Inuyasha: The Final Act
| Inuyasha: The Final Act | |
|---|---|
| On the left, a man with long white hair and dog ears is depicted wearing a red kimono. On the right, the series logo is written in three large, red kanji inscribed in circles. Next to the man is a young female with dark eyes and hair and is wearing traditional clothing. | |
| Genre | Anime |
| Written by | Katsuyuki Sumizawa |
| Directed by | Yasunao Aoki |
| Country of origin | Japan |
| Original languages | Japanese English Spanish Italian |
| No. of seasons | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 26 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 22 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Release | October 3, 2009 (Japanese) – March 29, 2010 (Japanese) |
The episodes of the Japanese anime series InuYasha Kanketsu-Hen are based on the last 21 volumes of the manga series of the same title by Rumiko Takahashi. Viz Media lisenced the series as "InuYasha: Final Act". An English dub is yet to be released. Kira Tozer will replace Moneca Stori as Kagome Higurashi while Michael Daingerfield will voice Sesshomaru in the place of David Kaye.
Production
The original staff and cast from the first InuYasha anime adaptation were brought back together for the new series. The series premiered on Yomiuri TV on October 3, 2009 where it ran for 26 episodes until its conclusion on March 29, 2010. It picked up where the first adaptation left off, following the half-demon InuYasha, the high school student Kagome Higurashi and their companions Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kirara as they search for the final fragments of the shattered Shikon Jewel and approach their final battle with Naraku.
Animax Asia promoted the series with a more romantic spin, featuring other Asian couples.
Opening and closing themes
Four pieces of theme music were used, one opening and three endings. "Kimi ga Inai Mirai" by Do As Infinity was the opening theme song for the series, lasting from the first episode onwards.[1] "With You" by AAA was the first ending from episode one to nine.[1] The second ending was "Diamond" by Alan from episode ten to seventeen.[2] The third and final ending theme was "Tōi Michi no Saki de" (遠い道の先で, "The Long Road Ahead") by Ai Takekawa from episode eighteen to twenty six.[3] For the series finale, the end credits feature highlights from the series.
Online subtitled version
Viz Media licensed the new adaptation before it premiered and aired its English subtitled online through Hulu, with new episodes released within a day of their Japanese air dates. As of episode 14, the English episode aired first.[4][5] Animax Asia also aired the series, with their own English subtitles, both on its television stations and through its online video service.[6]
Image
This is the first InuYasha TV season that is broadcast in 16:9 matted widescreen, similar to aspect ratio used in the InuYasha Movies, ditching the standard 4:3 aspect ratio used in the original series. The series is also broadcast in 1080i High Definition. As of episode 13 and onward, flashbacks used from the original series are cropped to 16:9 rather than stretching or re-animating the sequences. Some flashbacks, which cannot be properly matted, are reanimated, such as the opening scene to the first InuYasha series, where Kikyo pins InuYasha to a tree. Animax Asia aired the series in a letterbox format as the series was not produced with a safe area in mind. However, some networks utilize an anamorphosing stage to squeeze the 1.78:1 (16:9) image to fit a 1.33:1 (4:3) screen, similar to what was done for the North American broadcasts of InuYasha the Movie: Affections Across Time.
English dub
Voice actress Kelly Sheridan was the first to announce through her Facebook fan page on May 11, 2010 that dubbing for the Final Act had begun.[7] In July 2010, AnimeNewsNetwork stated that Kira Tozer will replace Moneca Stori in the role of Kagome Higurashi as well as Michael Daingerfield, who will replace David Kaye as Sesshomaru. Richard Ian Cox confirmed that unlike Tetsusaiga's previous moves such as the Wind Scar or Adamant Barrage, the Meido Zangetsuha will not be translated in to English.[8] Animax Asia has its own English dub, with a different panel of voice actors.[9]
- InuYasha - Richard Ian Cox
- Kagome Higurashi -Kira Tozer
- Shippo and Yuka - Jillian Michaels
- Miroku - Kirby Morrow
- Sango - Kelly Sheridan
- Kikyo - Willow Johnson
- Sesshomaru - Michael Daingerfield
- Koga - Scott McNeil
- Naraku, Myoga, and Ginta - Paul Dobson
- Jaken - Don Brown
- Rin - Brenna O'Brien
- Kagura and Kanna - Janyse Jaud
- Sota Higurashi and Eri - Saffron Henderson
OVA integration
A 30 minute original video animation (OVA), Black Tessaiga (Kuroi Tessaiga) was presented on July 30, 2008 at an "It's a Rumic World" exhibit at the Matsuya Ginza department store in Tokyo's Ginza shopping district. The production uses the original voice cast from the anime series.[10] Episodes fourteen and fifteen re-use the the OVA, with minor re-animation, to cover the plot of Inuyasha's Tetsusaiga acquiring Meido Zangetsuha from Tenseiga.