INU YASHA 4: FIRE ON THE MYSTIC ISLAND (2004)

 

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *adventure*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *metaphysical*

The last, and least, of the Inu-Yasha animated movies revisits one of the faults of the first one; that of unnecessarily working in the supporting characters of Kikyo (Inu-Yasha's ex-lover) and Sesshomaru (Inu-Yasha's hostile half-brother). In fact, both Kikyo and a magical doppelganger thereof show up, as the titular hero ends up sword-fighting the latter. Since Kikyo is never seen wielding any weapon but bow and arrow, this is at least an unusual scene within a very tepid entry.

The nicest thing I can say about MYSTIC is that Takahashi herself did her share of weak episodes, some of which also involved cute child-characters, and that MYSTIC is not any worse than any of these, since "so-so Takahashi" is still better than average.

So there's this vanishing island called Brigadoon-- er, Horai Island. The locale was originally a refuge for a group of demons and humans who wanted to live in unison, along with any half-demon children arising from their alliance. However, during one of the times when the island temporarily manifests on Earth, a quartet of demons called "The Four War Gods" invade Horai and take over. The next time the island appears, only a handful of half-demon children survive on Horai. This happens to be the period in which Inu-Yasha and Kikyo are still sorta-lovers, and they visit the island for some reason. The tempestuous hero mixes it up with the Gods, and one claws him on the back. This leaves marks that don't fade fifty years later, when the demon-boy is hanging with his future friends, none of whom ever remark on seeing the wounds on occasions when Inu-Yasha had his shirt off. Inu-Yasha and Kikyo escape the island before it returns to limbo, and later they have their big misunderstanding, so that Kikyo dies and Inu-Yasha enters a demonic coma for fifty years.

While fighting a giant turtle, Inu-Yasha and his four buddies come across the recrudescent island and make contact with the kids, who haven't aged a day. The Four Gods have remained the same too, and they recognize the dog-demon as a prey who escaped them. So it becomes the business of the good guys to sort out the baddies and help the innocent.

None of the villains or their victims stand out from one another, except in the sense of having different names. This is highly unusual, since even the most ordinary anime works manage to get some comedic or dramatic mileage out of individual situations. The five heroes aren't much better off, though Rumiko Takahashi made the protagonists so distinct that it's hard not to do interesting things with them. MYSTIC comes close, though. Inu-Yasha, always testy when people expect him to act the hero that he really is, has a few good moments clouting smart-mouthed kids, and Shippo can always be depended on for some comical cowardice. But there are no good romantic vibes between Kagome and her canine swain, while Sango and Miroku are practically interchangeable hero-types. Original design-work is pedestrian, and despite a few decent mood-scenesm the action is more limited than those of the TV series.

MYSTIC, in short, has no fire in its creative belly, and I'm not sure I'd recommend it even to hardcore enthusiasts of the series.