Episode 112 - The barrier of Hijiri Island
From a lakeside village, a middle-aged man and young boy witness a strange light burst from the nearby forest, streak across the sky and ‘crash’ into a small island in the middle of the serene lake at the foot of a mountain. The man is head of the village and keeper of a holy shrine located on the island, Hiriji Island, at the base of sacred Mt. Hakurei. Ancestral duty decrees he must go and check on the shrine’s safety. The boy, his son and heir, Shintaro, asks to join him but the father refuses: if anything happens to him, Shintaro inherits the responsibility for both the village and shrine. Shintaro watches fearfully, as his father sails off into the mist of the lake. Elsewhere, Inuyasha, Miroku, Kagome & Shippo explore near a small stream. Inuyasha is literally trying to “sniff out” the source of Naraku’s latest puppet which had an unusually ‘pure‘ scent of flowers and water. While the land search continues Sango and Kirara search by air. Approaching Mt. Hakurei, Sango and Kirara try to break thru its purity barrier, only to end in a dramatic crash. After rejoining the team, Sango reports the sacred mountain’s barrier is very strong, confirming suspicions Naraku is very close. The team decides to investigate the lake by Mt Hakurei. Back at lakeside village, two weeks have passed since Shintaro’s father went to the sacred island, but he hasn‘t returned. Shintaro begs the village elders to for a boat so he can go to the sacred island and look for his father, but they refuse. With impeccable timing, enter Inuyasha and company, who join the conversation in time to hear the enticing word “sacred “: they want to know more. Shintaro takes them home for some story exposition and to meet his three lovely sisters. Shintaro explains that for over 100 years, his male ancestors were entrusted with the care of the shrine on Hijiri Island, a task assigned by the great priest Hakushin, a Living Buddha. Over the years, only Shintaro’s male kin can set foot on the holy island without fear of being cursed. Shintaro tells the team about his father’s failure to return from going to investigate the weird light. All signs point to Naraku, so it’s off to Hijiri Island with Shintaro. (But not before Miroku makes his usual proposition to Shintaro’s three lovely sisters, earning him the “baka bash“ of the week from Sango-chan!) During the boat trip across the lake, Shippo and Kirara become weak and drained. Shintaro explains Hakushin‘s spiritual energy created a purity barrier around Mt. Hakurei that not only cleanses human sin, but also eliminates evil energy and ’purifies’ demons (as in “poof”, gone!). Kagome wonders how Naraku could be involved with something so opposite, and deadly, to his evil demonic nature. Arriving at the island, Inuyasha, Kagome & Shintaro, forge ahead, forcing their way thru a milder, local purity barrier and land in a field of flowers. Inuyasha recognizes the same floral sent as Naraku’s puppet. Shintaro remarks the flowers weren't there before, and Inuyasha senses a trap. The others arrive just as Shintaro also notices Hakushin’s shrine is in ruins. Running towards it, he trips over the skeletal remains of his father. Examining the corpse, Miroku determines it’s the work of Naraku’s youkai. Kagome suddenly senses a presence of Shikon shards. Split seconds later, Bankotsu bursts out of hiding from the ruined shrine brandishing his Shikon-enhanced halberd, Banyruu. Yep: trap, all right! Evil Bankotsu isn’t too comfortable on the island, either, thanks to the barrier: he‘s cranky and eager to resume his fight with Inuyasha. They engage, and Inuyasha tries to use his Kaze no Kizu attack, but it won’t work because of the barrier: the katanna’s been purified. Inuyasha is at a dangerous disadvantage and he struggles to hold his own against Bankotsu. Shintaro races to the shrine to pray for help from Hakushin with Kagome hot on his heels. When they arrive, they discover the remains of the great priest are missing! If priest wasn’t generating the island’s new barrier, who or what, is? Enlisting Miroku’s help, Kagome and Shintaro scramble for answers while the battle between Bankotsu and Inuyasha rages on. They need to find the source of the barrier, so Miroku borrows some “demon power” from the ailing Shippo by touching a batch of o fuda (prayer papers) to the child’s head and flinging them to the winds. The o fuda find their target -- the source of the barrier is a dokko - altar equipment used Hakushin. Acting quickly, Miroku and Shintaro bust the seal around the dokko and end the purity barrier. The flowers vanish, all the demonic types feel better, and the Tessaiga's demon power is restored (a “win-win” for Inuyasha!). Problem is, Bankotsu is feeling perkier, too. Now the barrier’s gone, it can’t cramp his style, either. He’s ready to finish off Inuyasha with the super-charged Banryuu.
