Review of InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler

Inu-Yasha is a series that means a ton to me because it was one of the series that really stuck to me during my teen years of watching anime. The movies, unlike those involved in other series, have parts that are meshed in to supplement the story. InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler explores events taken in Inu-Yasha's past, more specifically, when he was born. Story: InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler starts out with when Izayoi, Inu-Yasha's mother, is in labour with Inu-Yasha. However, as he was born, Takemaru, a warrior that fell in love withIzayoi, sets to kill her because she instead fell in love with Inu-Yasha's demon father. Upon arrival, Inu-Yasha's father was able to save Izayoi and the newborn Inu-Yasha, while still wielding the three blades - Tessaiga of Man, Tenseiga of Heaven and So'Unga of Hell. Skip to the present time where So'unga reappears, revives Takemaru from the dead, and uses his vengeance to take over the earth, while also crushing Inu-Yasha and his brother - along with the two other swords that they posses.

The story itself is top notch, especially for a movie with ties to the main series. It suddenly because a family feud, where Inu-Yasha suddenly feels it's his responsibility to seal away the So'Unga, the kind of behaviour you don't fully expect of Inu-Yasha, who has shown bouts of immaturity in the past. After Takemaru and So'Unga hide themselves in a neighbouring castle, it's up to the crew to get to them, in order to make sure that their corruption cannot reach other parts of Japan. Due to the ties that Inu-Yasha has to this sword, he feels he must go there, and that gives the gang real purpose in pursuing the sword. Sesshoumaru eventually gets involved and I liked his connection to the story as well.

The story does have some minor inconsistencies with the main story, though are so minor it ends of being pretty are ignorable. They do a really good job at keeping the pace of the story to a high level, something we didn't see all the time in the main series, but has done well in all four movies. The ending is mostly satisfying, and it was worth a good laugh at what they decided to do with Saya at the end. (9/10)

Characters: Our crew is consistent with the main series, though Shippou plays a relatively minor role compared to that of the main story. Jaken and Totosai, funny enough, end up getting involved with the fights in the middle, due to the powers they posses, and that was a minor touch that I appreciated. Takemaru himself isn't a terribly impressive villain, as he ends up being a pawn of So'Unga, more than anything. I do wish they reached into a few more origin stories about So'Unga because Inu-Yasha father seemed to wield it without much trouble. The sword itself was clearly very strong, and I do love that they gave it it's own attack here too. Saya, the spirit that possessed So'Unga's sheath, was mostly there to lighten the mood, due to how non-committal he was at his job, but he's relatively minor in the grand scheme of things. (9/10)

Art: As with the Inu-Yasha series, animation is a little up and down during the busier scenes. However, it more or less is still decent by today's standards. They actually use some scenes from episodes in the main series, and they are all from different angles, so it was nice to see them re-animate them for this movie, something you don't tend to see in flashbacks. (7/10)

Sound: Music remains a strong part, as Karou Wada keeps music to feel the same as the series - mostly using the same type of tracks. Four Seasons by Namie Amuro is a song I listened to a lot as a teen, and remains a strong ending song. The VO cast also remain strong, with it being recorded in Canada, something that I believe has mostly not happened anymore - which is unfortunate because there's some real talent in my home country. Michael Dobson (Saya), Jonathan Holmes (Takemaru) and Ward Perry (So'Unga) are welcome additions to an already impressive cast. (8/10)

Overall Enjoyment: InuYasha the Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler is best movie among the four, and does a really nice job at connecting to the main story. I really appreciated how they incorporated Inu-Yasha's parents into this movie, and if you end up watching Yashahime, you'll notice they make subtle references to this movie in there too. You do get some weird anime tropes involve in parts of this movie, but it still remains my favourite to date. If you liked the series, then this movie should be on watch your watch list. (9/10)