Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time
Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy adventure film based on the Inuyasha manga series written and illustrated by Rumiko Takahashi. The film is directed by Toshiya Shinohara, written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, and produced by Sunrise. It was released in Japan on December 22, 2001.
The film follows Inuyasha and his friends, confronting a demonic moth warrior named Menomaru, who was resurrected by one of the shards of the Shikon Jewel.
Affections Touching Across Time is the first film of the Inuyasha series, which is followed up by The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass.
Plot
Half-demon Inuyasha's late demon father Toga defeated a powerful Chinese moth yōkai, Hyōga, two centuries ago, but a Shikon Jewel fragment has freed his son, Menōmaru, who seeks to avenge his father's death and free the tremendously infinite power and strength of his father sealed away with him.In the present of Feudal-era Japan, Inuyasha and his friends, Kagome, monk Miroku, demon slayer Sango and fox demon Shippo, defeat a scorpion demon. Miroku and Sango split up from the group after Sango's faithful nekomata companion Kirara mysteriously runs off, leading them to Menōmaru's cave. Menōmaru and his female minions, Ruri and Hari, face off against Miroku and Sango. Ruri copies Miroku's Wind Tunnel, and Hari curses Kirara to follow Hari as her leader. Menōmaru mind-controls Kagome to turn against Inuyasha.
After the heroes are pushed away by a blast from Menōmaru and split up, Menōmaru succeeds in accessing the demonic power of his predecessors, sealed away by Inuyasha's father. He becomes a new, more powerful Hyōga, and begins to change the essence of time and space by absorbing the souls of countless people to fully merge himself with his family's demonic energy.
Menōmaru's mind-control curse on Kagome possesses her, and she is forced to pursue and kill Inuyasha, who recognizes her wearing the same style of clothing as Kikyo, his former lover. After realizing what Menōmaru did to her and choosing to face the controlled Kagome at the Sacred Tree, she shoots him with a sacred arrow. Kagome regains control of herself in anguish over Inuyasha, during which Kikyo appears and forces Kagome to return to her own time.
Back in the present, Kagome finds her family shrine and the rest of Tokyo covered in snow caused by Menōmaru's curse. She goes to the tree that Inuyasha was sealed to, realizing that without a way back to Feudal Japan, that she can never see him again. She places her hand on the tree and discovers that she and Inuyasha are emotionally connected to each other through the tree and can talk to each other through thoughts. After Inuyasha pleads with her to return to the Feudal era, Kagome retrieves a piece of Kikyo's sacred arrow from the tree and shoots it into the well. She returns to the Feudal era to find Inuyasha reawakened, thanks to Shippo, Myoga and Kaede.
Deciding to face off Menōmaru and his minions alone, Miroku defeats Ruri in a duel with their wind tunnels, and Sango brings Kirara back to her senses, allowing them to defeat Hari. They join Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo in a last stand against Menōmaru. Inuyasha combines the Backlash Wave with Kagome's sacred arrow to kill Hyōga.
Voice cast
Production
Sumisawa and Kaoru Wada from the television series wrote the screenplay and composed the music respectively at Sunrise, directed by Shinohara, and Hideyuki Motohashi acted as a character designer and chief animation director for the film. Unlike the television series, which was character designed by Yoshihito Hishinuma, Motohashi modeled the characters very close to Takahashi's art style.The theme song, "No More Words" is performed by Ayumi Hamasaki.