wherever you go, there you are

The Love Witch (2016)

Director: Anna Biller

inadvertently, i drew a wide shot, full shot and close up

Today, I’m going to write about the most divisive character in the fandom: Kikyō. To make matters worse for myself, I’m going to point out when Inuyasha, a far less controversial character, hurt her.

To be honest, I almost didn’t write this article, because I feared a flood of hatemail in the askbox. I’ve read posts calling Kikyō everything from “Rumiko’s precious Mary Sue” (what?) to “Kinkyho” (the most imaginative but least mature of insults). 

To be fair, most Western fans of Inuyasha were introduced to Kikyō through the anime, where Kikyō fell victim to Sunrise’s character assassination. As an example, here’s what ends Kikyō and Inuyasha’s hug in chapter 173:

Here’s what ends their hug in the equivalent episode, Onigumo’s Heart Still Beats Within Naraku:

Quite a difference between Inuyasha professing his desire to protect Kikyō and Kikyō holding a knife to Inuyasha’s throat.

Now, Kikyō does do terrible things. She attempts to kill Kagome, she empowers Naraku, she takes advantage of Kohaku’s guilt. Kikyō’s indirectly responsible for every death caused by Kanna, Kagura, Goshinki,Hakudoshi, Byakuya, and the rest—all because she wanted to defeat Naraku. Even if his defeat came at the expense of everything and everyone else.

But one time, Kikyō did what she had to do, at Inuyasha’s expense, and was thoroughly justified. 

I’m talking about when she pinned Inuyasha to the Goshinboku with a sacred arrow.

Let’s take a look at the original manga pages, in the original watercolors:

Kikyō’s gotten a lot of criticism for “So that…it shall never again fall into evil hands.” Inuyasha stole the Shikon no Tama because Naraku tricked him. There’s no way Inuyasha could be described as evil, right?

Look at what Inuyasha’s doing. That isn’t Naraku or one of Naraku’s puppets. That is the real Inuyasha rampaging through Kikyō’s village after stealing the Shikon no Tama. Sunrise would have you believe Kikyō’s responsible for Kaede’s missing eye, but as you can see, there’s fresh blood leaking through Kaede’s bandage. Kaede lost her eye because of Inuyasha’s attack.

Inuyasha’s not even fighting Kikyō here. Instead, he’s taking his anger out on the helpless and innocent villagers she protected. 

When Kikyō dragged herself back to the village, she found Inuyasha attacking her people while running away with the Shikon no Tama. It didn’t matter if she trusted or loved him. The real Inuyasha was really hurting her people and her little sister. 

In life, Kikyō never betrayed Inuyasha. Inuyasha, however, betrayed Kikyō. Every time Kikyō sees Inuyasha after her resurrection, she sees the man who stole the Shikon no Tama and attacked her village. Every time Inuyasha asks Kikyō to trust him to kill Naraku, Kikyō must think of what happened the last time she trusted him.

I dislike writing about Inuyasha this way, as he’s honestly my favorite out of the entire cast. I think he had the best character arc. Ignoring his worst actions, though, cheapens his growth as a character.

Ignoring Kikyō’s better qualities and her reasons for her actions also cheapens Inuyasha’s character. Instead of a man determined to atone for betraying someone he wanted to protect, he becomes a love-sick puppy who fails to see Kikyō doesn’t want him around. 

Kikyō’s bad and good qualities are what make her so divisive. A fan portraying her as just a raging ex-girlfriend leaves her lifeless on the page. A lifeless Kikyō hurts the characterization of every character who interacts with her. 

We also should remember that the original Kikyo (pre-death) was hinted at to be a likeable, caring girl who is basically forced to be stoic and way more mature than her age in order to better protect the Shikon no Tama. 

Yes, the resurrected Kikyo does things that harm others, because spite is in fact the driving force of her existence. She “lives” to destroy Naraku—and it’s not that she chose to be that way. No one recognizes how deplorable her resurrected self is or hates it more than Kikyo herself. She brings it up again and again throughout the series. She has a level of self-awareness, as a young woman who died before reaching the age of 20, as a shell of her former self, that most intact people fail to reach even in adulthood. She knows the tragedy of her own situation, but she can hardly even pity herself; all she can do is resent her fate, which spurs her even harder toward vengeance against Naraku.

Kikyo regrets what she believes was her failing in her duty at least as much as Inuyasha regrets his failing her. The difference is that Inuyasha actually has a chance to redeem himself and move on: not only by atoning for what he did and destroying Naraku, but also by developing into a much better person than the Inuyasha who was so easily deceived and stole the Shikon no Tama. 

Kikyo’s efforts against Naraku are absolutely redeeming; as much as they lean toward inscrutable and even cruel at times, there is no denying that her actions are all to remove Naraku and the Shikon no Tama from existence, to rectify a situation she believes was born of her own negligence. She even ends up helping the Inu-tachi toward the end of the series, once she realizes that her own strength is not enough (something she struggles with throughout the series) and finally trusts them not to make a mess of things. But there’s no real reward for Kikyo at the end. She was self-sacrificing in life, and after she is resurrected she continues to be that way. She can’t “gain” anything, because she can’t “have” anything. No matter what she does, she can’t grow up anymore, because she’s already dead. And yet, she fights tooth-and-nail to destroy Naraku and the jewel anyway. 

This is why Kikyo’s final death—her only real reward—is such a bittersweet catharsis for her, Inuyasha, and Kagome (who is a lot more perceptive when it comes to this whole issue than people tend to give her credit for). She doesn’t have to suffer and fight and agonize anymore, but that that is the best she could hope for is tragic indeed. Anyone who doesn’t really struggle with the reality of Inuyasha and Kikyo’s relationship from the beginning to the end of the series out of a petty desire to characterize her as “evil” is absolutely depriving themself via pure intellectual laziness.

Various animations of Klonoa from Klonoa Beach Volleyball.

Another wolfie piece!  

UPDATE: WE GOT IT!!!!

Twitter user Rasuran1 posted these images: https://twitter.com/Rasuran1/status/1566794844927827969

They didn’t say what the cartoon is actually called, though, but a few other people in the replies say it’s either “The Christmas Gift of Light” or “The Soulmates: Gift of Light.” I haven’t found any further information about it other than a mention of it in an Edmonton newspaper from 2001 talking about holiday specials.

—

WHAT WE KNOW:

-photo was taken in 1992, possibly around Christmas. movie/show could be from before 1992. -likely Western animation but could be UK, Russian, or European. -unknown source, whether it’s a movie, tv show, or commercial. -most likely a Canadian broadcast. ELIMINATED SO FAR, IT IS NOT: -Teen Wolf cartoon -The Littles -Blackstar -The Magician’s Hat -Dreamstone -Smurfs -Rock and Rule -Ferngully -the Jetsons movie -Keebler elves -Black Cauldron -Flight of Dragons -the Princess and the Goblin -Care Bears Nutcracker Suite -Magic Voyage -Freddie the Frog -Hans and the Silver Skates -Nilus the Sandman -Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer -Herself the Elf -Elm-chanted Forest -Magic Riddle -Gremlins -Lady Lovely Locks -An American Tail -Felix the Cat -Princess Starla -Star Fairies -Thumbelina -the Town Santa Forgot -the Wish That Changed Christmas -Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer

POSSIBLY BUT UNLIKELY DUE TO STYLE DIFFERENCES: -Don Bluth -DiC animation

UPDATES 2022: This is making the rounds again over on Twitter and Youtube! Blameitonjorge did a video: https://youtu.be/LaMzU0vVNF8

Someone suggested an episode of Widget the World Watcher, specifically episode 52 from season 2 called “Mother Slank’s Intergalactic Vacation Paradise” but I haven’t been able to find that episode online, only a handful of other ones. UPDATE: I watched this episode and it’s not it, and personally I don’t think the Widget art style is a match to the elf guy but we can’t rule out it’s not from some other Widget episode.

Another new suggestion is a Canadian chocolate bar commercial that was running around that time, but no actual evidence has surfaced, and it’s possible people are confusing it with Little Hans (below). Interesting theory though.

PLEASE HELP THE SOLVE THE MYSTERY!!!!!!

Twitter user Rasuran1 posted these images: https://twitter.com/Rasuran1/status/1566794844927827969

They didn’t say what the cartoon is actually called, though, but a few other people in the replies say it’s either “The Christmas Gift of Light” or “The Soulmates: Gift of Light.” I haven’t found any further information about it other than a mention of it in an Edmonton newspaper from 2001 talking about holiday specials.