Anime: Inuyasha Kanketsuhen 4q4j2

Here’s how I generally rate my anime:

Art & Animation: 4.3/5
* Artwork: 4 (Good.)
* Animation: 5 (Excellent!)
* Originality: 3 (Ok, I guess...)

I really liked Inuyasha animation. And Kanketsuhen really improved compared to its predecessor. You can see how anime quality improved over the last decade if you pay close attention. Some people say it’s outdated and, yes, it is, but Rumiko’s around for quite some time and that’s her style, like it or not (I do! I do!). Yes, it may look like everything else to the untrained eye, but that’s not really the case.
Not only characters are well drawn, but fights are intense, fast (but not too fast) and you get a good mix of old-school drawings and a few nice computer tricks. I wouldn’t say Inuyasha: Kanketsuhen is a unique piece of art, but, quality-wise, it delivers.

Sound: 4.2/5
* Sound Effects: 4 (Good.)
* BGM: 4 (Good.)
* Voice: 5 (Excellent!)

When it comes to voice acting, Kanketsuhen (and also its prequel) does a very good job. Every voice “fits” each character properly and they do a great job in setting the mood right. The same can be said about the BGM. It hasn’t changed much since the original series, but that gives you a warm feeling rather than making you feel bored. My only complaint—and that’s also a tradition when it comes to Inuyasha—is about opening and ending themes. Most of them suck really hard, but like 10-20% of them are always good enough (I do miss “My Sweet Emotion” from the previous series).
Sound effects are good, but nothing special. Those I find a lot more outdated than the art. But they do their job—they just don’t stand out as anything special.

Story: 4/5
* Concept: 4 (Good.)
* Development: 4 (Good.)
* Originality: 4 (Good.)

The story starts right where its prequel left off. And that’s a good thing, because we all were really frustrated with that “ending”, if you can call it that. Inuyasha was terribly long, almost impossible to get to the end without getting really bored. It felt almost like a challenge at some point. Best news is how the pace improved to a perfect point. You get almost as many things happening in 26 episodes as in the previous 167. More good news is you’ll get a proper ending this time. Bad news is you’ll have to watch the whole previous series to catch up. It kind of feels like “Oh, too bad I had to watch all those boring original episodes to finally get to Kanketsuhen”, but this is a review about Kankentsuhen and it’s really good. Still, since you’ve waited so long already for the ending, it does feel like it should go straight to it and that kind of made me want it to be even faster.

Characters: 5/5
* Likeability: 5 (Excellent!)
* Development: 5 (Excellent!)
* Individuality: 5 (Excellent!)

They didn’t change much. And that’s actually a good thing. But I have to say they do develop a lot in Kanketsuhen. They all have their distinctive personalities and you get really attached to each one of them. They may seem a bit shallow if you’re used to other kind of anime, but I don’t feel like the purpose here is to get into psychology or philosophy or whatever. I honestly don’t have any complaint about Kanketsuhen when it comes to characters.

Value: 3.4/5
* Sentimental Value: 5 (Excellent!)
* Historical Value: 3 (Ok, I guess...)
* Rewatchability: 1 (Terrible!)

Since it’s a sequel (or rather the ending) to a major classic, you can’t deny it has some value. Personally, it has a lot more value to me, since Inuyasha was one of the first anime I’ve watched. But, I can’t say I’d ever watch it again. I watched it to get closure, I had lots of fun in the process, but I’m satisfied and I don’t wanna see Kagome and her friends ever again to be honest (even though I’m thinking about playing the RPG on my old but still working PS2).

Enjoyment: 4/5 (Good.)

I enjoyed watching Kanketsuhen. As I just said, the closure feeling was just very good. Apart from that, the story was also nice, characters were fun, so I had a good time.

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Verdict: 8.53/10

If you watched the original series (and maybe the movies), you should DEFINITELY go for it. It’s a lot better than its predecessor—all it should’ve been. If you didn’t watch Inuyasha before, well, then I can’t say it’s a must, since catching up to the story may be a pain of great proportions. But if you analyze Kanketsuhen on its own, it’s one of my favorite pieces of anime.

Pre-overview
Just in case you don't know, Inuyasha Kanketsu-hen is the ending of a series called Inuyasha, which was 167 episodes long and aired in japan in year 2000. If you saw a good part of the previous series (and liked it) then read a review or something and then watch this, it will be worth it; if you didn't, then don't waste your time, this will just be a fragment of something full of reminiscences you actually never lived.

Overview
At last, just after we had lost all hopes for it, we are given a finale to this classic series. For many of us, the original Inuyasha was one of our first ventures into anime (yeah, I'm talking about those adult swim nights) so, at least we want to it and say "those were the good times...". But, after watching the "ending" of the original series I bet the first thing that ed through your minds was... "What? so... Thats it? Let's all work together and have many more adventures? Uh? Can I get my money back?" ; now, that really leaves a bad taste in mouth. However, we were given this new series so our long lost hours watching the first didn't go to waste... so let's talk about it shall we?

Rating

Animation
Animation is... kind of like the original, which by the way was not awesome in its own time. Allies are beautiful, enemies are disgusting, the style of the very 90's. Inuyasha's sword is enormous and tends to loose its shape, and Kagome is not even in high school and looks like a twenty something..., random demons are all just snake like and get cut by everyone in a single hit, exploding in blood and body parts... nothing special...

Sound
Openings and endings are actually pretty good, they give out a great adventure feeling. Battle sounds are average and so is the environment music.

Story
Well let's see... this is not even a full story, just the end of one, because of that, this is full climax from beginning to end. At first, the story is way to hurried, you are not finished digesting one episode when you are stuck with another important event, then again, and again... . However, things get really complicated towards the end, all secondary stories are dealt with and just the main conflict remains, and is eventually solved. That is just how a series should develop, so a good grade at least in story.

On a side note, the RPG style Inuyasha overall has is great, learning techniques, leveling up, getting items, upgrading your weapons, fighting in a party...

Character
Characters were already well developed in the first series, so there was not much work left to do, they all get the determination they need and they all meet the end they deserved. Some developments were a little too hurried but we can live with that, we just wanted to get over this didn't we all? Still, some points lost here because Kagome didn't act as her age.

Value
Well, very valuable if you liked the first series. Completely useless if you don't know what the fist was all about. I didn't dislike the first, so my grade takes that into .

Enjoyment
I really enjoyed this series despite the gore and horrendous drawings, the 26 episodes didn't seem long at all, since 13 would have been too short, I guess I just can't complain.

Conclusion
As I said many times, if you liked the first Inuyasha series, this is a must, otherwise, there should be plenty good series more suitable for you.