Rumiko Takahashi has been publishing since the late seventies and has more volumes in print than most authors have pages. Starting anywhere is daunting. Inuyasha is the usual answer, and the VIZBIG edition is the usual format.
What VIZBIG actually means
VIZBIG is VIZ’s oversized omnibus line. Each book collects three original volumes, at a larger trim size than a standard paperback, with the colour pages reproduced in colour rather than converted to grey.
That last part matters more than it sounds. Takahashi’s colour openings are some of the best in the medium and the standard paperbacks print them in black and white.
The Inuyasha VIZBIG box set is nine books for $135.38 — twenty-seven original volumes, about $5.01 each, in a format that is genuinely nicer to read.
Why Inuyasha and not the others
Takahashi’s other long series are excellent and harder to begin. Ranma 1/2 is a comedy that assumes you find the premise funny immediately. Urusei Yatsura is very much of its era. Inuyasha has a plot that moves, characters who change, and a structure that makes the first three volumes a fair sample of the rest.
It is also the one most people have seen adapted, which means the story is familiar enough that you can read for the craft rather than the surprise.
What to expect
- It is long. The full series runs well past the VIZBIG box. Treat the nine-book set as the opening act, not the whole thing.
- The pacing is episodic early. Takahashi wrote weekly for decades and it shows. The shape emerges around the second VIZBIG volume.
- The romance is slow. Deliberately. If that frustrates you, this is not the series.
The format trade-off
| Format | Books | Colour pages | Per original volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| VIZBIG box set | 9 (27 volumes) | Yes | ~$5.01 |
| Standard paperbacks | One each | No | ~$9.99 |
There is no version of this where the singles are the better buy, unless you are replacing one damaged book.
More of the shelf is on the Manga page.
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