It’s Time to Admit That Kagome Isn’t a Bad Character in Inuyasha

Inuyasha is a classic anime, and it brings back fond memories for viewers like me who looked forward to seeing the next episode each week, wondering when or if the Jewel of Four Souls would be completed. Of course, there’s usually one aspect or another that receives criticism in any show. In Inuyasha, Kagome ended up with more than her fair share of complaints. As the only person aside from Kikyo who can sense jewel shards, Kagome is a necessary part of the main cast if they want to find every shard. She’s not a perfect character–none of them are–but her character flaws make a lot of sense.

Kagome is the female lead for Inuyasha, and it’s her perspective that we tend to see most often in the show. As the reincarnation of Kikyo, whose body was burned with the Jewel of Four Souls, Kagome is born with the Jewel inside her abdomen. This becomes the catalyst of her adventure, as the power of the Jewel is enough to drag her into the sealed well on her family’s shrine, and resurrect a demon that was in the well. During this process, she’s transported to the feudal era, starting the main plot of the show.

Kagome’s Attitude Fits Her Position

Inuyasha starts on Kagome’s 15th birthday. It’s important to keep that in mind because Kagome gets a lot of hate for being annoying, but she’s just a teenager and has found herself in the middle of a battle between good and evil that happened about 500 years ago. I don’t know about you, but I have vague memories of being a teenager, and I know that I wouldn’t have handled that situation anywhere near as well as Kagome does. In fact, I probably wouldn’t have even climbed out of the well when I arrived in the feudal era. Then, you want me to fight demons? Yeah, that’s not happening.

Viewing Kagome in that context completely changes her character, making her into a brave girl who commits to helping with the dangerous task of putting the Jewel of Four Souls back together not only because she played a role in breaking it, but also because it’s the right thing to do. Even for an adult, that’s a big commitment, and Kagome is able to find the resolve and drive to undertake the task as a teenager. With that being said, I think she deserves to be annoying at times, especially when she has to get used to living in the past after she’s raised in the modern era with all the creature comforts of the future.

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Could Kagome’s Character Be Improved?

Sure, if there was ever a reboot of the original series, Kagome’s character could be different. Maybe she could have more inherent control over the priestess abilities she has as the reincarnation of Kikyo, or she could have more grace when dealing with Inuyasha. However, there’s no need to make changes because Kagome’s character isn’t bad. The problem is that we forget that she’s a teenager, and that leads to placing high standards on her character. If anything, it’d be nice to give her an outfit that’s better suited for fighting demons and traveling.

Instead, it’s time to admit that a lot of us were too harsh on Kagome. She’s only a teenager during the show, and she honestly handles the events pretty well when you take that into consideration. Even when it comes to her jealousy over Inuyasha meeting with Kikyo, you have to remember that this is a crush, and it’s complicated when your crush still has feelings for somebody else. Oh, and that somebody else is technically also you, but the person you were in your past life.

The perfect fictional character needs to be flawed. When a character doesn’t have any flaws, they become unrelatable. It also makes the story less interesting in general, since watching characters figure out how to overcome their weaknesses and push forward even when they’re afraid is important for both character development and building emotional attachments between the character and audience. It’s also true that not every character is well-written, which can lead to justified criticisms of that character. However, that isn’t the case with Kagome. She’s not a bad character—she’s just a teenager thrown into impossible circumstances, and she handles it better than a lot of teenagers would.