InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler

InuYasha the Movie: Swords of an Honorable Ruler (映画犬夜叉　天下覇道の剣) also known as InuYasha the Movie: Swords of World Conquest) is a 2003 anime film directed by Toshiya Shinohara and written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa. It is the third film to be released in the InuYasha films series. It was released in Japan on December 20, 2003 (between episodes 136 and 137), and in the United States on September 6, 2005. It premiered on Adult Swim on August 12, 2006 and it aired in Canada on YTV on December 29, 2006.

Plot
The film opens with events that happened at InuYasha's birth. The suitor Takemaru kills Izayoi just before InuYasha's father arrives. InuYasha's father, still injured from his battle with Ryūkotsusei, arrives and resurrects Izayoi, telling her to escape with their son, whom he names as InuYasha and gives her the red Fire Rat Armor to protect them from the burning palace. Presumably, InuYasha's father died in the burning down of the castle.

In the present era, Kagome's grandfather comes by with a sword which he calls a "national treasure"; as Grandpa is about to put it in the storehouse for "safe keeping", Kagome's younger brother goes over to the sword, and it speaks. The sword is So'unga, the sword of hell, and it possesses a connection to InuYasha's father. It tried to possess InuYasha, but InuYasha tried his best to resist being controlled and finally brings the sword back to the past, but in the process unleashes the deadly powers the sword holds on an evacuated village.

Sesshomaru is also alerted of the presence of So'unga, and he follows the scent to find that InuYasha is in possession of the sword. The two of them duel and at a crucial moment, Kagome saves the day and forces the So'unga to release InuYasha from its grasp. It finds a new demon host and recovers Sesshomaru's lost left arm, then revives Takemaru and subsequently possess him, aiming to take revenge on InuYasha and Sesshomaru. Both InuYasha and Sesshomaru have reasons to defeat Takemaru so they go into battle. During the battle Kagome and Rin are kidnapped. Both of the brothers take off to protect the girls. InuYasha manages to defeat Takemaru just as Takemaru realizes InuYasha's mother wanted him to live and that he loved her. InuYasha used his human traits to defeat Takemaru.

So'unga was the third sword that InuYasha's father possessed. Individually, it was stronger than either the Tenseiga or the Tetsuseiga. Sesshomaru wields the Tenseiga, and InuYasha wields the Tetsuseiga, as they dueled they managed to combine their attacks and destroy So'unga, causing the sword to fall into the pit of hell. At the end, InuYasha and Sesshomaru see their father as he thanks them for destroying the sword.

After the end credits, InuYasha and Kagome both lay on a hill, and then Kagome tells InuYasha that she thought Sesshomaru didn't like people, and InuYasha replied that he didn't care at all. Meanwhile Kagome remembered something: InuYasha's enchanted beads. Kagome ordered InuYasha to sit up and close his eyes, and told him that she had a nice surprise for him. While his eyes were closed, Kagome placed his enchanted beads around his neck. Suddenly InuYasha realised that the "nice" surprise was actually the enchanted beads. InuYasha told Kagome to take them off, but Kagome refused to because she didn't want InuYasha running off again. Kagome then tells InuYasha to sit very sweetly which causes InuYasha to fall on the ground and the screen goes black, ending the movie.

Cast and credits

 * Director: Toshiya Shinohara
 * Screenplay: Katsuyuki Sumizawa
 * Music: Kaoru Wada
 * Character Designs: Hideyuki Motohashi & Yoshihito Hishinuma
 * Theme Song: "Four Seasons"
 * Lyrics: JUSME, Music: MONK, Arrangement: MONK, Performed by: Namie Amuro

Cast

 * InuYasha - Kappei Yamaguchi/Richard Ian Cox
 * Kagome Higurashi - Satsuki Yukino/Moneca Stori
 * Miroku - Koji Tsujitani/Kirby Morrow
 * Sango - Houko Kuwashima/Kelly Sheridan
 * Shippo - Kumiko Watanabe/Jillian Michaels
 * Myoga - Kenichi Ogata/Paul Dobson
 * Totosai - Joji Yanami/Richard Newman
 * Sesshomaru - Ken Narita/David Kaye
 * Jaken - Yuichi Nagashima/Don Brown
 * Rin - Mamiko Noto/Brenna O'Brien
 * Inu no Taishou - Akio Ōtsuka/Don Brown
 * Izayoi - Kikuko Inoue/Alaina Burnett
 * Saya - Kaneta Kimotsuki/Michael Dobson
 * Takemaru of Setsuna - Yasunori Matsumoto/Jonathan Holmes
 * So'unga - Fumihiko Tachiki/Ward Perry
 * Sota Higurashi - Akiko Nakagawa/Saffron Henderson
 * Kagome and Sota's Grandfather - Katsumi Suzuki/French Tickner
 * Kagome and Sota's Mother - Asako Dodo/Cathy Weseluck
 * Ayumi - Nami Okamoto/Cathy Weseluck
 * Eri - Yuki Masuda/Saffron Henderson
 * Yuka - Kaori Shimizu/Jillian Michaels