Not bad. Little more nudity and the graphical detail of the violence was a little surprising. Probably because I've only seen snippets of the American version of the show. A good start to the series. I'll be reading more.

A graphic novel is different in that it reads and looks like a comic book. It is certainly an attractive format for a young adult reader. The main character, Kagome, is a typical modern Japanese student. She is not interested in hearing all the legends and old stories her grandfather loves to talk about, until one day she is mysteriously pulled into a well by a horrid creature. She falls into an ancient land called Sengoku Jidai (1482-1558) where most of those old stories and legends her grandfather told her come to life. Kagome discovers she must fight next to a doglike half-demon creature called In-Yasha if she is to secure the mystical, “Jewel of four Souls”.
This story is pleasure reading and the sentences are written in vernacular, in fact sometimes the sentences are not even complete but fragmented. The reading is very easy and it does not require much time to finish the book since the bulk of the pages are dedicated to the art work. I think boys will particularly be interested in this story since it revolves around Karate fighting and Kagone is a sexually attractive young girl who is dressed in a very short skirt. Unfortunately the artist might have gone too far, in one of the drawings Kagone is topless. Kagone takes off her clothes to take a, “sacred bath” so that she can get new magical powers. No man can see her naked or he will be, “punished by the Gods.” But of course the reader and In-Yasha see her. Some parents and staff members might find this particular drawing inappropriate for young readers ( )

This was a very cute one! I've been watching the anime and am most of the way through the third season (I think) and since I keep seeing comments that the manga is even better, I decided to give it a shot. Much like in the anime 15 year old Kagome is pulled into the Bone Eater's Well by a horrific centipede (which is quite scary in the anime but not so bad in the manga) only to wind up in Feudal Era Japan. There she sees the spell bound InuYasha stuck to a tree with an arrow and immediately goes to...fondle his ears LOL! I loved it!

I really do think I enjoyed this manga much better having seen the anime first. The drawing isn't quite as appealing to me as some other manga I have read but it is interesting in an early Popeye looking sort of way. Now that I've picked this one up and enjoyed it I think I'll have to pick up the other volumes (luckily my local library seems to have the full set). Since my memory is so bad I can't rightly remember what happens with hair girl, whom we were left off with in this volume, so it will be a nice trip back. ( )

Not really as wonderful as the anime.... ( )

Happily, Ranma 1/2 is not the only manga drawn by Takahashi. In this series, she takes a shot at a horror-comedy, set in dual time periods of modern-day Japan and its feudal past. Kagome, a high school girl with a grandfather fond of ancient legends, stumbles down a cursed well and wakes up as the reincarnation of an ancient village heroine who gave her live to stop a demon's quest for a powerful stone. Which, coincidentally, Kagome just happens to own in the present day.

Demons of all sorts and horrors immediately flock to her as she tries to find a way home and her only hope may lie in teaming up with a half demon, Inuyasha, who lusts after the jewel himself but is controlled by Kagome via a magic spell. When the jewel is lost, they must work together to find it, leading them back and forth through past and present.

Can this unlikely pair save ancient Japan? And what if they can't? Filled with great monsters, crisp artwork as usual from Takahashi, and a well written and plotted story, this is a great series I can't wait to read more of as I go along. (Library, 04/07)

Trebby's Take: Highly recommended! ( )