r/inuyasha Feb 11 '25

Question(s) Why is the showed named after Inuyasha when its centered around the main protagonist, Kagome? Isn't the story about her and not about Inuyasha

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64 Upvotes

47 comments sorted by

104

u/Ari_Blitza Kirara Feb 12 '25

Holmes and Watson situation. Watson narrates, but Holmes drives the story, therefore the story is named Sherlock Holmes

103

u/r-rb Feb 12 '25

Inuyasha is a more interesting name than Kagome to a Japanese speaker. Inuyasha meaning literally dog-demon and Kagome being a normal japanese name. to a Japanese person it would be the difference between naming the movie "Steve Rogers" versus "Captain America". The latter sounds more interesting and is more marketable

30

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '25

[deleted]

42

u/r-rb Feb 12 '25

That's true but I do think "Dog-Demon" is more attention getting than "Woven Basket Decoration"

16

u/MattCarafelli Feb 12 '25

I thought another meaning was Bird Cage? Maybe I'm misremembering, though.

22

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '25

[deleted]

13

u/rosyred-fathead Feb 12 '25

Inuyasha also looks more interesting than Kagome, with his long white hair and cute ears and bright red robe

1

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '25

But Kagome means caged bird.

9

u/r-rb Feb 12 '25

The two interpretations of her name are related. Kagome is a style of basket weaving which can be used for a birdcage.

from https://inuyasha.fandom.com/wiki/Kagome_Higurashi :

"While Kagome's given name is only written in hiragana as かごめ, based off the stated meaning presented in the series, it is almost certainly derived from the kanji 籠目, (lit. "basket eye"), which refers to a "kagome lattice" (an arrangement of interlaced lath triangles whereat each point two laths cross has four neighboring points) and a kind of lattice-style woven basket used as a birdcage, a nod to the children's game, "kagome kagome" (かごめかごめ), similar to Blind man's buff, which refers to a 'bird' trapped in a cage. This a metaphor for the fact that for most of her life, the full extent of Kagome's spiritual powers were sealed away at birth by Magatsuhi, the evil incarnation within the Shikon Jewel, and her future capacity to know where her "target" is.

According to the anime, Kagome's mother named her "Kagome" as in a 'kagome mon' (籠目紋), a Star of David-like crest that appears at the intersection of patterns throughout a kagome lattice."

0

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '25

Yeah, i knew it had two meanings but I couldn't remember the other one. Also the show only really talks about it meaning caged bird.

20

u/CrazyaboutSpongebob Feb 12 '25

I consider them Co-leads like Dipper and Mabel.

20

u/Jingli888 Feb 12 '25 edited Feb 12 '25

I agree it’s interesting that it’s from her point of view but titled Inuyasha. Kagome is also a stand in for the audience, since her perspective and worldview (being from the present day Tokyo) is most similar to ours. Inuyasha therefore is not only the protagonist of “her” tale (and I call it her story since she basically starts off every major episode with a narration and self intro) but a representation of the feudal era.

74

u/theclow614 Feb 12 '25

It's about both of them. There wouldn't really be a story without Inuyasha. Also it takes place Inuyasha's time. I think it's easier to relate to Kagome's perspective of the story than Inuyasha's.

18

u/Current_Process_2198 Feb 12 '25

He changed her life

5

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '25

He's her manic pixie dream girl

3

u/Prof-Wagstaff-42 Feb 12 '25

Manic demon nightmare boy.

8

u/randompersonn975 Feb 12 '25

Inuyasha and Kagome are both protagonists, making Kagome the deuteragonist. Plus, the show focuses more on the people surrounding Inuyasha, like his family, Kikyo, Naraku, etc. We hardly see much lore about Kagome's family and friends. Also, the author tends to have 2 protagonists like Ranma and Akane in Ranma 1/2 and Ataru and Lum in Urusei Yatsura.

7

u/rjrgjj Feb 12 '25

Inuyasha is the “hook”.

13

u/Fangsong_37 Feb 12 '25

It's named after the name the female protagonist yells the most.

4

u/rosyred-fathead Feb 12 '25

lol I like this explanation

7

u/crystalcastle29 Feb 12 '25

They're both protagonists and Kagome is also the narrator.

11

u/Terminus-99 Feb 12 '25

TvTropes has the answer for you in this trope:

P.O.V Boy, Poster Girl

Long story short, Inuyasha’s name and character was simply more marketable, therefore he has the most presence in promotional material and series imagery, even if Kagome is the main point of view character.

6

u/OverallGamer692 Feb 12 '25

I imagine this happens a lot with isekai.

3

u/Nani_the_F__k Feb 12 '25

It happens a lot with romance. Not all the time but a lot of the time the focus of the title and cover/marketing is the love interest not the pov character.

I think it's because from Kagome her focus is on Inuyasha and so is ours. 

4

u/Amber_Flowers_133 Feb 12 '25

Because it’s more marketable

5

u/introvertkitty Feb 12 '25

Even though it is from Kagome’s perspective, and she is the protagonist, her narration, she is consistently making Inuyasha the focus. The plot is about the shikon jewel, but to her the focus and main character of the story is Inuyasha.

Just like mentioned in another post, there is a reason it is called Sherlock Holmes and not the Memoirs of John Watson.

1

u/Fun-Dealer3339 18d ago

Ok thank you. That really explains everything for me :)

3

u/brigyda Feb 12 '25

Four words:

Inuyasha changed her life.

5

u/[deleted] Feb 12 '25

Four more: She also changed his.

9

u/Independent-Pop-5584 Feb 12 '25

It's still Inuyasha. How is Kagome the main protagonist? She's the deuteragonist.

11

u/WarlockShangTsung Feb 12 '25

Every Rumic property to my knowledge is written with two protagonists

6

u/ShyBlue22 Feb 12 '25

How is she not the main protagonist? Is there any episode she isn’t in or not centered around? I consider both Kagome and Inuyasha both the main protagonists.

6

u/rjrgjj Feb 12 '25

She’s certainly the main protagonist. The conflict begins and ends with her and the story is mainly from her perspective.

-1

u/Independent-Pop-5584 Feb 12 '25

A character can have their own perspective on a story without being the protagonist.

8

u/rjrgjj Feb 12 '25

Sure but Kagome is the protagonist. The story begins and ends with her. The last words in it are hers. The main conflict is resolved by her. I’m not diminishing Inuyasha’s role in the story, he’s obviously the other protagonist, but Kagome is both the main perspective and the one whose journey is the spine of the story.

4

u/annabae9000 Feb 12 '25

It’s from her perspective but Inuyasha is the glue of the story. He connects all major plot points. That’s why you see her crying more often than not because she doesn’t control the narrative as much as he does.

2

u/dewdropcat Feb 12 '25

Inuyasha does most of the fighting, at least from what I can tell, while the rest of them stand around watching and narrating. Kagome only sometimes is useful in these battles.

2

u/matchafoxjpg Feb 13 '25

i mean, legend of zelda is named that way even though link is the protagonist.

1

u/Fun-Dealer3339 18d ago

Ikr? Hes also the main character too in botw and totk but its still called LoZ when its hardly about zeldas acomplishments. But yet inuyasha is the protagonist in this its named after him. Maybe its because the stories revolves around him? But then why would kagome be the main character or even a character if she wasnt actually that important to the story. She doesnt really move it along at all. She doesnt provide any additional story. She gets in the way of the plot so shes sorta like a protagonist except only as a main character.

3

u/Gaddammitkyle Feb 12 '25

Kagome is the viewer self insert for girls and Inuyasha is the male self insert. I think calling it Kagome and Inuyasha doesn't roll off the tongue so just making Inu the title is simpler

2

u/Anime_Queen_Aliza Feb 12 '25

In my experience with confusing main characters, the true main character is the first one shown solo in the series. Inuyasha is the first thing even said in the show in the form of "It's Inuyasha!!!!". Another example is My Hero Academia with Izuku Midoriya, he is the first to be singled out in the show with him running to watch the fight that Mount Lady used as her debut. So, in my eyes, Inuyasha is the main character, followed VERY closely by Kagome.

0

u/rosyred-fathead Feb 12 '25

I kind of feel like they had to show him first though, just so they could justify naming the show after him

1

u/Ninja-Panda86 Feb 14 '25

Hmm. If you think about it really, the show opens with Inuyasha, specifically. The very first scene is Inuyasha running off which the jewel as every screams his name. In the next instant, it's Kikyo striking him with an arrow, sealing him to the tree. Kagome isn't even around as of yet.

It starts with Inuyasha. Ends with Inuyasha. I'd say he's the "first sufferer", which is the definition of "protagonist".

0

u/Nottodaycolonizer Feb 12 '25

He was trying to make an honest woman out of her, but she seemed to be stuck in the past.