Anime: Eiga Inuyasha: Kagami no Naka no Mugenjou

This is the second Inu Yasha movie, taking place after the hero has learned the barrier breaker technique. The scenario takes advantage of a possible sequel after the main objective is completed. So imagine the heroes managing to destroy Naraku 200 episodes earlier and are thinking of what to do with their lives now that the threat is over. This alone gave a lot more focus to every one of them and how they are now trying to settle down in a peaceful world.

Of course this is not meant to last because there is a demon who rivals Naraku’s power and whose plan can be achieved now that he is dead. So it’s like an after story scenario where trying to fix things only manages to make them worse. Also, the villain is based on a fairy tale and a poem, and her motives seem quite strange for most of the movie, so everything feels far more mysterious and elaborate. Unlike the first movie the plot is not that predictable and it is surely not about huge explosions either. The conflict is far more esoteric and despite not feeling as threatening or powerful as the villains of the first movie, it definitely manages to build up far better tension and excitement. After all, saving the flow of time sounds more cool that just saving the world once more. Plus, I liked how it took everybody’s effort to weaken the villain instead of just being about the hero and his kill-all sword as usual. Combined all that with far better production values than the tv series and you got yourself a very interesting filler mission.

Although I enjoyed the whole “what happens next” flavour, the movie is otherwise not exactly trying to offer something we haven’t seen already. It would fit nicely as a final mission a little bit before the canon finale but for the time it takes place it just tells us what we already see in the main series. Also, once you see past the mysterious goals of the villain you realize that half the movie is just a dull build up.

The movie will better be appreciated by those who prefer mystery or comedy than action, as there isn’t that much of the later. Plus, it is much closer to a metaphysical journey than shounen action. Nothing amazing in overall but at least it is different than the usual stuff you get in the main series.

The second Inuyasha movie was definitely better than the first. It is more closely related to the series in that Naraku and his gang actually show up despite the entire movie being a side plot.
The movie is also more intricate and the story more involved than the first movie. Despite having an average story for a movie (though slightly better than the first movie) it was still a fairly enjoyable watch.

Animation:
Superior to the anime and equivalent to the first movie. Animation quality is superb in terms of movement and action rendering but drawing style is still not as clean as current animes.

Sound:
Same Inuish BGM. If you liked the BGM in the series, you'll like it here. Otherwise, nothing that special. Voice cast does a great job as expected.

Story:
The story has many more plot twists than the first movie and there are actually tense moments. Luckily, the story avoids the David-Goliath epic battle that really ruined the first one for me.
It starts with the Inu gang fighting and defeating Naraku. That was awesome because we get a glimpse of what the characters would feel/do once they defeated Naraku (a pleasure which we never get in the actual TV anime). However, a dormant demon awakens named Kaguya who has powerful abilities that rival that of Naraku. Thus we have another epic battle to save all time.
While there are some original plot twists, the general flow of the story is not that new and the conclusion is, well, muted.

Character:
There is actually character development in this movie (Kag & Inu to be more specific, will not spoil the grand scene). The two talk over the issue of Kagome liking Inu as a hanyou and Inu's eventual goal to become a full youkai. Though the other characters are relatively static, there are still interesting interactions between Hachi & Miroku and Sango & Kohaku. Kikyo also shows up but for a minimal role.
As for the villain, Kaguya wants to stop all time for some reason while also wanting Inu to become her servant as a full demon. Expect a bit of drama when this issue comes up. The villain is much less linear than that in the first movie but it would have been better if there was more background on her.

Value:
Overall the movie was more enjoyable and engaging than the first movie. However, it was pretty much average in intensity. The character interactions and plot twists help make this one more enjoyable than the first movie but once you've seen it once the plot twists become pretty linear and so re-watch value isn't that high minus that one special scene (watch and you'll know what I mean).

Probably the second best of the Inuyasha movies, Kagami no Naka no Mugenjou has an actual plot that, while a bit predictable, contains many more plot twists and much more complexity than the other Inuyasha movies.

The story is pretty interesting; it starts out with a bang as the Inuyasha group fights Naraku, and continues on into the main story as the group battles the villian Kaguya (with original ideas such as Kagome saving Inuyasha, etc) and beyond.

The characters actually go through a bit of development also, unlike in most of the other movies; specifically between Kagome and Inuyasha, and their relationship. However, the other characters remain stagnant and the villian is pretty pathetically underdeveloped.

The animation is spectacular, as to be expected from these high budget Inuyasha movies. The action scenes are fluid, the special effects are very well done and blend in well, while the backgrounds are detailed and interesting. The soundtrack and voice actors are decent but not great, as the actors at times perform brilliantly and at other times cringeworthy.

I would reccomend this movie to Inuyasha fans, though don't expect to get anything out of this movie that you can't see during the series. This is more of a side-story than anything.

A good movie, it's enjoinable and the story is quite good.

Inuyasha and co. are able to defeat Naraku at last, but when it seems that nothing is left to do but collecting the Shikon shards, another enemy appears, and the menace is really big!

The animation is the usual one, if you like Inuyasha. The characters are well drawn, even if in this movie they are slighty different from the serie, but it didn't bore me, after a little time you'll not see the difference anymore. Fighting scenes are done well. If someone doesn't know Inuyasha, characters doesn't stand still thinking for half an hour about their past, future, what to do now and so on. All goes very smooth.

Sound is good, characters' voices are well suited, well, they are the usual ones -_-;
I heard a couple of dubs, in different languages, and I must say that the japanese voice actor for Inuyasha is absolutly perfect. Opening and ending themes are not memorable (infact I can't remember even if there was any o_O )

Well, the story... how to say, it really is quite something, suits well in every place of the serie from 90 till 110 I think, don't worry because it doesn't change anything about the main plot. Well, something changes, I'm waiting to see how they will explain that in the serie, look for yourself what I'm talking about... You'll not be disappointed by the story, even if near the end you'll get the sensation of already seen.

Characters are well made. They got a (little) bit of development in the movie, of course I don't know if this development will be saw in the serie (till now I must say... they forgot about it!). Of course the characters are the same ones you see in the serie, they doesn't change, but they are really funny as usually, and Shippo gets a bit more of scenes (that for me is always good, not because I like this character, but only because when there is him the commedy is assured ^-^ ).

Don't know if you'll rewatch this one, there is already a lot of stuff to watch... Perhaps in a LOOOOONG time you'll retake this one, only if you don't have anything better to see, or perhaps if you have some friends that never saw it and want absolutly to watch it.

Pretty enjoyable, nothing particular, but it completes your Inuyasha collection. If you never watched the serie, turn away from this, it's a good show but it becomes meaningless without the background that the serie can give you. I must say that when I watched it I became sleepy, well it was late, but usually I'm able to finish the anime that I'm seeing without falling asleep; well it happened to me two times with this one... perhaps it is because as I said before it gives you a sensation of already saw at times.