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

Published Sep 13, 2026, 11:29 AM EDT

Michael Hein has been covering entertainment, fandom news, and trending topics since 2016 on outlets including Rogues Portal, PopCulture.com, and ComicBook.com. He has provided live coverage of red carpet premieres, conventions, and up-fronts, and has interviewed major stars including Charles Dance, Patrick Stewart, and Chloe Sevigny. An avid fiction reader and writer, Michael has been diving deep into all the biggest book-to-screen adaptations of the last decade, from Game of Thrones to Foundation.

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.

Surprisingly, the source of the cut seems to be the Japanese animation studio Sunrise. Sunrise produced the series for Yomiuri TV in Japan, and was later responsible for licensing it to its U.S. distributor Viz Media as well. According to Viz, Episode 21 had already been edited out when it arrived, meaning it was likely Sunrise's choice. We may never know exactly why this central part of the story was removed, but we can look closely at the impact it had on the show's popularity.

'Inuyasha' is A Love Triangle

Image via Sunrise

Inuyasha is about Kagome (Andrea Kwan), a modern teenage girl who is accidentally transported back in time to the year 1496, finding that many of the fairy tales she had grown up on were true. Almost immediately, she encounters a half-human, half-demon named Inuyasha, who rescues her from danger. Kagome is the reincarnation of a priestess named Kikyo, who was Inuyasha's lover. In the beginning, we learn that Inuyasha had stolen a powerful magical artifact from Kikyo called the Shikon Jewel, and she died stopping him. The jewel disappeared from the world at that time, but when Kagome travels back from the future, it manifests in her once again.

The mystery of Inuyasha's history with Kikyo is central to the story from the start, and it's a source of conflict as he gets to know Kagome. While they begin to develop feelings for each other, Inuyasha is conflicted due to his guilt and unresolved grief for Kikyo. It's clear that he truly loved the priestess, which makes it that much more mysterious that he turned on her in the past. For Japanese viewers, that mystery was finally solved in a special one-hour-long episode.

In "Naraku's True Identity Unveiled," Inuyasha finally comes face-to-face with the mysterious spider-demon who will eventually become the series' main antagonist. Naraku reveals that he manipulated both Inuyasha and Kikyo, disguising himself as each of them to put them at odds in the past. His goal was to obtain the Shikon Jewel for himself, but Kikyo managed to destroy it rather than let it fall into the wrong hands. This information is a shock to Inuyasha, and while it doesn't assuage his guilt, it is a massive stepping stone towards processing his feelings.

This revelation is vital to the adventure quest of reassembling the Shikon Jewel, but more importantly, it's central to the love triangle at the heart of this story. Both Inuyasha and Kagome are wary of their growing feelings for each other, and they need to understand what happened between Inuyasha and Kikyo in the past to move forward. Inuyasha learns the truth here, but sadly, English-speaking audiences do not.

Episode 21's Cut Has Never Been Explained

Image via Sunrise

As mentioned above, "Naraku's True Identity Unveiled" was Episode 21 of the anime, originally airing in Japan as the first half of a one-hour "Spring Special" episode. However, when Sunrise licensed the series to Viz, it attempted to cut the whole one-hour special down to a single episode rather than breaking it in half. The result is that Naraku's big revelation is missing from the story, leaving audiences in the dark. The shortened episode was even included in the first batch of DVD releases in Japan, confusing another generation of fans in the process.

The Sunrise staff behind this cut may have been trying to preserve some mystery, which makes sense since Inuyasha mainly follows Kagome's point of view. However, this cut does not work well by itself, since the rest of the series was made as if the audience would know what Inuyasha learned here. It's also a departure from the manga, where Inuyasha learns the truth on the page.

Quirks like this pervade anime and manga translations, and while they can be frustrating in some cases, they also make these stories stand out. The missing scene from Inuyasha Episode 21 is available on some DVD releases, and is also included in the series streaming now on Netflix.

• 

  Ai Kobayashi

  Akago (voice)

• Kappei Yamaguchi

  InuYasha (voice)