An Ode to Kikyo: In Defense of one of Takahashi’s Most Hated Characters

If “Density of Fan Hate on Screen” is a quantifiable metric Iron Alchemistshou Tucker will undoubtedly become a recorder. But Kikyo, Inuyasha Fandom is most active and still easily cracks the top 10, if not the top 5. To say this is different: A series of priestess stories are actually caused by her kindness and selfless treatment of a sick person, and will find themselves ranked very well among people like this. My Hero AcademicMining (sexual harasser), pieceTucker’s Saint Charlos (arguably the legitimate recipient of the most satisfying fist in all anime), “probably the most popular hated anime character ever”. What are the mysterious words – What happens here when you encounter a carnival?

Spoiler warning Inuyasha.

Kikyo spent a lot of time watching the kids and caring for the patient – almost feeling like a good person, not just an act. However, the true nature of her kindness is the catalyst that catalyzes the entire series. This is what prompted her to know the wanderer Inuyashawhich prompted her to treat the left-wing robber Onigumo, which is why Naraku was so obsessed with her soul, making her soul dark. Oh yes, I think there is the whole “She protects Shikon Jewel” stuff, which is important.

Despite this, Kikyo Inuyasha fansite (inuyashaworld.com) In a 2004 thread, this thread links to other major kikyo threads. Although her story contributes a lot, her time on screen develops further, especially if you ignore her sealed, often replayed flashbacks Inuyasha Leave, she will be with Inuyasha– Put her firmly next to the character realm.

To understand whether all hate Kikyo gets a reasonable question (spoiler alert: no), we first need to figure out: Why do people hate her in the first place? Is it because she is Kagome’s biggest love rival? Even asked the follow-up question: whether people don’t like it Inuyasha/Kikyo boat, or do they just don’t like Kikyo themselves? This is a chicken or egg type situation: people don’t like it Inuyasha/kikyo, because they hate kikyo first, or they don’t like Kikyo because of their annoying thoughts Inuyasha Have you chosen so many of her? Maybe, is there something else going on? After all, she does fight Inuyasha She has a lot after returning to the world of life. Different people don’t like Kikiyo for different reasons, but broadly speaking, it’s just all of the above. That being said, the sheer power of transport culture, especially in the 2000s animation craze – should not be destroyed, while Kikiyo is Inuyasha Kagome is probably the most discussed factor when it comes to anti-kikyo sentiment, so we’ll start there.

Transportation culture

I wouldn’t sit here, immorally pretending that the transport culture of the past ~15 years or so has no completely irrelevant side, and what I’m going to describe is just a weird relic of past times. Nevertheless, especially compared to today, the transport culture among English anime fanatics of the 2000s is still absurd and debated. In its heyday, shippers Inuyasha Fanatics can easily become one of the more enthusiastic anime fanatics.

What this means for the average bystander, you don’t have to be long or difficult to find online scrap Inuyasha It will eventually be with Kagome or Kikyo. Although they are usually sharper and full of emojis than this, these arguments often sound close to the following:

•Cicchio is dead! She hates it Inuyasha Nothing else to ask for but harass him and his friends! She is dead! kagome is much less toxic! Have I mentioned that Kiki is dead?

• Inuyasha First of all, love Kikyo, he still loves her! Kagome should stick to his period men! Also, Kagome only has 15!

Interestingly, while not every shipper’s ultimate goal is to make their couple a canon, the question of which girl is going to traverse the finish line with which girl Inuyasha It’s a specific point of debate Inuyasha Shipper. Furthermore, their interest didn’t stop there – more specifically, there was a general feeling: “My girl must not win enough, the other must lose”, and in a few years it will continue to define Naruto Transport War (I think it’s the most intense anime transport war to date, but I won’t open that giant worm here and now). In this way, it can be said Inuyasha The transport war is gone, so Naruto Transport wars can Naruto-running.

In simpler languages, this is not always enough if you are pro-core – you also have a good chance of becoming anti-kikyo and vice versa. To prove this, there is no need to be further apart from the abundance and size of anti-kikyo or anti-kagome groups/threads that survive in dusty, largely forgotten corners of the internet. That being said, this may prompt you to wonder: Wait, does Kagome have hatred too? Here is a Segways that goes straight to the next point: the Anti-Kic Guild with 4,625 members on Gaia Online.

Misogyny

This coincides with the culture of transportation, because many of the misogynistic symptoms that anime fanatics have been shown in this decade by using transportation as an excuse. What do I mean? Basically, it becomes very easy to use excuses as stupid bitch, and it’s almost easy to hate any female character [insert ship here]True love. See the highlighted example: Kairi from The heart of the kingdomMisa death Note,Cherry blossoms Narutoetc. Yes, there is something to say about the aversions people who write about these women in the first place, but for the love of Shikon Jewel we have to stay focused and dissect this will take this article in a completely different direction.

My purpose is to get here Inuyasha When you start to hate female characters in general, especially because it’s because she’s a giant iceberg, that’s especially on the top of the 2000s pop peaks, no one will notice the eyes, especially that. Kagome gained quite a bit of her hatred for the same reason, but Kikyo is definitely more on receiving. If Kagome gets the ongoing hatred, maybe even the river on her worst days, then Kikyo will gush out of the waterfall. Kikyo Hate is bigger, louder and prouder. Yes, partly because she blocks the more popular boat Inuyasha Get together with Kagome. Yes, this is also partly because of misogynistic stripes in many anime fan cultures at the time, so open hatred for female characters is usually disproportionate. It’s easy for Kikyo to end this defense here, saying that Kikyo Hate is unfair and that she doesn’t reasonably critically examine the actual situation. But, to be fair, not every criticism of Kikiyo is so fragile.

Kiko’s Confrontation

After her rebirth, Kikyo spent a lot of fresh time on the screen, and she seemed to try to make life difficult Inuyasha and his allies. But don’t pretend she does it for no reason. Kikyo’s entire plan (which is a reliable one) is a plan to purify Naraku with the full Shikon Jewel, so she needs Naraku to have full jewelry. Obviously, this is Inuyasha His friends became quite difficult. Obviously, when opportunities arise, she will hinder them. However, her plan ultimately failed because she chose to save Kohaku.

Her contempt for our protagonists is much deeper than their obstacles to their goals. Consider: Kikyo devotes herself to protecting others, even if she desires to be a normal woman. Before Naraku enters the picture, she hopes to achieve this with her beloved person Inuyasha Beside her. But these plans were suddenly ripped away from her life.

She couldn’t even find the peace she longed for death. First, she quickly learned that she needed to feed on her soul to maintain her existence and felt blatantly ambivalent. Then, there is a fact Inuyasha– She thought she was away from her own good before she died – so too.

She will catch up with the speed soon, that’s the plot of Naraku, Inuyasha In fact, she was not betrayed. First, the whole situation is angry (who won’t be angry?). Then, obligations, obligations and possible inclusion. She should have protected Shikon Jewel. Even if it wasn’t her fault, Naraku still attributed his presence to how Onigmo felt about her – whether she deserved it or not, it’s not hard to imagine that she felt about it. Sure enough, she quickly planned to purify Naraku and Shikon Jewel together. But to do this, she must keep going—she must continue to feed on her soul. But she also had to not distract herself from her, lest she risk losing herself with the desire for a more normal life. However, according to her own life, she can’t be normal, but she doesn’t want to be a monster either. In other words, Chichio “live” in a state of constant promotion.

Kikyo exists in the intentional grey area between selfishness and self-sacrifice, saints and sinners. Through design, everything about her felt contradictory. Then why did she be Inuyasha Is there any difference? So why it is surprising that, especially before learning the truth about the situation that led to her death (even afterwards), she would hesitate Inuyasha Or kagome? Or she was so jealous of Kagome, not only was he still alive, but Inuyashaand the ordinary life she can return to more or less when she needs it? Or the one who grew up like her – a priest, a healer, a pure guardian, a pure guardian of Shikon Jewel – is it difficult to express and communicate feelings like anger and jealousy?

Should Chichio get hatred?

The word, no. In other words, the promise is by far the most tragic person Inuyasha. She is messy and complex, making people feel pain and reality. Her so-called “confrontation” is not so likable Inuyasha And Kagome came for this, but even more so, trying to fulfill her plan to beat Naraku’s, it’s hard for her to express her multiple feelings. She is always doomed to be misunderstood, and the dual power of misogyny and some aggressive transport culture within the fanatic will only add fuel to the fire (and exceed a lot).

This is not worth noting, but unfortunately, in the series’ Popularity, the hateful Kikiyoung is foreseeable. Sadly, this fits in broad terms with the rest of her character arc, a legacy of Kikiyo. Even so, Kikyo is still easy to attract attention for the same reason Inuyashabut in Takahashi Universe – The uplifting worldif you want. Neither an enemy nor an ally Inuyasha And his friends, she most wanted to know about an ordinary peace, but she was cursed to live in this world, and it was a hellish world that deprived her of it.

because medium To support them Lumiko Takahashi The weekend is lifelike. Please check their Inuyasha here!

The views and opinions expressed in this article are only the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of Anime News Network, its employees, owners or sponsors.