Rumiko Takahashi's epic adventure series InuYasha continues with the release of the 41st volume in the series.  Though it only has a mere three episodes, the trio on this disc are filled with action and some significant plot developments.  Not only does Inu battle Bankotsu in a mortal fight, but a very powerful villain from the past proves that it's hard to keep an evil demon down.  Fans of the show won't want to miss this one.
 

Series background:

As told in the first episodes, Kagome Higurashi is a typical teenage girl.  On her 15th birthday she goes looking for her little brother and discovers him near a centuries-old well that is on their property.  He's afraid that the family cat has fallen down the well, and Kagome, being a good sister, investigates.  Peering into the dark shaft, the poor girl is grabbed and pulled in.  Fighting free she manages to climb out, but things have changed drastically.  She's now in feudal Japan and her life becomes much more complicated.

It turns out that Kagome is the spitting image of another woman, Kikyo, who was in love with the half-demon Inuyasha.  Unfortunately, the two were tricked by the demon Naraku into betraying each other.  The half-demon ended up imprisoned and the woman died, all because of an item that grants demons terrific power, that Shikon jewel.

While being attacked Kagome ends up freeing Inuyasha, and when the Shikon jewel is shattered soon after, the pair team up to reassemble it.  Only Kagome can sense the jewel fragments, and Inuyasha wants to take revenge against Naraku.  They are joined on their journey by aa colorful assortment of characters including a monk named Miroku, and Sango a demon slayer.

This volume:
 
Three action packed episodes make up this volume.  Inuyasha and company have gotten to Mt. Harukei but their troubles are just starting.  Demons start streaming out of the mountain and attack.  While the other fight, Inu encounter Bankotsu, the last member of the Shichinin-tai, who is pretty powerful.  Having several shards of the jewel embedded in his body, this is one foe who isn't so easily defeated.
 
While Inuyasha is battling, Kouga and Kagome head inside the mountain where Kagome senses more Shikon fragments.  Traveling deeper and deeper into the rock, they discover that Naraku has yet another trap, and this one not only ensnares some of the heroes, but nets him a new body in the process.

Having missed the episodes between the end of season 2 and the beginning of this disc, I'll admit that the situation was a little confusing at the beginning.  Not being familiar with some of the characters or knowing how their circumstances have changed did lessen the impact of this disc a bit.  Having said that, this was still a pretty exciting volume with very good fight scenes and some intense moments.  Heading towards the end of the fifth season this show still has a good head of steam and the next volume promises to be equally exciting.

Audio:

This set comes with the original Japanese language track and an English dub, both in stereo.  I alternated audio tracks for a few shows and found them both to be very good, though I prefer the Japanese track a bit more.  Both languages were free from hiss, dropouts, distortion and other audio defects.  The dialog was easy to hear and the music came through clearly.  A solid sounding set.

Video:

The full frame color video looks very good.  The image is bright and colorful and the lines are very sharp.  The level of detail is fine, and there are no print defects to speak of.  On the digital side, things also look very good.  A little minor aliasing is present, but it doesn't mar the picture.  A very nice looking set.

Extras:

The only extra on this disc is an art gallery.

Final Thoughts:

Though I haven't screened many of the discs immediately preceding this one, I didn't find it very hard to get into.  The action was fast and furious, and the plot moved at a good clip.  Several interesting things occur in these episodes, so if you've followed the series this far, you won't want to stop now. Even though I really thing that four episodes should be the minimum released on a DVD, this disc is still Recommended.