Inuyasha BIGViz Volume 3 begins with Inuyasha's half-brother, Sesshomaru, trying to reclaim Tetsusaiga with aid, from the shadows, by Naraku. Several other battles follow this involving Kikyo, a human-turned-demon peach man and some others that also include Naraku as the evil mastermind behind the scenes; the last section also introduces Sango, the last major protagonist in the Inuyasha universe.
Hightlights:
I particularly liked the peach man story in this volume. Although it was a side-story and did not advance the plot, it was probably the best written as it takes a traditional Japanese mythology about the peach man and twists it into something distorted and perverse. In this universe, the peach man is a man who sought trained in magic from a monk to try and gain eternal life and eternal youth. When he thought the monk was not giving him what he wanted, he broke in and read the monk's scrolls whereby he learned a secret to extending his life through cannibalism, but at the cost of slowly transforming himself into a hideous demon. This story helps explain some of the ideas presented earlier of how humans can use the Shikan Jewel shards and how humans can be far worse than demons.
Overview:
Inuyasha BIGViz volume 3's books really begin to develop what had been mentioned in BIGViz volume 2 as Naraku who was the great mastermind behind many things and begin to weave them together as he attempts to kill Inuyasha and reclaim the Shikan Jewel shards. Before this, it wasn't as clear just how big of a shadowy manipulator he was and how central of a role he would play, but by BIGViz Volume 3 it is clear Rumiko Takahashi plans for Naraku to be a central villain as he manipulates others, both humans and demons, from behind the scenes.
Kagome's character has begun to see the slow evolution of her character to becoming more at home in feudal Japan than modern Japan. At first all she wanted to do was get back home to her modern setting, but that is no longer the case. In modern Japan Kagome seems to have her mind fixed in feudal Japan. This important character development is portrayed in the way she always wonders how Inuyasha and the others are doing in feudal Japan, but only worries about her friends and family on important dates, notably when she takes a test. The struggle to maintain relations and a social life with friends she has for all practical purposes left behind and the reluctance to embrace her new setting mirror many of the hardships people make when moving to another location in the real world. As the story goes along she feels more at ease with feudal Japan, much like a person gets used to their new surroundings, but she still feels pulled by connections with her friends and family back home though these come less frequently but are still maintained. However, he reasoning become less convincing for returning and every time she goes back to modern Japan she feels less at home there than the last time. To her, modern Japan is by this volume not her home, but a foreign land she visits from time to time; fedual Japan is where she really lives.
Outside of Kagome's transition and Naraku's continued involvement in affairs, Kikyo reappears and while it is clear Inuyasha has feelings for Kagome, he also still harbors those for Inuyasha. Since unlike some of her other previous shonen works like Ranma ½ and Urusei Yatsura the affection between the two was not made quite so clear so early in the manga, Takahashi has given Kagome a serious love rival likely due to the darker and more mature tone of the series. Ranma ½ has reoccuring love rivals for Ranma and Akane, but rarely were they considered serious and her other major series, Urusei Yatsura and Maison Ikkoku, less so.
Inuyasha BIGViz volume 3 is continues a great story. This volume begins to move the story ahead a lot developing the world of Inuyasha's feudal Japan and the dark intrigue that swirls around in it. Takahashi continues to tell great stories that are interesting and fun to read, though perhaps the tale of the cannibalistic Peach Man may be a bit off putting to some.
ComicsOnline gives Inuyasha BIGViz volume 3 4 out of 5 demon hunters.
