Inuyasha volume 43 hit stores on December 8! Have you checked it out yet? I'm always amazed at how Rumiko Takahashi keeps her story fresh and raises thought-provoking issues, no matter how long her series run. Inuyasha is far from a "demon of the week" title, even though its cast of characters does encounter a new demon weekly! What makes Takahashi's manga special is that each new demon's traits, actions, and impact on the other characters provides thought-provoking insight...

Inuyasha volume 43 features two conjoined demons, Kinka and Ginka. This pair has been battling endlessly into adulthood, and for some reason (no spoilers here), neither one can vanquish the other. This leads to a bizarre love-hate relationship — a desire to prevail offset by a grudging respect for the other.

What a dilemma, to be so closely tied to the one you must destroy to survive! In the fantasy world of Inuyasha, that's just the way demon evolution works. Kinka and Ginka don't have the option of finding a way to live in peace together. This seems like a situation that has no parallel in our lives...but yet I do see some similarities to our real world.

For example, there are species of parrots that lay two eggs. When the eggs hatch, the stronger sibling soon pushes the weaker one out of the nest to its doom. (In the case of some endangered birds, rescue organizations snatch one of the siblings in time and raise it in the wild elsewhere.) This is evolution's way of giving the parents a better chance at hatching at least one chick. Apparently, these birds can't raise two chicks to maturity if they both hatch successfully.

Kinka and Ginka's relationship also reminds me of nations divided by ethnic or religious differences. The two sides fight on and on for supremacy or for their very identity. But ironically, sometimes individuals on both sides of the conflict have so much in common, it's impossible for outsiders to tell them apart.

I heard a story once about a program that brings the members of two conflicting cultures to the U.S. for graduate studies. After a year, the students are given the option of meeting in New York City for a big powwow combined with a sightseeing vacation. The result? They discover that in a host country where they are both foreign they have much more in common with each other than they realized.

I'll leave it to you to draw symbolic parallels with the next demons to appear in Inuyasha volume 43: Numawatari, the swamp demon, and the villager's mother, who turns into a horrible snake-like demon. (Actually, my mum does that sometimes when I displease her. Hmm...)

--Annette Roman, Inuyasha manga editor

The VIZ Media Store is having a special holiday sale on manga -- buy three volumes of any VIZ Media manga under $9.99 and get a fourth for free! Head over to the store and check out what we have!

Episodes 28 to 40 of Inuyasha are up on the iTunes Store today as Inuyasha, Season 2, Vol. 1. Get them for $1.99 per episode or $22.99 for the whole set. And since "tis the season," you can also gift the show for the Inuyasha fan in your life.

And in case you need a refresher, these are the episodes:
Miroku Falls Into a Dangerous Trap
Sango's Suffering and Kohaku's Life
Tetsusaiga Is Stolen! Showdown at Naraku's Castle.
Jinenji, Kind Yet Sad
Kikyo and Inuyasha, Into the Miasma
Kikyo, Captured By Naraku
Tetsusaiga and Tenseiga
The True Owner of the Great Sword!
Kagome Kidnapped By Koga, the Wolf Demon!
The Man Who Fell In Love With Kagome!
Two Hearts, One Mind
Trapped In a Duel to the Death!
The Deadly Trap of Kagura the Wind Sorceress!