InuYasha the Movie: Affections Touching Across Time

InuYasha the Movie - Affections Touching Across Time is the first InuYasha movie. It was released on December 15, 2001 in Japan.

It features Menomaru, a demon from the continent whose father was sealed by InuYasha's father, as the primary antagonist.

As Menomaru comes back with two minions, he tries to steal Sesshomaru's sword, only to discover that the fang sword of healing Tenseiga isn't what he needs to break the seal on his family's power. He then switches to trying to steal the Tessaiga from Inuyasha, but after defeating Kagome and Inuyasha, he finds out that the fang sword of attack can only be wielded by InuYasha. He then abducts Kagome in order to trick InuYasha into attacking the place of the seal - a plan that succeeds. Meanwhile, one of his minions duplicate the power of the Wind Tunnel from Miroku while the other bewitches Kirara from Sango. Menomaru then sets out to consume all the souls of the world to increase his already enormous powers.

As Kagome comes back to herself, she is under a spell of control, and attacks Inuyasha, who refuses to flee. She manages to break the spell only after shooting an arrow at Inuyasha, when her worry for the man she loves overpowers Menomaru's control. She is suddenly forced to leave Inuyasha grievously wounded as a furious Kikyo bullies her into going back home to her own time. As soon as she's back, she tries to rejoin Inuyasha despite the well being shut down by roots, and with his advice, transmitted through the Tree of Ages, she manages it.

Miroku and his opponent seem on par when his opponent makes a mistake: in order to increase the ability of the duplicate Wind Tunnel, she opens it wider, and ends up getting sucked down by her own hand. Similarly, Sango's opponent does not understand Kirara nearly as well as Sango does, and the twin-tailed demon cat manages to break free from her control and rejoin Sango, who then finishes her adversary.

InuYasha and Kagome then combine the abilities of her sacred arrow and the Backlash Wave to finish Menomaru.

The movie stands far enough in the series that Rin is already with Sesshomaru, and InuYasha masters the Backlash Wave of his Tessaiga (so after episode #54) but not far enough for Kikyo to have lost her bitterness over her death, which cut her from the flow of time. Sesshomaru also doesn't have Tokijin, despite Inuyasha having mastered the Backlash Wave.