Reviewer: lalaone Signed
Date: 11 Aug 2013
Title: Chapter 1: Behind Walls
Sesshomaru and Kagura are canon.
1) Wasn't he willing to let her drown in the river, only jumping in after Rin fell in?
2) Didn't he hate her/show disdain for her until after she died?
3) Didn't he move on from her death very easily?
4) I thought Kagura's feelings for him were one-sided and he only saw her as a friend?
5) I thought he only had respect and compassion for her?
6) Then what about seeing her as a sister or family member? That's stronger than just respect or compassion.
7) But when Tenseiga said his heart has been changed in a way it hasn't been before, didn't it mean this was the first time he cared about the death of someone he didn't love since when he saves Rin it hurts him personally?
8) But Kagura died! Doesn't that mean it can't possibly be canon?
9) But didn't he saved Inuyasha and Kagome and those people too?
10) Don't they have to be married or kiss or something for them to be a canon couple?
11) I thought Rin was Sesshomaru's love interest since she is alive and Kagura is dead?
12) Are you saying I have to like them instead of whatever I like right now?
Q: Wasn't he willing to let her drown in the river, only jumping in after Rin fell in?
A: Actually, he didn't go in after Rin either. He just stood there. He didn't go in after anyone until after JAKEN fell in. Only then did he move. So what are you trying to say? That he doesn't care about Rin either, and Jaken is the ONLY person he cares about?
Also, that's the same way he acted when he first met Rin. When he saw her dead body, he was originally gonna leave her. He didn't do anything until AFTER Tenseiga pulsed and told him to act. And only then did he save her.
However, that doesn't mean he didn't care, now does it? Sesshomaru is like that. He's the "stoic" character who likes to pretend that he cares about nobody, and deny that he has any good in him. But that doesn't mean he doesn't care-it just means that he's struggling to keep his persona on and TRY not to care..
Although he failed. He saved her anyway. Kagura was the largest, heaviest and the most burdensome out of all of them, and she was wet and unconscious. It would have been much easier to just ignore Kagura, and yet he didn't.
Plus afterwards, he stayed there. He didn't leave until she woke up and he knew she was okay, which he did not have to do.
Q: Didn't he hate her/show disdain for her until after she died?
A: When and where does he show any hatred or disdain for her in any way shape or form? Sure at first he was wary of her because he didn't know her and she was Naraku's detachment, but he soon gets over that.
As a matter of fact, he was very tolerant-she used to yell and scream and curse and he'd just stand there, allowing it. The person who expressed disdain towards the other was Kagura, not Sesshomaru. He never even said one abusive WORD towards her, even while she was standing there cursing him out. He let her get away with EVERYTHING, including KIDNAPPING RIN. When Kagura kidnapped Rin, he blamed Naraku and choked Kohaku, but didn't even say a word to Kagura-he acted like he didn't even know it was her. No mention of it, even though Jaken constantly reminded him it was her.
In fact, after a little while, he took it apon himself to go to her and not the other way around. When they were looking for the gateway she was just standing there, and he hopped on the rock, got closer to her, and asked her what she knew even though the encounter before, she had kidnapped Rin. Jaken was standing there yelling that she'd kidnapped Rin and Rin was HIDING IN FEAR of her, and he did this.
He's also lied for her. When she gave him Fuyoheki shards, Goryoumaru asked him how he found him. Jaken was about to tell the truth and tell him about Kagura, but Sesshomaru told him to shut up and and lied to protect her. Not to mention the river incident.
All of the above happened BEFORE she died and not after. So the relationship had been slowly progressing for a while, with him showing a bit of mistrust in the beginning only, but getting over it.
Q: Didn't he move on from her death very easily?
A: Read the answer to the question above. Not only that, he blew aside a chance to kill Naraku to get to her while she was dying. He made sure to let her know he had come specifically to see her (which is something he does not do, he usually tells people that he was "just passing through" or that they were "just in the way" when he gets caught helping someone). He drew Tenseiga WITHOUT it having to pulse and tell him to do so for the VERY FIRST TIME to save her. Tenseiga didn't ask him to save her, but he tried anyway. That was the first time he ever tried to save someone by his own will. That's something he didn't even do with Rin, until after this happened.
He knowingly put his own life in danger and broke his only offensive sword despite everyone's warnings just because Moryoumaru said a few bad words about her. Everyone was standing there, yelling at him to pull the sword out because it was gonna break and plus like Inuyasha said, his nose is sharp-so he knew it was gonna break. He knew he had no real way to fight without it, but risked his life anyway. If Inuyasha hadn't intervened at the last second, he probably wouldn't have gotten out alive. Even Moryoumaru had to point it out.
Tenseiga itself called out to Totosai, saying that Sesshomaru had learned enough compassion now and was ready to wield it as a fighting sword. That was the FIRST time, the VERY first time he'd been moved enough-meaning not even Rin had enough influence on him. When he was told about it, Sesshomaru instantly knew that Tenseiga was talking about Kagura. It didn't do that because of Rin or anyone else. It was his feelings for Kagura, as confirmed by Tenseiga itself, that took his heart to that next level.
Sure sounds like he "moved on very easily", huh? Nope. He didn't. It was a huge deal. You have confirmation from Jaken, Rin, Moryoumaru, the entire Inu-tachi, Tenseiga, and Totosai that something is happening here. Not to mention Rin's support. That is NOT easily moving on.
Q: I thought Kagura's feelings for him were one-sided and he only saw her as a friend?
A: Read the answer to above.
Actively protecting someone from getting in trouble when you wouldn't usually give a damn about anyone else's life, letting them get away with things you would never tolerate from anyone else, completely ignoring any and all crimes/misdeeds (including kidnapping your adoptive daughter), saving them and staying there with them until you were sure they were okay, throwing away a chance to kill your number one enemy to see them before they died, making sure they knew you came for them when usually you would try to make it look like you were just passing through, trying to save them by your own free will without someone having to push you to do so when you've never done that for anyone before, purposely putting your life at risk just because someone said a few bad words about them (and then almost dying afterwards) and breaking your only weapon, later having Tenseiga-which can read your heart-confirm that you've been moved in a way that you've never been before in all the years the sword's been with you and that only now has an empty hole in your heart been filled for the first time and vows to avenge her-and yet it's still supposed to be one-sided??
Q: I thought he only had respect and compassion for her?
A: No, that's Kagome (who he has worked with and saved), Sango (who he did not kill, after she tried to kill Rin to save Miroku and then she told him to go ahead and kill her when she got caught), his brother (who he reluctantly does form an alliance with), Jaken (retainer who, though they clash, he has worked with for fifty years with and has saved his life once), and Kaede (who he trusted enough to leave Rin with).
The level of compassion and devotion he displays for Kagura goes way beyond what he's shown for the people who are his "allies" and has "grudging respect" for. Way, way beyond. The kind of compassion he has for her is much stronger and deeper-it occurs between families, lifelong friends, and lovers. Sesshomaru's shown symphathy before. He's shown compassion before. He's had allies before, and continues to do so. But Tenseiga didn't react this way for any of those occasions, and his relationship with this Kagura bears no resemblance to any of those. No, this instance is somehow different.
Tenseiga said his heart had been changed in a way that it HASN'T BEEN BEFORE. We've seen him show compassion and respect for others plenty of times in the series-his father, Rin, his brother, Kagome, etc. The only type of emotion he HASN'T felt before in the series is romantic love.
Q: Then what about seeing her as a sister or family member? That's stronger than just respect or compassion.
A: Relationships like the ones between families and lifelong friends (like the one between Sesshomaru and Rin) take a long time to develop. In order to love someone like family, you have to know them much better than that. A family relationship like the one Rin and Sesshomaru have takes time to develop, what with her following him for three years and whatnot.
Sesshomaru and Kagura didn't even know each other very well, so that can't be it.
A crush, however, does not take so long to develop, you can very well have a crush on someone you don't know well, and crushes CAN very well stir intense emotions in someone (like the ones Sesshomaru's been shown to have for Kagura).
And once again, Tenseiga said his heart had been changed in a way that it HASN'T BEEN BEFORE. We've seen him show platonic love for others plenty of times in the series-his father, Rin, his brother, Kagome, etc. The only type of emotion he HASN'T felt before in the series is romantic love.
Q: But when Tenseiga said his heart has been changed in a way it hasn't been before, didn't it mean this was the first time he cared about the death of someone he didn't love since when he saves Rin it hurts him personally?
A: So if THAT was what was notable about this...then why didn't Tenseiga change into a fighting weapon any of the other times he saved someone he didn't love? He didn't love Kagome and he saved her. or Miroku, Inuyasha, Kagome or Jaken and he saved them.
Tenseiga said an empty hole in his heart had been filled for the first time. He's cared about deaths of people he didn't love plenty of times before. Let's face it. The only type of feeling he hasn't felt for anyone in the series before is the romantic kind.
Q: But Kagura died! Doesn't that mean it can't possibly be canon?
A: Actually, in TRAGIC romances, one part of the couple usually dies before the other. Just because it was tragic does not mean it wasn't a romance.
In that case, that means Inupapa/Izayoi, Inupapa/Sessmom and Inuyasha/Kikyo aren't canon. That means that Romeo and Juliet never loved each other. That would mean Jack and Rose from Titanic aren't canon.
Just because one party died before the other doesn't mean the feelings were never there. Think back to the loved ones you lost-does the fact they died mean that you never loved each other? No.
Q: But didn't he saved Inuyasha and Kagome and those people too?
A: There's a difference beween a one-time passing through thing and having a relationship with someone, not to mention Tenseiga didn't change into a fighting weapon for any of those instances, meaning this instance is different from those. It said an "empty hole in his heart had been filled for the first time", meaning this was the first time this had happened, it was special, more notable and different from those instances. It obviously also had a much bigger emotional impact on him and played a direct hand in changing him.
Q: Don't they have to be married or kiss or something for them to be a canon couple?
A: Actually, Rumiko Takahashi is notorious for not giving her canon pairings resolutions like that and dancing around in circles, teasing her readers. Inuyasha and Kagome never kiss. Plenty of her canon couples never get married. You don't need full make-out sessions for the couple to be canon. All that you need is reciprocated romantic interest.
So as long as both characters have romantic (not platonic) feelings for each other, no matter how it turns out from then on, it's a canon pairing. And as we have discussed above, Sesshomaru and Kagura do both have romantic feelings for each other, despite not having time to develop the relationship past a certain stage-which makes them canon.
Q: I thought Rin was Sesshomaru's love interest since she is alive and Kagura is dead?
A: Rin is canonically a SUPPORTER of Sesshomaru/Kagura. She gets very happy about the possibility of the couple, and tells Jaken to trust her more because of it, seemingly trying to get them closer together. Would Rin act like this if she had any romantic interest in Sesshomaru whatsoever? Nope. Would Rumiko have written her this way if she had ever intended for her to be his love interest? Nope. Plus, Rumiko's made her feelings on pairings like those very clear when Koharu came in the picture and everyone was DISGUSTED and shocked, even though she had returned when she was of age. A person that supports those kinds of pairings would NEVER write something like that.
The manga is over, and she has gone to live with Kaede. There is no future. There is nothing after chapter 558. Those 558 chapters are the story, they are the series, they are the canon. This is a fictional story-Takahashi made it so that Sesshomaru and Rin have no romantic feelings for each other during the series. Whereas Sesshomaru and Kagura do. So it's obvious what the canonical romantic pairing is. Kagura being dead and Rin being alive does not change the ROLES they played during the series.
That's like saying that Inuyasha/Sango is more canon than Inuyasha/Kikyo because Kikyo is dead and Sango is alive.
Rin was meant to be like an adoptive daughter. For more on that, go here:
Q: Are you saying I have to like them instead of whatever I like right now?
A: NO. You can go and like/dislike whatever you want, as long as you don't deny that this is the canon pairing.
Author's Response: If you like it or not, no longer matters. IT'S CANON NOW, OFFICIALLY. Sess/Rin loli (she is 16 now, but he's had this plan since she was 8) is now officially CANON with the release of the Asatte drama CD as a freebie you get when you order the release of all the volumes of InuYasha in Wideban format.
The release of the drama CD asatte (The day after tomorrow) contains the following story/dialog, which puts to rest ALL DOUBTS about Sess and Rin being ROMANTIC, or, at the very least, HIS feelings for HER being ROMANTIC.
This is the contents of the CD, translated from Japanese (not by me, there is a link at the bottom):
One day, Rin asks Kagome how Inuyasha proposed to her. Then, Kagome realized that he never formally asked for her hand in marriage, therefore she went and had a discussion with him, to which Inuyasha thought it meant the “black monk” (because she uses the english word and that sounds like “the black monk” in japanese, plus he has too much ear wax). He thought it was some demon that they had to fight. So Kagome told him to “sit”.
After, the girls (Rin, Kagome, and Sango) have their own chat about proposing, and Sango also notes that Miroku has been acting weird recently. He’s been saying that there is a wind tunnel developing in his heart. ( i think he means he feels that Sango is kinda neglecting him because of all the children she has to take care of ^^) So the girls decide to go talk to the guys to find out what’s wrong.
On the other hand, Inuyasha and Shippo are discussing about the “black monk”, and thinks that it’s Miroku that Kagome was talking about. Therefore when Miroku walks by (while talking to himself), Shippo and Inuyasha attacks him. Whereas Miroku states his life seems too peaceful and makes his heart feel empty, so he want to train himself again. When they see the girls running towards them, Inuyasha opens meido zangetsuha and they run into hell.
Meanwhile, Sesshomaru is waiting for Rin’s decision when he asks for Jaken’s age and how Jaken feels on being alone for so many years.
So Jaken replies while singing (?): I am not alone, I am always following Lord Sesshomaru! Does asking such things this suddenly mean that the lord wants me to be gone? I rather die!
Sesshomaru: Then go die!
Jaken: So mean, saying such a thing is too heartless!
Sesshomaru: This Sesshomaru has an idea now.
Jaken: Huh? That is?
Sesshomaru: I feel…….it is time….
Jaken: May I ask what my lord is talking about?
Sesshomaru: It’s almost time to tell Rin.
Jaken: Oh, oh, oh, oh! That! The question to ask Rin if she wants to continue to live in the village, or choose to become Lord Sesshomaru’s bride.
Sesshomaru: But, I haven’t found the right words yet.
Jaken: That’s true! I cannot think of what Lord Sesshomaru will say!
Sesshomaru: Saying whatever will be fine…..
Jaken: That’s not acceptable! Me who have been single for 800 years can not help my lord….how about…. let’s go ask Gobodo-sama (Lady Mother)!
This resulted in Sesshomaru taking out Bakusaiga in vetoing the idea. Lastly, he takes out the Meido stone amulet that he got from his mother and went to hell, thinking that his father might know what words he should say.
The next track title: “Father~ Love Troubles” (sorry, I don’t really know how to translate better in English of this)
Looking at the remains of his father, Sesshomaru thinks that at this point how his father asked Izayoi (Inuyasha’s mother) to be with him.
Then, Jaken comes and destroys Sesshomaru’s deep thought with his noisy singing: We are alive~~ Therefore one day we will die~~~
Sesshomaru shouts in anger: Go die far away!!!
Suddenly, Inuyasha and the gang came crashing down on Inu no Taisho’s remains.
Sesshomaru seeing the mess that they made, gets extremely pissed and was about to lecture Inuyasha when Rin makes a suggestion of a tongue twister competition, where the person who loses has to clean up the mess.
Jaken initially wanted to oppose the idea, but Sesshomaru counters: Jaken, do you want to oppose?
Which caused Jaken to back down.
Inuyasha and gang happily competes, but it was hard to find a winner. At last, it was Sesshomaru’s turn, and when everyone was wondering what he was going to say
Sesshomaru: Rin, listen carefully —— barubarubarubaru (talking in superspeed)
Rin understood it immediately and responds blushing: Oh! Lord Sesshomaru, Rin is so embarrassed (as in shy from the words he had said)
Because no one but Rin understood it, everyone was dumbfounded and Sesshomaru left with Jaken when he stated that he was done.
Lastly, Kagome and Inuyasha lost and had to clean up the remains. Then Kagome reveals happily that she recorded Sesshomaru’s toungue twister with her pen recorder. (yes, im guessing they have that in Japan?) She then plays it super slow for Inuyasha and her to listen. It turns out to be a heartwarming confession:
Rin, are you finding life in the village okay?
No one is bullying you, right?
Are you wearing the kimono that I gave you last time?
If you ever find yourself in danger, sad or depressed, no matter when, as long as you call this Sesshomaru, I will instantly run to your side.
Even if we are far from one another, as long as you call my name, I will immediately fly to you. If not shouting, you can whistle loudly or silently.
There is no distance between us, our hearts are tied together. The power of trust will win over any fear. And that affection between us is also what makes our hearts more abundant and enriched.
Therefore, you can just be yourself right now. There is enough time for me to look forward in you finding your feelings for me. Prior to this, take care of yourself……
When Inuyasha finished listening he says: che, this isnt a tounge twister at all.
Kagome: Yea! This is a proposal!
