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Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time (犬夜叉 時代を越える想い)

Inuyasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time (犬夜叉 時代を越える想い, Eiga Inuyasha: Toki o Koeru Omoi) is a 2001 Japanese animated fantasy film, the first theatrical feature based on Rumiko Takahashi's manga Inuyasha, released in Japan by Toho on December 15, 2001 with a running time of 100 minutes.1 It tells a self-contained story, written for the film rather than adapted from the manga, in which the half-demon Inuyasha and the time-traveling schoolgirl Kagome face Menomaru, the son of a moth demon who invaded Japan from the continent two centuries earlier.2 • 3

Key factDetail
Japanese releaseDecember 15, 2001, distributed by Toho; 100 minutes1
BasisFirst film version of Rumiko Takahashi's manga Inuyasha, using a fully original story2
Director / screenplayToshiya Shinohara (director); Katsuyuki Sumisawa (screenplay)3
Music and theme songScore by Kaoru Wada; theme song "no more words" performed by Ayumi Hamasaki3 • 4
VillainMenomaru (瑪瑙丸), son of the moth demon Hyoga, accompanied by the demon girls Ruri and Hari3
ProductionInuyasha Production Committee (Shogakukan, Yomiuri TV, Sunrise, Shogakukan Production, Nippon TV, Toho, Yomiuri TV Enterprise); animation by Sunrise5
Technical formatColor, European vista aspect ratio (1:1.66), Dolby SRD sound, 35mm film5

Spoilers

Story

The film's premise follows the series: on her fifteenth birthday, Kagome Higurashi, a third-year junior high school student and the daughter of a shrine family, can travel through the well on the shrine grounds to the Sengoku period, where she unsealed the half-demon Inuyasha. The two, joined by the fox demon Shippo, the monk Miroku, the demon slayer Sango, and the flea demon Myoga, search for the shards of the Jewel of Four Souls, an orb said to grant any ambition.1

The film's antagonist is Menomaru, leader of a demon clan that came from the continent with the Mongol invasions. He is the son of Hyoga, the moth demon who led that army, and he comes to avenge his father, who was defeated by Inuyasha's father.1 • 7 Accompanied by the demon girls Ruri and Hari, he seals the heroes' techniques one after another.1 His true aim is not the Jewel of Four Souls but Inuyasha's sword Tessaiga, and he intends to absorb Hyoga's power sealed within the Tree of Ages to become a vastly more powerful demon; the Tree of Ages is distinct from the Goshinboku, the sacred tree at the shrine where Kagome and Inuyasha first met.3 • 1 • 13

In the course of the battle, Kagome, controlled by Menomaru, nearly kills Inuyasha, and the priestess Kikyo, fearing that Kagome would otherwise be unable to return, sends her back to her own era, where she finds herself unable to travel back through time.4 • 1 Kagome and Inuyasha convey their feelings to each other across the eras through the sacred tree, and she rejoins the fight; together the group destroys Menomaru's scheme.1

Background and production

The film followed the television anime adaptation of Inuyasha, which began broadcasting in 2000, and was the manga's first theatrical version.2 • 4 It was produced by the Inuyasha Production Committee, a consortium of Shogakukan, Yomiuri Telecasting Corporation, Sunrise, Shogakukan Production, Nippon Television, Toho, and Yomiuri TV Enterprise, with Sunrise handling the animation and Asahiade and A.P.P.P. credited with production cooperation.5

Toshiya Shinohara, who had worked as animation director on The Boy Who Saw the Wind, directed; the screenplay was by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, and character designs were by Hideyuki Motohashi and Yoshihito Hishinuma.2 • 3 Kaoru Wada composed the music, and the theme song "no more words" was performed by Ayumi Hamasaki.3 • 4

According to a Sunrise retrospective, the film was made by a staff lineup distinct from the television series' production team, and producer Masahiko Suwa asked audiences before release to watch with the meaning of the title, "feelings that cross eras," in mind.6

Cast

The film brings together the television series' main voice cast along with the film-original characters.2 Kappei Yamaguchi voiced Inuyasha and Satsuki Yukino voiced Kagome; the other credited roles include Kumiko Watanabe as Shippo, Koji Tsujitani as Miroku, Houko Kuwashima as Sango, Noriko Hidaka as Kikyo, Ken Narita as Sesshomaru, Kyoko Kishida's colleague Tadashi Nakamura's role aside, and Toshihiko Seki as Menomaru, with Ruri voiced by Hekiru Shiina and Hari by Tomoko Kawakami.3 • 4 • 8

Reception and place in the series

The film established the format the later Inuyasha theatrical features followed: a completely original story released as an annual event film, with the first one opening in December.4 Three more films followed, for a total of four theatrical works in the series.9

On the Japanese review aggregator Filmarks the film holds a rating of 3.6 out of 5 from 2,676 user reviews, with 62 percent of ratings in the 3.1 to 4.0 band.10 Kinenote records an average score of 65.8 points from 29 users.5 JustWatch lists an IMDb rating of 7.2 from about 3,100 votes.11 The Sunrise profile notes that the film was well received for its depiction of the feelings between Kagome and Inuyasha that cross eras, as the title describes.4

The film remains available on Japanese streaming services; as of 2026 it is offered on subscription by Hulu, U-NEXT, DMM TV, and Anime Times, among others, though not on Netflix, ABEMA, or Disney+.12

References

  1. 映画 犬夜叉 時代を越える想い : 作品情報・キャスト・あらすじ, 映画.com
  2. 犬夜叉　時代を越える想い (2001)：キャスト・あらすじ・作品情報, シネマトゥデイ
  3. 映画　犬夜叉　時代（とき）を越える想い (2001), allcinema
  4. 犬夜叉　時代を越える想い, サンライズワールド
  5. 映画　犬夜叉　時代を越える想い, KINENOTE
  6. 『犬夜叉　時代を越える想い』コメンタリー付上映レポート, サンライズワールド
  7. 時代を越える想い, 犬夜叉ウィキ (Fandom)
  8. アニメ「犬夜叉」シリーズの配信を全話無料で見れる動画サイトは？, シネマトゥデイ VOD比較
  9. TV, バンダイナムコフィルムワークス 新商品資料 (2026)
  10. 映画 犬夜叉 時代を越える想い, Filmarks映画
  11. 犬夜叉 時代を越える想い (2001), JustWatch
  12. 映画 犬夜叉 時代を越える想いの動画配信サービスまとめ, Filmarks映画
  13. The Inuyasha Companion - Movie 1: Affections Touching Across Time

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026

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