I just had a major revelation!!!

[wj]

Ice Princess, I don't think that Inuyasha can think past his feelings of guilt, gratitude, and sense of obligation toward Kikyou. I don't think he knows what going to hell with Kikyou would mean. I keep waiting for Miroku or Kaede to point out the fact that Kikyou has no soul of her own to keep him company in hell.

Kaede has told him several times that Kikyou "is a dead thing now" and that he should put her to rest. He hasn't listened to her yet.

[ice princess]

Inuyasha is a blockhead.

But we still love him, don't we? *sigh*

Kagome is a far better woman than I.

~Ice Princess

[Hitomi Lei]

Wow...

You all have such wonderful insight...and you agree with me...THANKS

They elude to the many components of Kagome's spirit, direction and destiny, as well as her soul's burdens and means of shedding those burdens. Her role is quite complex, but it also shows that her spirit is trying to make up for a fault it committed previously. This could be the burden of the jewel, or could it be (duh, duh, DAH!) taking Inuyasha to hell? Having a pretty big grudge against him? It would also explain why she's so inclined to embrace forgiveness instead of hatred. The breakdown of her soul in the past caused her fate to be decided by hatred, so her soul intrinsically knows that forgiveness is the only way to shed her soul's burden. It still hurts, though, but the anger is gone.

Maybe Kagome's destiny lies in breaking down all barriers with Inuyasha's soul, allowing them both to trust and love each other fully without fear of betrayal and rejection. The deep love of pure acceptance is greater than the romantic love of Kikyo and Inuyasha, but their romantic love had no doubt sprung from the need for unconditional acceptance (which they somehow recognized the possibility of gaining in each other).

I've never seen it like this...I guess even now I disassoicate Kagome with Kikyou...but I think you might be right even if her name has no really meaning to the author.

I feel so much better about the ending of the series now...cause even if it ends sad...I don't think Inuyasha will be visting the underworld anytime soon...

On and on a side note...Have any of you ever thought about the possiblity that there could be other reincanations of Kikyou?

I don't know much about reincanation...but 500 years seems like a long time to me...Could there have been other before Kagome, who failed to fulfil their destiny by going through the well?

Or is Kagome the first and only on capabel of fulfilling that mission?

Eh...Just something to think about...

[Hitomi Lei]

Wow...

You all have such wonderful insight...and you agree with me...THANKS

They elude to the many components of Kagome's spirit, direction and destiny, as well as her soul's burdens and means of shedding those burdens. Her role is quite complex, but it also shows that her spirit is trying to make up for a fault it committed previously. This could be the burden of the jewel, or could it be (duh, duh, DAH!) taking Inuyasha to hell? Having a pretty big grudge against him? It would also explain why she's so inclined to embrace forgiveness instead of hatred. The breakdown of her soul in the past caused her fate to be decided by hatred, so her soul intrinsically knows that forgiveness is the only way to shed her soul's burden. It still hurts, though, but the anger is gone.

Maybe Kagome's destiny lies in breaking down all barriers with Inuyasha's soul, allowing them both to trust and love each other fully without fear of betrayal and rejection. The deep love of pure acceptance is greater than the romantic love of Kikyo and Inuyasha, but their romantic love had no doubt sprung from the need for unconditional acceptance (which they somehow recognized the possibility of gaining in each other).

I've never seen it like this...I guess even now I disassoicate Kagome with Kikyou...but I think you might be right even if her name has no really meaning to the author.

I feel so much better about the ending of the series now...cause even if it ends sad...I don't think Inuyasha will be visting the underworld anytime soon...

On and on a side note...Have any of you ever thought about the possiblity that there could be other reincanations of Kikyou?

I don't know much about reincanation...but 500 years seems like a long time to me...Could there have been other before Kagome, who failed to fulfil their destiny by going through the well?

Or is Kagome the first and only on capabel of fulfilling that mission?

Eh...Just something to think about...

[ice princess]

I've often wondered about the whole reincarnation thing with Kikyo, too, Hitomi. Are there any other reincarnations running around that are inbetween Kikyo and Kagome? I really have no idea. Another side note, I read a fic once where Rin was another reincarnation of the same soul...I really can't remember what the fic was about per se, but the thought stuck with me. It has no basis in canon but was an interesting comparison by the author.

What I love is the fact that Takahashi is such a skilled author that she can have peeps like us debating and theorizing on character motivations that she didn't even intend. Fans are notorious for reading into things, but it almost seems to me that her subconscious structured something complex and multitiered out of the simple desire to write a lengthy fairytale. Maybe that's just me, again being a fan, and reading too much into stuff! But whatever! It's fun! These are the best anime to me, the ones that having people thinking and getting completely different meanings and connections out of it based on their own viewing. I love it!

~Ice Princess

[wj]

In the anime, the episode where Rin is desperately trying to find that herb to cure Jaken after he is stung by Naraku's bees/wasps/things, Rin visits Jeninji (spelling?), the hanyou that Kagome was kind to previously, and Jeninji said that Rin was just like Kagome.

The anime is not really canon but it did make that connection between Rin as a spirited, kind soul and Kagome, who always puts helping others before her own needs. Both have total devotion to the one they love.