#to the resqueue

Another thing that RT failed to include is how Kikyo missed out on 50+ years of her sister’s life. We get one private meeting between the two, and that’s it. I have my complaints against Sunrise, but even they added an actual scene with Kaede during Kikyo’s last death. You’d think she’d be angsting over her little sister’s wellbeing at some point in the manga, maybe near the end of the series when she’s had time to process the trauma of her death, but we never get a proper farewell between the sisters. And it’s not like sibling relationships are trivialized in the series, Kohaku and Sango’s bond had a very strong focus. I would’ve been interested in Kikyo-Kaede interactions, more than the annoying love triangle we got in the anime :/

This was a super interesting ask to read! I will say that I don't find RT to have a very subtle style of storytelling, so if something isn't adressed it's rarely a way of meaning something else. But I think you're right about what you say there! The closest we come to that, I think, is in what Kagome says during Mount Azusa:

Otherwise I believe there's mostly a lot of 'they didn't trust each other' and 'because I didn't trust Kikyo', coming from Inuyasha, and that's about it.

I think Inuyasha would 100% rock a man bun, even just from a practical stand point I think he'd love it (could totally see Kagome helping him tying his hair!). Naraku seems to have more curly hair so I feel like it wouldn't be the best hairstyle for him also who would help him lmao certainly not kagura.

Hmmm, to be fair I haven't seen people outright refer to it as cheating (except Kagome's friends kinda lol) so I'm not sure what arguments you're replying to here and how these people felt about it. I mean, I wouldn't call it cheating so I don't have strong feelings about that part of the argument.

I have more of a bone to pick with Inuyasha about it than you seem to though, I wrote a post about it forever ago. Rereading it, it's more vitriolic and emotion-focused than a lot of my stuff after that, but it still holds up, so if you don't mind the ranting tone, feel free to read it! The bottom line is that a large part of the issue is that Inuyasha completely disregards Kagome's feelings (likely out of guilt), puts her in danger over it, and that his words and his actions are at odds. Also, it doesn't lead to much character growth, but that's another issue lol.

If you don't feel like reading the post, here's Kagome directly explaining parts of the problem to Inuyasha in the manga:

From a story stand-point but also from my perspective, it was, I think a point of no return. I mean, to me, this and giving Naraku the shards was the moment when Kikyo became unforgivable (this was my personal emotional reaction to it to be clear, but I do lean on that for my take on it). She'd killed before, but in 'self-defense' (not really but close enough). Killing Kagome, that was something else. I've said it before, but I think that's precisely why it never comes up again. Rumiko knows she's fucked up with that one lol, which is why it's better not to remind the readers of it, and why Inuyasha can't find out about it since it would definitely make him lose it .

From a character stand-point, it's a little different, especially since it's something we never come back to. We don't really get closure on it, we're, at best, supposed to forget it ever happened. There were probably many things. Kikyo was jealous, she felt threatened, and she wanted to make sure Kagome wouldn't be in the way any more. It's your pick which one of these (or other plausible reasons you have for it) was most important to her in that moment. I do think this was largely done on impulse by Kikyo. She tells Kagome 'I've had enough of you lot', and she's not just trying to kill her, she's willing to let everyone die. Inuyasa, Miroku, Sango, Shippo... I see it is an example of Kikyo listening to an ugly emotion she has, either in the spur of the moment or nurtured by the resentment she had against Kagome/Inuyasha. Though she tries to rationalize it, I have a hard time thinking she actually believes it's a good thing to do.

That mostly echoes how I feel and why that action is the point of no return for me. I will say, I personally doubt Kagome would have been on Kikyo's side though because I think Kagome would have been too concerned with the damage that Naraku would cause with the Jewel until he'd gathered it completely and because I think it was a stupid plan anyway. Also, I guess it depends on what you mean by 'threat' lol. In Kikyo's perspective, Kagome's replaced her, and imho, she's not completely wrong.

I would even say that Kagome is doing a better job than her at being close with Inuyasha, because she doesn't make him feel like he has to turn into a human to be with her. Also, at this point in the story, Kagome and Inuyasha are basically dating, and soon after that Inuyasha gets quite upset when Kagome implies that she thinks he has feelings for Kikyo.

I'm going to have to say Sesshomaru, I think. I mean, look at that: