One of ‘Inuyasha’s Darkest Episodes Was Cut Before an Entire Generation Ever Saw It

Inuyasha was essential to the popularization of anime in the U.S. and other English-speaking countries, but like other early anime hits, its translation wasn’t perfect. In fact, a confusing cut to the series fundamentally reshaped the story for most Western viewers. For some reason, Episode 21, “Naraku’s True Identity Unveiled” never aired in English, and the story continued without the installment’s big reveal. That’s the episode where Inuyasha (Darren Pleavin) learned that it was Naraku (Russell Wait) who manipulated him and Kikyo (Andrea Kwan) into the fight that ultimately got Kikyo killed. This is a major cut that still impacts many English-speaking viewers’ understanding of the story to this day.