INUYASHA: TENKA HADOU NO KEN
Special Edition (DVD + bonus CD)
Shogakukan Video (8/27/2004)
Color, Region 2, Dolby Digital 5.1 ch

Tenka Hadou no Ken will always be a joy to watch, with its beautiful artwork. Tenka Hadou no Ken was part of the generation of Inuyasha anime that boasted digital coloring, and it's definitely taken advantage of here; the clarity and brilliance really comes through on DVD.

Added bonuses on this DVD include commercials and TV spots that were used to promote the release of the movie in Japan, and screens of the concept art from the movie. Unfortunately no concept art of one character I was REALLY REALLY REALLY hoping for -- Inu-papa. XD Oh well. Can't win 'em all. There's also a collection called "Inuyasha vs. Sesshoumau," which is excerpts from anime episodes centered around the sibling rivalry between our two boys.

The special edition also came packaged with an omake CD, which includes a chat with the Inuyasha seiyuu (Kappei Yamaguchi, Satsuki Yukino, Houko Kuwashima, Kouji Tsujitani, and Noriko Hidaka, most notably), as well as the anime producer Michihiko Suwa. In the chat, they discuss the upcoming (at the time) "Guren no Houraijima" film. Funny stuff all around, with the cast having a little bit of a "what if?" session and making a mock trailer recording for a hpothetical Inuyasha film called "Inuyasha Movie: Kikyou's Shinidama Sonata."

...you'd just have to hear it to understand it, I guess. o.o

The CD wraps up with is the cast doing their traditional promotional parody of Inuaysha, this year titled "Tenka Hadou no ten-ten-ten" ("The World-Conquering...") which was a two-part radio play that originally aired on the Japanese radio show "Anime Scramble" back in December of 2003. If anything, this one is worth checking out to hear Kappei do a (very... interesting...) Ken Narita impression. XD

part 2

Part of the Shonen Sunday Visual Collection, the movie comic books are another good find. The collection is two volumes. Each book is full-color, and a little larger than tankoubon. These are books commonly referred to as "filmbooks" or "animanga," which use screencaptured images from the movie, and publish them like comic books.

Mostly I got these books because of Inu-papa. XD I just wanted to have official material with him in it, and hey, HE WAS IN THESE!! It's always nice to be able to read the dialogue as well, because Saya was never easy for me to understand. There were a few lines where I went back and said, "Oh. THAAAT'S what he said..." So, some nice images and summaries, but again, nothing entirely noteworthy.