Inuyasha was one of the flagship animes of the 2000s, but, even at the time, people seemed unsure what to make of it at times. It's been rumored that even Cartoon Network could never agree if it was a kid's show or for adults. As the years have gone by, certain aspects of the show seem even more questionable with modern sensibilities.
Today, we're going to look at things in the Inuyasha franchise that might not have aged gracefully, especially to modern viewers. And remember, there might be spoilers for those who haven't finished the series, especially the ending.
10 Kagome's Apathetic Family
Let's say your daughter decides to leave school, run off to a far-off place, live with some complete strangers (including a boy she's interested in), and risk her life in dangerous situations. Most parents wouldn't be too happy about this. Compare this to Kagome's mother and grandfather, who outright encourage Kagome to go off on her adventures.
On one hand, Kagome at least tries to keep up her education, at least at first, and the Japanese school system, according to Tofugu, technically doesn't actually fail students, since more emphasis is placed on entrance exams, so Kagome's truancy wouldn't be as problematic as if she were from another country. Still, you'd think even the school would be suspicious of all of Kagome's ailments.
9 Kagome Giving Up Her Family & Friends
Despite what was said above, Kagome probably still cares about her family, and her family probably likes her. They might be okay with yokai trying to eat her or evil witches stealing her soul every week, but they at least seem willing to feed her, so there's that.
However, the ending, in which Kagome decides to stay in the Feudal era permanently, means she will never see her old (or...future...technically) family or friends ever again. While true love does expect some sacrifice, it does seem pretty cruel to ask of her and she seems blindly okay with that, especially for a modern girl.
8 Relationship Double-Standards
One aspect of the Koga/Kagome/Inuyasha love-triangle of sorts that didn't age well is a certain double standard. Whenever Koga shows an interest in Kagome and Inuyasha gets jealous, supporting characters are quick to act like he's being an idiot and sympathize with Kagome for getting mad at him. Compare this to the various times when Kagome also gets mad at Inuyasha for his past relationship with Kikyo, even before she actually had a relationship with Inuyasha herself. Once again, the side characters usually side with her over Inuyasha.
In all fairness, it's not completely unfounded. Most of Kagome's friends don't necessarily think Kagome actually has any interest in Koga and simply brush off Inuyasha's jealousy as petty, whereas Inuyasha and Kikyo's history make up the show's backstory. But Kagome always being sympathetic, and Inuyasha always being treated like an idiot, even before they arguably even became a couple, can seem a little unfair.
7 The Whole Mayfly-December Romance
Age differences aren't always a deal-breaker, but a 200-year-old boy and a teenage girl together bring up a lot of questions. You can argue that Inuyasha is the yokai equivalent of a teenager, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.
Inuyasha, thanks to his yokai heritage, will age must slower than a mortal, and will likely see Kagome age and rot before his very eyes. His desire to become a full human for Kikyo might even suggest he's partially aware of this issue, but this is never brought up towards the end.
6 Letting Friends Get Away With Murder
Koga's ordered his wolf pack to kill people, Sesshomaru's probably got centuries worth of blood on his hands, and Kikyo survives by feasting on the souls of dead women. The main cast tends to either forgive or outright overlook this behavior for the sake of friendship, which is kind of unsettling.
Sure, Kikyo never asked to be brought back as a soul-eating clay doll, and it's not clear if she outright kills those souls or just imprisons them, but you'd think there'd be more concern for her victims.
5 All That Nudity
This was more of an issue in the manga than the anime, where female characters were often drawn with outright exposed breasts. This was the case with both demons, such as Mistress Centipede and the Nothing Woman, and some of the human characters, like Kagome...a human teenager.
And while Kagome's bare breasts are never shown in the anime...bathing scenes are still extremely common.
4 Miroku's Wandering Hand
Miroku's desire to have a child isn't completely unsympathetic, given that his curse might claim his life before his time, but the way he goes around this, acting like a pervert, didn't exactly age well. The way he gropes and peeks at poor Sango every chance he gets would be something you'd expect from one of the villains of a modern story, not one of the heroes, let alone her love interest.
At the very least, you wouldn't expect modern shows to treats a woman repeatedly being touched inappropriately as a joke.
3 Always Getting Physical
During a conflict, Sango is usually quick to slap or throw something heavy at Miroku and Kagome is also willing to inflict pain on Inuyasha. This isn't always the case when dealing with romantic interests...Inuyasha isn't above giving Shippo (who may or may not be a child...yokai ages are tricky) a good punch.
Sure, there are some times when this is done in self-defense, especially when Sango's dealing with Miroku, but this happens way too often as a knee-jerk reaction. Even when there's clearly a misunderstanding going on, the characters are a little too eager to beat up their own friends.
2 The Osuwari Command
Thanks to those magical beads around his neck, Kagome can always put Inuyasha in his place by the simple command: "Osuwari," or "Sit Boy!" From a modern perspective, her reliance on this spell can come off as pretty abusive.
In fact, in the third movie, Kagome even tricks Inuyasha into pointing the beads back on after he's finally freed from that. It's kind of disturbing...even if it's arguably not canon.
In all fairness, not every example is the same. There were plenty of times Kagome commanded Inuyasha to sit out of self-defense, by complete accident, and there were even a few times when she probably saved his life by doing it. Still, the few times she says it after an argument or due to a misunderstanding come off as downright abusive.
1 All That Filler
Even the show's most devoted fans seem willing to admit that the series went on too long than it needed to be, with fans often asking online for lists of episodes without filler, whether it's GameFaq or Reddit.
It's very telling that the original anime ran out of episodes to actually finish the story, only being able to adapt the manga's resolution thanks to the Final Act spin-off.