Understanding "Inuyasha" Trivia Quiz

Answer: "Killing Circle"

"Sesshou" can mean "killing", "negotiation", or "regency". "Maru" means "circle", "zero", or "purification". "Killing Circle" is the most literal translation for Sesshoumaru's name, but probably the best translation is "Pure Destruction". For those of you who believe "maru" means "man", it does not. "Maru" is a common suffix for a male name. Leaving out the kanji "maru", you would get two kanji, "se" and "shou". Though these mean different things when separate, putting the two together makes the word "Sesshou".

Answer: "Receiving Kill Wave"

Inuyasha destroyed the demon dragon Ryuukotsusei using the ultimate attack: the Bakuryuuha. "Baku" means "to receive", "Ryuu" means "to kill", and "Ha" means "wave". Basically, the name means what it does: it absorbs the enemy's youki (demon power) and reflects it back in a killing wave.

Answer: Soul Scattering Iron Claw

Translated in the manga as "Demon Begone!" or "Claws of Exorcism", the most literal translation for "Senken Tessou" is "Soul-Scattering Iron Claw". A poor translation for this was done in the dubbed version, where it was termed "Iron Reaver Soul-Stealer".

This is nowhere close to a literal translation. To prove this, let's look at two words there: "reaver" and "stealer". First off, the word "reaver" is an archaic word, from the root word "reave". "Reave" means, by definition, "to carry off, to steal".

However, the context it's used in with the dubbed version is implying that "to reave" means "to tear", which it does not. The second word, "stealer", is a word often spoken by a child who does not yet know proper grammar. A person who steals is not called a "stealer", but a "thief". Basically, the dubbed name of this attack is calling it "Iron Thief Soul Thief".

This is both redundant and incorrect.

Answer: "Hell"

"Naraku" can mean "Hell", "Eternity", or the basement of a theater. Add "nosoko" to it and you get "Narakunosoko", which means "abyss".

Answer: "Female demon"

Strangely enough, "Yasha" is a term for a female demon. Various words for "Demon" include: "Akki", "Akuma", "Tenma", "Youkai", "Oni", and "Ma". "Half" is "Han", so the term used in this show for a half-demon is "Hanyou", which is probably short for "Hanyoukai". Please note that this question asks for the KANJI translation.

The word "Yasha" is made up of the kanji "Yoru" and "Mata", which means "female demon".

Answer: True

"Miroku" means "Maitreya", which is a Buddhist messiah who will supposedly come to Earth and set everything right. The Miroku in "Inuyasha", however, is quite the opposite... someone needs to set *him* right. Perhaps the creator of this show named him as a joke.

Answer: Rin

Rin is the small girl that Sesshoumaru resurrected after she had been mauled by wolves. Jaken, his lizard-like companion, means "cruel" or (as a noun) "an evil point of view". The third companion, the two headed dragon named Ah-Uhn is named after a pair of statues often found in a Shinto shrine: one with its mouth open as if to say "Ah", the other as if to say "Un".

Another translation for "Rin" is "the sound made by a bell".

Answer: "Flying Bone"

Sango's weapon, a boomerang made of youkai bones, is named Hiraikotsu. The name is made from the kanji "Hirai", which means "Flying", and "Kotsu", which means "Bone". "Boomerang", since it is a word from the Australian language, is translated in Japanese as "Boomerangu".

Answer: No

"Osuwari" is a command used for dogs to sit. To invite someone to sit down would be "Koshikakeru". As you can see, the standard word for someone to sit would be different than Kagome's command. So, fortunately for Inuyasha, he wouldn't go crashing to the ground everytime she mentioned the word "sit".

Answer: Kirara

Kirara is first seen as an adorable two-tailed kitten that utters an even more adorable mew-squeak. When angered or trying to protect Sango, she expands into a much larger version with fiery fur and huge canine teeth. At this time, her voice also turns into a roar akin to that of a mountain lion. Since in Japanese language the L and R sounds are interchangeable, this has led to much confusion when dubbed anime (such as the Alucard/Arucard confusion from "Hellsing").

In this case, the dubbed version named this character "Kilala" rather than "Kirara".

Unfortunately, this is incorrect, so anyone who answered "Kilala" would be wrong. The reason for this is that the word "kilala" has no translation. Change the L to an R and you get "kirara", which has a meaning.