Lord
2017-02-22, 07:22 PM
So a couple years ago I got into the Anime Inuyasha, and began occasionally ordering the seasons and movies and watching them in full. Recently I’ve just about finished the fifth season, and I gotta say, the Band of Seven are freaking badass. They take every element of Naraku which makes him an increasingly less interesting villain, and tear it to shreds. Where Naraku is practically a non entity, being little more than a living motive for the main characters to continue adventuring, the Band of Seven remain consistent threats throughout their appearance. Where Naraku operates through increasingly incoherent and unnecessarily elaborate plans, the Band of Seven don’t really have a plan other than to kill people for fun, and kill Inuyasha’s group for killing some of them. A simple motive which makes sense, and is quite refreshing when contrasted to Naraku, who doesn’t really have a motive for anything he does.
And you know what? The Band of Seven do way better than Naraku at hurting the main characters. Before the whole main villain cast has even been introduced, they have nearly killed half the main characters in the space of about three episodes, not to mention done what Naraku could never manage, and stolen Kagome’s sacred jewel shards. If there wasn’t active plot armor protecting the main cast, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Koga would all be dead by the end of the story arc.
They also have an entertaining group dynamic, combined with a sub plot of betrayal which manages to remain emotionally compelling despite everyone involved being a psychotic mass murderer. This is in a sharp contrast to Naraku, who despite several murderously successful gambits, has yet to get any real development past the stage of generic doomsday villain. He isn’t even entertaining to watch, and his fights are boring as well.
And that isn’t even the extent of it. Ever since the Band of Seven showed up, Koga, a character who I had previously grown to despise for feeling superficial and stagnant past his initial arc, has actually begun to feel like part of the group. He actually does stuff in this story which makes a difference, and even develops.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I feel like the series has hit its height, and now that the Band of Seven are dead the whole thing is going to go downhill fast. Am I completely wrong, or what? I’d appreciate no spoilers past the fifth season, though I expect I already have guessed how the story is going to end.
And you know what? The Band of Seven do way better than Naraku at hurting the main characters. Before the whole main villain cast has even been introduced, they have nearly killed half the main characters in the space of about three episodes, not to mention done what Naraku could never manage, and stolen Kagome’s sacred jewel shards. If there wasn’t active plot armor protecting the main cast, Kagome, Sango, Miroku, and Koga would all be dead by the end of the story arc.
They also have an entertaining group dynamic, combined with a sub plot of betrayal which manages to remain emotionally compelling despite everyone involved being a psychotic mass murderer. This is in a sharp contrast to Naraku, who despite several murderously successful gambits, has yet to get any real development past the stage of generic doomsday villain. He isn’t even entertaining to watch, and his fights are boring as well.
And that isn’t even the extent of it. Ever since the Band of Seven showed up, Koga, a character who I had previously grown to despise for feeling superficial and stagnant past his initial arc, has actually begun to feel like part of the group. He actually does stuff in this story which makes a difference, and even develops.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that I feel like the series has hit its height, and now that the Band of Seven are dead the whole thing is going to go downhill fast. Am I completely wrong, or what? I’d appreciate no spoilers past the fifth season, though I expect I already have guessed how the story is going to end.