With the 2020 debut of Yashahime: Princess Half-Demon, fans of the original Inuyasha series got an opportunity to revisit familiar faces as well as meet the children of their favorite pairings who front the new series. But what if one of these pairings had turned out differently? What if, instead of dying and reincarnating as Kagome Higurashi, Kikyo had actually lived to spend the rest of her life with Inuyasha?
While Kikyo living would’ve resulted in a very different story from the one Inuyasha creator Rumiko Takahashi developed, it also could’ve resulted in a more epic romance story. What is it about Inuyasha and Kikyo as a couple from 50 years ago that makes them so compelling? The characters could have developed very differently, with some fascinating aspects of Japanese history enriching their story even further.
In both the manga and anime, one of the unifying themes of Inuyasha and Kikyo's relationship is the two characters feeling out of touch with their humanity. In Inuyasha's case, he is a hanyou (a being who is half human and half youkai) born to a human mother and a great dog youkai, both of whom had high status in their respective communities. Despite this, however, Inuyasha was rejected by both humans and youkai alike for not being of pure blood. As such, he was forced to fend for himself at a very young age, resulting in feelings of self-loathing and a profound distrust in others.
Kikyo was born into a human village that she later protected as a miko (shrine maiden) after reaching adolescence. Little is known about her childhood apart from the fact she was born with strong spiritual potential (as narrated by her younger sister Kaede), though much of it can also be pieced together based on the history of miko in Japan. As stated by Tsubaki -- a rival of Kikyo -- in Episode 147 of the Inuyasha anime, a miko's spiritual power thrives when she abandons all human feelings. She also warns that as a woman, Kikyo could naturally fall in love, which would cause her powers to weaken.
Though Tsubaki's explanation of a miko's spiritual power is treated as a curse by Kikyo in the anime, it is actually consistent with how young girls trained to become miko in Japan's earlier history, most notably during the Sengoku period (when Inuyasha takes place) and especially in centuries prior. As practitioners of Shinto, young girls who trained to become miko underwent various purification rituals as a way of strengthening their spiritual power. Since purity is central to the Shinto belief system, miko were not permitted to marry as it was believed that compromising their sexual purity would also compromise the strength of their spiritual power. This last part is relevant to Kikyo's storyline.
Inuyasha and Kikyo's storylines converged when the latter was given custody of the Shikon no Tama, a powerful jewel with a reputation to grant any wish to its possessor. Inuyasha desired the jewel as a means of erasing his humanity in exchange for becoming a full youkai, though he had to get through Kikyo to get it. While Kikyo had the skills and power to keep the jewel safe, she also found her new occupation even more isolating than being a miko alone. After meeting Inuyasha, Kikyo became aware of her human desires and emotions, which factored into her decision to rid herself of the jewel and pursue life as an ordinary woman.
The premise of Inuyasha desiring to erase his humanity with Kikyo desiring to reclaim her humanity created strong story potential that deserved further fleshing out. This was done to an extent in the anime story The Tragic Love Song of Destiny (Episodes 147-148) that depicts the budding romance between Inuyasha and Kikyo, leading up to the moment where she proposed Inuyasha use the Shikon no Tama to become human. At the time, Kikyo theorized that if the jewel was used to make Inuyasha fully human, it would be purified and would cease to exist. The original Inuyasha manga and subsequent anime adaptation, of course, established towards the finale that this would not have been the right wish. But realizing this could've been an important part of Kikyo's journey.
Another major development that could've still happened in a universe where Kikyo lived is the shattering of the Shikon no Tama -- this time by a weakened Kikyo, which would've been a huge wakeup call for her. Recalling what Tsubaki said earlier about how falling in love would cause her powers to weaken, being responsible for shattering the very jewel she was entrusted to purify would've shaken Kikyo to the point of rethinking her priorities. This would've placed Kikyo in a position of needing to learn new skills to supplement her miko training, which in turn could've created opportunities for character growth.
A meaningful change that could've come out of this journey was Kikyo realizing that the key to strengthening her spiritual power was embracing all aspects of her identity. Maybe she needed to realize that rejecting any part of herself -- whether it be her human self or miko self -- was why she wasn't being an effective guardian of the jewel. Allowing herself to experience human emotion may have allowed her to channel her powers in a smarter, more effective way.
Related to the plot of shattering the Shikon no Tama, the wounded thief Onigumo (whom Kikyo was nursing in a cave) could've still become the evil hanyou Naraku with the same motivation as before: wanting Kikyo for himself and desiring the Shikon no Tama as a means of getting her love. He still could've sent various youkai after Kikyo to exhaust her as he did in Tragic Love Song, only things didn't go his way. Instead of mortally wounding Kikyo, one of these attempts to exhaust her could've resulted in the aforementioned jewel's shattering, allowing the story to play out as it did originally -- but with some key differences.
Keeping Naraku as a villain would've still been important for Inuyasha's character development as he embodied a much darker version of Inuyasha's own goals. This could've forced Inuyasha to reconsider his own motivations for becoming a full youkai and whether or not he should take up Kikyo's offer to become fully human. Naraku's obsession with Kikyo could've similarly made Inuyasha re-evaluate his own feelings for Kikyo, whether he's similar to Naraku in lusting for her or if he actually loves her as a person. There's also the factor of Kikyo being exposed to Inuyasha's human side during moonless nights and the vulnerabilities that come with such moments. This too could've forced her to re-evaluate her own motivations for wanting Inuyasha to erase half of what he is as a means of purifying the jewel.
By getting to know Inuyasha in both of his forms, Kikyo could've ultimately decided against erasing what makes him unique, effectively changing her plans for purifying the jewel. Her thoughts on this could've been further solidified after experiencing what Naraku was capable of with only shards of the jewel as opposed to the complete jewel. Naraku's dark motivations could've similarly provided Inuyasha and Kikyo with the perspective to realize none of their problems would be resolved by casting a selfish wish on the jewel, regardless of their intent. Instead, they both could've reached the same conclusion that the only way to relieve themselves of the jewel and its destructive power was by wishing it out of existence, effectively allowing the jewel to destroy itself just like it originally did.
While keeping Kikyo alive would've changed significant aspects of the Inuyasha story, it also could've resulted in a more focused romance with more profound character development. Since both Inuyasha and Kikyo have a unifying theme of not feeling in touch with their humanity at the start of their respective narratives, their journey could've focused on them rediscovering their humanity together while not rejecting what makes them unique. By reconciling all aspects of themselves into more mature identities, their relationship would've been stronger for it.