Volume 11

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The Inuyasha Narrative, Part 11: That Which Composes Naraku, and That Which is Birthed From Him
	Translation provided by: Robby Stine of Kanabits

Onigumo, Naraku’s Seedbed

I thought of the bandit Onigumo while pondering what Naraku’s origins were. Having him as a seedbed for the birth of a demon seemed easy to understand.

I visualized him as someone who started out as just a small-time crook. I needed a way for him to interact with Kikyo, and I figured the best way for that to happen was to have him suffering from a horrible injury. Looking back, his unsettling appearance proved dramatically effective. The visual impression he left was vital. There’s a gloominess surrounding him, which suits him quite well. He’s a miserable character.

The Necessity of His Incarnations

Naraku doesn’t have any comrades, and that’s why he has his incarnations. Nobody loves him (laughs). Not a single demon follows him, nor does he trust anyone. Because of that, it was necessary for him to remove parts of himself to make a sort of family. But even his incarnations don’t feel anything for him. He’s incapable of being loved.

Also, I figured incarnations would be easy to understand. You immediately get that they’re his henchmen, so there’s no need for explanation. And he can keep doing it. Naraku is really just a bunch of demons stuck together, so the idea of him breaking apart and rebuilding himself from time to time came to me quite easily.

The Incarnations That Lasted, and Those That Did Not

There were a lot of Incarnations, and that’s because Naraku made them by way of trial and error. It was the same for me, too. His incarnations can be split into two groups: the ones that survived, and the ones that died immediately. Like with Goshinki. I needed him to damage Tessaiga, but after that I no longer had any use for him. The other incarnations that didn’t last long also had their own purposes like that. There was even a nameless incarnation that died after just being touched by Kikyo. But in the end, the fact remains that every incarnation is an actual part of Naraku. It’s sad that he could be betrayed by a part of himself.

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