The Lake of the Evil Water God is the twenty-seventh episode of the InuYasha anime.
Synopsis[]
- As the group searches for Naraku's castle, they come across a group of villagers taking a boy to be sacrificed to a water god.
- Inuyasha and the others soon find out that the water god is actually an imposter, and he has sealed away the real water god.
Summary[]
As Inuyasha and his friends are looking for Naraku's castle, they come across a shrine in the middle of a lake. Coming closer, they see signs of a recent flood, then a procession which they learn is meant to be a sacrificial procession: the water god of the lake seems angry, so they want to sacrifice a boy to him to pacify him. Inuyasha interrupts them, saying this must be a demon with a Shikon Jewel shard, and Miroku offers to exorcise the village, but the leader refuse, saying that he cannot justify risking the wrath of the water god now, when it's his own son's turn to be killed, or else the sacrifices of all the other children who died before him would be made meaningless. Kagome glimpses a masked child in the palanquin, then the procession resume. As Inuyasha wonders what they should do, Kagome heatedly states that they must save the child.
A boy overhears them, asking if they are serious, and leads them to a place where he "hires" them in exchange for some valuable stuff such as silk and potteries that he took from his village. He wants them to destroy the water god. Inuyasha takes badly being so treated, but ends up agreeing to the plan: taking the water god down as he comes to claim the sacrifice. Kagome surmises that the boy is the real son of the leader of the village, as the others note on his resemblance. Reluctantly, he confirms this and says the masked child a stand-in. The leader urged every parents designated by the white arrow of the water god to give up their child for the sake of the village, but couldn't do it when his turn came. Miroku and Inuyasha agree on how selfish the chief is to allow innocent children to die but not his own to protect his people. But the son doesn't want a friend of his to be sacrificed in his place. Sango offers to take the demon by herself, for the honor of the slayers, but Inuyasha is angry at her aloofness, and say that she hasn't recovered enough yet anyway, that she's acting tough but couldn't slay the demon in the state she's in.
The real Water Goddess.
As the night come, Inuyasha and his friends, with the son of the leader of the village, go on a boat to the shrine at the center of the lake. The son advise caution but Inuyasha just barge in, claiming to the guards that they "stand in the way" and entering by force. The guards are revealed to be fish and crab under an illusion. The strength of Inuyasha impress the son of the headman, and they go on to find the water god angry at the substitution of his sacrifice. Inuyasha claims he's a filthy demon and strikes with Tessaiga, but he is repulsed and the Tessaiga transforms back upon touching the trident of the water god, who then proceeds to drown them. He fails, but they are separated.
Shippō, Kagome and the two children end up together with the demon, who tries to eat them, only to be wounded by Kagome's sacred arrow. They escape. Sango and Miroku, with Kirara, are together on a very, very small and rocky island. Inuyasha, unconscious, drifts there with the help of two strange fishes. Those are servants of the true water god, whose place has been usurped by a local sprite. The true water god has been sealed. Miroku instantly decides to help free the god, but Inuyasha, waking, snaps at him to get his priorities right : saving Kagome has to come first, and he returns at the shrine, where Kagome is indeed in trouble. Meanwhile, Miroku answer to Sango's concern about Inuyasha's safety that he is very strong and fully able to deal with the fake water god by himself. Miroku elaborates by saying that Inuyasha's rough manners toward Sango stem from his concern about her: he seeks vengeance for her.
The fake Water God
Inuyasha attacks the water demon head on while Miroku and Sango unseal the true water god, who turns out to be a water goddess. They then join Kagome and the water goddess helps Inuyasha, who was being drowned again, by parting the water. Sango attacks the giant snake-like water demon, but can't hurt him. The demon wields the goddess's trident, which allows him to control the weather. He brews a thunderstorm. Inuyasha retrieves the trident, but it falls in the water and the headman's son goes after it. Inuyasha, with Sango's help, goes for the demon, kills him, saves the child and retrieves the trident again, allowing the goddess to work her miracle and disperse the threatening clouds.
The episode ends as Inuyasha chides Miroku for blackmailing the headman into giving him a bounty.
Characters in Order of Appearance[]
Music[]
- Opening Theme — CHANGE THE WORLD — TV OST Vol. 1
- Inuyasha’s group hears about the villagers being forced to sacrifice a child — Demon Brother Sesshōmaru (Yōkei Sesshōmaru) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Child peeks out, Inuyasha is suspicious of headsman — Sign of Unrest (Fuon na Kehai) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Boy tells Inuyasha’s group about the water god’s demands — Evil Spirits Desiring the Shikon no Tama (Shikon no Tama o Nerau Chimimōryō) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Inuyasha’s group sneaks to the shrine — The Hidden Well to the Sengoku Era (Kakushi Ido kara Sengoku Jidai e) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Inuyasha tries to strike water god, his trident blocks the sword — Fight to the Death (Shitō) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Water god floods the shrine — Attack (Shūgeki) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Kagome and children hide from water god impostor — Sign of Unrest (Fuon na Kehai) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Water god wraps his body around Inuyasha — Attack (Shūgeki) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Water goddess parts the waters — Fang Sword, Tessaiga (Kiba no Ken Tessaiga) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Inuyasha wrestles with serpent, he and Sango take the demon down — Big Counterattack (Daihangeki) — TV OST Vol. 1
- Miroku explains how he got the goods and horse — Osuwari! — TV OST Vol. 1
- Ending Theme — Fukai Mori — TV OST Vol. 2
Notes[]
- This is the first time Miroku acted lecherous to Sango. By this point, she was fully healed.
- The second time Miroku gets fresh with Sango, she leaves him with the first of many bright red hand prints after delivering a resounding slap.
- This is the last time Miroku swindled a cartload of goods.
Differences from the manga[]
- Shippō returning from searching for Naraku's castle is anime exclusive.
- Kagome shows no concern about the mask the sacrifice wears in the anime.
- In the manga, the group are sitting by a campfire discussing the situation when Tarōmaru hires them. In the anime, Tarōmaru asks them to follow him immediately after the procession leaves.
- In the anime, Inuyasha gets into a quarrel with Sango before heading to save Suekichi.
- The anime omits the panels of Sango and Miroku warning Inuyasha about what may happen if they anger a real god.
- All jokes about Suekichi's face resembling the mask are omitted in the anime.
- In the manga, Kagome battles against the fake Suijin while in the small hut before Inuyasha comes to the rescue. In the anime, the fake Suijin simply wraps his body around the hut and destroys it immediately.
- Many scenes of the fight with the fake Suijin are cut out in the anime.
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