Inuyasha the Movie 4: Fire on the Mystic Isle

Once again, sorry about being a day late. I had honestly forgot about doing a review yesterday, as I was a bit tired. That day has passed, and now I'm posting some more Inuyasha goodness today. I will admit, I'll be a bit of a cheating hooker with this review, since a lot of things that were in my last review also show up in this one. To show this, sections of the review will have quotations around them (and some changes), and new sections won't have quotations. Now that has been addressed, let's dive into Inuyasha the Movie 4: Fire on the Mystic Isle.

Directed by Toshiya Shinohara and written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, Fire on the Mystic Isle was released on December 23, 2004, just a few months after the last episode of the show was aired. Viz Media acquire the rights to release the movie in the states on August 1, 2006. The story displayed on the back of the DVD tells everything:


Within the dark recesses of Horai Island, a group of half-demons live under the demonic rule of the Four War Gods. Escaping with barely a shred of hope, Ai, the youngest of the half-demons, returns to the island with Inuyasha, who must face not only the Four War Gods, but the past he left behind on the island fifty years ago.


"This goes into the first positive of the movie. All of what goes on is typical, standard Inuyasha stuff: a happy-go-lucky crew, somewhat predictable villains, an equally somewhat predictable story from beginning to end (though this movie does have a few twists and turns in it). It’s things like these that cause those who hate Inuyasha to bust a nerve, and throw a conipshinfit. Fans of Inuyasha (including myself), on the other hand, like all of this stuff. It’s kinda like DBZ in a way, only a bit more happy, things are a bit more sensitive and emotional, and charging attacks don’t carry over to multiple episodes."

"The second positive of Fire on the Mystic Isle is the visuals. Unlike the shows, which at times seems outdated and rough around the edges, this movie (as well as the other films) looks more modern and smooth. The characters, whether primary or secondary, look and move more realistically. If you never watch any of the Inuyasha films before, you’d assume that it was released in the later half of last decade. Me, I think it looks like something that came out in the middle of last decade."

"The voice acting comes is the next positive of this film. All of the voice actors that worked on the show have come back to reprise their roles. Essentially, everything as far as speaking and other vocal sounds is concerned, is the same as in the normal show. If you liked the dubbing of the show, then you’re going to like the dubbing in this movie."

The voice acting leads into the fourth positive of Fire on the Mystic Isle. In my review of The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass, the second negative of the film I talked about was Kagome's whining. I specifically stated that:


"Everytime I hear her whine, it rings in my ears for at least the rest of the day."


So I was quite surprised to not hear even a tiny bit of whining. Perhaps a little bit of pouting, but no whining. I don't know when this movie was released according to the show's timeline, but I'm going to assume it's towards the end of the show, since Kagome (in my opinion) was much more mature at that point.

This leads into another surprising positive. With the first three films, the story was centered around the main villain or villains and Inuyasha and the gang. This time around, we have a story that concentrates on the villains, the gang, and the small group of half-demon children that live on the island. Many of the scenes have a even mix of the cast, and when there are moments that involve just one part of the cast, it stays exclusively with that part of the cast. The scenes and moments that focus on the half-demon children are the most memorable to me. In particular, the two twin boys are especially hilarious. Many of the scenes they appear in they act like a standard Manzai duo, coupled with hints of the Hitachiin Twins from Ouran High School Host Club.

"The availability and pricing of Fire on the Mystic Isle are the final positives of this film. This film is the newest in the United States in terms of how long it's been out, and because of this, there are plenty of copies over on Amazon. As I type, there are 38 new DVDs and 54 used DVDs on the website. The new copies start at $2.99, while the used copies start at $2.00. The pricing difference is much less than The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass, so have a go at which ever one suits your fancy."

Despite the presentation that this movie gives, Fire on the Mystic Isle has one blemish on it's face, and that's the predictability. While it isn’t on level with the show, the way the characters interact with each other, as well as how the story plays out, is relatively predictable. Anime fans that dislike/hate/loathe Inuyasha will gripe at this, but I didn’t have a problem with how the story played out.

Before I give the final score, let me say that, in my opinion, Fire on the Mystic Isle is the best of the Inuyasha movies. I think that by this stage of the game, Ms. Rumiko knew where the cast was going, and what was going to happen. So because of that, things played out more smoothly than normal. Fire on the Mystic Isle gets a 9 out of 10. It has all of the positives that The Castle Beyond the Looking Glass, Kagome doesn't whine in this film, and there more of a cast to concentrate on, but it still suffers from predictability problems.

See you later this week. Until then, stay Otaku!


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Oh, heads up on how my computer is doing. I don't know how, but it came back to life, and is doing well aside from a few small quirks.