General Media
From InuYasha
InuYasha began as a manga in 1996 authored by Rumiko Takahashi ( author of Ranma 1/2) which appears weekly in the Japanese periodical "Shounen Sunday" . Subtitled "A Feudal Fairy Tale", the setting alternates between the "Warring States Era" of Feudal Japan and "Modern Day" Japan thru time-travel using an intriguing sacred well found on the grounds of a Shinto Shrine.
We find from the fan/translation website Ear-tweak.com:
Shounen Sunday - Shogakukan Weekly Publication
Shonen Sunday is the weekly that publishes Inuyasha in chapters. Each chapter is typically 18 pages long and roughly 25.5cm x 18cm (B5-JIS) in size. There are also color pages, advertisements... y'know, like any magazine.
Shounen Sunday, despite its name, is released on Wednesdays. This publication is in Japanese language (with furigana), and also has other manga titles such as Meitantei Konan (Detective Conan), Ueki no Housoku PLUS (Law of Ueki) and others.
The popularity lead to published collections of the manga called Tankoubon , then to a contract with Yomiuri TV and Sunrise to create a Japanese language anime. Later, VIZ obtained the rights to distribute the manga (retitled "Inu-Yasha: a Fuedal Fairy Tale") and anime in North America, and the English Speaking fans anxiously waited for the translation and dubbing work done at Ocean Studios, Vancouver, B.C.
The manga continues to run for an unprecedented number of issues - over 450 chapters (as of mid- 2006), and still going.
The anime "ended" (after a fashion) with episode 167 - literally leaving the door open for a further series and having the characters express their thanks for Four Years of shows, and encouraging the viewers to "Watch the Movies" and "Continue to read Shounen Sunday". You can read a synopsis at the fansite inuyasha.yoll.net - Inuyasha Scripts & Episode Capsules.
"Extras" - special audio CD's - were often made in Japanese language only and distributed with special boxed sets along with "scrolls" (posters), calendars,
action figures and New Years character cards.
some examples from public adverts:
The popularity of the series is enourmous, spawning not only authorized licensed commercial endevours but also a vast number of fansites, fanart, fanfiction, cosplay, and even "unauthorized" fan manga magazines.
see also the wiki http://inuyasha.wikia.com/wiki/Anime
