

A large portion of the _InuYasha_ manga and anime series deals with the
emotional issues surrounding the primary love triangle of

> Inuyasha, Kagome, and Kikyo, particularly from Kagome's point of view.
> However, it is revealed that Kagome is, in fact, a **reincarnation** of
> Kikyo, so they actually share the same soul, albeit from different time
> periods!

If that's the case, then this appears to remove all of the tension and
underlying conflict, in effect Inuyasha is in love with

> the same person (in two forms, one of which is even a vengeful spirit of the
> dead who wants to move on the afterlife)!

How exactly was this love triangle supposed to work, narratively? While I
can't speak for the mangaka's inner thoughts, perhaps there are cultural
nuances or tropes that I'm not aware of at work here?


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inuyasha
Mechanics of the Inuyasha love triangle?


The mechanics work like this:

Inuyasha is in love with Kikyo. She is the first human since his mother that
treats him well. Despite Kikyo killing him and sealing him to the great tree,
he still loves her.

Kagome falls in love with Inuyasha at first sight, but he doesn't like her at
all. When he firsts revives from death, he thinks it is Kikyo, but once he
figures out she is someone different, he doesn't care for her.

Due to framing plot reasons, Kagome and Inuyasha have to work together to save
the world. Inuyasha slowly starts to warm up to Kagome over time, as she
overcomes the dead Kikyo's shadow. Then Kikyo gets resurrected (as a walking
dead corpse). This causes Inuyasha's cooling love for Kikyo to flame strongly
again, and causing him to be torn between his first love (Kikyo) and has new
growing love (Kagome). However, his loyalties are first to Kikyo, so Kagome
always loses out when he must choose between them.

Inuyasha's first loyalty is what prevents Kagome from being able to "seal the
deal" with him, and is a hurdle she can never overcome as long as the animated
dead Kikyo is around. No matter how close Kagome and Inuyasha become over time
(in the main series), he will desert Kagome to run off and save Kikyo if he
thinks Kikyo is in danger.


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Reincarnation is tricky business and there are so many opinions what changes
when a soul returns in another body. The gender or character can be different
from the previous version, so no wonder Inuyasha treats the two girls as
different entities. Also there are shared history and memories between
Inuyasha and Kikyo which are very precious to him. There is also guilt that he
couldn't protect her and a promise he made and intends to keep, while Kagome
at first is a complete stranger.

Saying that, I am not sure Kagome being and looking similar wasn't a
contributing factor for Inuyasha falling for her. She even had the same
talents: both women have miko powers. Maybe on same level he did preceive
their relationship as some kind of second chance with Kikyo. He shows no
romantic interest in other females, but he does with Kagome pretty early on,
even saying she smells nice and when Kagome says

> "I thought you didn’t like my scent"

Inuyasha replies with 'I lied'. Which is curious, especially as at their first
encounter he confuses her with Kikyo based on her scent. He says:

> "Who else would give off a scent like you?"

Inu is a dog hanyou, so olfactory perception is extremely important for him,
and if his nose senses that Kikyo and Kagome aren't that different then maybe
he did preceive Kagome as Kikyo. But then the 'real' Kikyo returned, which
messed Inuyasha up quite a bit.

My impression was that in some instances he'd preferred to stay with Kagome
and not, say, die with Kikyo, but he felt that abandoning her wouldn't be
fair.


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Honestly, yes, it is true that Kikyo and Kagome share a soul, but they have
different personalities. Kikyo was someone Inuyasha once trusted and grew
attached to her because of her personality (not just because she held the
sacred jewel).

Kagome, on the other hand, is from a whole-another world. Inuyasha grew
attached to Kagome for her personality and many other aspects. Inuyasha forgot
about Kikyo until she was resurected from clay and bones.

Yes, it's a very confusing triangle of love.


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I agree with the existing answers, except Kagome isn't just Kikyo's
reincarnation. If you go deeper, you'll find that she is a multi-
reincarnation, though it appears Inuyasha goes after Kagome because she has
some similarities to Kikyo.

Part of that is true, he also likes her because she is herself. Kagome has
convinced herself of this, thus she has proved that she does not live in
Kikyo's shadow, she actually surpasses Kikyo in some way.

It's true that Kikyo is the first human besides his mother to treat him
kindly, but she also only loved his human-side since that was the first side
she met him in, so she suggested that he become a human and that they live
together.

However, in the second movie, Kagome clearly states "to be who you are" and
that "she loves him as a half demon", and she even chose to stay with him when
he was having trouble with his full demon side.

Kagome loves Inuyasha the ways he is, but Inuyasha at times still sees her as
Kikyo.


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While in the beginning and through the series, Inuyasha does tend to break
Kagome’s heart more than once, she always comes back. And again, it's true
that he loved Kikyo.

From my point of view though, it was companionship that he mistook for loving
Kikyo. With Kagome, he didn’t like her at first, but as time went on, she
became his friend, then in _InuYasha: The Final Act_ , she becomes his wife
(and possibly mate).

If we rewind to the Band of Seven when Kagome, Sango, and Miroku were
poisoned, Inuyasha cried thinking he lost Kagome, and if we rewind again to
the previous episode, then we can clearly see that he’s worried she ain’t
gonna make it causing him to use the wind scar to extinguish the fire getting
them out of danger.


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One of the big things divides Kagome and Kikyo, particularly after Kikyo's
death, is Kagome's selflessness. She goes out of her way to help those that
are in distress, even when she might benefit from letting them die instead-
particularly in the scene where Kagome jumps into the pond to purify Kikyo's
spirit. She was never thanked for it, and she didn't gain from it, but she did
it anyways.

The thing they share is their courage- even when faced with adversity, you
don't see Kikyo and Kagome backing down- and if Kikyo does, it's more of an "I
don't wanna do it" thing than it is "I'm too afraid."

Kikyo is dignified and introspective, whereas Kagome is gregarious and
spirited. Inspecting Inuyasha's demeanor, he is the kind of person that likes
to portray himself as careless and tough, but has a gentle heart (like when
Kagome says "I hate you" after saving Kikyo's life when Naraku's evil energy
had begun to taint her, and Inuyasha admits that it hurt him, whereas Kagome
barely remembered saying it) which he reveals through his willingness to step
up to the plate and defend others.

The love Inuyasha and Kikyo was brief and hot-blooded, sweet and transient
like daylight in an Arctic winter. On the other hand, the bond he built with
Kagome was something they built via adversity, blood and tears shed together,
providing and caring for one another, and TIME.

Ultimately, while Kikyo before her death was a lively person, post-mortem she
is only quite literally a shell of herself, as she only has a tiny fragment of
her and Kagome's shared soul stored inside of a clay body (from when the witch
brought her back from the dead and Kagome's body absorbed most of the soul
back into herself).

It's notable, however, that Inuyasha was with Kikyo out of choice, and went
back to her out of choice, as when he followed her tree to tree, spoke with
her, and agreed voluntarily to meet her at the Tree of Ages to give up his
demon half. He has no choice where it comes to Kagome- she was thrust into his
life and even uses the Beads of Subjugation around his neck for vengeful and
immature purposes and to restrain his wild nature- they were something that
Kikyo ultimately decided she didn't need for him.

Inuyasha and Kikyo were two lonely souls, Kikyo out of the solemn duty to the
Shikon Jewel, and Inuyasha because neither the community of demons nor humans
would accept him as one of their own. They found kinship, community, and
companionship in each other.

Kagome accepted Inuyasha unconditionally. She shows open affection and worry
for him, like when she ran toward him in the episode where Inuyasha plummeted
over the cliff and she was unsure if he'd been able to survive the fall. The
experiences they have shared are numerous, diverse, and impactful- the battles
they've been in, the lands they've traveled, and the arguments they've had and
resolved. You guys have seen it.

The whole love triangle thing makes me mad sometimes, too.


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Inuyasha was in love with Kikyo and when you truly love someone, a bad
experience from that person can't make the feelings just go away --- BUT that
doesn't mean that it won't be tainted.

When he met Kagome, he hated her because he thought she was Kikyo who sealed
him to the tree. It's actually possible to hate someone you love. Love ignites
hatred.

Over time, Inuyasha was slowly forgetting Kikyo and became close with Kagome.
Friendship is the foundation of their relationship. And friendship is a strong
one.

Unfortunately, didn't take long, Kikyo was resurrected by Urasue. Yes,
Inuyasha got confused. But still, Kagome was in good standing because Inuyasha
was already fond of her the time they first discovered that Kikyo was still
around using dead souls.

And Kikyo was a changed woman. Her behavior had nothing to do with the little
amount of soul she got from Kagome. Remember she reclaimed it in full but
she's still very angry. It's normal because she thought she was betrayed by
the only man he loved. And change happens all the time to every woman who felt
betrayed.

After resurrection, she wasn't the same Kikyo that Inuyasha once loved.

Imagine that in real life.

You only know the person's face and name but everything including her actions
and the way she talks was unrecognizable.

Inuyasha remembers the past. The way it felt. Nothing more, nothing less.

Remembering is different from what you actually feel. You may jump back to
memory lane at times but it will only last a few moments.

He will never leave Kagome.

BUT, Inuyasha is a good person. He must've felt guilty every time he remembers
Kikyo suffered living, died and still suffering alone --- while he isn't,
anymore.

He tried to cut tie with Kagome, because he thought he owe Kikyo his own life
but can't fully decide to do it. He was hesitant. Then he met Kagome and
admitted he shouldn't be having fun because Kikyo is suffering.

Coz he's not suffering. Means he was over his love for her.

Everyone knows the feeling of loneliness when you and the one you love are
apart? But he wasn't lonely.

Inuyasha is not suffering.

He is having fun with his new friends, especially knowing that Kagome's around
and safe.

One thing I'm sure is he'll be really lonely if it's Kagome who's gone.

He loved Kikyo. It's a thing from his past and a part of him that can never be
erased. He wants his first love to be remembered a great woman. He wants to
protect her, including her memories.

And watching Inuyasha over and over again made me realized that the 3 of them
are all good people --Kikyo, Inuyasha & Kagome.

Kikyo didn't talk much about her feelings but you'll see through her actions
that she later made up her mind and decided to not do anything about her
feelings with Inuyasha, but instead serve other people.

Also, Kikyo doesn't want Kagome gone. She doesn't want Kagome to replace her
as Inuyasha's past as she can't be his future either. She thinks rationally.
She and Kagome are the same on that manner. And she love Inuyasha too much she
doesn't want him to be lonely.

On the other hand, Kagome gets jealous and all because she's only human but
still saved Kikyo a few times. She respect her as the first woman in
Inuyasha's life. 1\. Kagome didn't let Miroku carry Kikyo to Mt. Hakurei
barrier's boundary. 2\. She let Inuyasha leave to look for Kikyo's remains.

She's the perfect version of Kikyo. She's exactly what Kikyo subconsciously
wished to be. Both nice girl.


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I'm not sure how much of what follows was actually intended to be part of the
triangle/show's narrative and how much is just my own takeaway, but:

Given that a person's soul is essentially the actual person: Kagome as
Kikiyo's reincarnation is basically the same person as Kikiyo. Now, why does a
soul reincarnate? To evolve. In many ways, Kagome is the Kikiyo-who-should-
have-been: she is a natural evolution and extension of Kikiyo's development
towards being a better person.

Therefore, Inu Yasha is in love with the same person: Kagome and Kikiyo are
the same. Kagome is Kikiyo evolved while Kikiyo post-ressurection is an
artificial construct of witchcraft that shouldn't actually exist. Think of it
like: your current self and your toddler self somehow existing at the same
time. The two of you are certainly the same person...and yet, so different. It
would be such a quandary wouldn't it?


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If you have already read the manga from start to finish, then the answer
should be clear: Inuyasha’s true love is Kagome. Some of the people on here
complaining are still bitter that Kikyo died and that Inuyasha ended up with
Kagome instead of their emotionless princess. Look at the facts: Kagome is the
only one who makes Inuyasha feel at ease, cheerful, and comfortable; Kagome is
the one who taught him to shed tears and show kindness to others; Kagome is
the one who helped him make friends and ended his life of loneliness; Kagome
is the one who accepted him 100%; Kagome is the one who changed him; etc. The
list goes on and on. More importantly, most of these facts were pointed out by
Inuyasha himself, who at the end stated that he was born only for her and she
for him. Kikyo is strictly a drama device. The entire purpose of her character
is to cause drama between Inuyasha and Kagome. She never actually propels or
initiates Naraku’s death.

Regarding the triangle, Inuyasha had feelings for her, and after her rebirth,
those feelings mostly transitioned to guilt. He felt responsible for her
initial death and pity for the fact that she has no one but herself while he
has a new crew to be with. During the later part of the series, this and the
goal to learn more about Naraku are two reasons he runs to her. The other
reason is Kagome lets him. He almost always goes only after Kagome tells him
to. If he senses she’s not comfortable with it, he stays by her side, simply
because he values Kagome more. That’s also why he always stays by her side. At
first it was for jewel hunting, but later it’s for the peace, serenity and
love she gives him, a level of happiness he never felt with Kikyo. If we had
to break it down further, Inuyasha and Kikyo’s relationship could be viewed as
lust while his and Kagome’s represent love.

And now the triangle is settled because Kikyo’s dead for good and was never
meant to be with Inuyasha no matter how much people try to convince themselves
of it. What he doesn’t realize is that he no longer needs to feel guilty. He’s
suffered far more than her, since his whole life he’s been shunned by two
species. The only person who loved him died when he was a child, and
everywhere he goes people judge him by his looks, while she’s revered as a
beautiful priestess and hero nearly all the time.

And no, Kagome and Kikyo are not the same person. Mangaka Rumiko Takahashi
made this statement several time throughout the series yet people still don’t
get it. These two share a soul. That’s it. It wouldn’t even be fair to
consider their love for Inuyasha as equal since Kagome has made it quite clear
that she loves Inuyasha way more. She consistently puts his needs above hers.
That’s what an unconditional love is. She also handles many situations
differently than Kikyo, and that’s because the two have polar opposite
personalities and backgrounds. Kagome even develops different powers than
Kikyo later, and treats Kikyo differently than Kikyo treats her. She could
have any soul placed in her and she will still retain these different traits,
so no: Kikyo and Kagome are NOT the same person.


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