InuYasha Movie 3: Swords of an Honorable Ruler 7/10

The third of 4 InuYasha movies and they still haven't fixed the character designs.

Anime films based on an on-going TV series usually assume you have some familiarity with the show on which they're based. In this case I believe this movie falls between the NA 4th and 5th seasons but unlike the previous movie, has little to do with the on-going plot of the series at that point (or any point for that matter).

Compared to the TV series I really don't see any differences other than the uglied up character designs. The plot is like a 3-4 episode arc of the series without the credits, eye-catches, previews and re-caps. The CG effects, music and art really don't feel like anything special here. This isn't a bad thing but I expected a little more flash somewhere for a theatrical release, if not in the plot than on the technical side. This movie came out in 2003.

As far as the plot goes, the story is about a 3rd sword InuYasha's father used to carry around with him along with InuYasha's (the destructive one) and his brother Sesshomaru's (the healing one). This third sword is not crafted from one of their father's fangs (watch the show to understand) but an older sword possessed by an ancient demon. This sword is a mighty powerful one and the story revolves around the two brother's battle to destroy the sword which has possessed a long dead rival for InuYasha's mother's affections.

This is strictly a fight movie. Unlike the last movie that advanced InuYasha and Kagome's relationship this movie has precious little of the minor characters at all. They're there but don't say much. We learn more about Sesshomaru and InuYasha's father than anyone else and it's still very little. I was a little disappointed. If you aren't going to advance the characters in the TV series do it in the movies.

I can recommend this to any Sesshomaru fans and any InuYasha fans easily. Anyone else might like it as a fight movie but might need a crash course in who the characters are.