犬夜叉 S1

Story: I'm totally captivated by this series, for it's setting (feudal Japan + oni, youkai, etc), characters, music, humor, romance, etc. It can be a bit gory at times, so if you're sensitive to that, it may not be for you. Otherwise, it's basically a shounen + romance. One hand, it's very episodic, on the other hand there's always connection and continuity (contrary to say らんま 1/2 | L25, as it goes along). The larger plot is very slow and steady (maybe too much). I've skipped most of the filler episodes, but the handful that I've watched were pretty hillarious/cute. I'll probably watch the others after I finish the main story.

While not the healthiest at first (something the show itself points out), I find Inuyasha and Kagome's dynamic very enjoyable (and it does improve over time). From what I've read of the the manga, it's done much better (along with the apparent absence of the love triangle that the anime added). In general, Kagome's bravery and confidence is particularly inspiring - given how well she (a normal 15 year old) handles being stuck in life-threatening situations with youkai in feudal Japan! It's great seeing the characters and their relationships grow over time, as well as seeing the group's loyalty to each other (esp InuKago).

Language: most of it takes place in the 戦国時代 (Warring States era / feudal Japan), so the dialects and expressions can be a bit tricky until you get used to them. There's plenty of interesting vocab to pick up, and some made up fantasy vocab, youkai names, etc. While I'm much further behind in the manga (vol 11/56), I've found that reading it is helping my comprehension of the show.