:  (With a twinkle in her eye.)  Oh hells yes!

Inuyasha:  Where's that little faggit?!

Kagome:  Don't call Shippo names like that…

Inuyasha:  Don't talk back woman!  (He slaps Kagome right in her face!  Flibbity boosh ba doosh!)  I don't have to take your shit anymore now I don't have that f**kin necklace wrapped around my dick anymore!

(Kagome starts crying but doesn't talk back to Inuyasha…not now…not ever again!  BOOST!)

(Now that Inuyasha barfed he feels like shit and he has to abuse shippo now to make himself feel slightly better.)

(Inuyasha walks right up nto where shippo is sleeping and he kicks him right in his eye!  BA DOOSH!)

Shippo:  Oh what the hell!!?!?!  (Blood is literally just pulsing out of his eye socket at this point!  Take that ya basid!)

Inuyasha:  Get up faggit we goan train you today!

(Despite his devastating injury he is actually pretty excited…Inuyasha has been had been lying to the basid telling him that he is gonna teach him how to fight….yah and I'm the freakin pope!  BA DOOSH!)

Shippo: ALRIGHT BABY!  KAZE NO KUZE I"M ON MY WAY! WOOHOO!

(So the two of them start walking and eventually find a pretty wide open place to train, kinda a field with some big rocks littering the area here and there.)

Inuyasha:  This is fine here.

Shippo:  (Still bleeding…whahaha.)  What about all the rocks?!

(Before Shippo has a chance to shit himself Inuyasha picks him up and piledrives the lil basid's head right into the biggest rock he can see! BOOST!  Shippo's pathetic little neck crunches with a delicious snap…oh yah…it's good.)

(Inuyasha shows no remorse….actually he takes a huge shit right on shippos dead face and then uses his little robes as toilet paper, then he grunts and spits…that's a real man!)

(Inuyasha eventually finds his way back to the camp, stopping here and there to pee on trees he thinks smell kinda good)

Kagome:  (Still rather shook up from Inuyasha slapping her before.)  Where's shippo?  Did training go well for you two?

(Inuyasha shoots her a look that says "shut your face right now!")

Inuyasha:  No actually.  Training did not go well for shippo.  As a matter of fact I killed that little prick and shit on his face!  BA…..DOOSH!!!!!!

Kagome:  Oh my god!  You're kidding right?

Inuyasha:  Fuck that the basid had that shit coming.  (Lays down and gets comfy)  Now come over here and give daddy some sugar,

Kagome:  Works for me!  Flibbity boosh ba doosh!

I wonder at why I am not the author of Inuyasha sometimes…then I remember I am just some drunken basid myself!  ough!  BOOST!

  

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Who's ready for either a Kagome-centric arc or another power-up arc?

I'm not.

  

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There is no way to know just what direction this next chapter will head. A lot depends on the intentions of this guest miko. For all we know she could be someone that Naraku sent.

Hito is a buddist term, meaning single, singular, or special in some way. I couldn't find any word that relates to bandit, but it doesn't mean that is not RT's intent in some way (slang aside). I can't wait for the next chapter just to see what she really meant by it.

  

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*listened to the podcast*  I think it's pretty cool. ^^ Although, I had to turn the sound on really loud to hear it. (But then again, I usually have it pretty low, so…x3) And the sound faded in and out sometimes. Otherwise, it's good~

 I like how you say "anyhow". *maul'd*

  

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I have a love/hate relationship with this chapter.

Listened to the Podcast…made me smile in all its awkward glory.

I enjoy the props to the other anime shows. What do you think of Blood +….I just started watching it and really really enjoy it.

Uhhh. Just want something really exciting to happen next week. I'm prone to get my hopes up though. To David and Mental Butterfly: I got Children of Hurin last week too…Very excited.

  

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Haro: so you don't like criticism of the "smack your guy" mechanic, but you don't mind bashing the "player" mechanic (Miroku and his constant flirtations, similar characters are present all over the manga and anime universe)…you are contradicting your own point about this being for children and childrens humor, if the "sit" and smacking are accepted you must accept the actions of the pimpdaddy miroku (they are just for laughs also).  Oh yeah, don't forget Inu is only 15! so if some punk a few years younger is beatin' on him he doesn't just have to sit there and take it.  Think of it, it isn't like he can inform the parents of these kitsune…"Yes Mr. and Mrs. so and so, your son played a nasty trick on me that left this bruise…etc." He can either retaliate (the only way in this situation is physically) or just continue to get abused. 

Also I am not bashing Kagome, just criticizing one action she made in this chapter, jeez.  You criticize other characters of the series for their actions, should Kagome be made immune to comments other than holy praise? 

  

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Haha, podcast!!  That's cool.  Every time I've read your comments, I've heard a voice just like that in my head, so wtf.  And thank god I'm not the only one who says "anyhoo".

It did go a little soft here and there, but I still heard you, so who gives a shit about sound. 

Oh Jesus, I am still sorry about that shit that happened here. 

You have steak, I have chili.

Yay Gainax!  FLCL is fucking hilarious.

You should do more podcasts.  I'm sure it was awkward though.  Eh, don't listen to me.  Do whatever.

As far as the next chapter, obviously, I won't cry if it's Kagome-centric (or if it's not), but overall, I'd just like it to pertain to the main plot somehow, dammit.

  

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Yeah, I have zero idea why I felt so compelled to make a podcast today…

I think it stems from my focus on making this website as "Web 2.0" as possible. Let's face it, there are lot of Inuyasha websites on the net and 95% look like absolute crap using web designs from 5+ years ago *cough*Inuyasha World*cough*. Furinkan.com's "Inuyasha Companion" is the only other decent looking Inuyasha website I can think of.

Making the podcast was a lot easier than I thought it would be. Just hook up a mic, open Audacity, record, edit out any accidental f-bombs, and upload. I will admit that it was quite awkward, but I had fun.

  

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Snow: Denial? Okay. I did bring up Tsubaki, but I guess I didn't here. I know I did at IY.org for example. I post in more than one place, so probably I just without thinking said it thinking it had been brought up here. o.o; Either way, I'm not sure how my short (and friendly) comment warranted that kind of reply.

Jakensama: I've ignored a lot of criticism of her to be honest on the various places I post, but the osuwari thing is just a peeve (And Kagome is only fifteen too btw). I'm not contradicting myself. I said I have a problem when the character initiates it, didn't I? I also said the joke has been used progressively less as the series goes on. Miroku still hits on a pretty girl EVERY time they see one. Unlike a fantasy gag, this is something that can be easily carried into real life.  Hasn't the womanizing caused legitimate angst and issues for MirSan? It has. An osuwari never has. A couple arguments have that the osuwari was used in, but never an actual osuwari. That alone makes it a serious issue. He is engaged and womanizing. Yes, at times it's used for humor. However, it's a whole different issue than Kagome or Sango's slapstick or even Shippou and IY's banter. We have seen that there are serious repercussions to it.

  

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For some weird reason I can never get Audacity to record. @_@; *prod with pitchfork*

 I have to say, the osuwari in this chapter irritated me. But then again, I'm not a Kagome fan at all, so…xD

 I hope the next arc is more interesting. This one was a bit annoying and boring. D:

  

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Haro: Kagome's "sit" was unjustified…that is the main reason it irritated me.  You have to admit she didn't have a good reason for even a "soft" sit.  That's really the bottom line, if you look at it objectively you will see the same.  You tend to justify anything your favored characters (Kagome especially, but also Inu) tend to do.

There is nothing serious about Miroku's flirtations, he hasn't been sleeping with these various village women…Sango simply gets annoyed and hits Miroku, all in good humor.  It has been made clear he only loves Sango.  Sango knows this deep down.    

  

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Jakensama: And there really isn't a character I haven't been irritated with the actions of/critical of at least at a few points. I mean, except for minor characters. Kagome's lack of assertiveness regarding certain issues has been frustrating to me at more than one point. For a big chunk of the manga she didn't say anything when an issue was at hand, or she got angry. Yes, there were some big times this didn't happen (re: volume eighteen, episode forty-eight), but it happened fairly often and at times I think it did somewhat slow up the progress of her relationship with IY. I'd also never deny her serious insecurity issue. Are these flaws she's getting over? Yes. Honestly, she's gotten so much better, and Mt. Asuza was a perfect catharsis to help her, which is awesome for her. But they were there, and they did make me headdesk from time to time. Most of the main cast has worked very well on overcoming their big flaws- Kagome, Sango, and IY especially. One of my problems with Miroku is he's one of the few that hasn't- from the womanizing to the hiding of his condition.

I did not mean to accuse you of bashing Kagome btw, or even imply as much.  

  

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Jakensama: Actually it has caused serious issues. See the Shima arc for one, where her hurt was evident and focal.  It was not just comedy. And the entire proposal arc. The reason Sango was upset and taken over so easily is because she was hurt by his unfaithfulness. It wasn't just funny there, she was extremely hurt. It's caused some big issues between them! She has trouble trusting him, and that's a big reason why. Until the Miroku's shouki stuff, it was probably the biggest negative issue between them. Sango is extremely insecure about things, and almost any woman would be with Miroku hitting on every pretty girl they meet. And while I feel IY's action was justifable, I also feel Kagome's retort was.   

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Shima arc? <_<

Can you refresh me on what that was again…

  

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Starks: The catfish youkai. The girl in it was named Shima and she claimed to be engaged to Miroku. It was in volume thirty-five and ran from 342-345. Before the recent one, it was the last big 'arc' they had.   

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At long last I am finally able to leave a comment!!

Due to the whole spam incident and my previous AOL account that wouldn't allow me to view any sort of unknown mail, I wasn't able to register a long time ago in order to comment on the weekly Inuyasha chapters. Fortunately, a friend of mine helped me get a Yahoo account and I was able to finally register and get my password. However, instead of going by the name 'Shadow Dragon' like I have for all this time, I am now known as Shadow Dragon Penndragon. The shadow's always darker on the other side, I suppose.

Anyway, I really enjoyed this chapter and it was nice for Shippou to have his own story arc.

  

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Shadow: Yeah… AOL sucks hard. Try Gmail.  

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I've heard from a lot of people that Gmail's awesome hands down, but I'm sticking with my reliable Yahoo account my best friend helped me get:)  

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The comment two comments above was a mess up I noticed a little too late after I submitted it:( …oh, well.  

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I had that same problem with AOL, then I checked the spam file and saw that my password was there.  And I even had problems with my school e-mail address.  Kinda why I had to change my name but oh well.  

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I think this is the worst podcast I've heard so far. I think it is going to also be the last one because it blew my ears away   Just kidding.

Few advices:

1. Put microphone a little bellow from your mouth or put it aside. The idea is to prevent the breath air flow from blowing microphone membrane, creating laud huss noise. Some mic have fuzzy covers to prevent that.

2. Don't move your head when you talk. I had the feeling you are swinging.

3. It would be good if you can find a way to lower the noise. Play with volume settings (e.g. usually CDROM Line adds a lot of noise because the wire goes around withing the PC case),  don't use mic-Boost unless you must.  Or/And use some  audio processing to filter it ( it's mostly in high frequencies). You can also normalize the volume if you are going to process it. You already said that you've been using Audacity and it can do all that and more.

4. A-a-aa.. h–h-h….What I was going to say.. A-a-am. sss-hu-hu-.  You know….

Points 1&2 could be easily fixed with the so called "Skype" sets, headphones with microphone. They also may help with p.3. I leave p.4 entirely to you

Oh, one more request. Don't put the flash that plays the podcast on the title page. Put only link. Just yesterday I visited blog with something like 10 flashes to youtube. They all were inactive/paused (aka single picture, you have to click it to start streaming/playing), but despite that flash managed to load my CPU at 90% level. (even at the moment your little flashy is eating 6% CPU to do nothing).

I hope you will make more podcasts… just make them better.

  

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podcast was awesome, so much easier than reading… lol  

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Starks: Just listened to the podcast. *Flames you*

J/K of course. I liked listening to it, and that's a good way to express your views on the chap especially. My only advice would be to make sure the mike is kept near your mouth. There were  a few times the volume pitched almost too low to hear.

And everyone is telling me to watch Gurren Lagan, but I'm so behind on everything I'm already watching. Ah well. We'll see. It looks pretty entertaining.

  

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I found it hilarious how I became so jaded towards the end. I felt like Akira Kogami from Lucky Star's "Lucky Channel" segment.

Also, I may have HaRi KaRi as a guest commentator on next week's podcast.  

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You know what would be awesome? If there was a story arc entirely about Byakuya! He is, without a doubt, my most favorite Inuyasha character.  

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I vehemently disagree with Tsubaki clawing her way back into the story.  Giving her any more of the spotlight this far into the story would be like giving Buyo his (her?) own sword–which would be illogical. Dig?  I'll bet all of the letter "Bs" in my username the miko in the next chapter will be Midoriko.  (Anyone remember her? Think really hard, you know, back to when the manga was more..plot importance-like.  I had forgotten who she was for a moment).  Or perhaps another expendable character (I think Takahashi realized she "curtained" some of her characters too soon.  Hence new characters like Byakuya).

And for the Kagome/Inuyasha rosary "spousal" (lol, spouses. Which they aren't.) abuse argument I've skimmed through—Guys. It's all for comedic effect.  Comedy.  Which in my opinion, gets stale after a few hundred chapters.

Now that we've gotten this Shippo "arc" out of the way, I hope we can continue on with that elusive creature called a "plot".  I don't know about you guys, but I'm getting closer and closer to just cutting all ties with this series. D:

  

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Tsubaki still has a grudge against Kagome. She got snaked by her, remember?   

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Beans and Cornbread: I don't know, a Buyo upgrade would be pretty awesome. XD

No I agree about Tsubaki coming back into the series, and as I said- she's not dead and I don't think the Inu-tachi even thinks she is. I also agree that it has to be Mido or a new character, but I am leaning towards Mido. I can't see this arc not being relevant to the plot.

I agree that the osuwari becomes stale as the series goes on, but as you said- it's comedic effect. That doesn't change it's intent, even if it's just become old. So has the grope and whack and the Shippou/IY stuff. They don't make me laugh like they used to. Honestly, the only constantly repeated gags I haven't gotten at least a bit stale on are Jaken crack and The Kouga/IY stuff, which is still hilarious to me.

There are times that I've felt like dropping the manga, but I've been following it so long and have grown so attached to the characters, I can't not see it to the conclusion. However, stuff like 499-Current  really wears me thin.

  

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"There are times that I’ve felt like dropping the manga, but I’ve been
following it so long and have grown so attached to the characters, I
can’t not see it to the conclusion. However, stuff like
499-Current  really wears me thin."

Rumiko lives and breathes off of wasted opportunities.
 

  

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Starks: She has in the past couple years, at least- especially lately. There's been some great shining moments, but there's been just as much floundering around. I miss the manga of old. Gosh, it used to be so good.  

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It's as I said before, the gravy train is coming to an end soon, so she's milking it for all it's worth.

Though if she really wanted to please the fangirls/bois, Inuyasha and Kagome would forgo awkward kissing moments, teenage make-out scenes, and hell, even foreplay just to get to what they all want to see — hot Inu/Kag mating with bite-marks ahoy…er, sex rather.  Because that's what most fans have been waiting to see for years, and that's why they give up all hope of RT writing it herself, so they take it upon themselves to write it.  And that's how we end up with discussions about mating rituals, if their kids would be a quarter youkai, and whatnot.

Oh, and Kagome should totally turn into an inu/cat hanyou, too, via some spell Kaede puts on her so she can have the cute ears, and Inu's got someone just like him.  Then he wouldn't be so OMG angsty!

Just kidding. 

Yeah, I don't want any of that, but I've read enough fanfiction to know that others do.  RUMIKO, ARE YOU LISTENING.
 

  

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Personality,I dont' think and I don't want to be Inu-Kag sexual contents.Kagome is still a child,she had 16 year old.More of kisses it won't be in Inu-Kag.But I was thinking….It will be sexual moments in Mir-San relationship?Sango has 18 year old and Miroku 20.Their relation are too obscene,touching on the butt,sexual jealous (example Shima and Koharu).I was compared with Kodai and Kyoko from Maison Ikkoku,they have a sexual jealous.I want too bad to see Miroku-Sango sexual scenes.Sorry,but I don't speak English,I'm from Romania.

  

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Your podcast made me laugh a little.  

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KagomeKagome: I don't think it has anything to do with an income thing. She is the wealthiest woman in Japan, and from what I hear she lives in a small apartment so I'm not even sure what she does with all her money. She's also single. She could retire now and do anything she wants for the rest of her life, and there's no way she doesn't know that. Her next series will be hugely popular, no matter what it is. I think it's that she's struggling to formulate the details for the ending and has been for a long time. It's kind of sad, really. I love her as a writer, she's so talented,
but it's obvious that she's struggling with how to handle this series.

 
Eww @ what the fandom wants. …Even though the term 'mate' is totally fanon, not to mention all the other stuff.  The marking thing seriously grosses me out. Oh and she could also please just as many American fans  by having Kikyou come back, and Kagome angstily run into Sesshoumaru's loving arms. But Sess/Kag is obsolete in Japan, luckily in that regard.  But Sess/Rin is big over there, so maybe we'll get a youkai!Rin ending.  Aieeee.

  

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Starks: I totally agree with you.  I would have stopped reading this anime almost a year ago if it wasn't for my love for the characters and wanting to see this thing through to the end.  But the series is wearing me thin too and I do really want to just get it over with and finally have some closure for these characters.

That said, thank you still so much for bearing through it with us to continue scanlations.

And why can't she be milking it for all its worth?  More money is always good, I mean thats why we have like 'Halloween 10' here in the states.  Here we are at Inuyasha chapter 506, with no end reallly in sight for these characters… when a year ago she stated she would probally end the series by chapter 500.  /sigh

  

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Nobara: No, she never said she'd end it at 500 chapters or even implied as much. Her statement was basically 'full speed ahead to chapter 500.' The implication that she was ending at 500 was fan created. However, she did say several years ago (and I mean way back in like 2001), that the series was half over at volume twenty. That obviously did not pan out.

Catalina: Miroku is eighteen and Sango is sixteen according to the character book. Kagome is fifteen. In the feudal era, there wouldn't be any sexual relationship between a couple until marriage, and that generally would apply to MirSan as well.  But all that aside, the only thing making their relationship towards each other more sexual is Miroku's general perviness. Sango is every bit as chaste in her actions, actually more so because she's a bit withdrawn and extremely shy, as InuKag is. Miroku and Sango don't have near the sexual relationship- tension and otherwise, that Kyoko and Godai did. I don't want InuKag sex either, as they're not ready yet. But I also don't want to see Mirsan sex. They have a long way to go before they're ready for that, and I personally hope they wait a while to get married after the final battle. They need to get to know each other. RT isn't going to draw either though, and the only implication we'll get of sex is if we happen to see a child from either couple in an epilogue- imho.

  

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<_< 

InuKag sex? They haven't even canonically gotten to first base…

  

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Haro: If you admit Inu's actions were justified, how can you say Kagome (the shippou Inu exam thing doesn't even involve her) was justified in her retort? Please exlain.

2.  Yeah, the catfish yokai saga.  Well Miroku engagement with this girl was before he met Sango, so he is not at fault in any way.  His flirtations are never serious, the way he displays affection and inner emotions to Sango shows that she is the only girl for him.  Sango's insecurities are what cause her suffering. 

  

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I still don't know why she continues to use "Osuwari". I thought she and Inuyasha came to an understanding.

She just keeps abusing it and thinks of it as a tool to control him. 

  

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Osuwari is a shackle partially taking away Inu's free will.  Made the more tragic, since Inu is a good guy if a bit rough around the edges.  

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Starks: When did they ever come to an understanding about osuwari? They've never even discussed it. It's never even been a serious plot point, outside when she saved him with it a couple times. And when did she ever think of it as a tool to control him? Outside the very beginning of the series when he was volatile and used it to protect her life, which is legitimate. Examples, please. I'm curious. Kagome has gotten angry and used it when she's mad at him, but it's not to control him. It is not as if IY has not done an action again because he feared the osuwari. Also, she hardly ever uses it anymore.

 Jakensama: Easy. I can understand IY being angry and whacking the kids, but I can also understand Kagome seeing it as an inappropriate retort because it isn't the best way to go about doing things. If I were in the situation, I might whack the kids. But if someone scolded me for it, I'd understand why. The osuwari is never serious either. I don't know how you can defend Miroku's actions and then fault Kagome for this one. I brought up the Shima arc to show how it hurt Sango to see him womanizing, and the fact that it happened years ago doesn't change the hurt and the fact that it's a serious issue between them. It also doesn't change the engagement arc, where her pain over his thoughtless actions was the crux of the storyline. The fact is that he still does it. Despite knowing about Sango's insecurities, he maintains this attitude. Sango isn't at fault here. He is not taking into consideration her personality at all when engaging in these actions. You have to compromise when in a relationship, or there's no compatibility. Miroku should have to compromise his womanizing for the most part, because it's not the right thing to do. You don't womanize when engaged, whether the girl is insecure or not. It's not as if Sango is asking much. The osuwari is never serious, and yet it's not okay but this is?

  Nobora, I still don't agree that she's intentionally milking it for cash (there's too many decisions she's made in regards to her work as a whole that lead me to think that not the case) but I do think it's entirely possible Shounen Sunday is pushing her to keep it going. I say this because outside IY, all the stuff RT has been doing the past ten years has been aimed at older audiences and published in other magazines. I have theorized that her next series might be aimed at an older audience, and thus not published in Shounen Sunday, like Maison Ikkoku. She said when she started IY that she was 'moving in a different direction,' and IY has proven to be by far the most 'grown up' of all her Shounen Sunday titles (the other two being Urusei Yatsura and Ranma 1/2, both crack comedy- which although hilarious and awesome, are more juvenile than IY). It would seem natural progression that her next title be something published in a seinen (older audience) magazine. RT is an extraordinarily popular mangaka, and Shounen Sunday doesn't have that many 'staple artists' of her caliber. The sales of the magazine aren't quite as good as they used to be, and two big artists are what keep it as a force to be reckoned with- Gosho Aoyama (Detective Conan) and Rumiko. I wonder if they fear losing her, and there's some internal pressure for her to keep it going. Rumiko has been with the magazine for thirty years. To lose her for her next series would be an enormous blow.

  

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Jakensama: Then Sango's whacking of Miroku is a shackle taking away his free will of hitting on women. Kikyou binding herself to IY is a shackle taking away his free will, as she capitalizes on his sense of honor and manipulates him.   

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Jakensama: Also, can this statement not be altered to reflect the same on Kagome?

 
His flirtations are never serious, the way he displays affection and
inner emotions to Sango shows that she is the only girl for him. 
Sango’s insecurities are what cause her suffering.

The osuwari is never serious, the way she displays affections and inner emotions to InuYasha shows how deeply she cares for him. Which is true. The last sentence wouldn't be part of it though, as the osuwari has never caused him suffering- unlike Miroku's flirtations have for Sango. Some of their arguments have caused mutual grief, but never the osuwari. Even in their more serious arguments, if the osuwari is used it's as a point of humor to lighten the mood. And interestingly enough, she didn't use it at all in what was undeniably their biggest argument in volume 32. Probably because RT wanted us to know it was dead serious.

  

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Okay, I apologize for a FOURTH reply Jakensama. If it's okay I'd rather not debate the osuwari issue anymore. I don't feel like it's going anywhere but around in circles and I don't want a three hundred comment thread for our sanity as well as that of the webmaster's, so I'd rather kind of drop it. If you'd like to make one last reply to the points I did, that's fine with me. Or if you want to email me and continue the debate- kazenoyume @ gmail. com (remove spaces), I'm also fine with that.   

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Haro: I don't mind the osuwari conversation, but yeah, it's starting to get stale and becoming too conjectural.

  

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Haro: I said the osuwari is a shackle, because it is physical control, as a slavemaster may have with a whip.  Say Kagome wanted Inu dead for some reason (obviously this would never happen…but) then the next time Inu battles Sess or Naraku or whatever she could simply osuwari him making him a sitting duck for attacks.  Furthurmore if she wanted she could hold him with osuwari (which is like physical chains and shackles) while she tortured him.  This is why it is bothersome, if Kagome just slapped Inu, or yelled…whatever but the osuwari gives her full, complete physical control over Inu.

2. Were Miroku's actions thoughtless in that arc?…I mean it happened many years ago. Its like a girl getting mad at a boyfriend about a girlfriend he had long before he met her.  In this case only the girl is at fault.  As far as open flirtation, okay that isn't very nice, I admit to do it especially in front of your girlfriend is pretty inconsiderate even if it is flirtation without intent for anything serious.  This debate started because while you accepted pretty much everything as humor we aren't supposed to take seriously, you criticized Miroku for his humorous actions which the reader is not supposed to take seriously. 

3.  Yeah, but let's end this debate, we are just repeating ourselves and it is obvious there will be no resolution.

  

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As far as RT drawing out the manga for money, I must say that I think she is.  The problem with super long manga/anime is they usually contain a lot of filler whereas short anime/manga series are very story intensive and have constant momentum towards conclusion which makes them, in my opinion, usually much stronger.  We are rarely stuck in the limbo we are with Inu now.  Think of Inuyasha it is really only one big storyline, there is only one real villain, Naraku he caused the tainted jewel, death of kikyo, etc.  It is a really really long manga for just one storyline (sure there are other side plots, but there is only one main plot).  That being said, since I have followed this for so long, I must see the conclusion.  

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It has gone on for a long time. Sometimes with a bit more filler and bit less substance then at the begining. However it is still a good story, with great characters. Some of RT's writing has been contradicting earlier work, sort retrograding character developement in some places and at some times, that can certainly make it frustrating. But it is still a good story.

I do look forward to the end of the series, one of the reasons I like Japanese manga/anime is the fact that they do end. American cartoons/ comic books are the sort of neverending type of stories that really get old to me. There is no true plot, just one super muscled guy/gal fighting a constant battle against the next bad guy to move into the neighborhood.

Yes, I very much agree, slapstick humor gets old after awhile. But it is intended as humor for young children…….not teens, not adults. It may have a fan base in older age groups but it is not aimed at them. My son thinks that is funny when Inuyasha heads south due to osuwari command, he is 10 years old. I don't myself like it. He also loves shippou, I really don't like his character that much. 

RT's humor does not for the most part appeal to me, or perhaps I should say that it rarely appeals to me. It is intune with her target audience however.

  

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Haro: The translation to Rumiko's comment in the 400th chapter is: Because of everyone's support, I've reached the 400th chapter. Noticeably, this is my longest series but, there are still a number of episodes needing to be drawn. So for now, I'll keep my eyes set on the 500th chapter!(translated by Kuro)

In a sense it was implied, but true not stated, my mistake (shouldn't be posting on 4 hours sleep).  Will say I'm VERY glad she didn't do this again at chapter 500 and say 'now to looking to the 600th chapter!' -.-;

Thats fine you don't agree with me about the money thing.  I wasn't saying its fact but a possibility.  Still seems to me that she is continually trying to drag this storyline out as much as can be and she may make her fans weary in the long run; if she pushes this for another year or 2 (Especially if the chapters continue on thier current course of sword upgrades and what not).  Viable idea that Shounen Sunday is pushing it… but then it is still being milked for money.  ._.  And in these days what item of media or entertainment value isn't?

I still love the characters and the essence of the story, I've been following this story for 4 years, if I didn't love it I wouldn't be here at this site.

Anywho…..Apples and Oranges…and they both still go good in a fruit salad.^^

  

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Wow, long time no see^^ I think many things were changed. Though I'm not used to them yet, they're nice. :)   

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Ah, 'KazeWind' is me, 'Kaze, the Wind'. That's my ID…^^

  

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Nobara: I don't want to argue the interpretation of the statement too much, but I suppose I don't get where it ending at 500 is implied in that statement? It seems to me more like 'next stop, chapter 500.' She def did say it was half over at volume twenty, which… haha no.

 Oh gosh, if she'd said 'onward to 600,' I think I would have screamed. x.x
 

ITA on the last statement.  

  

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I hope no one thought that I'm the one who wants to see "hot mating action".  Uh, no.  That whole mating thing that this fandom created just scares me (along with the bizarre need to turn Kagome into some sort of youkai/hanyou).  Sess/Kag doesn't scare me as much (because I admit, if I was Kagome, the thought of two cute brothers wanting me would be delightful…albeit tiring with those two), but unless I know the author, I don't read it.

Honestly, the Inuyasha fandom is so full of crack and wackiness, that sometimes I think it's deserving of it's own retrospective manga along the lines of Genshiken or something.

(I would've replied last night, but I kept getting errors.)

  

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KagomeKagome, to each their own. People do write in fanflics what they think would be exciting, or even perhaps what they would like to see. I don't think anyone see's it as your point of view, unless you express it as such. Even if it were, you are entitled to think as you wish…….even if it isn't what anyone else likes or thinks.

I have read a few flics, when I am bored enough, of the Sess/Kag pairing. They are quite popular. They also have long since become the kind I dislike the most. Most are from the authors are not current with the manga. Kikyou still lives in nearly every flic and Inu always runs off with her or is doing something that in someway betrays Kagome. Inu's character always becomes second rate in these flics. I also hate the one's where Kagome is anything but a human, as if being a human is just not good enough. But those are my personal tastes, which are certainly not shared by many flic writers or there wouldn't be so many stories where these kinds of things happen. 

  

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Yeah, my point, exactly.  Sess/Kag has its own cliche formula — Kikyou and Inuyasha go at it like animals (heh); Kagome catches them; Inuyasha either a.) thinks it's hilarious (because he never really liked her anyway), b.) is so busy that he doesn't realize she's there (which is somewhat ridiculous…he would have to be so "into the moment" to not know she was spying), or c.) immediately feels guilty, but it's usually too late because– ; Kagome runs away and runs into Sesshoumaru who usually needs some good companionship (because he'll only do so much with Jaken) and a good mother for Rin, so Sess woos Kagome; she decides that she likes him better; they have a litter of hanyou babies; and Sess lovey-doveys them so much that he wonders why he hated hanyou in the first place.  Kouga/Kagome fics tend to follow the same formula.

Eh, I'm pretty picky about what I read anyway.  Like I said, the author has to either be a friend or extremely good for me to read something that isn't canon (which is why I love Kel so much). 

  

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KagomeKagome: Yeah but most SessKag fics have the scary mating stuff as well. No, I didn't think it was you who liked it. XD Do you mean me on the last statement?

 
Sorrel: I personally dislike Sess/Kag more than most other non-canon pairings because of the betrayal aspect. As you said, IY is usually reduced to total second rate in these fics. He's either a cardboard cutout or rather horribly cruel. Kagome is an angstbucket and Sess just needs some love. I think that generally they need to do this because turning IY into this is the only way to skirt around what a huge betrayal Kagome would be embarking on were she to leave IY behind for Sess. It hits all IY's point of insecurity with who/what he is, and Sess has been antagonistic to him almost the entire series.  Even her running off with Kouga would be less of a sting, as IY and Kouga, despite their bickering, have a somewhat amicable relationship.  It also bugs me when Kagome ends up not human. I don't see the point. Kagome is an extremely gifted miko. She already probably has the highest power potential of anyone in the series. Why would she need to be anything but that? It's pretty impressive as is.

  

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…today on jerry springer… "I'm sleeping with your brother"

Jerry: So Kagome tell us why your here

Kagome: I always felt Inu never let go of Kikyo, I was really lonely…and one day when the rest of the gang was relaxing at the hot springs (I couldn't because I had a cold) Sess came up concerned and professed a long infatuation he had with me.  Things blossomed from there.

Audience: wooo!

Jerry: Let's bring out our next guest Sess…So what about your brother?  Don't you think this is wrong?

Sess: This is true love, Inu never cared for her…he never gave her the proper respect (under his breath) just like he never gave tessaiga proper respect (aloud again, eyes become narrow) besides he took my mediou so I have no regrets.

Jerry: But isn't true that you think humans are below you?

Sess: I just say that, but after several years in counseling, my therapist and I came to the conclusion that my hatred of humans stemmed from conflict with my brother.  Since he was half human, and yet got my father's inheritence it turned to bitterness against humans.  I am all over that now.

Jerry: Alright, well we have a surprise guest who has something to say to you…let's bring out…Jaken!

Jaken: (storms the stage, furiously bopping sess on the head with the staff) All those years of servitude I worshipped the ground you walked on, and took care of Rin, and anything else you asked!  When you revived me with tensaiga I thought you cared for me as I always cared for you…but then you run away with this (pointing staff at Kagome) hussy?

Kagome: Who you calling hussy?

Jaken: Well if the miniskirt fits?

Kagome: Why you green bastard…(charges at Jaken they brawl, then are broken up)

Sess: Jaken, you have been a good servant to me, but I never had those type of feelings for you.

Jaken: But those magenta lines on your face, I always thought you were…oh I am such a fool (breaks down and sobs)

Jerry: Well we are running out of time lets see what Inu has to say

Inu: (charges at Sess with tessaiga they brawl…then broken up) How could you?  Blood is supposed to be thicker than water! Damn it! you bastard!  (they brawl again, and again, and again…)

Jerry: Well its time for my final thought.  If you care for someone, make sure you show it or else someone who you least expect may show it for you.   

  

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Jaken-sama: <_< The Jerry Springer idea has been done to death with Inuyasha. It died years ago with "My Dead Girlfriend Came Back!"…  

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Yeah, FFN and Mediaminer have quite a few of those Springer parodies.  There's even an animated (AMV) one, isn't there (or am I thinking of Sailor Moon for the animated one?)?

Nah, Haro, I was talking to Sorrel about Sess/Kag.  You should know how much I just love fanon pairings.   Oh, yeah…crap, I forgot to mention how the mating thing happens with them, too.  And Kouga…although that would make more sense with the biting thing because wolves do bite while mating, don't they?  Or hell, I'm probably thinking of cats.

  

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I apologize, I didn't know…

KagomeKagome: Cats do bite while mating.
 

  

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Well Jaken sama, I hadn't read one before. I thought it was funny.

Wolfs do mark each other, and not just during mating. It is a sign of the dominate male/female of a pack. I have never seen a dog do it to another. Shoot if that were the case my parents dog (she passed a number of years ago now) would have been bitten half to death. The little hussy was always looking for a good time, even though she was fixed as a puppy.  

  

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Sorrel: Dogs do not mark, yes. Not to mention dogs don't 'mate for life' like happens in fics, so if they think IY is like a dog when it comes to love/sex (which he isn't. -_-;), then that actually means that in no way would he be 'bonded' to whoever he 'mated' with. He would just hump whatever he sees when they're 'in heat.' Please no one write a fic like this. I think I prefer the marking/mates for life/irrestibility of his girlfriend in heat. x.x

KagomeKagome: Ah no I meant where you said 'Kel.' XD

  

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LOL, Haro…….that would make a great parody. Inu and Sess running around like a couple of dogs during "mating season". Humping whatever they could find, trees, slippers, etc. Lmao.  

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I'd prefer if we not delve further into this topic… It's disturbing enough as it is.

<_< 

  

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Sorrel: It would be a great parody, but honestly I'm not even sure I could muster the resolve to write it out. Too scary. XD

This is a really funny 'mating ritual parody' fic though. The Marking of Kagome – http://smartycat.livejournal.com/231353.html

Starks: Okay. XD Disturbing does not begin to cover the IY fanfic universe. x.x

  

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Haha!  You've got that right!  Disturbing isn't the right word to describe the stranger side of this fandom.

Oh, and my mistake.  I meant that I prefer your writing because it's more canon-based and set in reality, unlike popular crap like "Temple of the Dog" (no offense to Urd-chan, but it's not my cup of tea).
 

  

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KagomeKagome: Okay, thanks! I wanted to clarify because I didn't want to thank you for the compliment and then have you say you weren't talking about me. That would have been a little humiliating. XD

Yeah, I do not mind AU, but it does bug me that 90% of IY fics seem to fall in that category. It would be really nice to find more fics that actually fall in a canon timeline. I find them a good canon fic a lot more fulfilling to read than a good AU.

  

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Find them a good canon fic? Haha, wow. -Minus 'them' of course.  

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Yeah, that's my reasoning for it, too.  If I'm in the mood for AU, I know it's out there, but finding a good canon-based fic is harder to find (especially without tons of spelling and grammatical errors, but that's any fandom).

Oh, sorry for disturbing you, Starks.  Though, trust me…that's not the strangest stuff talked about/done in this fandom.  I remember a fic based on a Japanese fetish magazine about "butter dogs" (where the dogs lick butter off girls, obviously); Inuyasha was reading the magazine (which was Souta's, by the way — what the hell was he doing with it?) and decided to try it out on Kagome, who didn't mind being smeared with butter, oddly enough.

Yeah, that sends shivers up my spine, and not in a good way. 

(And it's not like I hate hentai/ecchi stuff, but still…butter dog??)

  

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KagomeKagome: Oh wow. o.o; You've now offically grossed me out. Eww. What the f*ck fandom?  

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O_o

Yeah… Didn't need to hear that KK. 

  

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Eh, sorry, Starks and Haro.   At least the site that contained it seems to be dead now, so rest assured that you'll never have to read it.

They say curiosity killed the cat, and that was me.  I read it, then kept thinking, "WTF!," and unfortunately, I was like a doe in the headlights.  Once I started, I couldn't stop because the thought of it was so damn disturbing and funny at the same time…like "who would write that?"

Then again, I've seen some seriously screwed up hentai doujinshi.  To borrow a cliche phrase:  THEM WACKY JAPANESE.  XP

  

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It seems every anime/manga series have fanfics and hentai so perverse that it makes even the most extreme western porn look tame by comparison.  I guess part of the reason is that characters drawn in the classic anime style (which is the vast majority) are usually attractive beyond real human possibilities.   

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I used to go to Deviant Art all the time and one of my favorite fandom artists, Nillia made this art.

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/8533565/

I think it's one of the best fandom art I've seen pertaining to the recent conversation here.^^
(dunno if the link will work, if not type it in)

  

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Nobara: LOL.

I don't mind people doing the smut thing, but I so wish IY actually acted like… IY in it. Mating stuff aside, he's always some sex machine leading poor innocent maiden Kagome towards her ravishing. Have these people read the manga? IY is often romantically retarded, although endearingly so. He blushes over the most random things. Every once in a while he has a moment where he just does something very romantic without the extra edge of inexperience and nervousness. However, in the case of sex, he'd be a mess. Not that she's experienced either, but if anyone would be leading the way, it would be Kagome because she surely knows more than IY due to just living in the modern era in a society saturated with sex. Plus, she's much better as keeping her head in romantic situations. I find the idea of an IC InuKag first time fic really sweet and adorable, but all the awkwardness would make it pretty unsexy. xp

  

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Amen to both.  

You know, I think I've seen that deviation before.  It rings true.

As for "ravishing Kagome," it's just because these poor girls want some ravishing of their own.

  

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Japan is more conserative now then it has been in the past. But Inuyasha has lived outside of society so he wouldn't have much knowledge in that area. 

Nobara, and KagomeKagome…..Lmao. 

  

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Sorrel: Japan is more conservative than the United States in some areas, but a knowledge of sex in some detail is still going to be standard for a fifteen year old girl.  

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I just discovered this picture via the same person, and this one is from her friend.  Both are hilarious and true.  

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KagomeKagome: I bought a print of 'Kagome is' from the artist at A-kon last year. It is on my wall. I love it.  

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Japan in the past (think Edo era) was far from conservative, however even in modern Japan as far as sex and display of sexual content in media…the states are far far more conservative.

2. These hentai pics and stories are rarely meant to portray what really would happen but rather portray something very erotic using these characters.  That means emphasizing the femininity of the girl…(she is naive, relative helpless, innocent) and the masculinity of the guy (aggressive, forceful perhaps).    

  

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So, just got the scans. It's gonna be a Tuesday night surprise.  

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Hoorah!  Can't wait to see!  

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Starks: I'm kind of scared. XD

Jakensama: Well IY is pre-Edo era. But regardless, that doesn't apply to IY. As he had little to no social contact outside early childhood, his knowledge about these things is going to be extremely basic. And you are right about the US being more conservative when it comes to sexual content in entertainment, but if I recall, the sex amongst teenagers is not as common over in Japan. Not uncommon, but not as common.

These hentai pics and stories are rarely meant to portray what really would happen but rather portray something very erotic using these characters

In the case of stories, not necessarily. There are plenty of times a story will be supposedly aiming to be IC and present characters in that manner. Regardless of that, why not read a smutty romance novel or something? I simply don't see the point in warping someone else's characters to fit your own sexual fantasy.

  

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Kagomekagome: Yeah the 'Inuyasha Is' series.  There is a 'Miroku is' 'Kagome Is' 'Sesshoumaru Is' etc.  It was a joint Deviant Art venture between several people over a year ago.  Great stuff.  Hilarious^^

Haro: Awesome that you got a print of 'Kagome Is'.^^   

  

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