Every so often a manga series comes along that the average reader will find daunting for one reason or another. It may be that the scope of the story is too great, or the number of chapters may be too large, or the drawing style may not be to taste, or some other reason entirely. Whatever the case may be, there are many out there who will be put off reading a manga for one reason or another.

That said, there is sometimes justification for not even starting a manga, especially as there are those that really can't cut the mustard.

And then there's the ones like InuYasha.

Created by the reknowned Takahashi Rumiko in 1996, InuYasha remains her longest work to date. At an astounding 558 chapters, it is also one of the longest manga in existence, so it's more than a little odd that, while many people are happy to read long running shounen manga like Bleach, One Piece, Naruto, HSD Kenichi, etc, when faced with something like InuYasha, the majority of people tend to ignore it without even giving it a chance. Granted the manga is a lengthy read, but it's also an extremely rewarding one too.

The story begins with a half dog demon, half human (known as a hanyou), called InuYasha, who has attacked a village to claim the Shikon no Tama, a mystical jewel that can increase a demon's power which he plans to use to become a fully fledged youkai. Before he can escape though, a badly wounded miko called Kikyou pins him to a tree with a holy arrow, supposedly sealing him for all eternity. Shortly afterwards, Kikyou passes away, and as per her instructions, her body is burned together with the Shikon no Tama.

500 years later, a young girl called Kagome celebrates her 15th birthday, little knowing that her fate is tied to that of InuYasha and the Shikon no Tama.

It's fair to say that InuYasha is a shounen manga par excellence. The plot, which is not only well developed, but also has many twists, turns, loops and double crosses, also features some innovative approaches to the standard quest format. Granted there are occasions when the plot gets a little placid, however in terms of the story these are actually used to give the characters a break from all the stress and combat.

While there are those who don't like fillers, when reading this manga it should be remembered that the breaks in the story actually form an integral part of the whole, and aren't simply deviations due to a lack of creativity.

There are some minor issues with the plot as a whole though. There's a degree of repetition inherent in this type of story, with one of the major ones being the type of power that is gained by Tetsusaiga, the sword made from the fang of InuYasha's father. In addition to this, there's also a certain "bad guy of the week" feel to some sections of the manga, however these are often linked to Tetsusaiga in some way as well.

That said, the manga is particularly noteworthy for it's ability to keep the reader interested. There is a lot of action in the story, and a number of events that are surprising and intruiging. The plot follows a fairly convoluted path from beginning to end, and while some may consider this a bad thing, it works very well here as it allows for some unusually complex character development.

As far looks go, the characters are pure Takahashi Rumiko. Anyone who's familiar with her work will immediately see her trademark faces are prevalent in this manga, and although there are those who don't like her style of character design, fans of her work won't be disappointed. There are, however, certain aspects of the artwork that are a little different from her other works though. The backgrounds, for example, are far more clean and detailed than in most of her other works, and the actions sequences are more dynamically designed than what one may expect. There's also more usage of "effects" backgrounds in InuYasha, most of which are used to highlight the more supernatural aspects of the story.

The main thing that separates InuYasha from most of Takahashi Rumiko's other works is the depth and complexity of it's characters. Given that there are a number of characters who have an effect on the story it would be fair, initially, to think that the characters will be similar to those found in Urusei Yatsura or Ranma, however this is not the case. Each individual in the story has their own ideals and goals, and each is developed in some truly surprising ways. Kagome, for example, struggles with her fate and her feelings for InuYasha, while he is torn between his desire to become a true youkai, his conflicting feelings for Kagome and Kikyou, and his hatred of the main bad guy.

Sango, Miroku, even Sesshomaru and Kikyou herself, all have inner conflicts that have an impact on the plot, and it's the resolution, one way or another, of these trials that, come the end of the series, allow the reader a sense of catharsis. The most intruiging development though, occurs on the part of the main bad guy - Naraku, and by allowing the reader to see how his mind works, what his desires and wants are, Takahashi Rumiko has created one of the greatest adversaries in manga to date.

I won't make any bones about it - I love this series. It has everything that one could want in a story, action, love, folklore, friendship, betrayal, loss, desire, unimaginable evil, plot twists galore, and more besides. At this point in time it would be fair to call the series Takahashi Rumiko's masterpiece, especially as it's much, much better than Urusei Yatsura, Ranma, and even Maison Ikkoku. The manga is more akin to her Mermaid saga in terms of it's content, however even that pales in comparison.

Fans of Bleach, Naruto, One Piece, and other long running shounen series should really check this out, as they may find themselves surprised at how much more "sanitised" recent shounen tales are in comparison to InuYasha. The fact that the tagline for the series names it as "A Feudal Fairytale" is actually very appropriate, especially if one is familiar with older folklore, myth and legend (you know, the ones with all the blood). InuYasha has far more "bite" to it than most modern manga because of the focus on making it more like older fairytales, something which gives the whole story a dimension which is sadly lacking nowadays.

Granted there are some areas where the story could have progressed better, and there is an element of repetition at times, but these are things that can be forgiven due the sheer depth of the plot and characters. The character design is also something that should be taken with pinch of salt as, if this is your reason for not reading this, then you're seriously missing out.

One final point that should be made is that the manga is different from the anime adaptation in many respects, not the least of which is that the story continues past the end of the anime. The characters in the manga have far more depth than the anime version, and the complexity of the plot is far more tangible. Fan's of the anime should definitely read this manga, and although the number of chapters may at first seem daunting, the reward is worth the effort (not only that, you'll probably forget all about chapters and such once the story really gets going).

As shounen series go, this is head and shoulders above many modern outings. The complex plot, the deep and conflicted characters, the scope and scale of the setting, all serve to make InuYasha a manga that is truly excellent.

This really is a feudal fairytale, in the truest sense of the word.